在國人的英語使用中,中式英語簡直讓人猝不及防!
要是讓歪果仁盤點(diǎn)一下,國人最易入坑的十大Chingish,這一句一定榜上有名,它就是:“How to say.”
單單看這3個單詞的組合,那是沒什么錯的,比如“I don’t know how to say”或與他相似的“I don’t know what to say”。
但是如果把它放在句首,變成“How to say?”,那就錯了,因?yàn)檫@不符合英文語法和語言習(xí)慣。以“how to say”開頭的句子并不是一句完整且獨(dú)立的句子,也就是俗稱的“病句”。
舉個例子:
How to say this thing?
How to say this in English?'
How to say this sentence?
How to say, it’s fine, just let it be.
以上這些都是錯誤地表達(dá)!
那么,當(dāng)我們遇到自己不會表達(dá)的時候,我們應(yīng)該怎么詢問別人“***怎么說”呢?一起來了解下↓↓↓
How should I say?
當(dāng)你不知道怎么說(一件事或一個詞)的時候,最簡單粗暴的表達(dá)就是以下4種了:
How should I say?
How do I put it?
How should/can/do I say in English?
How do you say(this)in English?
這是最常用的四句了。簡單明了,通俗易懂哦!
I don't know what to say.
過于激動、氣憤、惱怒、悲傷或者高興的時候,總會一時語塞、說不出話來。這時,你就可以說"I don't know what to say!"。
舉個例子:
You say you spent $100 on the car! I don't know what to say! I can't believe you did that! !
你說你花了100美元買車!我真是不知道該說什么好了,真是難以置信!
I don't know what to say! You came here and expect me to give you all my attention for a whole hour. You know I'm busy, so just go!
我真是沒話說了!你竟然要我給你一個小時的時間陪你。你知道我很忙,一邊去吧!
Something of the sort
有時我們是真的找不到合適的表達(dá)方式。這時我們可以采用下面的方式巧妙化解尷尬:
A: What do you think of the idea of permanent education? That is, letting people go on learning until they die?
A:你怎么看待終身教育的理念?也就是說,讓人們繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)直到他們死亡?
B: Well, that sounds quite new to me. Do you mean evening schools, or something of the sort?
B:嗯,這對我來說聽起來很新鮮。你的意思是夜校,還是某種類型的學(xué)習(xí)方法?
在上面的對話中,B實(shí)在不知道permanent education是怎么回事,于是就用and ... and something of the sort?來代替了。
類似的說法還有something like that,something of that kind,or something or other,or whatever (you call it)。
a sort of ..., you know
這個a sort of..., you know最適合想了半天卻什么也沒想出來的場合,讓對方從你說話的text中去判斷你要表達(dá)的意思。
舉個例子:
This man is so unpopular here. He is just a sort of ..., you know.
這個人在這兒可不怎么受歡迎。他有點(diǎn)...,你知道。
You know what I mean
前面說一大通,最后不知道怎么總結(jié),便可以用You know what I mean.來收尾!
舉個例子:
It's no easy matter to have all of us agree on one thing... you know what I mean.
要讓我們大家都同意可不是件容易的事…你知道我的意思。
類似的說法還有:
“You know the sort of thing I mean.”
“I think you understand what I mean. ”
“I can't think of the exact word, but you know.”
此外,你還可以用一些conversational fillers來爭取一些思考的時間。常用的有:Mm,Uh,um,er,erm,well,well then,now,actually,of course,in fact,I mean,you know,you see,as a matter of fact,shall I say...,sort of,kind of,like等。
(來源:網(wǎng)絡(luò))