「接電話」的英文是 accept a call?
小 V 今天要來大家看看幾個日常生活中
常見的英文錯誤啦~
「養兵千日,用在一時」
趕快把正確的用法學起來,
讓你隨時都能說出道地的英語!
擦香水 wear perfume
(X) spread perfume
不管男生、女生,都會噴點香水讓自己更有魅力吧!當我們說「噴香水」這個動作時,可能會聯想到動詞「塗抹」spread。但如果將香水想像成一件看不見的華服,而我們要將這件衣服「穿」在身上,就不難想像用動詞 wear 才是貼切、正確的喔!
I always wear the perfume that my mom bought me.
我總是會噴我媽送給我的香水。Paula: Are you wearing perfume?
Paula: 你有擦香水?
Tam: No, this is aftershave.
Tam: 沒有,這是刮鬍水的味道。
Paula: Is there a difference between the two?
Paula: 兩者的差別是?
Tam: Well… aftershave is scented spray that you put on your collarbone, whereas perfume…
Tam: 這個嘛…刮鬍水只是噴在鎖骨附近的芳香噴霧,但香水…
Paula: Aren’t they exactly the same?
Paula: 不就同樣的東西?
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皮膚很白 fair skin
(X) white skin
英文的 white、 black 除了可以指顏色,也可以指白人、黑人。在國外,人們對膚色、人種這個議題特別敏感,所以要特別注意!因此要稱讚一個人的皮膚「白皙」,不要直白地說 white,用 fair skin 才正確!另外補充 fair 這個字也可以形容頭髮是「淺黃的,金色的」喔!
The girl over there with fair skin, dark bushy eyebrows and dark eyelashes is Jenny.
那個有白皙皮膚、濃密眉毛和睫毛的女生就是 Jenny。I have dark hair but my brother’s is fair.
我的頭髮是深色;而我哥哥卻是金髮。Cathy: The weather is looking great this weekend. Do you and Betty want to go to the beach?
Cathy: 這週末天氣超棒。你和 Betty 想去海邊嗎?
Grace: I would love to, but Betty… I’m not so sure.
Grace: 我想,但 Betty…我不確定。
Cathy: Why is that?
Cahhy: 為何?
Grace: Because she has such fair skin. She gets sunburnt really easily.
Grace: 因為她皮膚很白,很容易曬傷。
Cathy: I remember now. She ended up as red as a lobster that time we went hiking.
Cathy: 我想起來了。上次我們去爬山她曬得跟龍蝦一樣紅。
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(去髮廊) 剪頭髮 have one’s hair cut / get a haircut
(X) cut one’s hair
中文常常說的「我剪頭髮了」,如果照樣翻譯成 I cut my hair.,其實是指你本人拿著剪刀自己剪喔!所以要表示去髮廊剪頭髮,是別人幫忙剪的,要用 have one’s hair cut 或是 get a haircut。Have something done 這個句型是指請別人幫忙替你做某件事情,而 get a haircut 的 haircut 是名詞,記得要合在一起使用喔!
Steve: Do you want to get some lunch?
Steve: 要去買午餐嗎?
Paul: I can’t; I’m actually on my way to get my hair cut.
Paul: 我不行,我正要去剪頭髮。
Steve: Oh really? Where do you normally go? I haven’t been able to get a good haircut since I moved here.
Steve: 是喔?你通常都去哪裡剪?我搬來這之後都沒有剪過好看的頭髮。
Paul: This hair salon is in the south of the city.
Paul: 這間髮廊在南區。
Steve: Have you got the address? I might drop by there this afternoon.
Steve: 你有地址嗎?我今天下午可能會過去一趟。
Paul: Don’t bother. You need to book at least a month in advance.
Paul: 也不用了,因為你必須至少一個月前預約。
我的眼鏡在哪裡?Where are my glasses?
(X) Where is my glasses?
眼鏡的鏡片永遠都是兩片對吧?因此就跟有兩條褲管的褲子 pants 一樣,我們會把它們當作複數,搭配複數動詞。而當我們要說「一副」眼鏡,會用 a pair of 這個量詞,那麼「兩副眼鏡」就是 two pairs of glasses 囉!
I think my glasses are on the shelf. Did you see them?
我想我的眼鏡在架子上,你有看到嗎?Can you show me another pair of glasses? I don’t like the color of this pair.
可以請你給我看看別副眼鏡嗎?我不是很喜歡這副的顏色。Anne: (frustrated) Where are my glasses? I’m always misplacing things!
Anne: (感到沮喪) 我的眼鏡呢?我總是東西都不知道放到哪!
