高樓低廈,人潮起伏,
名爭利逐,千萬家悲歡離合。

閑雲偶過,新月初現,
燈耀海城,天地間留我孤獨。

舊史再提,故書重讀,
冷眼閑眺,關山未變寂寞!

念人老江湖,心碎家國,
百年瞬息,得失滄海一粟!

徐訏《新年偶感》

2012年8月16日星期四

古德明: Whatever子句、接電話



問:有運動用品手冊說:Whatever your sport, the new × is the perfect partner for your training(無論你從事什麼運動,新的×都是你訓練時的良伴)。Whatever your sport之後,是不是應加動詞is

答:Whatever(無論什麼)、however(無論多麼)等副詞(adverb)帶出的子句(clause),往往可以略去動詞,特別是動詞be(即iswas等),例如:(1However generous his offeris, I am not accepting it(無論他的建議多麼慷慨,我都不會接受)。(2Whatever your decision (is), I will support you(無論你怎樣決定,我都支持你)。讀者示下那一句,當然可以加is,但不加也可以。

問:有外國人打電話來,要告訴他「我是代表公司說的,我們已經下班,請在辦公時間再打電話來」,英文可不可以這樣說?──I am for behalf of the Branch of BambiHKLimited. Our company is closed now. Please call here from 9 am to 5 pm for office hour

答:「代表公司說話」,英文是to speak for the companyto speak on behalf of the company,但不可說for behalf等等。讀者的第一句可改為I am speaking on behalf of the Hong Kong branch of Bambi Ltd。不過,你接電話,人家自然知道你是該公司職員,而你恐怕也不能「代表公司」。所以,這一句根本不必說。你應說的是:I'm sorry, our company is closed. Please call back during our regular business hours, which are 9 am to 5 pm