“介詞+反身代詞”的重要搭配

　　該搭配中的反身代詞通常為ourselves, themselves，且通常與動(dòng)詞agree, argue, quarrel, decide, divide, talk 等搭配，表示“彼此”“互相”“……之間”之類的意思。如：

　　They were busy arguing among themselves. 他們忙著互相爭(zhēng)論。

　　We were always quarrelling among ourselves. 我們之間老是互相爭(zhēng)吵。

　　They talked among themselves while they waited. 他們一邊等著一邊互相談話。

　　Volunteers divided the different jobs among themselves. 志愿者們分擔(dān)各種不同的工作。

　　The trainees decide among themselves what programs to take. 受訓(xùn)者自行選擇所學(xué)課程。

　　The trouble was they couldn’t agree among themselves. 麻煩的是他們自己不能取得一致的意見。

　　有時(shí)也與discussion, dispute等名詞搭配。如：

　　They had a heated discussion among themselves. 他們之間進(jìn)行了熱烈的討論。

　　They tried to settle disputes among themselves. 他們?cè)噲D解決彼此之間的糾紛。

　　搭配二 between ourselves

　　該搭配為英語(yǔ)中的固定短語(yǔ)，意思是“勿與外人道私下說(shuō)的話”“咱們私下說(shuō)說(shuō)(不足為外人道)”等，在具體語(yǔ)境中通?？梢杂斜容^靈活的翻譯。如：

　　All this is between ourselves. 這些我們只是私下說(shuō)說(shuō)。

　　Between ourselves, I think she’s a bit of a fool. 你可別對(duì)別人說(shuō)啊，我覺(jué)得她有點(diǎn)兒傻。

　　Between ourselves, I don’t think he will live much longer. 咱們私下說(shuō)說(shuō)，他活不久了。

　　Between ourselves. I think Mr. Holmes had not quite got over his illness yet. 我們私下說(shuō)說(shuō)，我認(rèn)為福爾摩斯先生病還沒(méi)完全好。

　　有時(shí)也說(shuō)成between you and me，意思一樣。如：

　　Between you and me, I think he’s rather stupid. 這是我們私下里說(shuō)的話，我認(rèn)為他很笨。

　　搭配三 by oneself

　　該短語(yǔ)有以下三個(gè)意思：

　　一是表示“單獨(dú)地”“獨(dú)自地”，與alone同義。如：

　　I often like to spend time by myself. 我平常喜歡獨(dú)自消磨時(shí)間。

　　The dog was in the house by itself for several days. 狗在房子里單獨(dú)呆了幾天。

　　She is old enough to travel by herself. 她已經(jīng)到了可以自己出門旅行的年齡了。

　　表示此義時(shí)有時(shí)還可用作表語(yǔ)。如：

　　My mother is by herself, so I must go home now. 我媽一個(gè)人在家，因此我得回家了。

　　二是表示“靠自己”“無(wú)他人幫助”，與without help同義。如：

　　I managed to do it by myself. 我是自己做成這件事的。

　　John managed to repair his car by himself. 約翰設(shè)法獨(dú)力修理自己的汽車。

　　There are many things one must do by oneself without depending on others. 有許多事情你必須自己去做，不能依靠別人。

　　三是表示“自動(dòng)地”，主要用于 by itself，意思相當(dāng)于automatically。如：

　　This is a machine that works by itself. 這是一臺(tái)自動(dòng)工作的機(jī)器。

　　The door opens by itself as you approach it. 當(dāng)你靠近時(shí)候門就會(huì)自動(dòng)打開。

　　The machine will start by itself in a few seconds. 機(jī)器在幾秒鐘后會(huì)自動(dòng)開啟。

　　搭配四 for oneself

　　該搭配主要有兩個(gè)方面的意思：

　　一是表示“自己”“親自”。如：

　　You can judge for yourself. 你可以自己做出判斷。

　　He has a fight to decide for himself. 他有權(quán)自己做決定。

　　He demanded the right to decide for himself. 他要求得到自己做決定的權(quán)力。

　　二是表示“為自己”“替自己”。如：

　　He made no complaint for himself. 他沒(méi)為自己訴苦。

　　He acted without thought for himself. 他那樣做的時(shí)候并沒(méi)考慮到自己。

　　She’s no shrinking violet—always ready to speak up for herself. 她可不膽小——任何場(chǎng)合都能為自己說(shuō)話。

　　搭配五 in itself

　　該搭配的意思是“本質(zhì)上”“實(shí)質(zhì)上”“本身”。如：

　　He is not bad in himself. 他本質(zhì)不壞。

　　The idea is not bad in itself. 這主意本身不錯(cuò)。

　　Threading a needle is an art in itself. 穿針引線本身就是一種技巧。

　　You’ve managed to complete the course—that in itself is an achievement. 你設(shè)法修完了課程——這本身就是成績(jī)。

　　搭配六 to oneself

　　該搭配的基本意思是“獨(dú)自地”“單獨(dú)地”“給自己用”，通常與某些動(dòng)詞配合使用，其含義也往往受所搭配動(dòng)詞意思的影響。如：

　　1. cry to oneself 哭著對(duì)自己說(shuō)

　　Oh Ned, Nancy cried to herself, why did you have to leave me? 哦，內(nèi)德，南希還哭著對(duì)自己說(shuō)，你為什么一定得離開我呢?

　　2. have something to oneself 獨(dú)自享用某物

　　I have the whole day to myself. 今天整天都是屬于我自己的。

　　With my parents away I’ve got the house to myself. 由于我父母不在，我可以獨(dú)自使用這所房子。

　　3. keep (oneself) to oneself 不與人交往

　　Nobody knows much about him; he keeps himself very much to himself. 誰(shuí)都不太了解他，因?yàn)樗苌倥c人來(lái)往。

　　4. say to oneself 心里想(www.yygrammar.com)

　　So I said to myself, “It’s time I left.” 所以我想：“我該走了。”

　　I woke up early and said to myself, “Shall I get up?” 我很早就醒來(lái)了，心里想：“要不要起床呢?”

　　注意：say to oneself與speak to oneself大致同義，主要指“說(shuō)給自己聽”“在心里想著”，其“自言自語(yǔ)”的成分比較少。若要表示“自言自語(yǔ)”(強(qiáng)調(diào)出聲)，可用talk to oneself。如：

　　He was probably talking to himself, which he often did now. 他也許在自言自語(yǔ)，他現(xiàn)在常常如此。

　　When she was old, she would sit in the corner talking to herself for hours. 在她年老時(shí)，她老坐在角落里自言自語(yǔ)，一說(shuō)就是幾個(gè)小時(shí)。