自从Chomsky提出了"John is easy to please"和"John is eager to please"的不同以来,很多学者对它们的差异进行了深入研究和论述。文献表明,对这个问题进行研究的主要是形式主义的学者。本文以Halliday的系统功能语法作为理论指导,在这一框架中分析这对句子的差异,讨论的重点是元功能的几个维度。研究发现:这对句子是不同语义的形式体现:前者是一个关系过程,后者是一个心理过程。本文的讨论表明:与形式语法一样,系统功能语法也可以从理论上解释这一对句子的差异。

The pair of sentences of "John is easy to please" and "John is eager to please" has attracted the attention of many grammarians since they were first cited by Chomsky in the 1950s. The literature to date indicates that the discussions of the pair have mainly been conducted within the framework of generative grammar. This paper looks at the pair within the framework of Halliday's systemic functional grammar. It illustrates the differences between the two by taking a metafunctional approach to the examination of the meanings realized by the expressions. It shows that the two sentences are similar only in form and that, like the Chomskyan approach, the Hallidayan approach is able to explain the differences between these two sentences.