1　If I don't love her, I won't marry her.

其实，这是一个彻底的Chinglish，并没有表达出原句的“言外之意”：我当然爱她，要不我就不会娶她了。但实际上他们已经结婚了。

这一言外之意，怎样用英文才能正确地表达出来呢？下面再提供几个译文，请读者思考：

2　If I didn't love her, I wouldn't have married her.

3　If I hadn't loved her, I wouldn't have married her.

4　If I didn't love her, I wouldn't marry her.

要想正确地说出英文，先得把汉语原句的意思仔细推敲一下。“如果我不爱她”，其实这是“正话反说”，实际上约翰是爱路易丝的，而且是一直都深爱着她，因此，这在英文中就是对“现在事实”表示虚拟。我们知道，从句对现在的虚拟要用一般过去时来表示，所以，这句话用正确的英文就要说成：If I didn't love her...

“我就不会娶她”，实际上他们已经结婚了，所以，这句话是对“过去事实”表示虚拟。在英文中，主句对过去的虚拟要用would have done的谓语动词形式。所以，这句话用正确的英文就要说成：I wouldn't have married her。

根据以上分析，原句是一个ZgCx（主过从现）型的混合时间虚拟语气，即主句表示对过去事实的虚拟，从句则是表示对现在事实的虚拟。因此，“如果我不爱她，我就不会娶她”这句话的正确英文表达应该是2）If I didn't love her, I wouldn't have married her.

我们再来分析例句3）：

3　If I hadn't loved her, I wouldn't have married her.

妙语点睛

按照前面介绍的英文思维规律，这是一个ZgCg（主过从过）型虚拟语气，即主句和从句都表示对过去的虚拟。所以，例句3）的含义是：在结婚时约翰是爱她的，要不然当时就不会娶她。言外之意可能是：当时能和她结婚，是因为当时爱她，但现在已经不爱了（所以离婚吧）。

我们再来分析例句4）：

4　If I didn't love her. I wouldn't marry her.

妙语点睛

按照前面介绍的英文思维规律，这里的would marry表示两人还没有结婚，说的是将来的情况。所以，例句4）的英文的真正意思是“如果我不爱她，我将来就不打算和她结婚了”。这显然是以男朋友的身份来说这话的，比如我们把这句话放在这样一个语境中：

A: Do you love your girlfriend?

B: If I didn't love her, I wouldn't marry her.

精品译文

A：你爱你的女朋友吗？

B：如果我不爱她，我将来就不打算和她结婚了。

我们现在给出上面那段对话的英文原文：

Doctor: Do you love your wife, John?

John: I wouldn't have married her if I didn't.

Doctor: Have you ever told her so?

John: (John's eyes were baffled.) Haven't I given her everything I could? What more can a man do?

Doctor: Talk to her.

John: I am not a talking man. She knows that.

Doctor: Tell her that you love her.

请注意，这里说I wouldn't have married her if I didn't.是因为上文出现了love，所以这里didn't的后面love被省去了。

再比如，我们在日常对话中，往往会这样责怪别人：“如果你真的理解我的话，你当时就不可能说出那种话了”。仔细分析，我们发现这也是一个ZgCx（主过从现）型混合时间的虚拟语气，所以要用英文这样表达：

If you knew me better, you wouldn't have said that.

最后需要提醒读者注意的是，ZgCx（主过从现）型混合时间虚拟语气不如上一节讨论的ZxCg（主现从过）型虚拟语气常见。



思维总结

同上一节一样，本节讨论的也是“混合时间虚拟语气”，即主句和从句分别对不同的时间进行虚拟。但与上一节不同的是，本节讨论的是ZgCx（主过从现）型混合时间虚拟语气，即主句对过去虚拟，用would have done的形式；从句对现在虚拟，用did的形式。这正好与上一节中讨论的主句和从句所表达的虚拟时间相反。





7.7　倒装虚拟

在英文中，虚拟从句可以采用倒装结构。具体来说，当if引导的条件句省去if时，可将should，had或were置于句首，从而构成倒装虚拟句，而意义不变。请看例句：

1　Countless divorced politicians would have been elected out of office years ago had they even thought of a divorce, let alone gotten one.

妙语点睛

这里的从句用了倒装结构had they even thought...，相当于说if they had even thought...。主句的谓语是would have been elected，显然是表示对过去情况的虚拟。

精品译文

现如今很多政客都纷纷离婚，这在几年前是不可能的。那时，不要说真的离婚了，哪怕他们有离婚的想法，都一定会被赶下台。

2　For example, they do not compensate for gross social inequality, and thus do not tell how able an underprivileged youngster might have been had he grown up under more favorable circumstances.

