Grammar and Optimism

The word first appeared in translations from the French writer Voltaire.

這個詞首次出現在法國作家伏爾泰作品的翻譯中。

We also have a closely related noun that appeared in English at about the same time, optimist.

我們還有一個與之密切相關的名詞，大約在同一時間出現於英語中，那就是「樂觀者」。

An optimist is a person with a hopeful way of looking at things.

樂觀者是指以充滿希望的眼光看待事物的人。

The two nouns differ by only one letter.

這兩個名詞僅差一個字母。

Optimism ends in an m and suggests a general feeling or belief.

樂觀主義以字母 m 結尾，暗示一種普遍的感覺或信念。

Optimist ends with a t, and means a person with a hopeful worldview.

樂觀者以字母 t 結尾，意指一位擁有希望世界觀的人。

From optimist, we can add an -ic ending to get an adjective.

從樂觀者這個詞，我們可以加上 -ic 後綴來得到形容詞。

Optimistic describes a person who is hopeful about the future or expects good things to happen.

樂觀的用來描述對未來充滿希望或預期好事即將發生的人。

From optimistic, we can add an -ally ending to get an adverb, optimistically.

從樂觀的這個詞，我們可以加上 -ally 後綴來得到副詞，即「樂觀地」。

The word describes or modifies verbs.

這個詞用來描述或修飾動詞。

So we have a family of words.

因此我們擁有一組相關的詞彙家族。

We have two nouns, optimism and optimist.

我們有兩個名詞：樂觀主義和樂觀者。

From the noun optimist, we can add more letters to get the adjective optimistic and the adverb optimistically.

從名詞「樂觀者」出發，我們可以添加更多字母來得到形容詞「樂觀的」和副詞「樂觀地」。

Now, how do we use these words in everyday discussions?

那麼，我們如何在日常對話中使用這些詞彙呢？

It is important to remember that some words are commonly used together.

重要的是要記住，有些詞彙經常被一起使用。

You might think of these as high frequency structures, or word groups you see or hear a lot in speech and writing.

你可以將這些視為高頻率結構，或是你在口語和書寫中經常看到或聽到的詞組。

What are some of these high frequency structures?

這些高頻率結構有哪些？

Let's start with optimism.

讓我們從樂觀主義開始。

Google's ngram viewer tells us that the most commonly used word before optimism is the short word of.

Google 的 Ngram 檢視器告訴我們，最常出現在「樂觀主義」之前的短詞是「of」。

For example, we might say the following.

例如，我們可能會這樣說。

At that time, people in the streets were happy.

當時，街上的人們都很開心。

The economy was strong.

經濟強勁。

A feeling of optimism was in the air.

空氣中瀰漫著一股樂觀的情緒。

What about the noun optimist?

那關於名詞「樂觀者」呢？

Once again, Google's ngram viewer tells us that another short word is commonly used before the noun optimist.

再次，Google 的 Ngram 檢視器告訴我們，另一個短詞經常出現在名詞「樂觀者」之前。

In this case, the short word is an.

在這種情況下，這個短詞是「an」。

So you are likely to hear or read something like this: "I am an optimist," or "She is an optimist."

因此你很可能會聽到或讀到類似這樣的內容：「我是個樂觀者」，或「她是個樂觀者」。

What about the adjective optimistic?

那關於形容詞「樂觀的」呢？

Once again, Google's ngram viewer tells us that the short word "an" is the most commonly used word before "optimistic."

再次，Google 的 Ngram 檢視器告訴我們，短詞「an」是最常出現在「樂觀的」之前的詞彙。

So you are likely to hear or read something like the following: He gave an optimistic answer.

因此你很可能會聽到或讀到類似以下的內容：他給出了一個樂觀的回答。

Finally, we have the adverb optimistically.

最後，我們有副詞「樂觀地」。

What is the most commonly used word before it?

最常出現在它之前的詞是什麼？

In this case, we have the verb said.

在這種情況下，我們有動詞 said。

You are likely to hear or read something like this.

你可能會聽到或讀到類似這樣的內容。

The traffic doesn't look too bad," she said optimistically.

「交通狀況看起來還不算太糟，」她樂觀地說道。

Now let's take some time to work with these ideas.

現在讓我們花點時間來處理這些概念。

Fill in the blank with the correct word, either noun, adjective, or adverb.

用正確的字填空，可以是名詞、形容詞或副詞。

She spoke about the country's economic outlook.

她談論了該國的經濟前景。

The correct word is the adverb optimistically.

正確的字是副詞 optimistically（樂觀地）。

The sentence is: She spoke optimistically about the country's economic outlook.

這個句子是：She spoke optimistically about the country's economic outlook（她樂觀地談論了該國的經濟前景）。

We know that the adverb is needed because it is modifying or describing the verb spoke.

我們知道需要副詞，因為它修飾或描述動詞 spoke。

How did she speak?

她是如何說的？

She spoke optimistically.

她樂觀地說道。

Now let's consider another example.

現在讓我們考慮另一個例子。

Fill in the blank.

請填空。

Tom is always so hopeful.

湯姆總是如此充滿希望。

He's an, at heart.

他本質上是一個樂觀的人。

The correct answer is the noun optimist.

正確答案是名詞 optimist（樂觀者）。

The full statement is Tom is always so hopeful; he's an optimist at heart.

完整的陳述是：湯姆總是如此充滿希望；他本質上是一個樂觀的人。

We know that the answer is optimist because the words coming before optimist suggest a noun phrase.

我們知道答案是 optimistic，因為出現在 optimist 之前的詞暗示了一個名詞片語。

When we see the short word "an," that tells us that a noun or noun phrase is coming.

當我們看到短詞「an」時，這表示接下來會出現一個名詞或名詞片語。

In today's report, we explored a few closely related words.

在今日的報導中，我們探討了一些密切相關的詞彙。

We also learned about commonly used structures.

我們也學習了常用的結構。

There are, of course, other ways to talk about hopeful views or ideas about the future, but that will have to be the subject of another lesson.

當然，還有其他方法可以表達對未來的希望觀點或想法，但這將成為另一堂課的主題。

I'm John Russell.

我是約翰·羅素。