第25课
虚拟语气
导言
本课在讲解虚拟语气时，所用的方法与传统讲法不同。我们试图从句子时态的改变来推论出虚拟的构成。只要同学理解了这一点，就可以举一反三。掌握虚拟语气。
虚拟语气是用来表示与事实相反或不大可能实现的情况。主要是通过动词的变化来体现的。
▲ 虚拟语气动词时态变化的规则
对于一个已经学过从句，又能正确使用时态的学生来说，掌握虚拟语气并不难。英语的虚拟语气是将句子动词原本应该使用的时态向后退一步，以表示该句与事实相反。后退的方法如下：
现在时────退──过去时
现在完成时──退──过去完成时
过去时────退──过去完成时
一般将来时──退──过去将来时
注：在虚拟语气中不用was，所有人称都用were。
1、 虚拟语气在条件句中的应用。
● If I money I it to you.
● If Iit to you.
第一句话没有使用虚拟，表示我很可能会借你钱。第二句话使用了虚拟，表示我不可能借你钱。用虚拟只是一种委婉的说法。对比两句的时态，正像我们上面所讲的，现在时退到过去时，一般将来时退到过去将来时。
● If I have time, I will go to see you.
● If
请注意比较上面两句话不同的含义与时态的变化。
╳ （假设句）
● Ifthat car.
由于我不可能是你，所以第一句话必须虚拟，因而第一句是错误的句子，但我们可以从中看出时态的变化。为了方便理解在下面的例句中都会给出一个假设句，但必须指出，例句中的假设句只是为了逻辑说明。在实际应用中是不存在的，也就是说是错的。
╳假设句If it in summer, it
虚拟句If it
如果夏天能下雪，那该多有意思。
现在时────退─过去时 （从句）
snows──────snowed
一般将来时──退─过去将来时（主句）
will be ───── would be
1．Without the air to hold some of the sun’s heat, the earth at night
_____, too cold for us to live.
A. would be freezing cold B. will be freezing coldly
C. would be frozen cold D. can freeze coldly
1．A 对将来时的虚拟退过去将来时。
╳假设句If I my checkbook yesterday, I by
check.
虚拟句
如果昨天我带支票来了，我就会付支票。
过去时────退─过去完成时（从句）
bought──────had bought
过去将来时──退─过去将来完成时（主句） would pay ──── would have paid
╳假设句If I had your address in New York, I would call on
you before I came back to China.
虚拟句
如果我有你在纽约的地址，我回中国以前，就去看你了。 过去时────退─过去完成时 （从句） had───────had had
过去将来时──退─过去将来完成时（主句） would call on ─── would have called on
2．I didn’t see your sister at the meeting. If she ______, she would have
met my brother.
A. has come B. did come C. came D. had come
表示对过去时间的虚拟，过去时退过去完成时，过去将来时，退过去将来完成时。
╳假设句If you haven’t finished the homework by now, you
to see the film this evening.
虚拟句the homework by now, you
如果你到现在还没做完作业的话晚上就不让你去看电影了。
现在完成时──退──过去完成时 （从句） haven’t finished ───hadn’t finished
一般将来时──退──过去将来时 （主句） will be allowed ─── would be allowed
╳假设句If he took my advice, he will be a scientist.
虚拟句If he had taken my advice, he would be
过去时──退──过去完成时 （从句） took ───── had taken
一般将来时──退──过去将来时 （主句） will be ────── would be
╳假设句If you were there, the meeting might go smoothly.
虚拟句If you had been there, the meeting might have gone
smoothly.
如果你要是在，会就会开得更顺利。
过去时────退─过去完成时 （从句） were───────had been
过去将来时──退─过去将来完成时（主句） might ────── might have gone
注：情态动词的时态倒退的方法与一般动词一样，如can, may等情态动词可以把它们看作将来时，could, might看作过去将来时，could have done, might have done看作过去将来完成时。
╳假设句If there was more snow last year, we will have a good
harvest this fall.
虚拟句If snow last year, we have
过去时────退──过去完成时 （从句） was──────── had been
一般将来时──退──过去将来时 （主句） will have ───── would have
注：上面的一些例句在传统教学中称为错综句，理解上比较困难。用时态后退的方法，做起来就容易了。
2、 虚拟条件句中if的省略。
如果虚拟条件句中有were或had done通常可将were或had放在句首，if可省略。
● If I had studied more, I would have passed the test.
● Had I studied more, I would have passed the test.
如果我多学习点，我就会通过考试。
● If I were in your place I wouldn’t say so.
● Were I in your place, I wouldn’t say so.
如果我处在你的位置，我就不会这样说。
1．______ for the free tickets, I would not have gone to the films so
often.