妙语点睛

这是表示对过去的虚拟。这里的倒装结构had he grown相当于if he had grown。

精品译文

例如，它们（指测试）并不能弥补明显的社会不公；因此，它们不能说明一个物质条件差的年轻人，如果在较好的环境中成长的话，会有多大才干。

再看其他例句：

3　Should I win the lottery, I would buy a car.

=If I should win the lottery, I would buy a car. 如果我能赢得大奖，我就会买一辆车。

4　Were he to leave today, he would get there by Monday.

=If he were to leave today, he would get there by Monday. 如果他今天出发，他就能在星期一之前到达那里。

5　Were he to tell us everything, we could try to solve his problem.

=If he were to tell us everything, we could try to solve his problem. 如果他把一切都告诉我们，我们就能想办法解决他的问题。

6　Should you change your mind, no one would blame you.

=If you should change your mind, no one would blame you. 如果你改变主意的话，没有人会责怪你。

7　Had he not been promoted, he would never have remained with the company.

=If he had not been promoted, he would never have remained with the company. 如果他没有被提升，他就不会继续留在这家公司了。

8　Had such a disaster occurred, the damage would have been incalculable.

=If such a disaster had occurred, the damage would have been incalculable. 如果这场灾难发生，损失将难以估量。

也许有读者会问：为什么会出现这样的倒装结构呢？具体原因不详，但笔者个人认为，这或许和疑问句有关系。比如，在英语口语里，我们常常会使用“疑问句＋陈述句”这样的结构，如：

9　Are you ready? Okay we can leave.

意思是说“你准备好了吗？那我们现在就走”。这里的一般疑问句就相当于一个条件从句If you are ready...于是整个句子相当于说“如果你准备好了，那我们现在就走”。类似的虚拟句有：

10　Had I known? I would have come sooner.

相当于汉语说“我知道吗？那我就会早点来了！”这里的言外之意就是，如果我知道，那我就会早点来了。这就相当于一个常规的虚拟句：

If I had known, I would have come sooner.

到这一节为止，英语里常规的虚拟语气形式都已分析讨论完毕。说其是“常规”的，是因为这些虚拟句子都是由主句和if引导的从句组成。在接下来的几节内容中，我们将讨论另外一些特殊构造的虚拟语气形式，比如“跳层虚拟句”，它不含if引导的从句，而是通过其他方式来表达“非真实的虚拟条件”。



思维训练

Exercise 7.7

请选择最佳答案填空。

1．Countless divorced politicians would have been elected out of office years ago had they even thought of a divorce, let alone__________one.

A．getting

B．to get

C．gotten

D．get

2．____________to the doctor right away, he might be alive today.

A．If he went

B．Had he gone

C．Were he gone

D．Should he have gone

3．___________before we depart the day after tomorrow, we should have a wonderful dinner party. (97-1 CET-4)

A．Had they arrived

B．Were they arriving

C．Would they arrive

D．Were they to arrive

4．The millions of calculations involved, had they been done by hand,________all practical value by the time they finished.

A．could lose

B．would have lost

C．might lose

D．ought to have lost

5．There is a real possibility that these animals could be frightened,__________a sudden loud noise.

A．being there

B．should there be

C．there was

D．there having been





7.8　跳层虚拟

请看下面这个“脑筋急转弯”：

The Taxi Driver Mystery

Rebecca was in a taxi on her way home. Max, the taxi driver, knew she was a well-known chatterbox and didn't want to engage in conversation with her. So he pretended to be deaf and dumb. He pointed to his ears and mouth to indicate to her that he couldn't hear or speak. This ruse seemed to work. The journey was peacefully silent.

When they arrived and Rebecca had got out of the taxi, Max pointed to his meter so she would read how much she owed. Rebecca looked at the meter, read what she owed him, paid him and walked off.

But she almost immediately realized that Max couldn't have been a deaf mute.

How did she know this?

精品译文

租车司机之谜

丽贝卡是一个出了名的“话痨”，特别爱唠叨。有一天她打车回家，出租车司机麦克斯也知道她这个毛病，不想搭理她，于是就假装自己是个聋哑人。他用手指指自己的耳朵和嘴巴，示意她自己听不见，也说不了话。这一招还真管用，一路上两人就默不作声，相安无事。

等丽贝卡到了地方得下车时，麦克斯指指汽车计价器，示意她按照上面显示的数字付钱。她看罢，就按计价器所显示的付完款，准备抽身离去。这时她突然意识到，这个司机不可能是聋哑人。请问，她是怎么知道的？

这个问题的答案很简单，就是：

He must have heard her initial instructions or he would not have known where to take her.