Chris: You know, I have an idea that would solve this problem — smart glasses.
Chris: 我有個想法可以解決這個問題,那就是智慧型眼鏡。
Anne: How would those work?
Anne: 怎麼有用法?
Chris: They would be like Alexa. You would shout, “Glasses, where are you?” and they’d reply, “I’m over here!”
Chris: 可能像是 Alexa 那樣,你就大喊一聲:「眼鏡,你在哪?」然後它就會回:「我在這!」
Anne: Right… but that’s not much use if you can’t see, which would be the case if you were looking for your glasses.
Anne: 恩…但如果你看不到的話也沒什麼用,就像你在找眼鏡的時候。
Chris: Good point.
Chris: 有道理。
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給你 Here you go. / Here you are. / There you go. / There you are.
(X) Give you.
中文常說的「這給你」,注意不要直接翻成 give you!道地的說法是 Here you go/are. 或 There you go/are. 不管是借東西給別人,或是結完帳店員把東西給你,都可以這麼說喔!
Cindy: Thanks for helping me out on this D.I.Y. project. Can you pass me the wrench?
Cindy: 謝謝你幫我一起組裝這個東西。可以麻煩你把板手遞給我嗎?
Karen: Sure, no problem. Here you go.
Karen: 好啊,沒問題。給你。
Cindy: Okay, now hand me the screwdriver.
Cindy: 好的,現在請把螺絲起子給我。
Karen: Here you are.
Karen: 給你。
Cindy: Alright … There’s a small bag of screws down there.
Cindy: 好的…下面那有一小袋螺絲。
Karen: (hands Cindy the screws) There you are.
Karen: (把螺絲給 Cindy) 給你。
Cindy: Okay, I’m going to pass you down something. (hands it down) There you go.
Cindy: 好,我要遞給你一個東西。(遞出) 給你。
總是擔心英文報告不流利?
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關燈 Turn off the light.
(X) Close the light.
關燈這個動作在翻成英文時,很容易直覺反應使用 close 這個動詞,但在英文文法裡,這只能用在關門、關窗等。若是需要透過「按鍵」來完成,則要用 turn off (關閉),反之則為 turn on (開啟)。其他像是冷氣、電風扇也都要搭配 turn off / turn on。
Please remember to turn off the light when you leave.
離開時請記得隨手關燈。I turn on the air conditioner for only three hours a day.
我一天只會開冷氣三小時。Phil: Chris, can you stop leaving the lights on at night?
Phil: Chris,你可以不要一直在晚上的時候把燈開著嗎?
Chris: What’s the problem? Electricity is cheap!
Chris: 有什麼問題嗎?電費很便宜!
Phil: Yes, but what about our environment?
Phil: 沒錯,但對我們的環境呢?
Chris: Getting me to turn off the lights isn’t going to stop global warming.
Chris: 要我關燈並不會停止全球暖化。
Phil: But it can help, and it doesn’t require much effort.
Phil: 但還是會有幫助,而且也不用花什麼力氣。
Chris: Fine…
Chris: 好吧…
接電話 answer / pick up a call
(X) accept a call
接電話、講電話這件事,真的是不能再更日常了!今天我們要用英文說「接電話」,記得是使用動詞 answer 或是片語 pick up,而非 accept (接受)。另外補充一下,片語 get through (to sb.) 則是「打通電話」的意思。
You should answer your mom’s calls, or she’ll keep calling until you go back home.
你最好接一下你媽的電話,不然她會一直打到你回家。Alan: (checking phone) Missed call from an unknown number…
Alan: (看手機) 有通為顯示來電者的未接來電…
Mario: Did they leave a message?
Mario: 有留言嗎?
Alan: No, they never do. They just keep trying to call again and again.
Alan: 沒有,從來都不會。他們只會一直打一直打。
Mario: I don’t know why they just don’t send a text or an email. Especially if you didn’t answer the call the first time.
Mario: 我不知道為什麼他們不傳訊息或 email。特別是如果你第一次的時候沒接電話的話。
Alan: Exactly. Do they expect me to just drop everything and pick up their call?
Alan: 沒錯。他們希望我們就什麼都不管然後接電話嗎?I’ve been trying to get through to my boyfriend all day; I really need to talk to him.
我已經試著要聯絡我男朋友一整天了,我真的有事需要跟他說。
以上這些用法你都學會了嗎?今天之後你就知道這些日常用語的英文該怎麼說啦!
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文/ Angel Hsu
審/ Eunice Lin
圖/ Pexels, CC licensed
作者簡介/ VoiceTube 看影片學英語