A. If it is not B. Were it not
C. Had it not been D. If they were not
虚拟条件句省略if 条件句必须倒装，因条件句是过去时，所以应
╳假设句Without your help, we able to finish
the work in time.
虚拟句Without your help,finish
the work in time.
没有你的帮助我就不能按时完成这项工作。
一般将来时──退──过去将来时
will not be───── would not be
╳假设句But for his good education, he would not get the job.
虚拟句But for his good education
过去将来时──退─过去将来完成时
would get ──── would have got
4、 在if only, wish, as if(as though)后的句子用虚拟。
╳假设句If only this rain !
虚拟句If only
如果雨会停就好了。
一般将来时──退──过去将来时
will ────── would
╳假设句If only our team scored one more point!
虚拟句If only our team had scored one more point!
如果我们的队多得1分就好了。
过去时──退──过去完成时
scored ───── had scored
1．If only he _______ quietly as the doctor instructed, he would not
suffer so much now.
A. lies B. lay C. had lain D. should lie
if only后用虚拟，从句是对过去的虚拟，应用过去完成时。主句是对将来的虚拟，应退到过去完成将来时，该句是错综虚拟语句，既主句和从句跳跃两个时间。
╳假设句I wish the semester over now.
虚拟句I wish the semester
我希望这个学期现在就结束。
现在时──退──过去时
is────── were
注：wish后的从句可以用were也可以用was
假设句I wish I didn’t get rid of those old letter.
虚拟句I wish those old letters.
过去时──退──过去完成时
didn’t get rid of ─ hadn’t gotten rid of
╳假设句He treats me as if I’a child.
虚拟句He treats me as if
他对我就像我是个孩子似的。
现在时──退──过去时
am ────── were
╳假设句He talks as if he it himself.
虚拟句He talks as if
他讲话的样子好像是他亲眼看见似的。
过去时──退──过去完成时
saw ────── had seen
1．When a pencil is partly in a glass of water, it looks as if it _____.
A. breaks B. has broken
C. were broken D. had been broken
as if 后用虚拟，现在时退过去时。
注：as though在很多情况下不用使用虚拟形式， 请看例句：
● It may look as though I’m ready for this trip, but I haven’t
even packed my suitcase.
● It seems as though we’ve knowntime instead of just two weeks.
5、独立虚拟句是指在一定的上下文中，不需要条件句、介词短语、
if only等，虚拟句也可以独立使用。
╳假设句It wrong to say so.
虚拟句
要是那样讲就错了。（不会那样讲）
will be ──────
╳假设句Only a fool him.
虚拟句Only
只有傻子才会信任他。（不会有人相信他）
一般将来时──退──过去将来时
will trust ────── would trust
6、It is（high）time that句子中that从句动词用虚拟
╳假设句It is time we are off.
虚拟句It is time we were off.
到了该走的时间了。
╳假设句
It is high time that we stop empty talk.
虚拟句It is high time that we stopped empty talk.
是该停止空谈的时候了。
╳假设句It is high time we will do something to stop air
pollution.
虚拟句It is high time we would do something to stop air
pollution.
到了我们为阻止空气污染做点事情的时候了。
▲ 在某些主语从句和条件状语从句中虚拟的用法
在It is important, impossible, strange, vital, natural, essential, desirable, preferable, advisable, appropriate, surprising, sad, that…句型中，主语从句在英国英语中用should +原形动词。在美国英语中省略should直接用原形。
在for fear that（以防……起见）引导的条件句中用法同上。 在unless, when, so(as) long as，suppose, in case, on condition引导的条件状语从句中也可用虚拟语气，用法同上。
● It is necessary that he（should）come on time to attend
the meeting.
他按时来出席会议是必要的。
● It is natural that he（should）love Merry.
他爱玛丽是很自然的事。
● He took an umbrella for fear that 他带了一把伞，以防天下雨。
● As long as my wife (should) get ready, we will go.
只要我太太准备好了，我们就去。
▲ 在suggest, propose, demand, necessary inquire, request, desire, insist, order, advise, agree等表示建议、要求、命令的动词后的宾语从句中。英国英语用should +原形动词，美国英语省略 “should”用原形动词
● He insisted that we（should）get there on time.
他坚持我们要按时到那。
● The dean proposed that the question（should）not be
discussed at once.
系主任提议这个问题不要马上讨论。
▲ 在think, expect, believe, 是否定形式时，宾语从句可用虚拟语气：should +动词原形，should不可省。
● She said she never expected I should lend money to her.
▲ were (was) to 有时在虚拟条件句中用were (was)表示试探的口气。
● If you were (was) to do something like that I would
not marry you.
