英文法5分ドリル【比較③】

本記事は独学・国内学習による
英検1級保持者が書きました。

比較級の慣用表現＜know better than to do＞
( = be wise enough not to do )
「…しないくらいの分別がある 」
これに＜should have done＞「…するべきだったのに」
を組み込んで＜should have known better than to do＞
「…しないくらいの分別があるべきだったのに」
の形を用いて
should have known better than to trust him とまとめる。
notは使う余地が無い。
正解：
You should have known better than to trust him.
You ought to have been more cautious in putting trust in him.
You were supposed to have a better understanding not to rely on him.

＜no less….than ～＞ の知識が前提。
Mary is no less beautiful than her sister.
noは「比較した結果，差がno(ゼロ)」の意で
「メアリーは（絶対的に美しい）姉と比較して、
美しさの点で劣る (less) 度合いがゼロ (no)」
→ 「メアリーは姉と同様に美人である」
書き換えると,
　　Mary is as beautiful as her sister.
＜no 比較級 than＞ の場合の no の働きは2つ。
　⑴ 差がゼロ ▸ thanをイコールの意味にする
　⑵ 後ろの言葉のイメージを反対にする
問題文を書き換えると,
　　I am no less anxious to study abroad than you (are).
than you を anxiousの後ろの置くことになる。
伝えるべきメッセージの核心となる比較対照 (than you)
を早めに出すことでメッセージをよりクリアにしたい
という話者の気持ちの現われ。
正解：
I am no less anxious than you to study abroad.
My eagerness to study abroad matches yours completely.
I'm just as excited as you are about studying abroad.

made を用いた無生物主語構文でまとめる。
前提となる文は,

Her composure 　made 　her 　seem old.
　　 S　　　　　　V　　　 O 　　　C
これに比較級表現＜比較級＋than A＞を組み込む。
和文「実際より」の処理が2つ目の焦点。
「その時点での彼女の実年齢」の意味なので　
than she was old
と表現することになる。
old は比較基準なので強制消去。was は任意消去。
よって older than she was となる。
正解：
Her composure made her seem older than she was.
Despite her actual age, her poise gave the impression of being older.
Her calm demeanor created an illusion of maturity beyond her years.

＜the＋比較級＋of the two(＋名詞)＞
「2つ(2人)のうちから～」
2つの物の場合でも口語では the best と最上級を用いること
もあるが文語では誤りとされる。
of は文頭に置かれることもある。
これは新情報を文末で掲げる(旧情報を前に置く)ためである。
また，文脈上明らかなら of の副詞句は省略されうる。
　　(Of the two girls,) My sister is the taller.
　　「背の高い方が妹です」
正解：
The taller of the two men fired at the policeman.

　　He spends much pocket money.
　　I spend pocket money.
　　　▼
　He spends as much pocket money / as I do [=spend money].
much は形容詞として pocket money を修飾する働きで用いる。
正解：
He spends twice as much pocket money as I do every month.
He's using double the amount of pocket money that I am each month.
I spend only half of what he spends as pocket money monthly.


比較構造の基本原理
＜比較文＝2文合成文＞
　　Tom speaks English quickly.
　　His brother speaks English quickly.
　　　　　▼
Tom speaks English more quickly　/ than does his brother.
　(a) / まででmoreを取り除いた場合に完全な一文構造が成立
　(b) 比較基準になる語の出現は1度 (than, 2個目のas以降に省略が生じる)
　(c) than以降は倒置・反復回避による代用表現に注意
　(d) 2文合成の際に比較基準となる語は強制消去
　(e) thanは本来接続詞　(接続詞に見えない場合は反復回避による省略の可能性を考える)
　(f) (a)の考え方はmoreの代わりにless, -er, 1つ目のas［so］でも同じ

　He is not strong.
　He used to be strong.
　　　　▼　　　　　
　He is not so strong / as he used to be. strong
＜参考＞
as …asに挟まれた比較基準の形容詞・副詞は
比較対象によっては本来の意味を失い時に反意になる。
He is intelligent.
▸ He is as intelligent as a monkey.
　(やつはアホだ)
正解：
He is not so strong as he used to be.
His strength isn't what it once was.
He's not as robust as he was before.

