时间状语从句

一、when, while和as

1．When既可引导一个持续动作，也可引导一个短暂动作，可用于主句和从句动作同时发生或从句动作先于主句动作。当主句是将来时，从句的时态用现在时。（when在实际中用得最多）

I told my children when Lincoln was your age he walked twelve

miles to school everyday. But my son said, “That’s nothing. When he was your age, he was president.”

我告诉我的孩子：当林肯你那么大岁数时他每天走12英里去学校，我儿子说，“那没什么，当他你那么大岁数时已经当总统了”。

there’s a side to President Reagan that people don’t know. When he was a young man, he read complete works of Shakespeare. Of course, when Reagan was young, Shakespeare hadn’t written all that

里根总统还有一面人们并不知道，年轻时他曾读过莎士比亚全集——当然里根年轻时莎士比亚还没写那么多。

注：讽刺里根读书少，岁数大。

当when引导的时间状语从句为系表结构，而且其主语和主句的主语一致，其标语又是一个名词，就可以以as引导的省略句来代替when引导的从句。如：

As a young man, he read complete works of Shakespeare.

他年轻时读过莎士比亚全集。

When the game is finished, the king and the pawn[卒] go into to the same box.

游戏结束时，国王和士兵进入同一个盒子。

注：人生就象一场游戏，游戏结束时，亿万富翁也好，平头百姓也好都进入一样大小的棺材（或骨灰盒）。Finish为短暂动作，从句动作先于主句动作。

场景再现：在筹集善款的晚会上，可以这么调侃：

How noisy an audience can be when you ask for quiet ____ and how quiet it can be when you ask for money.

（多么令人惊奇啊，）当你要求安静时听众乱烘烘的——当你要钱时全场一片寂静。

2．While引导的动作必须是持续性的，侧重主句动作和从句动作相对比。如：

Plumber（水暖工）: I’m sorry I was late.

Man: While we were waiting for you, I taught my wife how to swim.

水暖工：很抱歉我来晚了。

男人：我们等你的时候，我教我太太学游泳。

3．As引导一个持续动作，多用于主句和从句的动作同时发生。如：

A man ate each night in the same restaurant and at the same table. One night, as he was leaving, he walked up a wall, across the ceiling, down another wall, and out the door.

“That’s odd,” his waiter said. “Usually he says good night.”

一个人每天都在同一家饭馆同一张桌子上吃饭，一天晚上，当他离开时，他走上墙，穿过天花板，从另一面墙走下来，从门出去。

服务员说“真奇怪，他通常说晚安”。

注：服务员对那个男人的天马行空习以为常，但对于他不打招呼就走感觉奇怪。

As I look back, there is only one thing I wish I could have saved for my old age --- the years between twenty and thirty.

我回头看看只有一件东西是我希望为自己的老年保存起来的——20岁到30岁的岁月。

4．When还可以用作并列连词，其意义为“在那时，在这时”，相当于and at this/that time。

Heisenberg is out for a drive when he\'s stopped by a traffic cop. The cop says, "Do you know how fast you were going?"

Heisenberg says, "No, but I know where I am."

HEISENBERG驾车外出被交警拦住。警察问，“你知道你开得多快吗”？

HEISENBURG说，“不知道，但我知道我在哪儿”。

Frannie was kneeling down saying his prayers when her four-year-old brother sneaked（鬼鬼祟祟做事） up behind her and pulled her hair.

“Pardon me, God,” said Frannie, “I’ll be right back after I kick Herbie.”

Frannie正跪着祈祷，她四岁的弟弟从后面偷偷摸摸*近她，揪他的头发。她说，“原谅我，我踢了Herbie后马上回来”。

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