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英語島Newsletter
天天閱讀英語島,在這裡感知世界,汲取英文的養分。
 

「你覺得怎麼樣?」英文到底是How do you think,還是What do you think?

Maggie好不容易完成了計劃案,想聽聽外籍同事的意見。於是她問:How do you think of the proposal? (X)
外籍同事一聽沒意會過來,一問之下才知道原來Maggie要問的是:What do you think of the proposal? (O)

問別人意見,中文裡我們會說「你對計劃案想法如何?」因為有如何兩字,很自然就會聯想到how ,其實這樣問是錯的,因為how是問方法、程度,用how問的話,會變成:「你怎麼思考…」「你如何想到…」,與原意不符。一起來看,光靠中文直譯英文的問法就很有可能用的句子。

1. 「加拿大的首都是哪裡?」
(X) Where is the capital of Canada?
(O) What is the capital of Canada?

這兩句想問的資訊不同,前者是問加拿大首都「渥太華」位於何方,後者則是問加拿大的首都是哪個城市。很多人想問的是城市名,卻因為中文問法用「哪裡」,錯用where做疑問詞。

2. 你家附近的環境怎麼樣?
(X) How’s the environment like near your house?
(O) What’s the environment like near your house?
How is詢問人的健康狀況或事物的狀態,What is … like則是在尋求對人或事物的描述。例如:How was that movie? 是想知道對方看完電影後的感受,What was that movie like? 則是在問電影的劇情。

3. 那張椅子的價錢是多少?
(X) How much is the price of that chair?
(O) What is the price of that chair?
受到中文「多少」二字的影響,所以使用how much來提問,但要注意,這個問句後面多了個price,而how much本身已有price的意思,所以應改為what。或者去掉price,直接用How much is the chair?

4. 紐約的人口有多少?
(X) How many is the population of New York?
(O) What is the population of New York?
問人口有多少,可以說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. 你們當中誰已經提出申請?
(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,在現代文法中,只有which後面才可以接of片語。

商業英文學得又快又準:https://goo.gl/cP12GQ

 

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