名词age的几条用法说明
1. 表示“年龄”,注意以下常见表达:
He’s ten (years old). / He’s ten years of age. 他10岁。
How old is he? / What’s his age? / What age is he? 他多大年纪?
I have a son (of) your age. / I have a son the same age of you. 我有一个像你这样大小的儿子。
Their ages are ten and twelve. 他们的年龄分别是10 岁和12岁。
2. 表示“在……年龄时”,英语通常用“at the age of+数字”,有时可省略成“at age+数字”,或只用“at+数字”。如:
She was left a widow at the age of thirty. 她30岁时成了寡妇。
In Britain, schooling starts at age 5. 在英国,教育从5岁开始。
Larry passed university exams at sixteen. 拉里16岁时就通过大学考试。
有时也说at…years old。如:
At fifteen years old he left school. 他15岁时中学毕业了。
另外,at the age of…这类短语通常用作状语,但有时也可用作状语。如:
His first appearance on stage was at the age of three. 他3岁时初次登台。
3. 汉语中说“他年纪大(轻)”,在英语中不能直译为:His age is old (young). 可译为:He is old (young). 同样地,英语中可以说 at the early age of 30(年仅30岁),一般不说 at the young age of 30。但有趣的是,英语中通常不说 young age, 但却可以说 old age(老年)和 middle age(中年)。如:
She didn’t get married until she was well into middle age. 她步入中年以后才结婚。
The fear of death obsessed her throughout her old age. 她晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。
4. 表示“时期”“时代”,多用单数形式;在口语中可引申指“很长时间”,可用复数形式也可用单数形式。如:
The 18th century was the golden age of the novel. 18世纪是小说的黄金时代。
It’s ages [an age] since we last met. 我们好久没见面了。
Haven’t seen you for ages [an age]. 好久不见了。