本地英文常见错误

jjrchome · 发表于 3-4-2012 11:02:52|来自：新加坡

本帖最后由 jjrchome 于 3-4-2012 11:03 编辑

对照一下，看看我们是否犯过同样的错误。。。。

Common English mistakes made here
my paper | Tue Apr 3 2012

I would like to bring to the attention of all English-speaking Singaporeans the most glaring and widely made mistakes in our society.

1. The difference between 'send', 'take', 'bring' and 'fetch'

"Take" is used when you go from one place to another, and the thing (or person) goes with you.
"Bring" is used when you come towards a place from another place, and the thing (or person) comes with you.
"Fetch" is used when you leave some place to get something (or someone), and then return, bringing the thing (or person) with you.
"Send" is used when something (or someone) goes away from you, but you don't go along. Singaporeans are way too fond of saying "I'll send you home".
They should say "I'll take you home" instead.
You send someone off at the airport, that is, you see them go, but you don't go with them.
You send a letter to someone - you drop it off at the mailbox, but you don't go with the letter.

2. Requests should be in the form of 'Would you' or 'May I', not 'Can you' or 'Can I'

"Can" refers to the ability to do something.

3. When one resides in a place permanently, one 'lives' there, not 'stays'

This is a mistake often seen in the newspapers, much to my dismay.
You go on vacation and stay at a hotel, but you live in a Housing Board apartment in Toa Payoh. The next time you want to know where someone resides, ask "where do you live", not "where do you stay".

4. 'Last time' is often erroneously used in place of 'long ago', 'once', 'before' or 'previously', depending on context

"Last time" refers to a single occurrence directly prior to the present time, not something that happened long ago, nor something that happened continually in the past.
That means you shouldn't say: "Last time I broke my tooth before." You should say: "When I was young, I broke my tooth."
You shouldn't say: "Last time our grandmothers cooked over a charcoal stove". Instead, you should say: "Long ago, our grandmothers cooked over a charcoal stove."
But you can say: "The last time my brother tried to fry an egg, he almost burned the kitchen down."

5. It is more appropriate to say 'good food' than 'nice food'

Food is good, people are nice - that is what I always say.
There are specific circumstances when "nice" can be applied to food, such as when describing its appearance: "That's a very nice omelette."
But most of the time, when we refer to the taste of food, it is better to use "good", as in "Mmm... This is good!"

6. It is more appropriate to say 'damaged' or 'broken' than 'spoiled/spoilt' when referring to things

Toys break; equipment gets damaged; but food spoils and children are spoilt.
"Spoil" can be applied to extensive damage or serious devaluing of something, such as "littering spoils the landscape of our beaches".
Otherwise, for more minor things, use "damaged" or "broken". For example, "this phone is damaged; I can't call out", and "You mustn't give away broken toys to the children's home".

jjrchome · 发表于 3-4-2012 11:05:27|来自：新加坡

List of Common English Errors in Everyday Situations

Everyday situations are a minefield of common English errors. Here, we rectify some of them so you can learn to avoid making the same mistakes.

WRONG: “Please excuse me. I have to leave now to put my children TO SLEEP.”
RIGHT: “… I have to leave now to put my children TO BED.”
(EXPLANATION: It is a criminal offence to put a person “to sleep”. In Singapore it carries the death penalty.)
WRONG: “I SEND our son Joey to school everyday.”
RIGHT: “I DRIVE/TAKE our son Joey to school….”
(EXPLANATION: To “send” someone means that you are not accompanying that person on the journey.)

