2.4 Глагол to be с существительными

2.4.1 Наконец, надо остановиться на сочетании «to be + существительное-деятель» (player, reader и т.д.), образованное от соответствующего глагола. Оно передает постоянное качество, присущее данному человеку. Например:

Не is a good swimmer. Он хорошо плавает.

What a small eater you are! Как мало ты ешь!

Образовались даже устойчивые сочетания такого типа: to be a poor sailor плохо переносить качку на море, to be a poor correspondent не любить писать письма, to be a stranger редко бывать где-л. и др.

2.4.2 Встречаются также сочетания to be с существительным, обозначающим абстрактное понятие. Они отличаются от вышеописанных тем, что не передают постоянного признака лица или предмета, о котором идет речь. Например:

I don't imagine he's much help. He думаю, чтобы от него было много пользы.

They are very little trouble. Они не причиняют никаких хлопот.

I'm a bad influence on you. Я оказываю на вас дурное влияние.

I'm afraid, Father, I've been a disappointment to you. Боюсь, что я разочаровал вас, отец.

She's absolutely no use. От нее нет абсолютно никакого толку.

Aren't you a perfect disgrace? Ну, не стыдно ли вам?

Вопросы для самоконтроля

1. Что означает сочетание «to be + существительное-деятель», образованное от соответствующего глагола?

2. Как переводятся подобные сочетания?

3. Что обозначают сочетания to be с существительным, обозначающим абстрактное понятие?

Упражнения

I. Переведите следующие предложения, обращая особое внимание на перевод сочетаний «to be + существительное».

1. John is a strong believer in magic. 2. My parents are great readers of newspapers. 3. All of us are great letter-writers. 4. Dr. Saunders was an early riser. 5. The skipper (капитан) was a bad loser. 6. The children enjoy the warm weather. I saw seven or eight of them in the river after school. Most of them were good swimmers. 7. He was a good talker if only you could keep him off the subject of politics. 8. I am a poor correspondent, and Isabel was no letter-writer. 9. But I am a wine drinker... you don't know how I long for wine. 10. You are a nice fighter. 11. Mr Harrington was an after-dinner speaker and had read all the best books on speaking in public. 12. I suppose he had been a hard liver and a heavy drinker. 13. But the twenty dollars a week had been a life-saver. 14. Good seeing you again, Ross. Don't be a stranger. 15. She's going to be John’s heart-breaker. 16. Huple was a light sleeper, but claimed he never heard Joe’s scream. 17. My son is not a fortune-hunter and he loves your daughter. 18. It’s unfair – you are a giver and Peter is a taker. 19. At any rate beggars (нищие) can't be choosers. 20. In a very short while she knew all her fellow-passengers. She was a good mixer (общительный человек). 21. She was a great dreamer and she narrated (рассказывать) her dreams at intolerable length. 22. Rather than become eye-openers, these stories misguide people. 23. Captain Forestier played bridge well and was a keen (увлекающийся) golfer. He was not a bad tennis player either. 24. Mrs. Towler was a bad correspondent and though I sent her an occasional postcard I received no news from her. 25. No sooner had I arrived than I sent her a letter to say that I was the bearer of a gift from her cousin. 26. A dog is a great promoter of friendly intercourse. 27. "How did you feel during the flight?" "Bad. I'm a poor flier." 28. She was a great forgetter and returner. 29. "Did your husband have many friends?" "Oh, yes, he was a good mixer." 30. "You are quite a stranger," she said. Soames smiled. "I haven't wished to be; I've been busy." 31. He himself had always been a worker and a saver, George always a spender. 32. As a diagnostician he was remarkable. But when his patients spoke to him he could not hear a word. Of course, he was a practiced lip-reader.