不管在口頭上或email裡,問候語當中最常見到的一個錯誤是:
How are you recently?(X)
你最近好嗎?原來這麼簡單的英文也會錯。「How are you」文法沒錯,但有些時候沒見面,想問人近況如何,加上一個recently,文法就錯了!因為中文的「最近」和英文的recently不完全一樣。
英文的「recent」或「recently」,指的是從以前到現在的一段時間,多用於「現在完成式」或「過去式」,而不是現在式。
如果這件事情已經結束,可用過去式:
He did the catering for a presidential reception recently.(他最近承辦了一次總統招待會的宴席。)
如果覺得事情還沒了結,可以用現在完成式:
His visits used to be rare, but recently he has been here quite a lot.(他以往不常來,但最近卻拜訪頻繁。)
中文的「最近」,有指「未來」或「過去」的意思。如果指的最近有「未來」的意思,不用recently,可以有其他表達方式。例如,最近我們會去巴黎。
(X)We will go to Paris recently.
(O)We will go to Paris soon.
我最近有點焦躁。這裡的「最近」可以用 these days 表達,相當於英文的 at the present time,有「就在當下」的意味,用現在式:I get a bit uptight these days.
我最近兩個月要搬家。
(X)I will move recently.
(O)I am going to move in two months.
「In+一段時間」表未來一段時間內,例如, 我五分鐘之內會到,"I'll be there in 5 minutes." 。
如果最近指的是「過去」,直接用完成式就可以了,例如:我最近都沒看到她:I haven't seen her recently.
文章一開始提到問候語當中最常見到的一個錯誤「你最近好嗎?」正確的說法是:How have you been (doing) recently?
好英文藏在細節裡,還有太多英文說不出口
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