2013年4月5日星期五

古德明: 不負責任、沉厚悅耳




問:Sam was quite irresponsible for his handling of this business deal(山姆處理這宗商業交易,表現得頗不負責任)這一句,for應不應改為inin that

答:這一句應用in而不用forin thatIn可表示「做……的時候」,例如:(1In committing suicide, the Tibetan monks are lodging their strongest protest against tyranny(西藏僧侶自殺,是向暴政提出最強烈的抗議)。(2In signing the agreement, he committed himself to the cause(他簽署協議,就是支持這件事)。讀者那一句,說山姆處理交易時的表現,自然應用in

In that有「在於」、「因為」的意思,例如:(1We are different in that you are an expert and I am not(我們的分別,在於你是專家,我不是)。(2Silence is inadvisable in that it may be interpreted as an admission of wrongdoing(沉默是不智的,因為會被視為認罪)。

至於irresponsible,意思是「沒有責任感的」,其後一般不用for,和not responsible不同。而not responsible for是「不為(某事)負責」,和讀者示下那一句的意思也不配合。

問:字典有a rich melodious voice(沉厚悅耳的聲音)這說法,形容詞rich怎麼可以修飾另一形容詞melodious

答:那個rich是修飾名詞voice,不是修飾melodious。一個名詞,可以連接用幾個形容詞修飾,例如a tall, strong young man(又高又強壯的年輕人)。