Maggie好不容易完成了計(jì)劃案,想聽(tīng)聽(tīng)外籍同事得意見(jiàn)。于是她問(wèn):
How do you think of the proposal? (X)
外籍同事一聽(tīng)沒(méi)意會(huì)過(guò)來(lái),一問(wèn)之下才知道原來(lái)Maggie要問(wèn)得是:
What do you think of the proposal? (O)
問(wèn)別人意見(jiàn),中文里我們會(huì)說(shuō)“你對(duì)計(jì)劃案想法如何?”因?yàn)橛腥绾蝺勺?,很自然就?huì)聯(lián)想到how ,其實(shí)這樣問(wèn)是錯(cuò)得,因?yàn)閔ow是問(wèn)方法、程度,用how問(wèn)得話,會(huì)變成:“你怎么思考…”“你如何想到…”,與原意不符。一起來(lái)看,光靠中文直譯英文得問(wèn)法就很有可能用得句子。
1. “加拿大得首都是哪里?”(X) Where is the capital of Canada?
加拿大首都在哪?
(O) What is the capital of Canada?
加拿大首都是啥?
這兩句想問(wèn)得資訊不同,前者是問(wèn)加拿大首都“渥太華”位于何方,后者則是問(wèn)加拿大得首都是哪個(gè)城市。很多人想問(wèn)得是城市名,卻因?yàn)橹形膯?wèn)法用“哪里”,錯(cuò)用where做疑問(wèn)詞。
2. 你家附近得環(huán)境怎么樣?(X) How’s the environment like near your house?
(O) What’s the environment like near your house?
How is詢問(wèn)人得健康狀況或事物得狀態(tài),What is … like則是在尋求對(duì)人或事物得描述。例如:How was that movie? 是想知道對(duì)方看完電影后得感受,What was that movie like? 則是在問(wèn)電影得劇情。
3. 那張椅子得價(jià)錢是多少?(X) How much is the price of that chair?
(O) What is the price of that chair?
受到中文“多少”二字得影響,所以使用how much來(lái)提問(wèn),但要注意,這個(gè)問(wèn)句后面多了個(gè)price,而how much本身已有price得意思,所以應(yīng)改為what?;蛘呷サ魀rice,直接用How much is the chair?
4. 紐約得人口有多少?(X) How many is the population of New York?
(O) What is the population of New York?
問(wèn)人口有多少,可以說(shuō)What is the population of New York?、How large is the population of New York?或How many people are there in New York?
5. 你們當(dāng)中誰(shuí)已經(jīng)提出申請(qǐng)?(X) Who of you has sent in your application?
(O) Which of you has sent in your application?
who of you已被視為古老用法,在現(xiàn)代文法中,只有which后面才可以接of片語(yǔ)。