問:「你對這家店舖有沒有印象?」這一句,可不可譯做Do you have any idea / impression of this shop?
答:我想,那位讀者要說的是Do you remember being in / seeing this shop before?(你記不記得曾經到過/見過這家店舖?)Idea、impression二字,一般不會用來表達上述意思,但以下說法當然沒有問題:(1)What is your impression of this shop?(你覺得這店舖怎樣?)(2)Do you have any idea where this shop is?(你知道這家店舖在哪裏嗎?)Impression常用來表示對某事物的評語,idea則常用來表示「知不知道」。
問:聽新聞報道說:Zimmerman wasn't arrested for 44 days(齊默爾曼四十四天之後才遭拘捕)。按「拘捕」是短時間的事,怎麼可和「for+一段時間」這句式連用?然則「他已死去兩天」可不可以說He has died for two days?
答:「For+一段時間」,通常用來說維持一段時間的事,例如He slept for ten whole hours(他睡了整整十小時)。Die是指死亡那一刻的事,所以不可說He has died for two days,只能說He has been dead for two days或He died two days ago。
讀者說的那一句,那for 44 days是指「未遭拘捕」那段時間,而不是「拘捕」那一刻。此外,arrest除了指「拘捕」,也可以指「拘留」,所以,以下一句也沒有問題:He was arrested for 44 days(他被拘留了四十四天)。