Great changes have taken place in our city in the past ten years. Everything _____ comes into sight is so new to me.
A. that B. which C. who D. whom
答案是 A,为何不可以是 B 呢?老师说 everything后面不能用which引导定语从句。但我在网上也看到可以用 which 的。
Great changes have taken place in our city in the past ten years. Everything that comes into sight is so new to me.
【答】everything之后的关系代词,合乎语法的选择应该是that,不是which。我查了一下Corpus of Contemporary American English(美国当代英语语料库),得到的结果是:
1. everything which:67例。
2. everything that:8193例。
下面是我的一点怎么看:
关系代词用that不需要which曝光
关于英语定语从句的使用方法,与选择“关系词”等问题,通常语法书都做了详尽的规定和说明。同时,几乎所有些语法书和涉及定语从句的文章,都专门提醒that和which的不同使用方法。记忆起来感觉比较困难,而且容易混淆。这里面有哪些奥秘和规律可循吗?大家先来回顾一下这个问题:
当定语从句修饰“物”时,关系代词用that不需要which,大致有如下几种状况:
1. 当先行词本身是all, everything, anything, nothing, none, little, few等代词时,关系代词原则上用that,不需要which,比如:
In China, parents always do everything that they can to support their children.在中国,爸爸妈妈一直尽他们所能来抚养孩子。
I did nothing that might hurt you.我没做任何可能伤害你的事。
All that glitters is not gold.闪光的东西并不是都是金子。
2. 当先行词被all, every, no, little, few, the only, the very, the right(适合的), the last, the same等修饰时,关系代词原则上用that,不需要which,比如:
Chatting is the only thing that interests her most. 聊天是她唯一有兴趣的事情。
These messages are the very ones that I have been looking for. 这类就是我一直在探寻的信息。
This is the last thing that I want to do. 这是我最不想做的事情。
3. 当先行词本身是序数词或形容词最高级,与被序数词、形容词最高级修饰时,关系代词原则上用that,不需要which,比如:
It was the largest map that I ever saw. 那是我见过的最大的地图。
When it comes to Jinan, the first that comes to mind is the spring water. 谈到济南时,第一想到的就是泉水。
That is the best film that has ever been shown so far in the city. 那是这座城市到现在为止放过的最好的一部电影。
【问题曝光】
透视上述三种状况,大家发现:一旦先行词或先行词之前的修饰语表达了①与众不同定义、 ②全部定义、③完全否定的定义时,也就是说“不需要选择或者没办法选择”的时候,原则不可以用关系代词which,由于which过去是疑问代词“哪一个”,多少还保留着“选择”的意味。比如,the only 表示“唯一”,everything表示“所有些东西”,none表示“什么都没”,这类还需要选择吗?还能做出选择吗?既然不可以选择或者没办法选择,which最好就别用了。