双宾语和宾补,混淆的话,cut sb some slack 就费
还记得习语 cry me a river 是一个什么结构吗?cut sb some slack 跟其是一样的结构,也即双宾语结构,若被误解为是宾补结构,那么整个意思都变了,它的字面意思差不多是”划一些闲置部分给某人“,相当于 cub some slack for sb,可以意为”让某人松一口气,放某人一马“等,寓意:
give additional freedom to someone
给某人额外的自由
not judge someone severely
不严厉地评判某人
give someone a break
让某人休息一下
make some allowances for someone
为某人做些让步
allow a person to something that is usually not allowed
允许某人做一些通常不被允许的事情
例如:
I know he is not up to the mark right now but let's cut him some slack. He's new to this environment and needs time to adjust.
我知道他现在不称职,但我们还是让他松口气吧。他刚适应这种环境,需要时间来适应。
解析:up to the mark 表示达到标准,符合要求。
Teenagers have a mind of their own. It's best to cut them some slack and let them do what they are doing instead of enforcing things on them.
青少年有自己的想法。最好让他们放松一下,让他们做他们正在做的事情,而不是强迫他们去做。
解析:
1、slack 是不可数名词,所以此处用 cut them some slack.
2、instead of 后面的事物或是动作是要被替代的,而 instead 中的动作是要去做的。
Had he explained the situation to me, I would have cut him some slack and not have been so hard on him.
如果他把情况向我解释一下,我就不会对他那么严厉了。
解析:此句是虚拟语气,从句里含有 should, had, were 或其他助动词,则可将从属连词 if 省去,将助动词、情态动词 be 或 have 放在句首形成部分倒装。
I was really busy last week and couldn't finish the report. Cut me some slack and I'll do it by tomorrow.
我上周真的很忙,没能完成报告。放我一马,我明天就做。