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真的不可以說catch on fire？
■本站特約作者 李 翔
曹焰主編《英語正誤用法指南》(商務印書館2005年10月第1版) p246:
W: The house caught on fire.
R: The house caught fire.
catch fire是習語，表示“點燃”，“著火” [ignite; start to burn], 中間無須再加介詞。
從以上可以看出該書認為catch fire是正確的，而 catch on fire是錯誤的。然而很多詞典都認為不僅catch fire是正確的，而且 catch on fire也是正確的。例如 葛傳槼主編的《新英漢詞典》(上海譯文出版社2000年12月第1版)p479就有這樣的論述：
catch (on) fire 1. 著火, 開始燃燒: Cotton catches fire easily. 棉花易燃。2. 得到廣泛(或熱情)支持；激起熱情
除此之外，以下詞典也持這樣的觀點：
1. (日)田中茂范等主編 楊文江等譯《外研社英漢多功能詞典》(外語與教學研究出版社2008年7月第1版)p791:catch (on) fire ①(偶然地)著火：A candle fell over and a curtain caught fire.蠟燭倒了，少找了窗簾。 ②(狀況、事件)變得有趣，氣氛熱烈起來：The game caught fire as soon as the second half began.下半場比賽剛開始就高潮迭起。
2. 張道真編著的《現(xiàn)代英語用法詞典》(重排本) (外語教學與研究出版社1994年10月第1版)P498：catch(on) fire 燃著，著火
First the curtain caught on fire and then the bedclothes. (Whitford)
The little girl was severely burned when her dress caught on fire. (Wood)
通過查閱《現(xiàn)代英語用法詞典》(重排本)引用文獻可知：
① (Whitford) 代指 H. C. Whitford主編的 A Handbook of American Idioms and Idiomatic Usage(1953) 及 Handbook of American Idioms and Idiomatic Usage (by Harald C. Whitford and Robert J. Dixon, revesed and expanded)(1973)
在Harald C. Whitford and Robert J. Dixon 主編的Handbook of American Idioms and Idiomatic Usage New Edition ( Regents Publishing Company 1973)P49上可以查到：fire, catch on fire begin to burn:- First the curtain caught on fire and then the bedclothes.
② (Wood)代指 F. T. Wood, Current English Usage (1962), English Verbal Idioms(1973)和 English Prepositional Idioms (1979)
3. 在 Frederick T. Wood 主編的English Prepositional Idioms（First edition 1967 reprinted 1970）P256上可以查到：
The little girl was severely burned when her dress caught on fire.
With catch on fire the on is often omitted (“Her dress caught fire”), …
4. Richard A. Spears主編的 McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs P91：
catch (on) fire to ignite and burn with flames. Keep your coat away from the f lames, or it will catch fire.
The curtains blew against the flame of the candle and caught on fire.
5. Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) (© Oxford University Press 2009):
fire 2. b. to catch, take fire (set on fire): to become ignited Also(colloq. or vuglar), to catch on fire
1866 CONWAY Living or Dead X, Now, don’t catch on fire like that, Philip.
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