情感词汇正是学习者最容易卡住的地方:happy, sad, angry, tired 能覆盖很多场合,但说不出多少细节。而这里还有一个语法陷阱,一不小心就会把意思说反。
-ed / -ing 陷阱
-ed 描述的是人的感受。-ing 描述的是引起这种感受的事物。
I'm bored.(我感到无聊)
I'm boring.(我这个人很无趣)
第二句正是学习者真实会说错的地方,而且一说就很尴尬。
| -ed(你的感受) | -ing(引起感受的事物) |
|---|---|
| interested | interesting |
| excited | exciting |
| tired | tiring |
| confused | confusing |
| surprised | surprising |
| frustrated | frustrating |
| worried | worrying |
| embarrassed | embarrassing |
| disappointed | disappointing |
| shocked | shocking |
The lecture was confusing, so I was confused.
它们后面搭配的介词用法也是固定的:interested in, worried about, excited about, surprised by, disappointed with, annoyed with someone / about something。
不止是 happy 和 sad
高兴: pleased · delighted · thrilled · content · relieved 难过: disappointed · upset · down · miserable · devastated 生气: annoyed · irritated · frustrated · furious · livid 害怕: nervous · anxious · worried · terrified 惊讶: astonished · stunned · taken aback
这是一条程度的量级,而不是一组同义词。Annoyed 和 furious 是同一种情绪的不同强度,火车晚点却说 furious,要么是在开玩笑,要么会显得反应过度。
有两个词特别容易搞混:英语里 upset 的意思是"难过、受伤",不是"生气";nervous 的意思是"因为要面对某事而紧张",不是"容易发脾气"。
不要给极限形容词加强度
❌ very furious · ❌ very terrified · ❌ very devastated
表示极限程度的形容词要搭配 absolutely 或 utterly,而不是 very: ✅ absolutely furious · ✅ utterly devastated
日常习语
真实对话靠的往往是这些习语,而不是一份形容词单词表:
| 短语 | 意思 |
|---|---|
| I'm fed up with it. | 受够了,烦透了 |
| I'm over the moon. | 高兴得不得了 |
| I'm stressed out. | 压力很大,精疲力竭 |
| I'm in a good / bad mood. | 一时的心情 |
| It got on my nerves. | 让人心烦 |
| I couldn't believe it. | 我完全惊呆了 |
| It cheered me up. | 让我的心情好了起来 |
另外单独说一下 feel like + -ing,表示"想要做某事":I feel like going home. · I don't feel like cooking.
谈论别人的感受
你很少能百分之百确定别人的感受,所以英语会用委婉的说法:
- She seems upset. · He looks exhausted.
- She sounds annoyed.(打电话时)
- He doesn't seem very happy about it.
注意:seem 和 look 后面直接接形容词——日常口语里说 she seems tired,而不是「she seems to be tired」。
怎么回应别人说的话
在英语里,沉默会被理解成漠不关心。标准的回应方式:
好消息: That's great! · Congratulations! · I'm so pleased for you. 坏消息: Oh no. · I'm so sorry to hear that. · That's awful. 惊讶: Really? · You're joking! · No way! 同情: That must be hard. · I can imagine.
先回应,再提问。 期待中的顺序是先作出反应,然后再提问:Oh no — what happened? 上来就直接提问,听起来像审问;上来就直接给建议,则显得你根本没在听。
同事这周过得很糟
A: How's it going?
B: Honestly? I'm fed up. The project got cancelled on Monday.
A: Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. That must be really frustrating.
B: It is. Two years of work. I'm more disappointed than angry, really.
A: I can imagine. Do you feel like getting a coffee?
一个习语,一个描述情况的 -ing 形容词,一个描述人的 -ed 形容词,两句标准的回应,再加上用 feel like + -ing 委婉地转换话题。
自测一下
下面的测验主要围绕 -ed 和 -ing 展开。