marry 既可用作及物动词,也可用作不及物动词,意为“结婚、嫁、娶、与……结婚”等。常见用法如下:
一、be / get married (to sb.) 表示“与某人结婚”。如:
Kate was married to a doctor last month. 上个月凯特和一位医生结了婚。
When did he get married? 他什么时候结婚的?
He was married to my younger sister. 他同我妹妹结了婚。
Susan and Mike got married last year. 苏珊和迈克去年结了婚。
Hanks and Nancy will soon get married. 汉克斯和南希快要结婚了。
She got married to a teacher. 她和一位教师结了婚。
二、marry sb. 表示“嫁给某人、与某人结婚”。如:Mr White is going to marry an actress. 怀特先生将同一个女演员结婚。
George married a girl for her beauty. 乔治娶了一位姑娘,因为她长得漂亮。
He wanted to marry Helen, but she married someone else. 他想娶海伦,但是她嫁给了别人。
Will you marry him? 你愿意嫁给他吗?
三、marry sb. to sb. 表示“(父母把女儿)嫁给某人”或“(父母为儿子)娶媳妇”。如:She married her daughter to a businessman. 她把女儿嫁给了一位商人。
She married her son to a rich woman. 她为儿子娶了个有钱的女人。
四、marry用作不及物动词时,往往用副词或介词短语来修饰。如:His uncle didn't marry until forty. 他的叔叔直到40岁才结婚。
She married when she was twenty years old. 她20岁时结了婚。
She married early / late in life. 她结婚很早 / 很晚。
Marry in haste and repent at leisure. (谚语)草率结婚后悔多。
五、marry一般不与介词with连用。如:她和一位英国人结了婚。
【误】 She married with an Englishman.
【正】 She married an Englishman.
【正】 She was / got married to an Englishman.
六、若问某人是否已结婚,而不涉及结婚对象,用be / get married的形式,相当于系表结构。如:你结婚了吗?
【误】 Do you marry? / Have you married?
【正】 Are you married? / Have you got married?
【特别提示一】 在西方国家,一般不要问别人的婚姻状况,这是个人隐私。因此最好不要随便问“Are you married? / How many children do you have?”之类的问题。当不知女士是Miss还是Mrs时,请用Ms称呼。
【特别提示二】 一个名叫Mary Smith的女士,婚前可称之为Miss Smith;嫁给Mr Brown后,她便改称为Mary Brown,也可称之为Mrs Brown。