精品译文

在她刚上车时告诉他要去哪里，他一定是听清了，否则他不会知道该把她送到哪。

我们看到，这个句子的谓语比较复杂，一个是must have heard，另一个是would not have known，即两个都带有情态动词。读者要注意的是，这里的must have heard不是虚拟语气，而是must表示推测的用法（详见第八章）。在英文中，“must＋have done”的结构是表示对过去的推测。也就是说，这里谈论的是一个过去的情形。接下来有一个关键词or，表示“否则”，其后面接的就是虚拟语气。此时我们要搞清楚两点：一是虚拟的时间。由or前面的句子我们知道，这里是表示对过去的虚拟；二是句子的谓语是采用虚拟主句的谓语形式还是从句的谓语形式。因为or后面的句子相当于一个虚拟主句，所以其谓语自然要采用虚拟主句的谓语形式。搞清楚这两点，就知道为什么要说would not have known了，因为这正是一个过去虚拟的主句谓语结构形式。

由此可见，这是一类较为特殊的虚拟语气。这类虚拟句一般分为两部分，两部分在语气上截然相反，一部分虚拟，另一部分不虚拟，而用的是陈述语气，用以陈述一个事实。比如上面这个句子就是“陈述句＋or＋虚拟句”这样的结构。它们二者之间往往有but，or，or else或otherwise来连接。正是因为这种虚拟与不虚拟兼而有之，一部分虚拟，一部分又跳出虚拟的圈子，故笔者称之为“跳层虚拟句”。

7.8.1　陈述句＋or＋虚拟主句

这里的连接词除了or，还可以有or else和otherwise。需要注意的是，or前面的句子是陈述语气，而后面的句子用的是虚拟语气，而且是虚拟主句。具体的谓语搭配结构是：

1．主语＋一般现在时的谓语形式，or＋主语＋would do→表示对现在事实的虚拟；

2．主语＋一般过去时的谓语形式，or＋主语＋would have done→表示对过去事实的虚拟。

请看下面的对话：

1　Jo: You look tired. What have you been doing?

Emily: I've been burning the midnight oil. Been writing my mid-term essay.

Jo: Oh no! I feel sorry for you. I thought you'd finished it already?

Emily: Yes, I did. But my teacher wasn't happy with it. She told me to do it all again!

Jo: No way! Your teacher is mean.

Emily: Well, I had to do it. Otherwise, she would have given me a low score.

Jo: I suppose if you look at it like that, then your teacher is not mean at all. After all she gave you a second chance.

Emily: Yeah, and I have to admit that my essay is better now. I really need to do well so that I can get a scholarship.

Jo: Well, good luck then.

Emily: Thanks, and I'm going to sleep like a log tonight!

妙语点睛

这里前面的had to do it表示过去的时间，otherwise后面要接一个过去虚拟的主句形式，所以谓语是would have given。

精品译文

乔：你看上去很疲惫，最近都在忙什么？

艾米丽：我最近一直在开夜车，写我的期中论文。

乔：天啊！我还以为你早就写完了呢！

艾米丽：我是写完了。可我的老师不满意，让我全部重写一遍。

乔：不会吧！你们老师也真可恶！

艾米丽：没办法啊，不然她就会给我很低的分了。

乔：要是这么说的话，你们老师也还不错。毕竟她又给了你一次机会。

艾米丽：没错，而且我必须承认，这次我的论文的确有进步了。为了得到奖学金，我必须把它做得好一点。

乔：那么祝你好运！

艾米丽：谢谢！我今晚得好好睡一觉！

2　Both the United States and China had reached a point in history where they shared an eagerness to start a new relationship, and where both were prepared to pay an ideological price for it. Mao Tse-tung clearly was willing to make the ideological sacrifice; otherwise he would not have told Edgar Snow in his unique interview that he would "be happy to talk with him (Nixon) either as a tourist or as a President".

妙语点睛

我们看到这里otherwise前面的句子用了过去时was，表示陈述过去的事实，而其后面用了过去虚拟的主句谓语形式would not have told。

精品译文

美国和中国都到了这样的历史时刻：双方都在渴望开始一种新的关系，并都准备为此付出意识形态上的代价。显然，毛泽东也愿意为此付出意识形态上的代价，否则他当初就不会在一次单独会见埃德加·斯诺时告诉斯诺他会“很高兴和他（尼克松）谈谈，不论是以游客的身份还是以总统的身份”。

3　We didn't know his telephone number, otherwise we would have telephoned him.

=We would have telephoned him if we had known his telephone number.

