Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher , we will continue to answer a question from Gustavo in Brazil about describing his teacher using the linking verb “be” and other adjectives.
你好！本周，在《请教老师》节目中，我们将继续回答来自巴西的古斯塔沃的一个问题，该问题涉及使用连接动词“be”和其他形容词来描述他的老师。
Hello, my name is Gustavo, from Brazil.
你好，我叫古斯塔沃，来自巴西。
I have been learning English with you for many years. Thank you for all of the stories!
我和你一起学习英语很多年了。谢谢你所有的故事！
I have a question. I want to say, "my Spanish teacher" meaning "my teacher from Spain". Then I realized that it could also mean "my teacher that teaches Spanish language classes.”
我有一个问题。我想说，“我的西班牙语老师”意思是“我来自西班牙的老师”。然后我意识到它也可能意味着“我的教授西班牙语课程的老师”。
So, which is it? Does it mean both?
那么，是哪一个呢？是两个意思吗？
Thank you very much for reading my message!
非常感谢您阅读我的留言！
Thanks once again, Gustavo, for the question.
再次感谢古斯塔沃的提问。
Last week we looked at two ways to describe your teacher. The first way was with proper adjectives. We use the proper adjective of a language, like “Spanish,” to describe teachers or students of a language. The second way we can describe your teacher is to talk about where they are from, using the preposition “from.” This can be useful if you want to be exact about where they were born or are “from.”
上周我们研究了两种描述你的老师的方法。第一种方法是使用适当的形容词。我们使用某种语言的专有形容词（例如“西班牙语”）来描述某种语言的教师或学生。我们描述你的老师的第二种方式是使用介词“来自”来谈论他们来自哪里。如果您想准确了解他们的出生地或“来自”，这可能会很有用。
So, if your teacher does not teach Spanish, then using “from” is a better choice. You can say,
因此，如果您的老师不教西班牙语，那么使用“from”是更好的选择。你可以说，
My teacher is from Spain.
我的老师来自西班牙。
We also have two other ways we can describe your teacher in a bit more detail.
我们还有另外两种方法可以更详细地描述您的老师。
The linking verb “be”
连系动词“be”
We can also use the linking verb “be.” For example,
我们还可以使用连接动词“be”。例如，
My teacher is Spanish.
我的老师是西班牙人。
Here we use the linking verb “be” and the proper adjective of “Spanish” after the verb. This means that the teacher is of Spanish heritage or culture. But, be careful. This does not always mean that the teacher is “from” Spain. They could have been born somewhere else but have Spanish parents. Heritage and culture are not always the same as a person’s nationality or where they were born.
这里我们使用连接动词“be”和动词后面的专有形容词“Spanish”。这意味着老师具有西班牙血统或文化。但是，要小心。这并不总是意味着老师来自西班牙。他们可能出生在其他地方，但父母是西班牙人。遗产和文化并不总是与一个人的国籍或出生地相同。
In the US, we commonly use this kind of expression when we talk about where our families or ancestors come from since many Americans consider their heritage to be from other parts of the world. For example,
在美国，当我们谈论我们的家庭或祖先来自哪里时，我们通常使用这种表达方式，因为许多美国人认为他们的遗产来自世界其他地区。例如，
My friend Pedro is Puerto Rican.
我的朋友佩德罗是波多黎各人。
Lena’s family is Polish, but she is American.
莉娜的家人是波兰人，但她是美国人。
Using other adjectives
使用其他形容词
We can use an additional adjective to describe what kind of teacher you have if they do not teach a language. We can then combine this with the linking verb “be” and say where they are from. For example,
如果老师不教语言，我们可以使用一个额外的形容词来描述您的老师是什么样的。然后我们可以将其与连接动词“be”结合起来并说出它们来自哪里。例如，
My economics teacher is from India.
我的经济学老师来自印度。
Their French teacher is from Canada.
他们的法语老师来自加拿大。
Remember, it is sometimes small details that ensure your meaning is understood and mistakes are avoided.
请记住，有时一些小细节可以确保您的意思被理解并避免错误。
Please let us know if these new explanations and examples this week have helped you, Gustavo!
古斯塔沃，本周这些新的解释和示例是否对您有帮助，请告诉我们！
What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
您对美式英语有什么疑问？给我们发送电子邮件至learningenglish@voanews.com