美语听力与发音技巧第十一期 | 定语从句前的停顿
摘要： 在英语口语中，定语从句前是否使用停顿（对应书面语中的逗号）取决于该从句是限定性还是非限定性的：无停顿表示限定性定语从句，用于区分多个同类对象；有停顿则表示非限定性定语从句，用于补充说明唯一对象的附加信息。
- 定语从句前无停顿（无逗号）表示限定性从句，说明主语在多个同类中特指某一个。
- 定语从句前后有停顿（书面用逗号）表示非限定性从句，主语是唯一的，从句仅提供额外信息。
- 错误使用停顿可能导致语义混淆，例如暗示存在多个本应唯一的对象（如‘另一个夏威夷’）。
- 听力和发音中准确处理停顿有助于传达清晰、准确的语义。
**小白老师说：本期的主题是定语从句前的停顿，请点击下方条形框播放音频。
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Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning English. Today’s tip is on when to use pauses before adjective clauses.
Let’s take an example. In the sentence “My sister who lives in San Francisco is a doctor”, the adjective clause is “who lives in San Francisco”. It describes my “sister”. There’s no pause before the adjective clause. So, it means that I have more than one sister, and the one who lives in San Francisco is doctor. There’s a pause after an adjective clause because it is a long sentence. But there can be no pause in the group of words “my sister who lives in San Francisco”. Because this is one idea or thought group. Listen to the sentence again. “My sister who lives in San Francisco is a doctor.” The same words used in that sentence have a different meaning if there’s a pause before the adjective clause “who lives in San Francisco”. Listen to the new sentence. “My sister, who lives in San Francisco, is a doctor.” Now there’s a pause before, and a pause after the adjective clause, and in writing, there now is a comma before and a comma after the adjective clause. This sentence means that I have only one sister. She is a doctor, and by the way, she lives in San Francisco. The information conveyed by who lives in San Francisco is not necessary to understand whom I am talking about, as I only have one sister. I just added it in passing.
If you say, “My girl friend who drives a BMW is a good dancer.” You’re saying that you have more than one girl friend. “My boss who is very generous gives me a raise every year” means I have more than one boss. “Hawaii which is an island in the Pacific is a poplar tourist spot” means there’s another Hawaii not in the Pacific. So remember to pause before and after adjective clauses only when it is referring to something or someone of which there’s only one.
This has been today’s daily tip on learning English.
常见问题
为什么“my sister who lives in San Francisco”和“my sister, who lives in San Francisco”意思不同？
前者无停顿，表示说话人有多个姐妹，特指住在旧金山的那位；后者有停顿，表示只有一个姐妹，住在旧金山只是补充信息。
如何判断定语从句是否需要加停顿？
如果去掉从句后句子核心意思不明确（即需要从句来限定主语），则不加停顿；如果主语本身已明确，从句仅为附加说明，则需加停顿。
口语中的停顿对应书面语中的什么标点？
口语中的停顿通常对应书面语中的逗号，用于标示非限定性定语从句的起止。
参考资料
Daily Tips on Learning English – Pauses Before Adjective Clauses
本文内容源自该英语学习音频节目的第十一期脚本，由‘小白老师’讲解。