答: 可以。
It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. ( 無論什麼情況、什麼人,沒有充分證據而相信任何事,都是不對的。)
— — W. K. Clifford
所謂通常不能用進行時貌(progressive aspect)的動詞,指 murder、win 這種動詞,其動作是短暫的,通常不能寫成進行式,如:
The man who murdered the child was arrested.
*The man who was murdering the child was arrested.
What’s the name of the girl who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize?
?*What’s the name of the girl who was winning the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize?
(註: 這句前面打個小問號,表示並不是直截了當的錯:雖不能理解爲「正在得獎」,卻有另一個可能的意思:用進行式表達未來,對未來作預測;另一個例子可能更易看出這意思:Which country is winning the trade war?)
那麼,以上兩例可以把關係子句轉換成 -ing 形式的非限定子句(nonfinite clause)嗎?如下:
? The man murdering the child was arrested.
? What’s the name of the girl winning the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize?
答案是可以,以上兩句都正確。這自然引起一個疑問:
動詞的 -ing 形式,不就是現在分詞(present participle)的形式?而現在分詞不就是表達動作的「進行」嗎?爲什麼突然又可以說,「正在謀殺小孩的男人」或「正在得獎女孩」?
答案是,最後兩例的 -ing 形式,表面上雖然有進行式的樣子,它們實際上是所謂非限定子句這總類底下的一種。在 CamGEL 中固定稱爲 gerund-participial clause,這是我認爲較爲科學(但難免曲高和寡)的說法,在較早的另一本文法大書 Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (CGEL)則稱 -ing participle clause (-ing 分詞子句)。
CGEL 在多處明言:非限定子句當中的-ing子句,礙於其形式上的(formal)限制,和不定詞(to-infinitive)子句相比,是無法表達進行式和非進行式的區別的。所以,像前述
The man murdering the child was arrested.
這 -ing 形式,並不能明白區別是進行式還是非進行式,它既可能是 who (has) murdered the child,也可能是 *who was murdering the child,而既然後者是一個不該存在的意思,前者於是成了唯一可能還原的意思。
結論:任何動詞不管是action/event/stative其中的哪種特性,都可以寫成 -ing 子句,和進行式的意思並沒有絕對必然的關聯。
CGEL pp. 237–238
Meaning in the nonfinite verb phrase
4.67 Our discussion of meaning in this chapter has concentrated on finite verb phrases, and in conclusion we must give some attention to nonfinite verb phrases. The same semantic distinctions apply to both finite and nonfinite verb phrases, in so far as the structural possibilities of the nonfinite verb phrase permit. We have seen, however, in 3.56 that the modal construction and the distinction between present and past tense do not apply to the nonfinite verb phrase; and in 4.18f that the nonfinite perfective construction has the general meaning of anteriority. Distinctions of aspect are the only ones which are expressed within the constructional possibilities of a single nonfinite verb phrase. Even then, the full range is only possible within an infinitive phrase:
Sir Topaz appears
{ to be winning his race. [simple progressive]
{ to have won his race. [simple perfective]
{ to have been winning his race. [perfective progressive]In an -ing participle phrase in adverbial clauses, the perfective/nonperfective contrast is sometimes available:
Eating a hearty breakfast, } [1]
Having eaten a hearty breakfast, } [2]
we prepared for our journey.From [1], we understand that the eating and the preparation took place together, while from [2], we understand that the breakfast preceded the preparation.
But the progressive/nonprogressive contrast is not normally applicable here, since -ing participle phrases are incapable of expressing this distinction formally (cf 3.56). Moreover, the -ing participle itself is not, in spite of its appearance, necessarily associated with the progressive:
Being an enemy of the Duke’s, }
Realizing he was in danger, }
Having no news of his wife, }he left the court immediately. [3]
(For further discussion of the semantics of such -ing participle constructions, see 16.40.)
To prove this point, the -ing participles in [3] are all stative and incompatible with the progressive:
*He was being an enemy of the Duke’s.
?*He was realizing he was in danger.
*He was having no news of his wife.Nevertheless, there are constructions in which the -ing participle construction has aspect contrast with the infinitive, and is progressive in meaning (cf 16.52f):
I {saw, heard} them {shoot, shooting} at him.
Whereas the infinitive shoot suggests a single shot, the -ing participle suggests a repetitive action lasting over a period of time, in accordance with the interpretation of the progressive aspect in finite verb phrases referring to momentary events (cf 4.35). In:
I watched them {climb the tower. [4]
{climbing the tower. [5]the infinitive climb suggests that they reached the top of the tower, whereas the participle climbing connotes the potential incompleteness of the progressive.
實際語料才是判斷文法規則對錯的唯一依據
以下是隨手搜查Google Books找到的一百多年來的實際書籍、文件的用法,僅列出幾個。各位,盡信文法書不如無書,實際存在世上的用法實例(attested examples)才是決定任何文法規則對錯的唯一依據。
The Cycle — Volumes 1–2 — Page 13
https://books.google.com/books?id=49JOAAAAYAAJ
1886
The second race will be for ten miles ; and if a third is necessary, the man winning the toss is to have the privilege of naming the distance, from one to fifteen miles.Annual Report of the State Director of Industrial Education to the …
https://books.google.com/books?id=4lBAAQAAMAAJ
New Mexico. Department of Education — 1915
The girl winning the prize was very much discouraged at the beginning, as she hardly knew how to use a needle.Proceedings of the … Continental Congress of the National Society …
https://books.google.com/books?id=zFxXAAAAYAAJ
Daughters of the American Revolution. Continental Congress — 1940
The latter also presented a pin to the girl winning the local dress contest.Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine
https://books.google.com/books?id=9s9KAAAAYAAJ
1973
The man winning the highest number of electoral votes became president, according to the law at that time.Canadian Labour Law Reporter: Transfer binder
https://books.google.com/books?id=gAhaAAAAYAAJ
1998
Bruce Cameron, the first officer on the flight, became suspicious of the conduct of the petitioner and the woman winning the prize.The Ghosts of Magnificent Children
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1781992509
Caroline Busher — 2016
The man winning the fight was about six feet tall.Educating “Good” Citizens in a Globalising World for the … — Page 54
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=9463003460
MURRAY PRINT, Chuanbao Tan — 2016
Now let us imagine that the man winning the $100 is already extremely wealthy — a multimillionaire in fact.