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辨析Where Did You Go与Where Were You
作者:张满胜
来源:《新东方英语》2013年第04期
很多读者都来信问到下面这道题:
When I called you this morning, nobody answered the phone. Where ______ ?
A. did you go
B. have you gone
C. were you
D. had you been
这是2007年高考重庆卷第33道选择题。读者的疑问主要在于应该选A还是选C。
有读者认为选项A为正确答案,句子补充完整后如下。
a. When I called you this morning, nobody answered the phone. Where did you go?
今天早上我给你打电话时没有人接听。你当时去哪儿了?
也有读者认为选项C为正确答案,句子补充完整后如下。
b. When I called you this morning, nobody answered the phone. Where were you?
今天早上我给你打电话时没有人接听。你当时在哪儿?
这两句话似乎都没什么问题,那么到底该选哪一项呢?下面笔者将从两个方面——动作与状态的区别以及when从句的时态与句意——来对选项A和C进行比较,并给出正确答案。
动作与状态的区别
从动作与状态的角度来看,where were you是针对状态提问,而where did you go是针对动作提问。两者虽然都用的是一般过去式,但含义不尽相同,下面我们来一一分析。
Where were you
既然where were you用的是一般过去式,那么这个针对状态的提问就与一个表过去的具体时间紧密相联。在文章开头那道题的题干语境中,where were you所指的时间就要与上文this morning这一时间紧密相联,因而整个句子其实在问:“今天早上我打电话的时候你在哪儿?”
Where did you go