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》

2013年3月14日星期四

古德明: 安裝燈箱、提供




問:以下一句,Rosalie之前要不要加Ms?又end of March之前要不要加the?──Please note that the Rosalie from Central Building confirmed the light box will be installed in end of March since their contractor's serious delays

答:這一句大概是說:「請注意:中央大樓的羅莎莉證實,由於承辦商耽擱嚴重,燈箱要到三月下旬才會安裝好。」MsMr等稱謂,應用在姓氏或姓名之前,例如MsRosalieLee;卻不可用在沒有姓氏的名字之前,例如不可說Ms Rosalie。事實上,「中央大樓的羅莎莉」這說法非常古怪。要說某人,寫出姓名就可以,一般不會以某大樓來界定該人身分。

此外,since解作「由於」,其後須用子句(clause),because of之後才可用名詞,例如:The work cannot be completed in time since it has been plagued by unforeseen delays / The work cannot be completed in time because of unforeseen delays

至於end of March之前,應該加the。全句我會改寫如下:Please note that Ms Rosalie Lee has confirmed that the light box will not be installed till the end of March because of their contractor's serious delays

問:貴欄說「提供某物給某人」英文是to provide something for someoneto provide someone with something。為什麼英文報紙卻有以下一句,用to而不用for?──Schools should provide training to staff(學校應訓練教師)。

答:英文報紙的英文不一定正確。這一句的to應改為for