日记是用以记叙一天生活中所见、所闻、所做或所想的事情。写英语日记一般要注意以下几点:
1. 英语日记有一定的格式。英语日记通常由两部分组成,即书端和正文。书端用于记载写日记的日期、星期和天气情况。它位于正文上面的第一行,顶格写起。日期和星期写在第一行的左上角,天气情况写在第一行的右上角,书端的日期可以是先月,后日,最后是年;也可以是先日;后月,再年。日期可以用基数词,也可以用序数词,序数词常缩写。如2004年1月31日,英语可以是January 31(st), 2004, 也可以是31(st) January, 2004。当只有月、日时,月份可以缩写。如August 1st或Aug. 1st。
2.日记要用第一人称写。日记是对生活的记录,是一个人把自己一天中最有意义的事情记录下来所形成的书面材料,故写日记必须用第一人称(I) 。有时,文中将"I"省去,意思也同样明白。
3. 写日记所用的时态。日记一般是当天的下午或晚上记叙白天发生的事,因此多用过去时态和现在完成时态,但也可灵活运用,如说明客观事实、普通真理或为了所描述的事物生动等时,也可用现在时态。
【日记写作示例】
A Diary
Friday, February 3, 1995 Fine
In the morning my mother asked me to buy half a kilo of tea and a bag of bread. Then I went to the nearest shop.
When I got to the shop, the seller came up to me and asked what I needed. I told him that I wanted to buy half a kilo of tea and a bag of bread. He said, "Just a minute." I looked around. The shop wasn't big, but it was nice and clean, and there were a lot of things in it.
Very soon, he gave me half a kilo of tea and a bag of bread. I asked him, "Do you have the kind with nuts?" Then he reached the bread with nuts on the top shelf. He said these things were all fourteen yuan. I gave fifteen yuan to him, but he gave me six yuan back.
I counted the money, and then told him he was wrong. But he talked as if he had known all about it. He smiled and said: "It's very nice of you to do so!" The other sellers also laughed.