英语四级语法要点：介词+反身代词常用搭配

 　　搭配一 among oneself

　　该搭配中的反身代词通常为ourselves, themselves，且通常与动词agree, argue, quarrel, decide, divide, talk 等搭配，表示“彼此”“互相”“……之间”之类的意思。如：

　　They were busy arguing among themselves. 他们忙着互相争论。

　　We were always quarrelling among ourselves. 我们之间老是互相争吵。

　　They talked among themselves while they waited. 他们一边等着一边互相谈话。

　　Volunteers divided the different jobs among themselves. 志愿者们分担各种不同的工作。

　　The trainees¹ decide among themselves what programs to take. 受训者自行选择所学课程。

　　The trouble was they couldn’t agree among themselves. 麻烦的是他们自己不能取得一致的意见。

　　有时也与discussion², dispute³等名词搭配。如：

　　They had a heated discussion among themselves. 他们之间进行了热烈的讨论。

　　They tried to settle⁴ disputes⁵ among themselves. 他们试图解决彼此之间的纠纷。

　　搭配二 between ourselves

　　该搭配为英语中的固定短语，意思是“勿与外人道私下说的话”“咱们私下说说(不足为外人道)”等，在具体语境中通常可以有比较灵活的翻译。如：

　　All this is between ourselves. 这些我们只是私下说说。

　　Between ourselves, I think she’s a bit of a fool. 你可别对别人说啊，我觉得她有点儿傻。

　　Between ourselves, I don’t think he will live much longer. 咱们私下说说，他活不久了。

　　Between ourselves. I think Mr. Holmes had not quite got over his illness yet. 我们私下说说，我认为福尔摩斯先生病还没完全好。

　　有时也说成between you and me，意思一样。如：

　　Between you and me, I think he’s rather stupid. 这是我们私下里说的话，我认为他很笨。

　　搭配三 by oneself

　　该短语有以下三个意思：

　　一是表示“单独地”“独自地”，与alone同义。如：

　　I often like to spend time by myself. 我平常喜欢独自消磨时间。

　　The dog was in the house by itself for several days. 狗在房子里单独呆了几天。

　　She is old enough to travel by herself. 她已经到了可以自己出门旅行的年龄了。

　　表示此义时有时还可用作表语。如：

　　My mother is by herself, so I must go home now. 我妈一个人在家，因此我得回家了。

　　二是表示“靠自己”“无他人帮助”，与without help同义。如：

　　I managed to do it by myself. 我是自己做成这件事的。

　　John managed to repair his car by himself. 约翰设法独力修理自己的汽车。

　　There are many things one must do by oneself without depending on others. 有许多事情你必须自己去做，不能依靠别人。

　　三是表示“自动地”，主要用于 by itself，意思相当于automatically。如：

　　This is a machine that works⁶ by itself. 这是一台自动工作的机器。

　　The door opens by itself as you approach it. 当你靠近时候门就会自动打开。

　　The machine will start by itself in a few seconds. 机器在几秒钟后会自动开启。

　　搭配四 for oneself

　　该搭配主要有两个方面的意思：

　　一是表示“自己”“亲自”。如：

　　You can judge for yourself. 你可以自己做出判断。

　　He has a fight to decide for himself. 他有权自己做决定。

　　He demanded the right to decide for himself. 他要求得到自己做决定的权力。

　　二是表示“为自己”“替自己”。如：

　　He made no complaint⁷ for himself. 他没为自己诉苦。

　　He acted without thought for himself. 他那样做的时候并没考虑到自己。

　　She’s no shrinking⁸ violet—always ready to speak up for herself. 她可不胆小——任何场合都能为自己说话。

　　搭配五 in itself

　　该搭配的意思是“本质上”“实质上”“本身”。如：

　　He is not bad in himself. 他本质不坏。

　　The idea is not bad in itself. 这主意本身不错。

　　Threading a needle is an art in itself. 穿针引线本身就是一种技巧。

　　You’ve managed to complete the course—that in itself is an achievement. 你设法修完了课程——这本身就是成绩。

　　搭配六 to oneself

　　该搭配的基本意思是“独自地”“单独地”“给自己用”，通常与某些动词配合使用，其含义也往往受所搭配动词意思的影响。如：

　　1. cry to oneself 哭着对自己说

　　Oh Ned, Nancy cried to herself, why did you have to leave me? 哦，内德，南希还哭着对自己说，你为什么一定得离开我呢?

　　2. have something to oneself 独自享用某物

　　I have the whole day to myself. 今天整天都是属于我自己的。

　　With my parents away I’ve got the house to myself. 由于我父母不在，我可以独自使用这所房子。

　　3. keep (oneself) to oneself 不与人交往

　　Nobody knows much about him; he keeps himself very much to himself. 谁都不太了解他，因为他很少与人来往。

　　4. say to oneself 心里想

　　So I said to myself, “It’s time I left.” 所以我想：“我该走了。”

　　I woke up early and said to myself, “Shall I get up?” 我很早就醒来了，心里想：“要不要起床呢?”

　　注意：say to oneself与speak to oneself大致同义，主要指“说给自己听”“在心里想着”，其“自言自语”的成分比较少。若要表示“自言自语”(强调出声)，可用talk to oneself。如：

　　He was probably talking to himself, which he often did now. 他也许在自言自语，他现在常常如此。

　　When she was old, she would sit in the corner talking to herself for hours. 在她年老时，她老坐在角落里自言自语，一说就是几个小时。

1 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。

2 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

3 dispute   

n.争端，分歧；v.争论，争吵，辩论，辩驳

参考例句：

• They are trying to find a way of settling the dispute.他们正设法寻找解决争端的办法。
• The parties to the dispute should be more polite to each other.争执双方应相互礼貌些。

4 settle   

vi.安家；定居；停留；vt.使定居；安排；解决

参考例句：

• I have to settle my affairs before leaving here.离开这儿以前，我得把一些私人的事情安排妥当。
• She has decided how she should settle the matter.她已做出决定如何来了解这件事。

5 disputes   

n.辩论( dispute的名词复数 )；争端；（劳资）纠纷；罢工v.辩论，争论( dispute的第三人称单数 )；争夺；阻止；就…进行辩论

参考例句：

• a legalistic approach to family disputes 死抠法律条文解决家庭纠纷的方法
• a party riven by internal disputes 由于内部分歧而四分五裂的政党

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 complaint   

n.诉苦，抱怨，牢骚，委屈，疾病

参考例句：

• This is a cause of complaint.这是抱怨的原因。
• He has a heart complaint.他有心脏病。

8 shrinking   

a.畏缩的，犹豫不决的

参考例句：

• She purposely made the dress larger to allow for shrinking when it was washed. 她故意把衣服做大一些，以防洗时缩水。
• I can't imagine why a dynamic young woman like her is marrying a shrinking violet like him. 我不能想像，像她这样一个充满活力的年轻女子为什么会嫁给他这样一个胆怯害羞的人。