carping

grammar · medium

易错句子Their constant carping the new rules never stops.

正确表达Their constant carping about the new rules never stops.

表示抱怨的对象时，carping 后面必须接介词 about（carping about sth / carping about doing sth），不能像汉语“抱怨某事”那样直接跟宾语。补上 about，介词搭配才符合英语习惯。

grammar · medium

易错句子His constant carping about everything are annoying.

正确表达His constant carping about everything is annoying.

carping 作名词表示“过度的抱怨”时是单数概念，谓语要用 is。汉语没有主谓一致的变化，容易忽略单复数；这里主语中心词是 carping，所以必须用单数动词。

grammar · medium

易错句子There was many carping about the new policy.

正确表达There was much carping about the new policy.

carping 表示“过度的抱怨”时是不可数名词，只能用 much、little 一类词修饰，不能用 many；汉语“很多”不分可数与不可数，容易误用 many。若要强调多次具体的抱怨，可说复数 many carpings。