問:Continuous、continual、continued三字,用來形容support,應選擇哪一個?三字有什麼分別?
答:這三個字都有「連續」的意思,但continuous是指「沒有間斷的」,continual是「偶有停頓的」,continued則多指「不改變的(行為)」,例如:(1)His continued
refusal to listen to reason was very annoying(跟他講道理,他總是不聽,十分討厭)。(2)The continual ringing of the telephone distracted me from my
work(電話鈴聲頻頻響起,使我無法集中精神工作)。(3)The
patient is in continuous pain(病人痛個不停)。
Continuous、continual、continued三字都可以形容support,但要說「不改的支持」,當然是continued最好,例如:I look
forward to your continued support/cooperation(希望你繼續支持 /
合作)。
問:說「租金」,rent和rental有什麼分別?「租金收據」是rent receipt還是rental receipt?
答:Rent和rental都可以指「租金」,用法沒有什麼分別,例如:(1)I paid a monthly rent/rental of $12,000 for the house(我租這棟房子,每月付一萬二千元)。(2)My landlord gave
me a rent/rental receipt(房東給我一張租金收據)。第七版《牛津高階英漢詞典》rent條下的解釋很清楚:The amount of money that you pay to rent something
is "rent" or "rental" (more formal). When you hire
something you pay a "hire charge"。換言之,rent語氣上較rental隨便一點。而腳踏車、汽車等短期租賃的租金,則叫hire
charge。