Tomorrow和morrow、請求 - 古德明

Tomorrow和morrow、請求 - 古德明

問:See you on tomorrow(明天見)這一句,on字要不要刪去?
答:Tomorrow無論是作名詞還是副詞(adverb),都不用on帶出,例如:(1)Tomorrow is your birthday(明天是你生日)。(2)The job must be finished tomorrow(工作明天必須完成)。「明天見」英文是See you tomorrow。
留意英文有morrow一字,指「明天」或「翌日」,是個較古雅的字,多見於文學作品,例如:(1)I have a dental appointment on the morrow(我明天約了看牙醫)。(2)I noticed that the old man said "the morrow" instead of "tomorrow"(我發覺那老人用the morrow而不是tomorrow說「明天」)。
問:公司同事常用to request you to do something句式,要求人家做某事,這用法正確嗎?又I request your reply to my enquiry(請回答我的問題)這說法,會不會令人覺得無禮?
答:To request someone to do something、to request that something (should)be done、to request a reply等,文法都正確。但直接請求人家做某事,一般不用上述句法,而會用以下這樣的句子:(1)Could you make a copy of this document for me?(這文件,給我影印一分,可以嗎?)(2)I look forward to your reply(佇候示覆)。這兩句,轉述時,可用request一字:(1)I requested him to make a copy of the document for me。(2)I requested a reply from him。至於I request your reply to my enquiry,似是說人家有責任回答,可能令人不高興。