regret to have done是否符合惯用法

■倪肖丁（西安） 

《薄冰英语惯用法词典》(薄冰主编，王福祯执行主编,商务印书馆国际有限公司，2009)第833页指出：regret后接不定式的完成式时，其意义相当于regret接v-ing形式，都表示对已发生之事感到遗憾、后悔。例如: He regrets to have done (或having done, doing) such a thing. 他后悔做了这件事。

《薄冰英语惯用法词典》的上述说法是否符合英语习惯？回答是否定的。

首先，英文的习惯是：表示对已发生的事情感到后悔，regret后的动词形式应该用-ing分词，无论是doing sth还是having done sth。当然也可以用that分句。例如：

I regret telling you that John stole it. (= I regret that I told you that John stole it.) (UEG)

I regret wasting/regret having wasted so much time last year. (OGEG)

这种情况下不能用regret to have done形式。例如，LDCE指出：When you are talking about the past, use regret doing sth or regret that. 例如：

I have often regretted leaving the police force.

I now regret not having worked harder at school.

但不能说* I now regret not to have worked harder at school.

Longman Essential Activator在谈到regret用于对已经发生的事情表示后悔时也明确指出：Don’t say “I regret to do it”or“I regret to have done it”. Say I regret doing it or I regret that I did it.

显然，英美辞书对regret to have done用于“表示对已发生之事感到遗憾、后悔”持否定态度，这也与我们的日常阅读体验相一致。

至于regret后接动词不定式to do...，则用于对即将传递（或已获得）的信息表示遗憾或难过。CCEG（2011）指出：Regret is only used with the to-infinitive of a small number of verbs that share the meaning of giving or receiving information.

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