綴字の英米差([2009-12-27-1][2009-12-23-1]),発音の英米差([2009-11-24-1])に続き,今回は文法の英米差について主要なものを10点挙げる.
(1) gotten (AmE) / got (BrE)
AmE: She's gotten into trouble in school.
BrE: She's got into trouble in school.
(2) from ... through ... (AmE) / from ... to ... (BrE).AmE で through を使うと8月を含む意味になる.BrE ではこの慣用がないため,to だけでは8月を含むのか否かが不明.BrE で「含める」読みにするには,明示的に inclusive を使うことが多い.
AmE: The tour lasted from May through August.
AmE and BrE: The tour lasted from May to August.
BrE: The tour lasted from May to August inclusive.
(3) 集合名詞の数の一致.AmE では形態が単数である限り単数扱いだが,BrE では形態が単数でも意味が複数であれば後者を重視して複数扱い.team, audience, board, committee, government, the public など.
AmE: The Government has been considering further tax cuts.
BrE: The Government have been considering further tax cuts.
(4) insist, recommend, suggest などが従える従属節における仮定法 (AmE) と should (BrE) の使用.ただし,BrE でも AmE の影響で仮定法の使用が普通になってきている.(see [2009-08-17-1])
AmE: They insist that she accept the offer. (also increasing in BrE)
BrE: They insist that she should accept the offer. (getting unacceptable in AmE)
BrE (colloquial): They insist that she accepts the offer. (not accepted in AmE)
(5) AmE で副詞の代用としての形容詞.good, slow, awful, sure など.
AmE: They pay them pretty good. (non-standard in BrE)
BrE: They pay them pretty well.
(6) AmE で like の接続詞としての使用.BrE では as if が普通.
AmE: It seems like we've made another mistake. (non-standard in BrE)
BrE: It seems as if we've made another mistake.
(7) AmE のいくつかの変種で明示的な二人称複数代名詞 you all, y'all, yous(e) の頻用.
AmE: I'll see y'all later. (South)
AmE: How much did yous want? (Northeast, esp. New York City)
AmE: We'll see you guys Sunday, okay? (informal)
(8) 現在完了と過去.AmE ではしばしば過去形が代用される.
AmE: Dolly just finished her homework.
BrE: Dolly has just finished her homework.
(9) AmE で out の前置詞としての使用.BrE では out of を用いる.
AmE: I always look out the window.
BrE: I always look out of the window.
(10) AmE で用いられる動詞の過去形の異形.BrE では括弧内の形態しかとらないが,AmE の口語では両方とりうる.
dove ( dived ), fit ( fitted ), pled ( pleaded ), rung ( rang ), sung ( sang ), sunk ( sank ), snuck ( sneaked ), swum ( swam )
・ Svartvik, Jan and Geoffrey Leech. English: One Tongue, Many Voices. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 166--69.
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