香港、我願意 - 古德明

香港、我願意 - 古德明

問:貴欄日前有以下一句,Hong Kong之前為什麼加a字?──In a Hong Kong full of lies, do you still believe that truth will out?(今天的香港,謊言充斥,你還相信事實會有顯露的一天嗎?)
答:英文專有名詞(proper noun)之前,有時會用a或an,帶出該名詞所述人、物的某些特點。韋氏詞典 Merriam--Webster's Advanced Learner's English Dictionary a字條以下例句可供參考:We were met at the door by an embarrassed Mr Brown(=Mr Brown was embarrassed when he met us at the door布朗先生在門前,見到我們,十分尷尬)。謹再舉一例:In a racially stratified America, coloured people are often badly treated(美國以種族分階級,非白人常常受到惡劣待遇)。
問:看華語電影,常見男的求婚,問「嫁給我好嗎?」女的卻用英文回答:I do。這I do用得對不對?
答:婚禮上,證婚人問新娘願不願意嫁給新郎:Do you take Mr So-and-so to be your husband?新娘循例會說:I do(我願意)。但要回答Will you marry me?(嫁給我好嗎?)卻不應說I do。以下三個回答都可以用:(1)Yes, I will marry you. (I thought you would never ask!)(好,我嫁給你。我還以為你永遠不會向我求婚呢!)(2)No, I won't。(不行,我不會嫁給你)。(3)You have to give me time to think about it(我要時間考慮)。