学生在英语写作中用作形容词和副词的情形比较复杂，比如受相似词形的影响而用错，因搭配而用错，因语法不熟悉而用错，因修饰关系而用错，另外还有比较等级的用法，等等。如：

 

误用：No matter how hardly they work, the person they are responsible for is working twice as hard.

改为：No matter how hard they work, the person they are responsible for is working twice as hard.

分析：hard 和 hardly 都是副词，但两者意思完全不同：前者意为“努力地”，后者意为“几乎不”。又如：I was sure he was telling the truth and yet I did find it hard to believe. 我肯定他在说实话，不过我的确感到难以相信。

句意：无论他们花多大力气，他们负责照管的那个人都要付出双倍的力气来工作。

 

误用：Cameras can’t make the kind of adjustments the brain does and this factor means that a drawing of a place and a photograph taken of the same spot look very differently.

改为：Cameras can’t make the kind of adjustments the brain does and this factor means that a drawing of a place and a photograph taken of the same spot look very different.

说明：用于系动词 look 后面作表语，要用形容词，而不是用副词。类似地：The dinner smells good. 这饭菜闻起来真香。 Silk feels soft and smooth. 绸缎摸起来柔软光滑。

句意：照相机无法像人脑那样作出调整，这一因素意味着表现一个地方的画作与在同一地方拍摄的照片看起来有很大差别。

 

误用：Reluctantly the night porter decided that he would have to disturb the asleep guests.

改为：Reluctantly the night porter decided that he would have to disturb the sleeping guests.

说明：asleep 是表语形容词，一般不能单独放在名词前作定语。要表示“正在睡觉”，可用sleeping作定语，又如：He awoke the sleeping child. 他把那个睡着的孩子弄醒了。

句意：虽不情愿，那位夜间服务员后来还是决定他必须打扰一下那些睡觉的客人。

 

误用：Buying cheap tyres is a false economy-they may cost a bit less, but they will wear out fairly more quickly.

改为：Buying cheap tyres is a false economy-they may cost a bit less, but they will wear out much [far, a lot] more quickly.

说明：fairly可以修饰形容词和副词的原级，但不能修饰比较级，可用于修饰形容词副词比较级的副词或短语有：a lot, a bit, a little, any, by far, even, far, much, no, rather, still等。又如：For them enthusiasm is a lot more important than talent. 译：对他们来说，热情比才华更为重要。

句意：买便宜的轮胎也许省一点钱，但磨损起来也更快―这是徒有其表的节约。

 

误用：Angel and I were off to another life, another world, which was hopefully a more happier one than the one we had known at the orphanage.

改为：Angel and I were off to another life, another world, which was hopefully a much happier one than the one we had known at the orphanage.

说明：more只构成比较级，而不能修饰比较级。可用于修饰形容词副词比较级的副词或短语有：a lot, a bit, a little, any, by far, even, far, much, no, rather, still等。又如：Nowadays children are much healthier. 现今孩子们比过去健康。 It is much cheaper if you buy it in large quantity. 如果你大批购买会便宜很多。

句意：安琪尔和我出发走向另一种生活、另一个世界，我们希望它比我们在孤儿院时所知道的世界更快乐。

 

误用：The weather of Beijing is just as cold as that of Lanzhou, but colder than Shanghai.

改为：The weather of Beijing is just as cold as that of Lanzhou, but colder than that of Shanghai.

说明：同样的事物才能相比较，句中的weather和Wuhan不具有可比性，只有“北京的天气”和“上海的天气”才能放在一起比较。类似地：A grandparent’s job is easier than that of a parent. 祖父母的任务比父母的任务要轻松一些。(R2) A dog’s intelligence is much greater than that of a cat. 狗的智慧比猫的高得多。(R2)

句意：北京的气候和兰州一样冷，但比上海冷。

 

误用：The tulip is the more beautiful flower in John’s garden.

改为：The tulip is the most beautiful flower in John’s garden.

析：表示“……是……中最……的”时，当句子中修饰的名词是单数的时候，应该用“主语 + be + the + 形容词/ 副词最高级 + 单数名词”表示，不能用比较级。如果要用比较级表达最高级的意思，则可以使用“主语 + be + 形容词 / 副词比较级 + than + any other + 名词单数”来表示。上面的句子也可表达成 Tulip is more beautiful than any other flowers in John’s garden。

句意：郁金香是约翰的花园中最美丽的花朵。

 

误用：I feel pretty old when I see how the young generation behaves.

改为：I feel pretty old when I see how the younger generation behaves.

说明：汉语说“年轻一代”“老一代”等，没有比较意味，但说成英语分别是 the younger generation, the older generation, 这里通常要用比较级（而不用原级）。又如：Many representatives of the older generation were there. 老一辈的各类人都在那里。 顺便说一句，汉语说“高等教育”，说成英语是 higher education，而不能是 high education，如：The government’s policy on higher education is a success. 政府的高等教育政策很成功。

句意：看到年轻一代的举止行为，我觉得我太老了。

 

误用：The US emits as eight times carbon dioxide as lndia, despite having less than a third the population.

改为：The US emits eight times as much carbon dioxide as lndia, despite having less than a third the population.

说明：修饰 as…as…结构的副词应置于第一个 as 之前，而不是之后。又如：This room is three times as large as that one. 这个房间是那个房间的三个大。There are five times as many widows as widowers. 寡妇人数是鳏夫人数的五倍。

句意：尽管美国的人口不到印度的三分之一，但其二氧化碳的排放量却是印度的八倍。

 

误用：That new thick plastic rope that they sell is stronger than other you can get.

改为：That new thick plastic rope that they sell is stronger than any other you can get.

说明：由于“他们出售的那种新的粗塑料绳”也是“你能买到的”塑料绳之一，所以为了避免逻辑混乱，应在 any 后加上 other。又如：He swims faster than any other student in his class. 他比班上的其他任何学生都游得快。Swallows fly faster than any other bird. 燕子飞得比其他鸟要快。

句意：他们出售的那种新的粗塑料绳比你能买到的都结实。

 

误用：The more I thought about it, the more I became confused.

改为：The more I thought about it, the more confused I became.

说明：由于 the more 是修饰 confused 的，所以应将 the more 直接置于 confused 之前。类似地：The more things a man is ashamed of the more respectable he is. 一个人引以为耻的事情越多，就越可尊敬。The more learned a man is, the more modest he usually is. 越是有学问的人，通常越谦虚。

句意：我对此考虑得愈多，就愈感到迷惑不解。