表示“一日三餐”名詞的用法

1. 在通常情況下，表示一日三餐的 breakfast, lunch, supper前不用冠詞。如：

Breakfast is served until 9 a.m. 早餐一直供應到上午9點。

Can you manage lunch on Tuesday? 你星期二能來吃午飯嗎?

與介詞after, at, before, for, over, since, without等搭配時，通常也不用冠詞。如：

I often nod off for a little while after lunch. 我在午飯后常睡一小覺。

At breakfast this morning he said that he would be very busy today. 今天早餐時，他說他今天會很忙。

Please make your beds before breakfast. 請在早飯前把床鋪好。

I nearly always go home for lunch. 我差不多總是回家吃午飯。

She scanned the newspaper over breakfast. 她吃著早飯把報紙大略看了一遍。

I haven’t eaten since breakfast. 我吃了早飯后到現(xiàn)在還什么都沒吃呢。

I had to go without breakfast this morning as I was in a hurry. 我今早很匆忙，只好不吃早飯了。

有時介詞at與介詞during意思相同。如：

It happened at [during] lunch. 此事發(fā)生在吃午飯的時候。

2. 若是特指某一頓早、中、晚餐，則可在其前加定冠詞或甚至其他限定詞。如：

Thank you for the breakfast. 謝謝你的這頓早餐。

Let’s get the supper ready. 咱們把晚飯準備好。

After that breakfast, I never saw her again. 吃了那頓早餐后，我就再沒有看到過她。

3. 若受到描繪性定語的修飾且表示非特指，其前通常要用不定冠詞。如：

We had a working lunch. 我們吃了一頓工作午餐。

I only want a small supper. 晚飯我只想吃一點東西。

He takes a packed lunch to work every day. 他每天帶(盒裝)午飯上班。

After a quick breakfast, he hurried to the station. 匆匆忙忙吃完早餐，他就趕到車站去了。

The walk is expected to last all day so bring a packed lunch. 預計要走一天，所以要帶份準備好的午飯。

We were well primed for the journey with a large breakfast. 為了去旅行，我們早餐都吃得飽飽的。

4. 表示一日三餐的名詞通常是不可數(shù)的，所以當要表示一日三餐具體的“量”時，可用some, much, little等修飾。如：

She doesn’t eat much breakfast. 她早點吃得不多。

She always eats very little supper. 她晚飯總是吃得很少。

We made ourselves some breakfast. 我們自己做了點早飯。

當然，也可不直接用 much, little 等修飾，而換用其他表達。如：

She never eats much for breakfast. 她早點從不多吃。

5. 雖然表示一日三餐的名詞不可數(shù)，但有時為了強調(diào)不同種類的飯餐或不同人食用的飯餐時，也可使用復數(shù)形式。如：

Does this pub provide lunches? 這家酒館供應午餐嗎?

Free school lunches are given to children who qualify. 符合條件的兒童可享受免費的午餐。

如果受到these, those等的修飾，自然也要用復數(shù)。如：

I’m used to wine with my meals, so I find these lunches rather unsatisfying. 我習慣于吃飯時喝葡萄酒，因此我覺得這些午飯相當不令人滿意。

6. 表示“吃”早餐、中餐或晚餐，英語通常用 have。如：

They were having breakfast when I arrived. 我到達時，他們正在用早餐。

He suggested that we have lunch at the hotel. 他提議我們在賓館吃午飯。

其實也可用 take 或eat(只是相對來說較少見而已)。如：

Won’t you stay and take lunch with us? 留在這兒吃午飯好嗎?

We hardly had time to eat breakfast. 我們簡直沒有時間吃早飯。

根據(jù)情況可搭配其他動詞。如：

Who is making [getting] breakfast? 誰在做早飯?

She ordered lunch for 1.30. 她定了午餐, 在1時30分開飯。

They provided breakfast as well as dinner. 他們提供早飯和晚飯。

Four waiters served us lunch. 有四個服務員招待我們吃午飯。

7. 表示一日三餐的名詞有時可用于另一名詞前作定語。如：

Orange juice is a popular breakfast drink. 橙汁是受歡迎的早餐飲料。

Americans love breakfast cereals in the form of flakes. 美國人喜歡薄片狀的谷類早餐食品。

She included some chocolate in each child’s lunch bag. 她在每個孩子的午餐包里加了一些巧克力。

An older boy intimidated the little children when he took their lunch money. 一個年齡大一點的男孩恐嚇那些小孩，并且拿走了他們的午飯錢。

8. 中國、美國、英國對一日三餐的叫法