2012年5月11日星期五

古德明: 諮詢人、打招呼




問:履歷表上「諮詢人」一欄,英文常寫Furnished upon request,中文怎樣翻譯呢?

答:中文可譯作「來示即可奉告」或「如欲索取諮詢人資料,請賜示」。英文的Furnished upon request也可寫作(Will beFurnished when requested。另一寫法是Available upon request,今天似乎較為通用。

問:跟人打招呼,英文可以說I am happy to meet youIt is nice to meet you。但打招呼或寫信,可不可以說It is happy to meet you

答:It is nice to meet youI am happy to meet you是「很高興認識你」的意思,是初次見面時的客氣話,不是一般打招呼用語,例如:"Mr Chan, may I introduce you to Mr Godley? Mr Godley, this is Mr Chan." "Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you, too."(「陳先生,介紹你認識戈德利先生好嗎?戈德利先生,這位是陳先生。」「幸會。」「彼此,彼此。」)假如不是第一次相識,見面時打招呼可說Nice to see you again(很高興再次見到你)或How are you? / How've you been?(近來怎樣?)

It is nice to meet you等於To meet you is nice。英文不可以說It is happy to meet you,除非你要說的是「它高興見到你」。文法上,你可以說It makes me happy to meet you(我見到你就高興),但這不是一般打招呼用語。至於寫信,要說「那次見到你,真高興」之類,英文須用過去式動詞,例如:It was nice to meet you