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This is Everyday Grammar. I'm John Russell.
这里是《每日语法》节目。我是约翰·拉塞尔。
Sometimes the traffic in Washington, D.C. is terrible.
华盛顿特区的交通有时候会很糟糕。
Just the other day, I was stuck in a traffic jam for 2 hours.
就在前几天，我因为交通堵塞被困了两个小时。
When I took a break from yelling at other drivers, I started to think about the word "traffic".
当我暂停对其他司机的大喊大叫时，我开始思考“交通”这个词。
Traffic, in English, is a noncount noun.
在英语中，traffic是个不可数名词。
In other words, English speakers don't make traffic plural by adding an "s".
换句话说，说英语的人不会通过加“s”来把traffic变成复数。
And you won't hear English speakers use "a", "an" or "the" before traffic.
而且你也不会听到说英语的人在交通前用“a”，“an”或“the”。
So, you will not hear English speakers say, "I was stuck in traffics." or "I was stuck in the traffic".
因此，你不会听到说英语的人这么说：“I was stuck in traffic.”或者“I was stuck in the traffic.”。
Even though traffic refers to a lot of individual cars that you can count, English speakers consider traffic to be a noncount noun.
即便traffic指的是你可以通过数就能数出来的汽车，但说英语的人认为，traffic是不可数名词。
In this respect, common nouns related to language study are also considered to be noncount.
在这方面，与语言研究有关的普通名词，也会被认为是不可数名词。
Like "traffic", "grammar" and "vocabulary" are noncount nouns.
和“traffic”一样，grammar和vocabulary也是不可数名词。
So, how do English speakers turn these noncount nouns into count nouns -- or nouns that can be plural?
那么，说英语的人是如何把这些不可数名词变成可数名词，也就是说可以是复数的名词的呢？
They add another noun.
他们会再加上一个名词。
So, for a single problem with traffic, we say a "traffic jam".
所以，对于一个交通问题，我们会这样说：“traffic jam”。
For one topic in grammar, we say a "grammar lesson" or a "grammar rule".
对于一个语法话题，我们会这样说：“grammar lesson”或“grammar rule”。
And that's Everyday Grammar.
以上就是今天的《每日语法》。
