作者：炮兵指挥…    资源来源：其他网站    点击数：    更新时间：3/30/2008

    英语中表示时间的词语主要分为以下几类:时间点、时间段、动作发生的频度、动作或事件发生的先后。一般可用单个副词来表示,也可以用带有介词in, at, on和for的短语来表示。此外,一些不带介词的短语也可以用来表示动作(事件)发生(状态持续)的时间。

一、单个副词表示时间

1. 表示动作(事件)发生的时间

    这类副词常见的有:ago, before, lately, later (on), now, recently, then, today, tomorrow, tonight, yesterday等。例如:

1)It’s beginning to rain now! (时间点)现在开始下雨了！

2)I haven’t seen her recently. (时间段) 最近我没见到她。

3)Will you be free tonight? (时间段) 你今晚有空吗？

4)See you later. (时间点)回头见。

2. 表示频度

这类副词常见的有:always, constantly, continuously, continually, ever, frequently, generally, hardly ever, much, never, normally, occasionally(偶尔), often, periodically(定期地,偶尔), rarely, regularly, repeatedly, seldom(很少), sometimes, usually, now and then(偶尔,有时)等。例如:

1)She is constantly changing her mind. (频度)她老是改变主意。

2)We do meet now and then, but not regularly. (频度)我们确实偶尔也见面,但不经常。

3)Lester rarely left his room. (频度)莱斯特很少离开他的房间。

3. 其他一些表示时间的副词:

主要有:already, early, finally, first, immediately, just, late, long, presently, shortly, since, soon, yet等。例如:

1)I’ll be back presently(shortly). 我一会儿就回来。

2)What decision did you finally arrive at?你们最后做出了什么决定？

3)Nancy was up early. 南希很早就起来了。

4)He has just had an operation. 他刚动过手术。

分析:

句1)中的presently (shortly)(不久,一会儿),强调从现在算起到将来的某一时刻,时间持续很短；句2)中的finally(最终)强调事件的最终结果；句3)中的early(早)表示动作发生的时间比通常所认定的时间早；句4)中的just表示从过去的某个时间算起到现在,时间持续很短。

二、前面带有介词in, at, on和for表示时间的短语

1. 带有介词in的时间短语:

in a flash(瞬时), in a lucky hour(在幸运时刻), in an evil hour(在不幸的时刻), in a minute, in a second, in a short time, in a while, in advance(预先), in an instant, in broad day(在大白天), in due course(及时地), in future, in good season(及时地), in no time(马上), in one’s childhood, in one’s spare time, in one’s teens, in one’s youth, in re-cent years, in some cases(有时候), in spring, in the beginning, in the daytime, in the end, in the long run(最后), in the meantime, in the morning, in the past, in this period, in those days, in time等。例如:

1)He was born in1980. 他生于1980年。

2)The policeman arrived intime and caught the thief in a flash. 警察及时赶到,瞬时抓住了那个小偷。

2. 带有介词on的时间短语:
        on a certain day, on Christmas Day, on night shift, on one’s birthday, on schedule(按时), on Sunday, on the moment, on that date, on the eve of, on the following day, on the Monday morning, on the New Year’s Eve, on the point of(正在……时候),on this day, on this occasion, on time等。例如:

1)There are varieties of celebrations on Christmas Day. 圣诞节那天有多种庆祝活动。

2)When he heard the bad news, he burst into tears on the moment. 听到那个坏消息,他的眼泪立刻夺眶而出。

3)He always arrives on time in time of an appointment. 约会时他总是很准时。

3. 带有介词at的时间短语:

at a time(在某时), at a wedding(婚礼), at all times(一直), at any moment, at Christmas, at dark (天黑时), at dawn(在黎明), at daybreak, at dinner-time, at dusk(在黄昏), at first sight, at first, at last, at night, at nightfall, at noon, at present, at six o’clock, at sunrise, at sunset, at that moment, at that time, at the age of, at the beginning of , at the end of, at the last minute, at the moment, at the same time, at the stage(眼下), at the start, at this point(此时), at this sea-son, at times(有时)等。例如:

1)At that time, Mary earned so little money that she could hardly af-ford a coat like this. 那时玛丽挣钱很少,几乎买不起这样一件大衣。

2)At times, Robert is seen to be walking along with a beautiful girl. 有时可以看到罗伯特和一个漂亮女孩走在一起。

3)At the stage, Tom doesn’t have enough time to write such a long paper. 眼下汤姆没有时间写那么长的一篇论文。

分析:

句1)中的at that time(那时)表示某种境遇存在的时间段；句2)中的at times(有时)表示事件发生的频度；句3)中的at the stage(眼下)表示离说话前后不久的一段时间。

4."介词for + 表示时间的名词短语"表示动作持续或状态存在的时间段:
         for ten seconds, for five minutes, for an hour, for two days, for six months, for a year, for a decade, for a whole century, for a long time, for a short while等。例如:

1) On hearing the news, Helen stood there for ten seconds without saying a word. 听到这个消息后,海伦站在那里十秒钟没说出一句话来。

2) I feel as if I had left school for a whole century. 我觉得我好像离开学校整整一个世纪了。

三、不带介词的表示时间的短语:

just now, so far, last night, right away, the day after tomorrow, the day before yesterday, five days ago, five days before, this week, next week, a week ago, a week before, last month, next month, this year, next year, three months ago, this century, last century等。例如:

1)The old couple haven’t heard from their son so far. 那对老夫妇目前还没收到儿子的来信。

2) Susan will take the college entrance examination the day after tomorrow. 苏姗后天要参加大学入学考试。

3) He said his father had died three years before. 他说他父亲三年前去世了。

分析:

    句1)中的so far(到目前为止)是副词短语,表示到现在为止的时间段；句2)中的the day after tomorrow(后天)表示事件将要发生的时间；句3)中的three years before(三年前)表示过去某件事发生的时间,用于间接引语中。选择最合适的选项完成句子。

牛刀小试

1. I haven’t seen Margaret ______.

A. constantly

B. recently

C. Usually

D. finally

2. You have to hand in your paper ______ Monday morning.

A. in

B. On

C. at

D. for

3. He finished the writing part ______ the last minute of the examination.

A. in B. on C. at D. For

4. He thought about the question _______ a short while and gave the answer quickly.

A. in B. on C. atD. For

5. Stevenson’s girlfriend promised to marry him ________ next year.

A. in B. on C. at D. /

答案及解析

1. B. 句意：最近我没有见到玛格利特。分析：本题缺少一个表示动作发生时间的副词，而constantly和usually表示动作或事件发生的频率，finally表示动作或事件发生的顺序。只有recently可表示动作或事件发生的时间，故选B。

2. B. 句意：你必须在周一早晨交论文。分析：“in the morning”是固定短语，其中的介词in不能用其他介词代替。但如果morning前面加上表示一周的任何一天的名词（从Monday到Sunday），其前面的介词要用on。故选B。

3. C. 句意：他在考试的最后一刻完成了写作部分。分析：介词短语at the last minute是固定搭配，其中的介词at不能用其他任何介词代替。

4. D. 句意：他对这个问题稍作思考，便很快给出了答案。分析：“for a short while”是表示时间段的固定短语，意为“一小会儿”，其中介词for不能用其他介词代替。

5. D. 句意：斯蒂文森的女朋友答应明年嫁给他。分析：next year前面一般没有介词，故选D。