問:「我很怕冷」英文怎樣說?
答:「怕冷」、「怕熱」的「怕」,是指對冷、熱感覺比一般人強烈,所以,不可直譯作fear或be afraid of,宜譯做be sensitive to,即「對……敏感」,例如:He is sensitive to cold. Yesterday, the temperature dropped to 20℃, and he went to the length of wearing two heavy sweaters(他很怕冷,昨天氣溫降至攝氏二十度,他竟然穿上兩件厚毛衣)。
說植物怕冷,英文也是用sensitive一字,例如:Tomatoes are sensitive to cold and are easily damaged by frost(番茄不耐冷,容易被霜凍壞)。
問:Not really一語,用來回答問題,是什麼意思?
答:對人家的問題,回答假如是否定,用not really可使語氣委婉一點。例如:(1)"Did Tom mention me?"she asked expectantly." "Not really," I said(她滿懷期望的問:「湯姆有提到我嗎?」我說:「沒怎麼提到。」)(2)"Can you change the date of your appointment?" "No, not really. It's a medical appointment."(「你可以更改所約日期嗎?」「恐怕不可以。我是約了見醫生。」)
回答問題以外,not really也可用來使否定說法委婉一點。但請留意:really not卻有加強語氣的意思,例如:(1)I don't really agree with your opinion(我不大贊成你的意見)。(2)I really don't agree with your opinion(我根本不贊成你的意見)。