以下有9種「英文走到一半」的人，你是哪一種？

(by Lily章/世界公民文化中心)

□ 1. 你會說I will contact with you?

英文動詞有「及物」和「不及物」的分別，簡單地說就是動詞後面可以或不可以直接加受詞。說英文的時候，不必太在意及不及物，只要記住這幾個很容易弄錯的動詞。

英文走到一半的人會這樣說：

1.  I will contact with you later.

2.  Let’s discuss about it.

3.  He emphasized on the importance of management.

4.  She accompanies with him all the way.

5.  My report will stress on the problem of ‘junk food.’

6.  As I mentioned about it before, we need to move much faster on the case.

走完另外的一半，要這樣說：

1.  I will contact you later.

2.  Let’s discuss it.

3.  He emphasized the importance of management.

4.  She accompanies him all the way.

5.  My report will stress the problem of ‘junk food.’

6.  As I mentioned before, we need to move much faster on the case.

□    2. 從來搞不清楚介係詞是怎麼一回事！

你用介係詞的時候，大概都是憑感覺，in是指裡面、of是….的、on是上面。憑感覺大部份也會對個八成，這是經驗法則，剩下那兩成是感覺抓不到的，你只要記這兩成的模糊空間就好。

英文走到一半的人會這樣說：

1.　We paid him a check of 10,000.

2.　Deaths of lung cancer have been increasing gradually since 1950.

3.　He is the former ambassador of the U.K.

4.　He will be here after 10 minutes.

5.　If someday my English becomes good, I would definitely admit it.

6.　Could you please elaborate the idea?

7.　If he had an opportunity to work abroad, he would jump in it.

把另外一半走完，你應該這樣說：

1.  We paid him a check for 10,000.

2.  Deaths from lung cancer have been increasing gradually since 1950.

3.  He was the former ambassador to the U.K.

4.  He will be here in 10 minutes.

5.  If someday I am good at English, I will definitely admit to it.

6.  Could you please elaborate on the idea?

7.  If he had an opportunity to work abroad, he would jump at it.

□    3. 不知道”He became worse.”這句話哪裡錯了！

經常誤用的字有兩大類，第一類是長得很像insist/persist；另一類是在中文裡它們有相同的解釋，像problem和question都叫「問題」，但problem是有麻煩的問題，question是疑問的問題，很不相同。get和become都是「變成」，有時可以相通，有時又不能相通。

英文走到一半的人會這樣說：

1.  The CEO insists on his own opinion although others oppose it.

2.  He became worse.

3.  My sister bore a set of twins last week.

4.  He got very good scores in the last test.

5.  They make this idea become a business proposal.

6.  Who will be in charge the meeting at 5 pm?

走完另外的一半，要這樣說：

1.  The CEO persists in his own opinion although others oppose it.

2.  He got worse.

3.  My sister gave birth to a set of twins last week.

4.  He scored very high marks in the last test.

5.  They turn this idea into a business proposal.

6.  Who will be presiding over the meeting at 5 pm?

□　4. 覺得自己說英文像說中文?

這類的錯誤最麻煩，因為乍看之下，沒有文法上的錯，但問題是，老外不會這麼說。很多人英文學了一陣子會進入停滯期，於是有所謂”ceiling effect”（天花板效應或極限效應）之說，以為學到一個程度就不可能再進步了。這時候學習的重點要特別注意和中文不同的語法結構。

英文走到一半的人會這樣說：

1.  I am going to change my company.

2.  Yankee won Red Sox in the last night’s baseball match.

3.  Sorry, I think the seat is empty.

4.  He treated me friendly.

5.  We have obligation to do so.

6.  My house is ten minutes to hers.

走完另外的一半，要這樣說：

1.  I am going to change my job. 

2.  Yankee beat Red Sox in the last night’s baseball match.

3.  Sorry, I didn’t know the seat is taken.

4.  He treated me in a friendly way.

5.  We are under obligation to do so.

6.  It’s ten minute drive from my house to hers.

□ 5. 牛排嫩一點用soft還是tender?

形容詞是說話時候的潤滑劑，你腦袋這個database裡到底有多少潤滑劑？你會用哪些形容詞來形容自己？還停在nice、beautiful、happy…小學程度。要讓形容詞豐富，請善用字典同義字功能，輸入rich，你就會發現wealthy、affluent、prosperous…一連串的字，你不用強記，但起碼下次想到rich時，你會用wealthy替代。

英文走到一半的人會這樣說：

1.  Joanna was painful when her boyfriend left her.

2.  The stake is soft.

3.  Are you convenient to talk?

4.  All these three cities are the same warm as Taipei.

5.  The product that has caused the fewest complaints is from ABC Manufacturer.

6.  Just call me. My phone is open all day.

7.  Please handle this gold watch carefully. It worth more than $5,000.

走完另外的一半，要這樣說：

1.  Joanna was in pain when her boyfriend left her.

2.  The stake is tender.

3.  Is it a convenient time for you to talk?

4.  All these three cities are as warm as Taipei.

5.  The product that has caused the least complaints if form ABC Manufacturer.

6.  Just call me. I’ll leave my phone on all day.

7.  Please handle this gold watch carefully. It is worth more than $5,000.

下一篇還有另外4種檢測喔！