WRONG: “Please SWITCH your mobile phone to silent mode.”
RIGHT: “Please PUT your mobile phone on silent mode.”
WRONG: “Children, please OFF the lights when you leave the room.”
RIGHT: ” … Please SWITCH OFF the lights …”
WRONG: “I will APPRECIATE if you can keep your voice down.”
RIGHT: “I will APPRECIATE IT if you can keep your voice down.” or “I will appreciate your keeping your voice down.”
(EXPLANATION: The word “appreciate” must be followed by an object.)
WRONG: “He is late. MUST BE he overslept or missed the bus.”
RIGHT: “… IT MUST BE THAT he overslept or missed the bus.” or “… He MUST HAVE overslept or missed the bus.”
WRONG: “LAST TIME we lived in a kampong house.”
RIGHT: “PREVIOUSLY, we lived in a kampong house.” or “We USED TO live in a kampong house.”
WRONG: “It may rain this afternoon. You GOT bring umbrella OR NOT?”
RIGHT: ” … DID YOU bring an umbrella!”
WRONG: “From the way he speaks, I would consider him AS a snob.”
RIGHT: Drop the word “AS”.
WRONG: “You BETTER apologise to him as he is really mad.”
RIGHT: “IT WILL BE GOOD if you apologise…”
WRONG: “Sorry, I am really busy with work right now. Can we discuss tomorrow?”
RIGHT: ” … Can we discuss IT tomorrow?”
WRONG: “You ONLY JUST found out about the sale? Today is the last day.”
RIGHT: “You found out ONLY NOW about the sale? …”
WRONG: “I used to love durians, but NOT SO MUCH nowadays.”
RIGHT: ” … but LESS SO nowadays,
WRONG: ” The Japanese numbers game sudoku is very popular among the staff of my office. MYSELF, I took it up a year ago.”
COMMENT: Drop “myself”.
WRONG: “No idea.”
RIGHT: “I don’t know.”

WRONG: “John, you look groovy. You aim to win at the best DRESS competition tonight, don’t you?”
RIGHT: “… You aim to win at the best DRESSED competition tonight, don’t you?”
(EXPLANATION: If it is a “best dress” competition, John would not be eligible unless he is a cross dresser.)
WRONG: “Do you like the FRAGRANCE of the wine?”
RIGHT: “Do you like the BOUQUET of the wine?”
WRONG: “I can see that you prefer the champagne coloured roses THAN the red ones.”
RIGHT: “I see that you prefer the champagne coloured roses TO the red ones.”
WRONG: “I will wait for you at Ya Kun while you are at the hair dressing SALOON.”
RIGHT: ” … hair dressing SALON.”
WRONG: “We just met. Please don’t hold my hand here. AFTER people talk.”
RIGHT: ” … OR people may talk (gossip).”
WRONG: “Can you call me BACK soon? ”
RIGHT: Drop the word “back” as it is redundant.
WRONG: “Mary, I have a cocktail this Friday at the office. Would you like to join me?”
COMMENT: “A cocktail” means a glass of alcoholic drink. Mary may rather go to a “cocktail party”.
WRONG: “I saw you holding Bee Hong’s hands. You are both in love, ISN’T IT?”
RIGHT: “… You are both in love, AREN’T YOU?”
WRONG: “Can you hold my hand as I am SCARED of the dark.”
RIGHT: “… as the dark SCARES me.” or “… as I am AFRAID of the dark.”

WRONG: “I like my eggs HALF-BOILED.”
RIGHT: “I like my eggs SOFT-BOILED.”
(EXPLANATION: So far there is no cooking equipment for boiling only half of an egg while it is still in the shell.)
WRONG: “I go MARKETING only once a week.”
RIGHT: “I go TO THE MARKET only once a week.”
(EXPLANATION: “Marketing” is done only by the marketing executives of a company.)
WRONG: “Why are you not DRINKING your soup?”
RIGHT: “Why are you not HAVING your soup?”
(EXPLANATION: As soup typically contains solid ingredients, unlike water or milk or juice, it is generally not appropriate to use “drink” to describe its consumption.)
WRONG: “Have you FINISH eating?”
RIGHT: “Have you FINISHED eating!”
(EXPLANATION: “Finish” here is used as part of the verb “have finished”.)
WRONG: “This restaurant operates on a ‘first come, first SERVE basis.”
RIGHT: ” … ‘first come, first SERVED basis.”
WRONG: ” No fish? Prawns ALSO CAN.”
RIGHT: “No fish? Prawns ARE FINE TOO.”
WRONG: Cake-seller to customer: “Okay, two banana muffins and one peach tart. SOME MORE?”
RIGHT: “… ANYTHING ELSE!”
WRONG: “Sorry. I LEFT only one Sri Lanka crab. CAN TAKE local crabs instead?”
RIGHT: “… I HAVE only one small Sri Lanka crab LEFT. CAN you TAKE local crabs instead? ”

