family

常用用法

family的意思是“家庭”,指“家庭全體成員”時,為集合名詞,作主語時,謂語動詞要用復數(shù)形式。作為“家庭整體”看待時,謂語動詞要用單數(shù)形式。謂語動詞無論是單數(shù)形式還是復數(shù)形式, family都應該用復數(shù)代詞指代。
family有時可作“子女,孩子”解,此時不含父母,是單數(shù)名詞,但可與不定冠詞a或an連用。
family作先行詞時,其關系代詞可用who,也可用which。如表示家庭成員,則一般用who;如表示家庭整體,則一般用which。
family表示“家屬”時,不包括本人。

這五個詞都有“家,家庭,家宅”的意思。其區(qū)別在于:home指某人出生以及成長的環(huán)境或與某人一起居住的地方; dwelling為文學用語,用以同商店、辦公室及其他建筑物相區(qū)別的住宅; family指的是家庭成員,與居住地無關; house強調(diào)人們居住的建筑物本身; residence常指周圍大片土地的宅邸,也可指普通的房屋,尤其是自己的住宅。例如:
There's nothing like home.哪兒也沒有家里好。
Their clothes were in rags and their dwellings were small and poorly furnished.他們衣衫襤褸,住房狹小,家具簡陋。
Because our family is happy and healthy we reckon ourselves fortunate.因為我們一家人幸福健康,我們認為我們是幸運的。
She offered to help Rose in house keeping when I was not here.我不在時,她主動幫助露絲料理家務。
Buy a house, build a home.買一所房子,安一個家。
The President's residence is the White House in Washington,D.C.總統(tǒng)的官邸是華盛頓特區(qū)的白宮。

在英式英語中, in a family way作“不拘小節(jié)”解, in the family way作“懷孕”解; 而在美式英語中, in a family way和in the family way都作“懷孕”解。例如:
She spoke to me in a family way.她與我說話不拘禮節(jié)。
It makes folks happy to see a girl in the family way.人們看到女孩懷孕了會感到高興。
Sue and Liz are happy because their mother is in the family way.蘇和利茲都很高興,因為媽媽就要生孩子了。