在任何語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)中最困難的一個(gè)方面就是，要能理解并運(yùn)用大量成語(yǔ)。接下來(lái)，小編給大家準(zhǔn)備了如何巧學(xué)善用英語(yǔ)成語(yǔ),歡迎大家參考與借鑒。

　　如何巧學(xué)善用英語(yǔ)成語(yǔ)

　　英語(yǔ)有15000多個(gè)成語(yǔ)，而且本族語(yǔ)使用者常常在不自覺(jué)的情況下頻繁使用它們。這就造成了與本族語(yǔ)使用者的溝通不暢。

　　What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example:

　　什么是成語(yǔ)呢?一個(gè)成語(yǔ)就是一組詞，當(dāng)結(jié)合在一起使用時(shí)，其意與單個(gè)詞語(yǔ)所表達(dá)的意思均不相同。例如：

　　-How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated

　　你怎么知道席德和南希分手了?

　　-I heard it on the grapevine.

　　我是從小道消息聽(tīng)到的。

　　Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying2 the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine.

　　當(dāng)然，第二個(gè)談話者并不是說(shuō)，他把耳朵貼在葡萄藤上才聽(tīng)到這個(gè)關(guān)于約翰的消息的!他只是在形象地表達(dá)一種意味，即這個(gè)消息通過(guò)一個(gè)類(lèi)似葡萄藤的巨大網(wǎng)絡(luò)傳播開(kāi)來(lái)。

　　We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.

　　我們使用成語(yǔ)是要表達(dá)其它詞語(yǔ)無(wú)法如此清晰或如此巧妙表達(dá)的東西。我們經(jīng)常會(huì)運(yùn)用比喻和象征以便盡可能清晰地描述事物，因而可以盡可能有效地闡述我們的觀點(diǎn)。比如，“in a nutshell”表明的意思是，用很少幾個(gè)詞來(lái)涵蓋所要表達(dá)的全部意思。成語(yǔ)往往是非正式的，最好用于口語(yǔ)，而不要用在非書(shū)面表達(dá)中。

　　One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context3 in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in their context. For example:

　　學(xué)習(xí)成語(yǔ)的最好方法之一是查看它所在的上下文。而這可以通過(guò)通讀句子其它部分來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)，并試著猜測(cè)其意。當(dāng)把許多成語(yǔ)放在上下文中考慮，理解起來(lái)就不那么難了。例如：

　　We are going to have a surprise party for Tom tomorrow. It's a secret so please don't let the cat out of the bag.

　　明天，我們要給湯姆舉辦一個(gè)驚喜聚會(huì)。這是一個(gè)秘密，因此請(qǐng)不要泄露秘密。

　　'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom. Imagine you don't know what this idiom means; by looking at the words preceding4 it should be easy to guess that the speaker does not want you to tell Tom about the surprise party. Therefore, 'let the cat out of the bag' must mean something like' reveal5 a secret' or 'tell a secret'.

　　“Let the cat out of the bag”是一個(gè)成語(yǔ)。設(shè)想你不知道這個(gè)成語(yǔ)的意思;如果看看之前的單詞，就會(huì)很容易地猜出，講話者是不想讓你跟湯姆談及驚喜聚會(huì)的事情。因此，“l(fā)et the cat out of the bag”一定是“揭露秘密”或“泄露秘密”之類(lèi)的意思。

　　Other examples:

　　其它例子：

　　He was on the carpet last week for being late to work three times.

　　上星期，他由于遲到三次而受到批評(píng)。

　　It was a very long report. It took me three hours to wade6 through.

　　那是一個(gè)很長(zhǎng)的報(bào)告。我花了三個(gè)小時(shí)才總算讀完它。

　　Let's call it a day. I'm very tired and I think we have covered the main points of the meeting already.

　　我們今天就到此為止。我很累，而且我認(rèn)為，我們已經(jīng)處理了這次會(huì)議的主要問(wèn)題。

　　擴(kuò)展：中國(guó)人最易犯錯(cuò)的16句英語(yǔ)

　　1. I very like it

　　I like it very much.

