今天就给大家盘点盘点那些最容易说错的表达,看完这些才发现,你可能一直说的都是“假英语”~那个小童星长残了。
✖ The child star became ugly as he grew up.
✔ The child star is aging badly.
第一句的语法没错,但听起来非常别扭。长残了,最常用的说法就是age badly/terribly或者not age well,age是动词,表示年岁渐老。如果是小朋友长残了,还可以说grow up (to be) ugly。
我觉得很痛。
✖ I am painful.
✔ I am in pain.
“我感到高兴”是 I am happy,“我感到累了”是 I’m tired,但“我感到很痛”却不是 I am painful。因为 painful 表示“使人痛苦的,让人疼痛或讨厌的”,它的主语往往不是人,而是事物或人体的某个部位,如:The foot is painful(脚痛),The lessons are painful(教训是惨痛的)等。
所以没有 I am painful 这个说法,如果你非要这样说,别人会以为你全身带电或浑身长刺,别人碰了你就会疼,是你让别人痛苦,而不是你自己痛苦。
“我很痛”的习惯说法是I’m in pain. “你觉得痛吗?”就是Are you in pain?
我好热呀!
✖ I’m so hot!
✔ It’s so hot!
呃,第一句很容易引起歧义,多半会被理解成,我好性感呀……除非这是你的本意……
老师很喜欢这个嘴甜的小姑娘。
✖ The teacher likes this sweet-mouthed girl.
✔ The teacher likes this honey-lipped girl.
中国人喜欢说“嘴甜”,但 honey-lipped 更符合英美人的语言习惯,表示会说话。
萝卜青菜,各有所爱。
✖ Some prefer radish but others prefer cabbage.
✔ Tastes differ.
Tastes differ/vary 是句英语谚语,除此以外,原句还可翻译成 No dish suits all tastes 或 You can never make everyone happy 等。《新概念英语》第三册第23课的标题是:One man’s meat is another man’s poison,表达得很生动。 总之,应采取意译。
同学们都很讨厌他,因为他经常拍老师的马屁。
✖ The students all dislike him because he often pats the teacher’s ass.
✔ The students all dislike him because he often licks the teacher’s boots.
以前在欧洲,臣民见到国王与王后往往要匍匐在地,亲吻他们的靴子。后来,人们将 lick the boots 引申为“为了某种目的而讨好某人”,它与汉语的“拍马屁”含义一样
如果你一定要用ass这个词表达拍马屁,那就说kiss someone’s ass,但注意这是很粗鄙的说法,谨慎使用。
我们要把祖国建设成为社会主义的现代化强国。
✖ We will build our motherland into a socialist modern powerful country.
✔ We will build our motherland into a modern powerful socialist country.
形容词作为修饰语在汉语和英语中都很常用,但使用的先后次序却有所不同。在英语中我们一般遵循“靠近原则”,即越能说明本质属性的修饰词越靠近它所修饰的名词,当从这一点看不出区别时,就靠词的长短来决定,短的在前,长的在后。原文中最能说明“国家”本质的定语是“社会主义的”,所以 socialist 要最靠近它所修饰的中心词。
人都是这山望着那山高,对自己的现状没有满意的时候。
✖ Almost all people think that the other mountain is higher than the one they’re standing on. They never feel satisfied with what they’ve already got.
✔ Almost all people think that the grass is greener on the other side. They never feel satisfied with what they’ve already got.
“这山望着那山高”是指人不满足于现状的心理,它在英语中已经有了现成的说法,即 the grass is greener on the other side(对面的草更绿),因此我们借用即可,这样既方便又更有利于与西方人沟通。