family

常用用法

family的意思是“家庭”,指“家庭全體成員”時(shí),為集合名詞,作主語時(shí),謂語動詞要用復(fù)數(shù)形式。作為“家庭整體”看待時(shí),謂語動詞要用單數(shù)形式。謂語動詞無論是單數(shù)形式還是復(fù)數(shù)形式, family都應(yīng)該用復(fù)數(shù)代詞指代。
family有時(shí)可作“子女,孩子”解,此時(shí)不含父母,是單數(shù)名詞,但可與不定冠詞a或an連用。
family作先行詞時(shí),其關(guān)系代詞可用who,也可用which。如表示家庭成員,則一般用who;如表示家庭整體,則一般用which。
family表示“家屬”時(shí),不包括本人。

這五個(gè)詞都有“家,家庭,家宅”的意思。其區(qū)別在于:home指某人出生以及成長的環(huán)境或與某人一起居住的地方; dwelling為文學(xué)用語,用以同商店、辦公室及其他建筑物相區(qū)別的住宅; family指的是家庭成員,與居住地?zé)o關(guān); house強(qiáng)調(diào)人們居住的建筑物本身; residence常指周圍大片土地的宅邸,也可指普通的房屋,尤其是自己的住宅。例如:
There's nothing like home.哪兒也沒有家里好。
Their clothes were in rags and their dwellings were small and poorly furnished.他們衣衫襤褸,住房狹小,家具簡陋。
Because our family is happy and healthy we reckon ourselves fortunate.因?yàn)槲覀円患胰诵腋＝】?我們認(rèn)為我們是幸運(yùn)的。
She offered to help Rose in house keeping when I was not here.我不在時(shí),她主動幫助露絲料理家務(wù)。
Buy a house, build a home.買一所房子,安一個(gè)家。
The President's residence is the White House in Washington,D.C.總統(tǒng)的官邸是華盛頓特區(qū)的白宮。

在英式英語中, in a family way作“不拘小節(jié)”解, in the family way作“懷孕”解; 而在美式英語中, in a family way和in the family way都作“懷孕”解。例如:
She spoke to me in a family way.她與我說話不拘禮節(jié)。
It makes folks happy to see a girl in the family way.人們看到女孩懷孕了會感到高興。
Sue and Liz are happy because their mother is in the family way.蘇和利茲都很高興,因?yàn)閶寢尵鸵⒆恿恕?/li>
下面兩個(gè)句子的意思不同:
How are your family?
家里人都好嗎?
How is your family?
全家好嗎?
如果側(cè)重家里的每個(gè)人,則用“are”; 如果側(cè)重全家,則用“is”,但在回答時(shí)都應(yīng)用are。
My family〔They〕 are all well.全家都好。