如果你要做那种事，我就不会嫁给你了。
▲ would have done, should have done
从客观上讲，而should表示从主观上讲。
● You would have taken taxi to come here.
你本应该坐出租汽车来这儿。
● If I had known she was rich, I should have married her. 如果我知道她是个富翁，我本该娶她。
▲ We ____ last night, but we went to the concert instead.
A. must have studied B. might study
C. should have studied D. would study
should (would) have done 表示过去本该做，而没有做的事情。
一、阅读理解。
(1)
If I were 21 and wanted to study medicine医学, I don’t think I would pack off 打好旅行to school. ①I would get a job as an orderly（卫生员，护工）in a hospital, carrying out bedpans便盆, if necessary, and look and listen. After a year or two of that, I might know what kind of medicine I wanted to study. Maybe I would find that I preferred to become an expert in hormones荷尔蒙, rather than a surgeon外科医生. I might even end up as a chemist药剂师or a maker of surgical外科的equipment器材. I would see where the job led me.
If I were 21 and not scientifically inclined（爱好科学）, I would not disdain a job selling plastic dishes, for instance,
learn some new things about what people want to buy that would help the researcher, the designer or the manufacturer. It is not the job you take that matters so much, as what you do with it②.
I heard the other day of a young demobilized serviceman（复员军人）who was embittered because his former employer gave him his old job back—sealing envelopes. Yet sealing envelopes is not a bad job. Some bright young man might derive an invention from it. Are envelopes made the way they should be or does an envelope look the way it does because we’re used to the way it looks? I don’t know. What about the glue, our methods of stamping and addressing?
What I am getting at,③is that some people are tempted to shoot too high④. One way to find out what you want to do in life is to try all kinds of jobs. If you don’t like working in a filling station, try a store, an office, a shop, a farm. Not only will you find out what you want to do, but you will also pick up, as you go along, an amazing amount of useful information.
I know a young man who is uncertain whether to be a boat-builder or an accountant. I suggested, when he asked my advice, that he sit down at a typewriter and write two essays—one on the advantages of being a boat builder, the other on the advantages of an accountant. Then he should write two more on the disadvantages of each one, and study what he has written. One never knows what is in his mind until he gets busy and lets it out.
teens. Boys get this impression from their elders and, on emerging from the armed services at the age of 22 or 23, imagine themselves too old to take up such a noble science as, for example, medicine.
I was in my early 70’s when I studied medicine, not for a degree but to enable me better to experiment with a “fever medicine”（发热药） which we invented in our laboratories. It is used to cure or alleviate certain types of disease with heat therapy（热疗）.
Two years ago I took up hydrogen-electric welding（氢气电焊法）, and became a pretty good welder. I was trying to find a means of eliminating the sputter. I relate this in no spirit of boastfulness. I just want youngsters to know that they are never too old to learn. Even at our best, we use just a tiny bit of our brains⑤.
We are making more and more new things. The more we make, the more men will work and the more people will buy. Employment will snowball. There are more opportunities today in this land than there have ever been. They are increasing in number and I think they are infinite.
The older I get, the more I realize that the highest good is the good of the people. If I were to choose an occupation again, I should consider three things: how well it served the public; how much fun there was in it; and, of course, whether it’s financial reward would meet my need.
① pack off to school打铺盖卷去上学
② 该句是强调句型，原句应是it. 句子not…so much…that…是习惯用法，意思是“与其说…不如说…”用了It is not…that…的句型。
③ get at要说的问题是…
④ shoot too high意思是目标定的太高。
⑤ 即使我们绞尽脑汁时，我们不过用了脑子的一小部分。
1．如果你有一百万美圆，你会做些什么？
What would you do if you had one million dollar?
2．如果夏天下雪就好了。
If only it would snow in summer.
3、如果我昨天知道你要去，我也会去野餐(go on the picnic)。 I would have gone to the picnic if I had realized you were going.
练习及答案
练习非常重要，是检查你是否理解的重要手段，也是高考拿高分的不可缺少的一环。请在下载区下载!
重要提示
掌握虚拟语气，最好的办法就是记住在本该用的时态上向后退一步，既表示虚拟，现在时退过去时，将来时退过去将来时，过去时退过去完成时，过去将来时退过去将来完成时。这样，在虚拟语气上就不会再犯任何错误，即使遇上错综虚拟语气，也不会错。最后，记住几个特殊用法，虚拟语气就算基本掌握了。
● If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?
--THOMAS LOVELL BED DOES
如果世上有卖梦想的，你会买什么梦呢？
●If it were not for Hopes, the Heart would break.-------THOMAS FULLER
若不是为了希望，心早就碎了。