人名前可用冠词吗
先来看一道题:
________ are coming to see us tonight.
A. The Smith B. The Smiths C. Mr Smiths D. Mr Smith
【分析】此题应选B。容易误选C、D,因为在通常情况下,人名前不用冠词。此题要选B,理由是:姓氏的复数形式前加定冠词,可以表示某一家人或某某夫妇。又如:
The Lius live upstairs. 刘家住在楼上。
The Blacks managed to buy a computer for their son. 布莱克夫妇设法为他们的孩子买了台电脑。
以下各例的人名前也用了冠词,请注意它在汉语中的意思:
A Mr Brown wants to see you. 一位叫布朗先生的人要见你。
They thought he was a Zhuge Liang. 他们认为他是个诸葛亮。
He is a Newton of today. 他是当代的牛顿。
The painting on the wall is a Rembrandt. 墙上的这幅是伦勃朗的作品。
Lu Xun was called the Gorkey of China. 鲁迅被认为是中国的高尔基。
He was the Homer of his age. 他是他那个时代的荷马。
He’s sitting in the Ford. 他坐在福特牌汽车里。
A few minutes later he was met by an anxious Miss Smith. 几分钟后焦急的史密斯小姐向他迎了上来。