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by far究竟該怎樣用？
本站特約作者 李 翔
陳根花老師在《高考英語網(wǎng)》之“《高中英語知識問答詞典》選輯”（http://www.nmet168.com/Article/201011/2982_2.html）上說：
(5) 當by far用于修飾比較級且置于其前時，比較級前要用the。如：
He is by far the cleverer than her. 他比她聰明得多。
It’s quicker by far to go by train. 坐火車去要快得多。
注：by far與比較級連用，通常要放在比較級之后，若放在比較級前，則比較級通常應帶有冠詞。如：
He is cleverer by far than her.
It’s by far the quicker to go by train.
筆者認為陳老師對“當 by far 用于修飾比較級且置于其前時，比較級前要用the”這句話理解有誤。筆者認為應當這樣理解：by far不可以用于 “… the +比較級+than+ …”句型之中的 the 的前面，即“He is by far the cleverer than her. 他比她聰明得多”這句話是錯誤的；但可以用于“… the +比較級+(名詞)+(of…)”句型之中的the 的前面，即“It’s by far the quicker to go by train.”是正確的。
請看以下例證：
1. 葛傳槼編著《英語慣用法詞典》(新修訂本)(時代出版社 1958年9月初版) p245：
(2)“by far”可以用在屬于superlative degree的詞前面，不可用在comparative degree的詞前面；如可以說“This is by far the best of the five.”，不可說“This is by far better than that.”，(但用了“the”便可以把“by far”用在前面；例如“This is by far the better of the two.”。) (筆者注：葛教授既然說‘但用了“the”便可以把“by far”用在前面’，為什么不直接把“This is by far better than that.”改為“This is by far the better than that.”這句與陳老師所說“ He is by far the cleverer than her.”非常相似，還要“多此一舉”，另外舉例“This is the better of the two.”呢？請看下文的分析！)
(3)“by far”可以用在屬于comparative degree的詞后面：“This is better by far than that.”。但這種用法不很普遍。
2. 劉旭寶主編《英美語慣用法實用詞典》(西南交通大學出版社1993年5月第1版) p426: …… by far則多用于最高級。
p427: [by] far, much等都能用于比較級和最高級的任何一方。(例) This is far (or much) better than that. [這時不用by far]
This is by far the better of the two. [用the+比較級+of這個結(jié)構(gòu)時，即使是比較級也可用by far。]
3. 陳敦金主編的《英美語慣用法詞典》(增訂版)(福建教育出版社2002年3月第3版)p449：far 和by far都可以作比較級(用far比較常見)或最高級(用by far比較常見)的強化修飾語，但位置不同。兩者均可用于肯定句，不用于否定句。注意下列句子中的far 和by far的位置：
She is (by) far the better actress / the better actress by far / *far.
This is (by) far the most expensive bicycle in the shop/ the most expensive bicycle in the shop by far / *far.
4. Morton Benson等著《朗文實用英語詞語搭配詞典》(上海譯文出版社 1996年6月第1版) p443: She is by far the better player.
5. 在The CORPUS OF CONTEMPORAY AMERICAN ENGLISH (1990-2010) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University) http://www.americancorpus.org/ 上共有2066例包含“by far the”的例句，但僅有1例屬于by far用于 “… the +比較級+than+ …”句型之中：
2006 Montfleury might be grossly huge and Cyrano as lean as a greyhound, but as celebrities went, Cyrano de Bergerac was by far the larger--larger than Life, in fact.
卻有by far用于“… the +比較級+(名詞)+(of…)”句型之中的例句：
1990 But Madhya Pradesh, by far the poorer of the two states, …
1991 …the Confederate flag was by far the more beautiful and really meant something important, too.
1992 The Shining Path was by far the greater threat: …
1997 The second part, and by far the harder of the two, is …
1999 Frank Lloyd Wright is by far the better architect, I think, a beautiful architect.
2010 …but that's by far the smaller part of it.
綜上所述，“當by far用于修飾比較級且置于其前時，比較級前要用the”指的是by far可以用于“… the +比較級+(名詞)+(of…)”句型之中，但不可以用于 “… the +比較級+than+ …”句型之中。
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