妙语点睛

这是1995年6月份的四级考试题。这里的didn't是表示陈述过去的事实，而otherwise的后面则是对过去的虚拟，且是虚拟主句的形式，因此要用would have done。

精品译文

我们不知道他的电话号码，要不然我们当时就会给他打电话了。

4　He must have had an accident, or he would have been here then.

妙语点睛

这是1990年1月份的四级考试题。这里or的前面通过用must have had这一形式，来表示对过去的推测，是属于陈述过去，而or的后面则用过去虚拟。

精品译文

他一定是出事故了，要不然早就到了。

5　Mary couldn't have received my letter; otherwise she would have replied before now.

妙语点睛

这里otherwise后面的句子表示对过去的虚拟，相应地，其前面的半个句子就是表示陈述过去，所以要用一般过去时。不过，这里情态动词的过去时态couldn't have done的形式表示对过去的推测，这类似于must表示推测。

精品译文

玛丽不可能收到我的信，要不然她现在已经给我回复了。

7.8.2　虚拟主句＋but＋陈述句

与or等词不同的是，这里but的前面是虚拟主句，but的后面是陈述句。该句型的使用规律是：

1．主语＋would do，BUT＋主语＋一般现在时的谓语形式→表示对现在事实的虚拟；

2．主语＋would have done，BUT＋主语＋一般过去时的谓语形式→表示对过去事实的虚拟。

当然，句中的would可换成should，might或could。这类跳层虚拟句的关键标志词是but，随着but一转折，句子的语气也由虚拟变为不虚拟，即but将句子一分为二，but前面部分的句子用虚拟语气，but后面部分的句子用陈述语气。请看例句：

1　He would put on weight, but he doesn't eat much.

=He would put on weight if he ate much.

妙语点睛

这里不用didn't，而是doesn't。因为前面的would不是表示过去时态，而是表示对现在事实的虚拟，原句相当于说If he ate much, he would put on weight.这就解释了为什么but前面的半句话相当于虚拟主句形式了，因为but后面的陈述句相当于一个虚拟从句。

精品译文

他本来是会发胖的，但是他特别注意节食，从来不会多吃。

2　He could not have bought that limousine, but he inherited a big fortune from his father.

=He could not have bought that limousine if he had not inherited a big fortune from his father.

妙语点睛

这句话相当于说If he had not inherited a big fortune from his father, he could not have bought that limousine.这就解释了为什么but前面的半句话相当于虚拟主句形式了，因为but后面的陈述句相当于一个虚拟从句。

精品译文

他本来是买不起那辆豪华小汽车的，不过他从他爸爸那里继承了一大笔遗产。

3　A: I thought you were going to call me last night about the train schedule.

B: Sorry. I would have. But Harry and Jack stopped by and stayed past midnight.

妙语点睛

这里的I would have是一个省去了called的虚拟主句，表示对过去事实的虚拟，由but后面的陈述句的谓语stopped可得知。

精品译文

A：我还以为你昨晚要给我打电话说说火车行程的安排呢。

B：抱歉，我本来是想打电话来着，但是哈里和杰克昨晚来我这里了，他俩一直呆到后半夜才走，所以我就没有打。

4　I would have gone to visit him in the hospital, had it been at all possible, but I was fully occupied the whole of last week.

妙语点睛

这里but前面的句子是过去虚拟，所以采用过去虚拟主句的谓语形式would have gone。but后面的句子是陈述过去的事实。

精品译文

如果真的有可能，我本来是想去医院看望他的，但是我上周整个一周都很忙。

5　Some women could have made a good salary in a job instead of staying home, but they decided not to work for the sake of the family.

=Some women could have made a good salary in a job instead of staying home if they hadn't decided not to work for the sake of the family.

妙语点睛

这是2000年1月份的四级考试题。这里but后面的句子是陈述过去的事实，but前面的句子是对过去的虚拟，所以采用过去虚拟主句的谓语形式could have made。

精品译文

有些妇女本来是能够挣得很高的薪水的，但是为了家庭，她们放弃了工作。

有时不用but来表示转折，而是用其他副词，比如下句中的unfortunately：

6　A safety analysis would have identified the target as a potential danger. Unfortunately, it was never done.

妙语点睛

这里的unfortunately在语义上相当于but表示转折，使句子从虚拟转为不虚拟。这里的was表示过去，因此前半部分也是表示过去，所以采用过去虚拟主句的谓语形式would have identified。

精品译文

若是有安全分析，就可以发现这个潜在的隐患，但遗憾的是，并没有做安全分析。



思维总结

共有两类跳层虚拟句，一类是由or等引导的，具体的句型结构是：

1．主语＋一般现在时谓语形式，or＋主语＋would do→表示对现在事实的虚拟；

2．主语＋一般过去时谓语形式，or＋主语＋would have done→表示对过去事实的虚拟。



另一类是由but引导的，具体的句型结构是：

1．主语＋would do，but＋主语＋一般现在时谓语形式→表示对现在事实的虚拟；

2．主语＋would have done，but＋主语＋一般过去时谓语形式→表示对过去事实的虚拟。

注意这两类句型的前后两个分句的语气正好相反。