前提となる文は，
　　There is much water in the sea.
倍数表現の ＜x times as ～　as＞を組み込む。
さらに，倍数表現を修飾する語はその前に置くので、
about forty times as の語順が決まる。
比較の対象が前置詞句 in the sea とon land である。
正解：
There is about forty times as much water in the sea as on land.
The sea contains roughly forty times more water than the land.
There's about fortyfold more water in the sea compared to the land.

基本構造は
＜All S have to do is (to) do＞
「Sに出来ることは ～ することだけだ」
補語になる (to) do に study hardと置いて　
「出来るだけ」 ＜as＋原級＋as possible＞
の比較表現を組み，
study as hard as possible とまとめる。
なお，
All S have to do is (to) do は「Sは～さえすればよい」
という和文が与えられることも多い。
正解：
All you have to do is study as hard as possible.
Your sole task is to dedicate yourself to studying with maximum effort.
All that's required of you is to put in the utmost effort in your studies.

It is as＋原級＋to do A as to do B の基本構造。
To do A is as＋原級＋as to do B
という2つの to不定詞が比較対照になっている形から，
形式主語Itをたてて書き換えたものと考える。
次の2文から考える。
　　To win a war is disastrous.
　　To lose a war is disastrous.
「戦争に負ける」のと「戦争に勝つ」という比較対象を
disastrous「悲惨」という比較基準で比べて引き分けなので
as…asを組み込み2文合成すると,
　　To win a war is as disastrous / as to lose one(=a war ).
形式主語Itを立てて書き換えると,
　　 It is as disastrous to win a war as to lose one.
as＋原級＋asを修飾する語の位置はその直前と決まっているので,
　　It is almost as disastrous to win a war as to lose one.
なお，読解の際には2個目のasの直後にit isを補って考える。
また「ある戦争( a war )に勝つこと」と
「ある戦争( a war )に負けること」
との比較として one を用いたが
「ある戦争(a war)に勝つこと」と
「その同じ戦争(the war)に負けること」
の比較であればitを用いることになる。
正解：
It is almost as disastrous to win a war as to lose one.
The consequences of winning a war can be nearly as catastrophic as losing one.
Winning a war can be almost equally disastrous as losing it.

【音読基本英文】

You should have known better than to trust him.
You ought to have been more cautious in putting trust in him.
You were supposed to have a better understanding not to rely on him.



I am no less anxious than you to study abroad.
My eagerness to study abroad matches yours completely.
I'm just as excited as you are about studying abroad.



Her composure made her seem older than she was.
Despite her actual age, her poise gave the impression of being older.
Her calm demeanor created an illusion of maturity beyond her years.



The taller of the two men fired at the policeman.
The man with more height fired at the policeman.
The man with greater height fired at the policeman.
The more tall of the two men fired at the policeman.
The more tall man of the two fired at the policeman.




He spends twice as much pocket money as I do every month.
He's using double the amount of pocket money that I am each month.
I spend only half of what he spends as pocket money monthly.




He is not so strong as he used to be.
His strength isn't what it once was.
He's not as robust as he was before.




There is about forty times as much water in the sea as on land.
The sea contains roughly forty times more water than the land.
There's about fortyfold more water in the sea compared to the land.





All you have to do is study as hard as possible.
Your sole task is to dedicate yourself to studying with maximum effort.
All that's required of you is to put in the utmost effort in your studies.



It is almost as disastrous to win a war as to lose one.
The consequences of winning a war can be nearly as catastrophic as losing one.
Winning a war can be almost equally disastrous as losing it.


今後も英語に関する情報を発信していきます。