2013年2月14日星期四

古德明: 幸會、詳盡的




問:和某人初次相見,是不是應說Nice to meet you,分別時則說Nice meeting you

答:Nice to meet youNice meeting you都是初次和人家見面時用的客套語,意思是「很高興認識你」,用法沒有分別。這兩個說法,無非It is nice to meet you= To meet you is nice)和It is nice meeting you= Meeting you is nice)的縮略,而在上述句式之中,「to+原形動詞(infinitive)」和「ing動詞」往往通用,例如:It is meaningless to live like this / It is meaningless living like this(這樣生活,並沒有意思)。

和初次相見者道別,要再一次表示「很高興認識了你」,可以說It was nice to meet youIt was nice meeting you,用過去式動詞was表示「認識了」,但口頭上It was兩字往往也會略去。此外,說I'm happy to have met you也可以。

問:The above list of possible complications is not exhaustive(可能引起的併發症,不能一一列舉,以上所述,僅為其中一部分)這一句,經常見到。最近見有診所寫作The possibility of complications is not exhaustive,也可以嗎?

答:Exhaustive是「徹底的」或「詳盡的」,例如an exhaustive search是「徹底的搜尋」、an exhaustive inventory是「詳盡的存貨清單」。The possibility of complications is not exhaustive應是說「可能引起的併發症不一」,和The above list of possible complications is not exhaustive意思不同,但文法是沒有錯的。