字的時間感:Catch vs. Take

一眼搞懂Catch跟Take用法的不同:

Catch:強調動作的瞬間,時間短

搭公車、搭計程車可以用take a bus/cab或者catch a bus/cab,但catch又有「趕車」的意味,沖冷水澡說take a cold shower卻不說catch a cold shower,原因是take代表整件事,catch強調動作的瞬間,例如逮捕罪犯是catch a criminal;問人有沒有聽懂自己的意思可以直接說Catch my drift? 重點都在"Catch" 這個動詞。

Catch通常與正在行進的東西、正在移動、只有很短的時間才能得到的事物搭配在一起。來看看你是否可以看出這些組合之間的連結。

Police finally caught the thieves, who had been hiding for 3 weeks.
警方終於抓到藏匿了三週的竊賊。

 

Pokemon, gotta catch them all!
得把寶可夢全抓起來!

 

Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, could you say it again?
抱歉,我不太懂,你可以再講一次嗎?

 

The house was made of wood and quickly caught fire.
那房子是木造的,所以延燒得很快。

 

I caught a cold on Friday so I was in bed all weekend.
我禮拜五感冒了所以週末都待在床上。

 

This necklace caught my eye when I saw it in the window, I had to have it.
當我在窗戶看到那條項鏈,就引起了我的注意,我得買下它。

 

Take 強調整體,時間長

Take your time, we’re not in a rush.
慢慢來,我們不急。

 

There’s a new mall that’s just been built, do you want to take a look this weekend?
有一間新蓋好的百貨公司,你這禮拜想去看看嗎?

If you’re willing to take the risk, the rewards for this investment could be huge.
如果你願意承擔這個風險,這個投資的報酬會很客觀。

 

Let’s take a ten-minute break and then start again.
我們休息個十分鐘再開始。

 

Even though he doesn’t have so much experience I think we should take a chance on him.
雖然他沒有那麼多經驗,但我想我們應該在他身上賭一次機會。

 

If we don’t take action now, the problem will get worse.
如果我們現在不開始行動,問題只會更嚴重。

 

Please take a seat, the doctor will be with you in a moment.
請坐,醫生等一下就來。

 


文/王妍筑、Christopher Owen
企劃/英語島教學實驗室

收錄於英語島 2017年10月號
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