"at the sight of sth." 是一个时间/触发类介词短语,核心含义是:“一看到……(就立刻产生某种反应)”,强调“看到某事物的瞬间”与“后续动作/情感”的直接关联。
该短语通常作状语(修饰整个句子或谓语动词),表示“触发反应的时间点”,结构上需注意:
后面接名词/代词/动名词(不能接从句);
可置于句首(后接逗号)或句中(直接修饰谓语)。
通过具体场景理解更清晰:
At the sight of the fire, everyone rushed to help.
(一看到火,所有人都冲过去帮忙。)
At the sight of her favorite singer, the girl screamed excitedly.
(一看到她最喜欢的歌手,女孩兴奋地尖叫起来。)
The dog wagged its tail at the sight of its owner.
(狗一看到主人就摇尾巴。)
He felt a lump in his throat at the sight of the old photo.
(一看到那张旧照片,他就哽咽了。)
类似结构还有:
at the sound of:一听到……就……(如:At the sound of the bell, students rushed into the classroom.)
at the thought of:一想到……就……(如:She felt nervous at the thought of the exam.)
at the mention of:一提到……就……(如:He frowned at the mention of his ex-wife.)
"at the sight of sth." 本质是“视觉触发的即时反应”,关键是突出“看到某事物”与“后续行为/情绪”的瞬间关联,使用时注意后面接名词性成分,位置灵活(句首/句中)。