基于禮貌,如果你說出的英文句子有誤,對方通常會在心中努力猜測你的意思,而不會直接點出來。要找到自己的英文盲點,求人不如求己!
1 已經10點了,卻只有我開始認真工作。
(×)It was nearly 10:00 am, but only I had started to work seriously.
(○ )It was nearly 10:00 am, but only I had got down to work .
get down to work的意思是“以嚴正的態(tài)度開始認真工作”,這是相當口語的用法。原來的說法暗示著,我之前不認真,10點才開始認真,并不恰當。
2 張先生即將接任王先生的副總職位。
(×)Mr. Zhang is going to overtake Mr. Wang's position as vice president.
(○ )Mr. Zhang is going to take over Mr. Wang's position as vice president.
take over的意思是“原有的工作或職務由另一個新來的人接手”,而overtake則是指“趕上、超過”。
3 容我介紹一下新同事約翰,他來自加拿大。
(×)Allow me to introduce our new colleague, John. He is coming from Canada.
(○ )Allow me to introduce our new colleague, John. He comes from Canada.
用現(xiàn)在進行時的話,這個句子的意思會變成約翰正從加拿大趕來,所以用一般現(xiàn)在時即可。
4 銀行經理很樂意借錢給公司。
(×)The bank manager is happy to borrow the money to our company.
(○ )The bank manager is happy to lend the money to our company.
lend和borrow同樣有“借”的意思,但前者是“借出”,后者是“借入”,銀行當然是“借出”錢給公司,所以要用lend。
5 喬迪因為工作不力被解雇了。
(×)Jody received the sack for not taking enough care with her work.
(○ )Jody got the sack for not taking enough care with her work.
get the sack是口語的用法,意指雇主不滿意你的工作表現(xiàn)或態(tài)度,而要你卷鋪蓋走人,正式的說法是be dismissed。