regret to have done是不是符合惯使用方法
■倪肖丁(西安)
《薄冰英语惯使用方法词典》第833页指出:regret后接不定式的完成式时,其意义等于regret接v-ing形式,都表示对已发生之事感到遗憾、后悔。比如: He regrets to have donesuch a thing.他后悔做了这件事。
《薄冰英语惯使用方法词典》的上述说法是不是符合英语习惯?回答是相反的。
第一,英文的习惯是:表示对已发生的事情感到后悔,regret后的动词形式应该用-ing分词,无论是doing sth还是having done sth。当然也可以用that分句。比如:
I regret telling you that John stole it.
I regret wasting/regret having wasted so much time last year.
这样的情况下不可以用regret to have done形式。比如,LDCE指出:When you are talking about the past, useregret doing sthorregret that.比如:
I have often regretted leaving the police force.
I now regret not having worked harder at school.
但不可以说* I now regret not to have worked harder at school.
Longman Essential Activator在谈到regret用于对已经发生的事情表示后悔时也明确指出:Don’t say“I regret to do it”or“I regret to have done it”. SayI regret doing itorI regret that I did it.
显然,英美辞书对regret to have done用于“表示对已发生之事感到遗憾、后悔”持否定态度,这也与大家的平时阅读体验相一致。
至于regret后接动词不定式to do...,则用于对马上传递(或已获得)的信息表示遗憾或难过。CCEG(2011)指出:Regretis only used with the to-infinitive of a small number of verbs that share the meaning of giving or receiving information.
完整内容请查询:https://www.cpsenglish.com/article/97