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the police作主語時(shí)，謂語動(dòng)詞不可以用單數(shù)形式嗎？

江蘇省豐縣   李 翔

■先看以下說明：

1. Michael Swan著Practical English Usage (Third Edition 2005) p517：

The police are looking for a fair-haired man in his twenties. (Not The police is looking... OR A police ...)

2. L. G. Alexander著 Longman English Grammar《朗曼英語語法》(雷航等譯 外語教學(xué)與研究出版社2002年月第16次印刷)p82：

下列集合名詞沒有復(fù)數(shù)，但他們須用復(fù)數(shù)動(dòng)詞：..., the police (警察),...。

The police have surrounded the building. 警察包圍了那座建筑物。

3. N D Turton and J B Heaton主編的Longman Dictionary of Common Errors (Eleventh impression 2003) p263：

ⅹThe police was not able to find anything.

√ The police were not able to find anything.

Police is always used with a plural verb: ‘ The police have a very difficult job to do.’

■以上比較有影響的語法專著都認(rèn)為the police作主語時(shí)，謂語動(dòng)詞只能用復(fù)數(shù)形式，不能用單數(shù)形式。趙振才教授在其編著得《英語常見問題解答大詞典》(增訂版)(世界圖書西安出版公司2005年3月第1版)p1098說明了原因：就詞本身的語法特點(diǎn)而言，police與class，committee，audience，family，faculty是完全不同的。police，如同作“人們”解的people一樣，是一個(gè)無標(biāo)記的復(fù)數(shù)名詞(unmarked plural noun)，永遠(yuǎn)不用作單數(shù)。而上列其它名詞既有單數(shù)形式，又有數(shù)形式(class—classes)。在要求謂語動(dòng)詞的這一點(diǎn)來看，police也與class等名詞不同，它永遠(yuǎn)要求謂語動(dòng)詞用復(fù)數(shù)。 

然而，也有這樣的解釋：

1. 張道真編著的《英語語法大全》(外語教學(xué)與研究出版社1998年8月第1版)p26：有個(gè)別的集體名詞可用作不可數(shù)名詞， 如：police (警察總稱)，...

筆者注：張道真在其編著的《實(shí)用英語語法》(1995年修訂重印本)(外語教學(xué)與研究出版社1995年8月第1版)p40指出：另外police 和cattle總是用復(fù)數(shù)，例如：

Several hundred police were on duty. 幾百個(gè)警察在執(zhí)勤。

而在其編著的《張道真實(shí)用英語語法》( 最新版)(外語教學(xué)與研究出版社2002年5月第1版)p498指出：有些集體名詞都指復(fù)數(shù)的人或物，后面都用復(fù)數(shù)謂語：

The police are going to question him. 警察將審訊他。

可以看出張道真先生在“the police作主語時(shí)謂語動(dòng)詞是否可用單數(shù)形式”這個(gè)問題上的矛盾心理，一方面大多數(shù)具有影響力的語法專著都認(rèn)為“the police作主語時(shí)謂語動(dòng)詞不可以用單數(shù)形式”；而另一方面無論英國英語還是美國英語都客觀存在“the police作主語時(shí)謂語動(dòng)詞用單數(shù)形式”的真實(shí)例證。

2. 朱梅萍等編著《最新托福語法教程》(外語教學(xué)與研究出版社1992年)p7：police跟 class, team, committe, audience, family, faculty為同一類名詞，他們可根據(jù)不同情況使用單數(shù)動(dòng)詞或復(fù)數(shù)動(dòng)詞。

筆者認(rèn)為朱梅萍等老師的說法是和英語的客觀情況是相吻合的，the police用作主語時(shí)，謂語動(dòng)詞用復(fù)數(shù)形式當(dāng)然是正確的，但也不能不顧客觀實(shí)際，就武斷專橫地認(rèn)為謂語動(dòng)詞用單數(shù)形式是錯(cuò)誤的。因?yàn)闊o論在英國英語還是美國英語中，the police作主語時(shí)，謂語動(dòng)詞用單數(shù)形式的情況是可斷存在的，是不容置疑的。請(qǐng)看the police作主語時(shí)，謂語動(dòng)詞用單數(shù)形式的真實(shí)例證：

1. BNC(英國國家語料庫http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk)

和BUY-BNC BRTISH NATIONAL CORPUS (UK,1980s-1993) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University ) http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/：

The police is still seen as the first line of defence, but in recent years there has been increased co-operation between the police and the military, as in the joint exercises conducted at Heathrow in preparation for possible terrorist incidents. (筆者譯：警察仍然被視為第一道防線，但在最近幾年已增加了警察和軍隊(duì)的合作，正如在希思羅機(jī)場為準(zhǔn)備可能發(fā)生的恐怖事件而進(jìn)行的聯(lián)合軍事演習(xí)。)

Maybe the police has made me this way, but do you not see that if you're going to come in here asking me questions about my family, if you're going to want to know all these things, I've got to be able to trust you? (筆者譯：也許警察讓我這樣做，但你沒有看到，如果你到這里來問我有關(guān)我家庭的問題，如果你想知道所有這些事情，我必須得能信任你？

The police has simply forgotten to tell the owner they had found it. (筆者譯：警察只是忘記告訴主人，他們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了它。)

2. BYU: THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY(http://corpus.byu/oed/):

1889 We'd as good as got a free pardon.., now the police was away. (筆者譯：我們等于被寬恕了…… ，現(xiàn)在警察走了。)

1910 As the police is a Federal department, we, Montserratians can have a say in the matter. (筆者譯：警察是聯(lián)邦的一個(gè)部門，我們蒙特塞拉特人在這件事有發(fā)言權(quán)。)

3. BUY CORPUS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (1990-2009) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University) http://www.americancorpus.org/：

2008 All along I was just thinking the police is, you know, just framing some poor guy. (筆者譯：一直以來我只是認(rèn)為警察，你知道，只是給某個(gè)可憐的家伙捏造罪名。)

2001 Do you think the police has done the proper job? (筆者譯：你認(rèn)為警察做了恰當(dāng)?shù)墓ぷ鲉幔?/FONT>)