2018考研英語：同位語從句和定語從句的區別

考研英語來源：中公考研 2017-09-05　

同位語從句和定語從句的混淆點是：這兩種從句都可以被that引導，而且先行詞都是名詞。那么怎么區別呢?首先：先行詞雖然都是名詞，但是名詞在定語從句中做先行詞的范圍要比同位語從句廣泛很多。同位語從句的先行詞是表示信息、觀點、主張、事實等(如：idea, view, thought, order, suggestion, news, truth, hope, promise, answer, belief, condition, doubt, fear, problem, proof, question)等抽象的名詞，而定語從句的范圍不僅僅是這些名詞，換言之，如果是表示具體意義的先行詞，那么后面的從句是定語從句。

并且，連接詞在從句中的作用也不一樣。連接詞在同位語從句不做成分，因為同位語從句本身的作用是對前面的名詞進行解釋說明的補充作用;連接詞在定語從句中做成分。換言之，如果連接詞如果在從句中做成分，則從句是同位語從句，如果連接詞不在從句中做成分，則從句是定語從句。

另外，what, how, whether等不能用引導定語從句，但可用于引導同位從句。

接下來，就來看定語從句和同位語在考研英語翻譯的應用。

首先，與that引導定語從句相比，that引導的同位語從句相對要少。來看一下同位語從句的考察，劃線部分為同位語從句，加粗的字體為先行詞。

2004- (64) Being interested in the relationship of language and thought, Whorf developed the idea that the structure of language determines the structure of habitual thought in a society.

2007- (48) But the idea that the journalist must understand the law more profoundly than an ordinary citizen rests on an understanding of the established conventions and special responsibilities of the news media.

2008- (48) On the other hand, he did not accept as well founded the charge made by some of his critics that, while he was a good observer, he had no power of reasoning.

2010-(46) Scientists jumped to the rescue with some distinctly shaky evidence to the effect that insects would eat us up if birds failed to control them.

2010- (48) Time was when biologists somewhat overworked the evidence that these creatures preserve the health of game by killing the physically weak, or that they prey only on “worthless” species.

2011-(46) Allen’s contribution was to take an assumption we all share—that because we are not robots we therefore control our thoughts—and reveal its erroneous nature.

(46) But even as the number of English speakers expands further there are signs that the global predominance of the language may fade within the foreseeable future.

1997-(74) Arguing from the view that humans are different from animals in every relevant respect, extremists of this kind think that animals lie outside the area of moral choice.

再次，我們來看一下that引導的定語從句，舉兩個例子：

2001-(71) There will be television chat shows hosted by robots, and cars with pollution monitors that will disable them when they offend.

Pearson has pieced together the work of hundreds of researchers around the world to produce a unique millennium technology calendar that gives the latest dates when we can expect hundreds of key breakthroughs and discoveries to take place.

對于同位語從句，同位語的先行詞不是定語成分，而是被定語所修飾的名詞，翻譯方法可以是“先行詞+是+同位語從句”。而定語從句的翻譯可以把先行詞帶入到連接詞的位置，按著英文原文的順序進行翻譯就可以。