Ask & Learn聞問切英語口語:Luxury or Luxuries?

讀者 Anthony 讀報時看到下面兩句：

1. Daily baths were a luxury that most families could not afford.

2. It is revealing to realise that some so-called necessities in modern life - showers, changes of clothes, keeping up our looks, and many others - may be luxuries that can be done without.

Anthony 問為什么在第一句 daily baths 這個眾數的主語后面是一個單數的補語 luxury，而第二句中 so-called necessities 也是眾數，后面的補語 luxuries 卻用了眾數？

我們先看看比較簡單的第二句。句中的necessities 是指showers、changes of clothes、keeping up our looks 一類的日?；顒?，我們可以很清楚地一、二、三……一項一項數出來，所以后面的賓語luxuries，也是以眾數出現，這不難明白。

我們再看回第一句。表面上daily baths 也不是眾數嗎？其實我們應該這樣去理解：這里的daily baths 指的不是洗了多少個澡，而是每天可以洗澡這事，因此也就應該把它看成是單數了。

換句話說，這里的daily baths，或者應該看成 "taking daily baths"。

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