2012年5月21日星期一

古德明: 很久、單複數問題




問:以下兩句,意思有什麼分別?─(1I haven't seen you for ages。(2I haven't seen you in ages

答:這兩句意思無別,都是說「很久沒見你了」,那ages可改為an age。無論是an age還是ages,都是「很久」的意思,例如:It's been ages / an age since I saw you last(我上次見你至今,已經很久了)。
說「很久沒見」,英文還有I haven't seen you for / in yearsI haven't seen you in a month of Sundays等說法。第一句的for / in years語意誇張,不一定真是說「多年不見」;第二句的a month of Sundays(一個月的星期天)是成語,即三十個月左右,引伸解作「很久」或「永遠」,例如:Under the communists, there will be no democratic elections in Hong Kong, not in a month of Sundays(共產黨治下,香港永遠不會有民主選舉)。

問:以下一句,addssubtracts這兩個動詞是不是應改為複數形式的addsubtract?─Education is never neutral. Everything and everyone in and around schools adds to, or subtracts from, the educative process.

答:這一句是說:「教育從來不是中立的,校園內外所有人、物,對教育事宜都或有裨益,或有損害。」文中everythingeveryone雖是兩個名詞,但合起來無非「一切」的意思,視為同一回事,所以動詞用了單數形式。這用法頗常見,僅再舉一例:When the eating and drinking was over, the time came for them to part(吃喝之後,他們就要分手了)。