英語小課堂：如何使用英文撇號？

學了這么多年英語，你真的會使用英文中的撇號嗎？各種所有格和動詞縮略語怎么寫又是正確的呢？來看看知名英文學習視頻博主Lucy怎么說。

YouTube視頻欄目“跟露西學英語”的博主露西-厄爾最近發布了一段視頻指南，幫助英語學習者和英語為母語的學生。

露西逐條分析了撇號的常見用法，包括動詞縮寫和所有格，還講了大家最常犯的錯誤。

The possessive case
所有格

The possessive case is used to show a relationship of belonging between one thing and another.
所有格形式用來表述兩件事物之間的歸屬關系。

To form the possessive, an apostrophe and an 's' is added to the noun. For example, if a ball belongs to the dog it is the dog's ball.
為了構成所有格，名詞后面要加撇號和s。比如一個球屬于一只狗，那就是dog's ball。

However the rule becomes more complicated once it is applied to a noun ending in the letter 's'.
但用于以s結尾的名詞時，使用規則就會變得更加復雜。

The same principle applies but some people might choose to remove the second 's'.
這時適用于同樣的規則，但一些人可能會把第二個s省去。

For example, to refer to the part played by the actress, it could be 'the actress's part' or 'the actress' part'.
比如，當指某位女演員表演的部分時，可以說是the actress's part或者the actress' part。

Some people are guided in whether or not to include the 's' by how the word is pronounced.
一些人按照單詞的發音來確定是否添加s。

Lucy said the most important thing to do is to remain consistent in your style and to choose one form throughout a piece of text.
露西說，最重要的是自己的文體保持一致，整篇文章選用一種寫法。

The rule is clearer with a plural noun as only an apostrophe should be added.
當復數名詞需要添加撇號時，規則就清晰多了。

For example, the house belonging to your grandparents would be your 'grandparents' house', rather than 'your grandparents's house'.
比如，這間房子屬于你的祖父母，應該寫成your grandparents' house而不是your grandparents's house

If comparing two nouns with possessive pronouns, you don't always need to repeat the second noun but would still use the apostrophe.
在比較包含物主代詞的兩個名詞時，通常無需重復第二個名詞，但仍需使用撇號。

For example, you don't need to say 'my house is smaller than my parents' house', and can instead just say 'my house is smaller than my parents'.'
比如，你不用說my house is smaller than my parents' house，而只要說my house is smaller than my parents'（我的房子比父母的房子小）。

With nouns that have multiple owners, the last owner would take possesion, so Lucy and Aly's cat not Lucy's and Aly's cat.
如果某件物品有多個所有者，要在最后一個所有者那里添加所有格形式，所以露西和愛麗的貓要寫成Lucy and Aly's cat 而不是Lucy's and Aly's cat。

But if the noun is owned separately it would be Lucy's and Aly's cats.
但如果物品是分開所有的，就要寫成Lucy's and Aly's cats（露西和愛麗的貓咪們）。

Verb contractions
動詞縮略形式

Verb contractions, which are sometimes called 'short forms', commonly combine a pronoun or noun and a verb, or a verb and not, in a shorter form.
動詞縮略形式有時被稱為“簡易形式”，通常包含一個代詞/名詞和一個動詞，或者是動詞和not的縮寫形式。

The first use produces words such as 'she'll', which combines the noun 'she' with 'will', used to express the future tense.
第一種用法比如she'll，是名詞she和will的縮寫，用于表達將來時。

The second use is seen in words like 'can't' - can and not - or 'wouldn't' - would not.
第二種用法比如can't （can和not的縮寫）和wouldn't（would和not的縮寫）。

While they are common in everyday speech, they are frowned upon in formal writing.
盡管這在日常用語中很常見，但在正式書寫中卻讓人撓頭。

These are particularly true of contractions that combine pronouns with 'would' or 'had'.
這種形式在代詞和would或had結合是尤其常見。

One might say 'Mum'd' instead of 'Mum would' in informal conversation, for example, but would not write it.
比如在非正式的對話中，有人可能會說Mum'd而不是Mum would，但書寫時不會這么寫。

Common mistakes
常見錯誤

The addition of apostrophes can lead to people becoming mixed-up between homophones - words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings.
添加撇號會讓人們把同音異義單詞搞混，這些單詞發音相同，但含義不同 。

One of the most common mistakes is the difference between who's and whose.
最常見的錯誤是who's和whose之間的差異。

'Who's' is a contracted form of 'who is' while 'whose' is the possessive form of the pronoun 'who'.
Who's是who is的縮略形式，而whose是代詞who的所有格形式。

'You're' and 'your' create similar problems for native and second language English speakers.
不管是對于英語母語者還是把英語作為第二語言的人來說，you're和your也存在類似的問題。

英文來源：每日郵報
翻譯&編輯：yaning