让名词“动”起来

邹利红

有些名词如book，table，hand，flag，water大家最为熟悉不过，但native speaker经常把它们当作动词用。笔者根据自己在教学和阅读中所碰到的情况，列举一组名词用作动词的突出现象，以供参考。

bridge n. 桥梁；桥牌/v. 连接，沟通（to connect）

Parents are trying to bridge the generation gap with their children.

父母都在设法弥合儿女的代沟。

These tax reforms attempt to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

这些税收改革旨在弥合贫富之间的差距。

book n. 书本/v. 预订座位、票、旅馆房间等，警方登记为指控之用

Mr. Chen has booked a room at a hotel.

The police booked him for drunken driving.

Yesterday he booked a flight to Japan.

cap n. 便帽/v. 約束或制止

The new law has capped the crabbing season in our area.

新法律限制了该地区铺螃的时节。

club n. 俱乐部，高尔夫球棒/v. 用棍棒打

The police clubbed a path through the crowd.

The boy clubbed the birds nest with a long stick.

chair n. 椅子/v. 担任主席

She will chair the maths department next term.

下学期她将担任数学系主任。

corner n. 角落、角壁/v. 将某人逼入困境或令人无地自容

He has been cornered by his best friend.

Finally the escaped criminal was cornered.

那名逃犯最终走投无路了。

dog n. 狗/v. 尾随某人，困扰某人或某事

He was dogged wherever he went.

He is dogged by ill-health.

doctor n. 医生/v. 窜改，对……做手脚

They were charged with doctoring the election results.

He tried to doctor the number before tax time.

duck n. 鸭子/v. 逃避，躲避，回避

The man ducked behind the crowd as soon as he had spoken.

那人话一讲完就躲到人群后面去了。

distance n. 距离/v. 冷淡，疏远

It is difficult for him to distance himself from her.

flag n. 旗帜/v. 打旗号或做手势来传递信息

When my car broke down， I flagged a police car.

The beach life-guards usually flag one another for communication.

floor n. 地板/v. 加油门，加速开车，使人惊讶

As soon as I saw his gun， I floored my car.

The news really floored me， I hadnot been expecting it at all.

father n. 父亲/v. 为人之父

Hopefully， Mr. Chen is going to father a child soon.

house n. 房屋/v. 提供住所

I would be glad to house you for the weekend.

pride n. 荣誉/v. 感到得意或自豪

I have long prided myself on being a good cook.

radio n. 收音机/v. 广播，发报

At the airport， a lady radioed for a missing child.

在机场，一位女士正在广播寻找一个失踪的孩子。

soldier n. 士兵/v. 不畏困难，坚持下去

The Marine Corps usually have to soldier on under the hardest conditions.

table n. 桌子/v. 搁置

We are tabling this matter until further notice.

top n. 顶端/v. 做得更好，高过某人endprint

If he had tried harder， he could have topped his class.

归纳起来，不外乎以下几类名词常可以转化为动词。

1. 表示人体部位名称的名词“动”起来。表示人体部位的名词mouth，nose，hand，finger，arm，elbow，shoulder，breast，thumb，stomach，leg，heel，foot等都可以用作动词。如：

Bill suddenly headed the ball into the goal.

比尔突然用头将球顶入球门。

Her sweetheart lipped her and then went to the dance alone.

她的戀人吻了她，然后自己进舞场去了。

2. 表示动物名称的名词“动”起来。如：

Jasper foxed the invigilator in the mathematics examination.

贾思柏在数学考试中舞弊。

He is the chief suspected criminal dogged by the police.

他是被警察局追踪的重大嫌疑犯。

3. 表示植物名称的名词“动”起来。如：

有些植物名词如tree，grass，flower等都可转用为动词。例如：

The dog treed the cat.

狗赶猫上树。

The hut was grassed around.

4. 表示天气，时间名称的名词“动”起来。如：

The sky clouded over.

We summered in Guilin last year.

They are going to honeymoon in Suzhou.

They only hope of victory was to storm the enemy camp at night.

他们唯一的胜利希望寄托在夜晚向敌营的猛攻。

5. 表示武器、工具等名称的名词“动”起来。如：

The scientist rocketed the satellite into orbit.

科学家们用火箭将卫星推进轨道。

The kids were so bravely that they stoned a cobra to death.

The county ordered his men to hammer down the announcements on trees.

6. 表示电器，乐器名称的名词“动”起来。如：

She telephoned that she could not come to the English Evening.

7. 表示方位，空间名称的名词“动”起来。如：

The deputies proposed to position the factory near a turnpike.

英语名词转化作动词用，远不只以上几个方面所述，还有许多表示其他事物的名词用动词后，都各具特色，各显其功能。比如：to author a book（写一本书），to staff a school（为学校配备教员），to paper a wall（用纸糊墙），to people the new lands（向新开发区移民）等。

这种转化类型繁多，不一而足，有待我们努力探索，灵活掌握正确使用。endprint