在国人的英语使用中,中式英语简直让人猝不及防!
要是让歪果仁盘点一下,国人最易入坑的十大Chingish,这一句一定榜上有名,它就是:“How to say.”
单单看这3个单词的组合,那是没什么错的,比如“I don’t know how to say”或与他相似的“I don’t know what to say”。
但是如果把它放在句首,变成“How to say?”,那就错了,因为这不符合英文语法和语言习惯。以“how to say”开头的句子并不是一句完整且独立的句子,也就是俗称的“病句”。
举个例子:
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.
以上这些都是错误地表达!
那么,当我们遇到自己不会表达的时候,我们应该怎么询问别人“***怎么说”呢?一起来了解下↓↓↓
How should I say?
当你不知道怎么说(一件事或一个词)的时候,最简单粗暴的表达就是以下4种了:
How should I say?
How do I put it?
How should/can/do I say in English?
How do you say(this)in English?
这是最常用的四句了。简单明了,通俗易懂哦!
I don't know what to say.
过于激动、气愤、恼怒、悲伤或者高兴的时候,总会一时语塞、说不出话来。这时,你就可以说"I don't know what to say!"。
举个例子:
You say you spent $100 on the car! I don't know what to say! I can't believe you did that! 你说你花了100美元买车!我真是不知道该说什么好了,真是难以置信!
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!
我真是没话说了!你竟然要我给你一个小时的时间陪你。你知道我很忙,一边去吧!
Something of the sort
有时我们是真的找不到合适的表达方式。这时我们可以采用下面的方式巧妙化解尴尬:
A: What do you think of the idea of permanent education? That is, letting people go on learning until they die? A:你怎么看待终身教育的理念?也就是说,让人们继续学习直到他们死亡?
B: Well, that sounds quite new to me. Do you mean evening schools, or something of the sort?
B:嗯,这对我来说听起来很新鲜。你的意思是夜校,还是某种类型的学习方法?
在上面的对话中,B实在不知道permanent education是怎么回事,于是就用and ... and something of the sort?来代替了。
类似的说法还有something like that,something of that kind,or something or other,or whatever (you call it)。
a sort of ..., you know
这个a sort of..., you know最适合想了半天却什么也没想出来的场合,让对方从你说话的text中去判断你要表达的意思。
举个例子:
This man is so unpopular here. He is just a sort of ..., you know.
这个人在这儿可不怎么受欢迎。他有点...,你知道。
You know what I mean
前面说一大通,最后不知道怎么总结,便可以用You know what I mean.来收尾!
举个例子:
It's no easy matter to have all of us agree on one thing... you know what I mean.要让我们大家都同意可不是件容易的事…你知道我的意思。
类似的说法还有:
“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,你还可以用一些conversational fillers来争取一些思考的时间。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。
(来源:网络)