弄混双宾语和宾语补足语,轻则意思背道而驰,重则闹出笑话,比如 make him a good wife,若把它理解宾补结构,则意思就变成“让他成为一个好妻子”,很明显,这个不符合常理,所以它是一个双宾语结构,可以变成 make a good wife for him.She will make him a good wife.
同理,对 make all the difference 结构的不同理解,则会产生截然不同的意思;若把它理解为双宾语结构,则相当于 make the difference for all,意为“为所有的带来不同”;若理解为宾补结构,则意为“使所有的不同”,前后的意思大不不同。但实际上 make all the difference 是一个习语,它是一个宾补结构,表示产生重要的影响,相当于 an important effect,意为“大不相同或关系重大”,相当于 make a (big) difference,例如:It will make all the difference when a mother calls their daughter before they head out for an interview.When I saw my friends at my graduation party, it made all the difference.当我在毕业晚会上看到我的朋友时,一切都变得不同了。The new evidence brought forth by the detectives made all the difference.A fresh coat of paint has made all the difference for that old house.Changing schools made a big difference to my life.He's much happier now; his new school seems to have made a big difference.
类似于 make a (big) difference 的表达方式还有 make no difference 或 make any difference 等,后面常跟 to/in sb/sth,例如:The rain didn't make much difference to the game.It is debatable whether or not antibiotics would make any difference.It doesn’t make any difference now what he says; it’s too late for apologies.
Make all the difference 还可以延申意为“使更好受”,相当于 make sb feel better,例如:A few kind words at the right time make all the difference.
由于 difference 本身就是不同的意思,它对应的形容词是 different,因此表达“大不相同”,还可以用程度副词修饰 different 来表示,后面常接 from/to/than sb/sth,常见的程度副词有 very,quite 或 totally 等,例如:
生活在非洲完全不同于在家里,那真是一次不同寻常的经历。Tigers and sheep have quite different natures.
老虎和羊有完全不同的天性。
My approach is totally different to his.
我的方法和他的完全不同。
词或词组辨析: