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Hi Faith! Have you seen Citizen Kane?
嗨，费斯！你看过《公民凯恩》吗？
Yes! It's amazing, one of the best movies of all time.
看过！这部电影太棒了，是有史以来最好的电影之一。
I watched Citizen Kane last night and was struck by a line that had some complex grammar in it.
昨晚我看了《公民凯恩》，其中有句台词的语法很复杂，令我印象深刻。
Really? Which one?
真的吗？哪句台词？
The part where Kane says, "You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man."
凯恩说：“伯恩斯坦先生，如果我本来并不富裕，我或许能成为一个真正伟大的人。”
The line uses what you might call the past unreal conditional.
这句台词使用了过去虚拟条件句。
"...if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man."
“……如果我本来并不富裕，我或许能成为一个真正伟大的人。”
It involves an if-clause (if I hadn't been very rich) and a result clause (I might have been a really great man).
它包括一个条件从句（如果我本来并不富裕）和一个结果句（我或许能成为一个真正伟大的人）。
The if-clause is in the past perfect, and the result clause uses the structure helping verb + have + past participle.
条件从句使用了过去完成时，结果句使用了“助动词+have+过去分词”的结构。
When English speakers use this structure, the helping verb used in the result clause has several possibilities: would, could and might.
当以英语为母语的人使用这个结构时，结果句中使用的助动词有以下几个：would，could和might。
The helping verb "would" expresses a desirable or expected result.
助动词“would”表示期望的或预期的结果。
The verbs "could" and "might" express possibility.
助动词“could”和“might”表示可能性。
So, Kane could have said, "...if I hadn't been very rich, I would have been a really great man..."
所以，凯恩本可以说，“……如果我本来并不富裕，我会成为一个真正伟大的人……”
But such a statement would express a bit more certainty about how things would have turned out.
但这样说会让事情的结果更具确定性。
The word Kane used, "might," only expresses that it would have been possible for him to be a great man.
凯恩使用的“might”一词只是表示他本有可能成为一个伟大的人。
Isn't it cool that we can learn so much about language and grammar from one line from a movie?
我们可以从电影中的一句台词中学到很多关于语言和语法的知识，难道不酷吗？
Yes! Any kind of film, song, book, or news report has many hidden lessons inside of it.
很酷！任何类型的电影、歌曲、书籍或新闻报道都有许多隐藏的课程。
You only have to look closely.
你只要仔细看就能发现。
And that's Everyday Grammar.
以上就是今天的《每日语法》。
