2012年12月28日星期五

古德明: 「庫被」、各有工作、狗主




問:睡熟時不自覺的把被子推開,即廣東話所謂「庫被」,英文怎麼說?

答:「庫被」即國語「蹬被子」,英文一般說法是to kick / push / throw the blanket off,說the blanket falls off(被子掉下)也可以,例如:(1She firmly tucked the blanket in around the baby so that he might not kick it off(她用毯子蓋着嬰兒,毯子兩邊緊緊壓在牀墊下,以免他蹬開毯子)。(2If the blanket is not properly tucked in, it may fall off at night(毯子兩邊不好好壓在牀墊下,晚上就可能掉到一旁)。

問:Finally Ann and Sally landed their dream jobs / job as dancers / a dancer(安和莎莉最後都找到她們夢寐以求的舞蹈員工作)這一句,哪兩個選擇正確?


答:說大家各有一件的事物,假如不用eachevery等字,一般會用複數形式,例如:All male employees have to wear ties = Every male employee has to wear a tie所有男雇員都要繫領帶)。讀者示下那一句,自然也應用複數形式的jobsdancers

問:An owner of a dogthe owner of a dog,意思是不是完全相同?

答:The owner of a company可以指「公司的唯一東主」,an owner of a company則可以指「公司的東主之一」。但一隻狗即使有不止一個主人,其中任何一個通常都叫the owner of a dog,較少說an owner of a dog。而最常用的說法是a dog owner(一個狗主)或the dog owner(那個狗主)。