VOA慢速英语2021 食物的复数

You probably know a lot of food words, such as bread, apple and rice. But knowing which foods are countable¹ and which are not can be tricky².

你可能知道很多有关食物的词汇，比如面包、苹果和米饭。但要知道哪些食物是可数的，哪些是不可数的，可能没那么容易。

In today's Ask a Teacher, Abdo from Sudan writes

在今天的名师答疑节目中，来自苏丹的Abdo写道：

How do I know which foods can be plural³? For example, if I want two of some food, can I say, "I would like two beefs" or "I would like two breads"?

我怎么才能知道哪种食物是可数的呢？例如我想要两份食物，我可不可以说“I would like two beefs” 或者“I would like two breads”?

Hello Abdo and thanks for writing to us!

Abdo你好，谢谢你投稿给我们！

To answer your question, it depends on where you are asking for these things.

要回答你的问题，这取决于你在哪里要求这些东西。

If you are asking for bread in a restaurant, you're probably asking for slices (or pieces), but in a bakery, you're probably asking for loaves.

如果你在餐馆要面包片，你可能会点“片”，但在面包店，你可能要说“条”。

If you are asking for beef in a market, you're probably asking for grams.

在超市要牛肉，你可能问的是“克”。

But, in a restaurant, you're likely to ask for pieces.

但是在餐馆，你可能会要几块。

In other words, you do not add an "–s" to "beef" or "bread."

换句话说，“beef”和“bread”后面不需要加“s”。

That is because these foods are noncount nouns – nouns that have only one form.

是因为这些食物都是不可数名词，即他们是只有一种形式的名词。

They do not have a plural.

他们没有复数形式。

Meats, grains and liquids are usually noncount nouns.

肉类，谷物类，液体都是不可数名词。

Sugar, salt and pepper are, too.

糖、辣椒和盐也都是不可数的。

To show you are talking about more than one of these nouns, you put another word or phrase in front of them.

为了表示你在说的名词是“不止一个”，你可以在它们前面放上另一个单词或短语。

Often different foods take different wording.

通常是不同的食物有不同的措辞。

Below are some common phrases you might use:

下面是你可能会用到的一些常用词组。

Two bowls of rice; Two ears of corn; Two bags of flour; Two pieces or loaves of bread

两碗米饭；两穗玉米；两袋面粉；两片或两条面包。

"Piece" also works for meats when you are asking for an amount of food for a plate:

“Piece”也可以修饰肉类，当你拿着盘子想要一些食物时，

Two pieces of chicken; Two pieces of lamb; Two pieces of fish; Two pieces of beef.

两块鸡肉；两块羊肉；两块鱼肉；两块牛肉。

If you are shopping in a market, you might ask for two grams of chicken, lamb or other meat.

如果你在逛超市，你也可以要两克鸡肉、羊肉或其他肉类。

With liquids, you often describe the container it comes in.

关于液体，经常描述它装在什么容器里。

Two glasses of water, milk or juice; Two cups of coffee or tea; Two cans or bottles of soda⁴; Two pitchers⁵ of lemonade

两杯水、牛奶、果汁；两杯咖啡、茶；两听或两瓶苏打水；两罐柠檬水。

For sugar, salt and pepper, it also depends on whether you are purchasing an amount or just want a small amount for your meal.

对于糖、盐和辣椒粉，这也取决于你是要购买一定数量的还是只需要少量的。

Two packs or bags of sugar or two pinches or shakers of salt or pepper.

两包或两袋糖；两撮盐或胡椒粉。

The good news is that most other food nouns are count nouns.

好消息是，其他大多数食物都是可数名词。

They have singular and plural forms.

它们都有单数和复数形式。

For example, "apple" is a singular count noun.

例如“apple”是一个单数名词。

To make it plural, you can just write or say "apples." Whew! That is a lot easier.

要把它变成复数，你可以直接写或者说“apples”。哇，这样就简单多了。

And that's Ask a Teacher.

以上就是今日名师答疑的全部内容。

I'm Alice Bryant.

我是艾莉丝·布莱恩特。

1 countable   

adj.可数的，可以计算的

参考例句：

• The word "person" is a countable noun.person这个词是个可数名词。
• Countable nouns have singular and plural forms.可数名词有单数和复数之分。

2 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

3 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

4 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

5 pitchers   

大水罐( pitcher的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Over the next five years, he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. 在接下来的5年时间里，他成为了最了不起的棒球投手之一。
• Why he probably won't: Pitchers on also-rans can win the award. 为什麽不是他得奖：投手在失败的球队可以赢得赛扬奖。