这些词的用法极为相似,需注意的用法有:
1. 当这些词与具体数字连用时,通常不加复数词尾-s, 也不后接介词 of,
I want three score eggs. 我要60只鸡蛋。
He is a man of three score years. 他六十岁。
Two hundred (thousand) students went there. 有两百(千)学生去了那儿。
About three million workers were on strike. 参加罢工的大约有三百万工人。
注:有人认为 score, dozen 之后有时也接 of, 但惯用法认为省略 of 则常见。
另外,当 million 用作中心词(即其后不接名词或数词)时,有时也可带复数词尾-s。如:
The population of New Zealand is now three million(s). 新西兰现有人口三百万。
2. 当这些词不与具体数字连用,而是表示不确定的泛指数时,则不仅要加复数词尾-s, 而且要后接介词 of, 然后才能接名词。如:
I’ve read it dozens (scores) of times. 我读过它几十次。
Thousands of students entered the contest. 数千名学生参加了这次比赛。
Millions of people died in the war. 有数百万人在这次战争中丧生。
注:若不出现名词,则不用介词 of。如:(from www.yywords.com)
Millions (of people) are homeless. 千千万万的人无家可归。
3. 当这些词与 a few, several, many 等数目不很具体的词连用时,带不带复数词尾 -s 均可,但是注意:若不带复数词 -s, 其后的介词 of 可以省略;若带复数词尾-s, 则其后介词 of 不能省略。如:
在那儿我见到了数百外宾。
正:There I saw several hundred(s) of foreign guests.
正:There I saw several hundred foreign guests.
注意 some hundred persons 与 some hundreds of persons 含义不同:前者指“大约一百人”,其中 some=about a;后者指“几百人”。
4. 当这些词后面的名词有了 the, these, those等特指限定词修饰时,或其后的接的是 us, them 这样的人称代词时,则此时必须用介词 of。如:
two dozen of them 它们中的两打
three scores of these eggs 这些鸡蛋中的三打
five hundred of the workers 这些工人中的五百人
5. 注意以下与介词 by 连用的例子:
The eggs are sold by the dozen. 鸡蛋按打出售。
The ants arrived at the picnic by the hundred(s). 成群的蚂蚁来到野餐的地方。
They were sold by the thousand(s). 它们被大批大批地(论千地)出售。
比较:
Pack them in dozens. 把它们成打地包起来(即每12个一包)。