　　2. 這個(gè)價(jià)格對(duì)我挺合適的。

　　The price is very suitable1 for me.

　　The price is right.

　　Note：suitable(合適的、相配的)最常見(jiàn)的用法是以否定的形式出現(xiàn)在告示或通知上，如：下列節(jié)目兒童不宜。The following programme2 is not suitable for children在這組句子中用后面的說(shuō)法會(huì)更合適。

　　3. 你是做什么工作的呢?

　　What’s your job?

　　Are you working at the moment?

　　Note：what’s your job這種說(shuō)法難道也有毛病嗎?是的。因?yàn)槿绻恼勗拰?duì)象剛剛失業(yè)，如此直接的問(wèn)法會(huì)讓對(duì)方有失面子，所以您要問(wèn)：目前您是在上班嗎?Are you working at the moment?接下來(lái)您才問(wèn)：目前您在哪兒工作呢?Where are you working these days?或者您從事哪個(gè)行業(yè)呢?What line of work are you in?順帶說(shuō)一下，回答這類(lèi)問(wèn)題時(shí)不妨說(shuō)得具體一點(diǎn)，不要只是說(shuō)經(jīng)理或者秘書(shū)

　　4. 用英語(yǔ)怎么說(shuō)?How to say?

　　How do you say this in English?

　　Note：How to say是在中國(guó)最為泛濫成災(zāi)的中國(guó)式英語(yǔ)之一，這決不是地道的英語(yǔ)說(shuō)法。同樣的句子有：請(qǐng)問(wèn)這個(gè)詞如何拼寫(xiě)?How do you spell that please?請(qǐng)問(wèn)這個(gè)單詞怎么讀?How do you pronounce this word?

　　5. 明天我有事情要做。I have something to do tomorrow?

　　Sorry but I am tied up all day tomorrow.

　　用I have something to do來(lái)表示您很忙，這也完全是中國(guó)式的說(shuō)法。因?yàn)槊繒r(shí)每刻我們都有事情要做，躺在那里睡大覺(jué)也是事情。所以您可以說(shuō)我很忙，脫不開(kāi)身：I’m tied up.還有其他的說(shuō)法：I’m I can’t make it at that time. I’d love to, but I can’t, I have to stay at home.

　　6. 我沒(méi)有英文名。I haven’t English name.

　　I don’t have an English name.

　　Note：許多人講英語(yǔ)犯這樣的錯(cuò)誤，從語(yǔ)法角度來(lái)分析，可能是語(yǔ)法功底欠缺，因?yàn)閔ave在這里是實(shí)義動(dòng)詞，而并不是在現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)里面那個(gè)沒(méi)有意義的助動(dòng)詞。所以，這句話由肯定句變成否定句要加助動(dòng)詞。明白道理是一回事，習(xí)慣是另一回事，請(qǐng)您再說(shuō)幾話：我沒(méi)有錢(qián);I don’t have any money.我沒(méi)有兄弟姐妹;I don’t have any brothers or sisters.我沒(méi)有車(chē)。I don’t have a car.

　　7. 我想我不行。I think I can’t.

　　I don’t think I can.

　　Note：這一組然是個(gè)習(xí)慣問(wèn)題，在語(yǔ)法上稱(chēng)為否定前置，這就是漢語(yǔ)里面說(shuō)“我想我不會(huì)”的時(shí)候，英語(yǔ)里面總是說(shuō)“我不認(rèn)為我會(huì)”。以后您在說(shuō)類(lèi)似的英語(yǔ)句子的時(shí)候，只要您留心，也會(huì)習(xí)慣英語(yǔ)的說(shuō)法的，

　　8. 我的舞也跳得不好。

　　I don’t dance well too.

　　I am not a very good dancer either.

　　Note：當(dāng)我們說(shuō)不擅長(zhǎng)做什么事情的時(shí)候，英語(yǔ)里面通常用not good at something，英語(yǔ)的思維甚至直接踴躍到：我不是一個(gè)好的舞者。