問:「小學朋友」、「中學朋友」可不可以叫primary friend和secondary friend?
答:「小學教師」和「中學教師」,英文可以叫primary teacher、secondary teacher或primary school teacher、secondary school teacher。但是,小學、中學的舊同窗,一般會叫primary school friend和secondary school friend,那school一字不宜略去,例如:His secondary school friends remember him as a bright-eyed lad who was very sure of himself(據他的中學舊同窗記述,他當年是個朝氣勃勃自信十足的小夥子)。
Primary、secondary有「最重要的」和「次要的」含義,所以,a primary friend可以解作「最重要的朋友」,而a secondary friend則可解作「第二線的朋友」,例如:(1)Even after her marriage, her father remained her best and primary friend(她結婚之後,她父親仍然是她最好、最重要的朋友)。(2)She is one of those I regard as a secondary or "second-tier" friend(我心目中有些二線朋友,她是其一)。
問:電影 Bad Teacher 中文譯做「Miss愛教壞」,其中有一段男女主角對話:"Much people don't wear bras." "Definitely. Much teachers."(「很多人不戴乳罩。」「不錯,很多教師都是如此。」People、teachers都是可數名詞(countable noun),為什麼用much修飾?
答:我沒有看過這齣電影,只能猜想男女主角有心乖違文法,以配合劇情。兩個much都應改為many。英文電影的對白,文法不一定正確。