WRONG: “I see a conflict of INTEREST as Mr A is our financial consultant and his firm is selling financial products to us.
RIGHT: “I see a conflict of INTERESTS as …”
(EXPLANATION: It takes more than one interest to conflict.)
WRONG: “Last month, I INFORMED that our production cost had been rising.”
RIGHT: “… I INFORMED ALL OF YOU that …” or “… I REPORTED that …”.
(EXPLANATION: The word “inform”, unlike the word “say” or “report”, must be followed by an object.)
WRONG: “The reason for the increase in our cost IS BECAUSE commodity prices have been going up relentlessly.”
RIGHT: “The reason for the increase in our cost IS THAT commodity prices have …”.
(EXPLANATION: “Because” is used only when the sentence is written in a different way: “Our cost has increased BECAUSE commodity prices have been …”.)
WRONG: “I don’t think SO that commodity prices have risen that much.”
RIGHT: “I don’t think that commodity prices have risen that much.”
(EXPLANATION: The word “so” is redundant.)
WRONG: “Please do not repeat the mistake again.”
RIGHT: “… Please do not repeat it.”
(EXPLANATION: “Repeat” means “do again”. So to “repeat again” means “to do again again”.)
WRONG: “After you have studied the proposed agreement, please REVERT to me.”.
RIGHT: “… Please COME BACK to me.”
(EXPLANATION: “To revert to ” means to transform back into the shape of”.)
WRONG: “We should meet soon to discuss ABOUT the reception for our foreign visitors.”
RIGHT: “… to discuss the reception for …”.
(EXPLANATION: “To discuss” means “to talk ABOUT”. So the word “about” is redundant.)
WRONG: “With regards to Project A, can you update me on its progress?”
RIGHT: “WITH REGARD TO …”
RIGHT: “AS REGARDS to Project A …”
WRONG: “Our team COMPRISES OF people from various disciplines.”
RIGHT: “Our team COMPRISES people from various disciples.
WRONG: “The supplier will not be able to deliver the new desk-top computers in time. AS SUCH we have to continue to use our existing computers for at least another week.”
RIGHT: “… SO we have to continue …”
(EXPLANATION: We use “as such” only when we can answer the question: “As what?”.
Example: “John has just been appointed team leader. As such (as a team leader), he now has a greater responsibility in the office.
WRONG: “Although Jane’s report is not exactly a well-written one, we can consider it AS completed since it serves the purpose intended.”
RIGHT: Drop the word “AS”.
WRONG: “I must catch HOLD OF the boss before he goes on vacation.”
COMMENT: The phrase “hold of” is redundant.
WRONG: “We spent half a day SEARCHING for a missing document.”
RIGHT: “… SEARCHING THE OFFICE for a missing document.”
RIGHT: “… LOOKING for a missing document.”
(EXPLANATION: “To search” means “to check or examine”. It must therefore be followed by a word depicting a place or an area.)

jjrchome · 发表于 3-4-2012 11:18:07|来自：新加坡

Common Mistakes In Grammar And Choice Of Words

Mistakes in everyday conversations often carry on in your child’s work in school. You should find ways to help your child identify common mistakes made in casual conversations so as not to repeat them in school and formal communications.
Try looking for activities to do with your child to improve his/her English.

Spotting Incorrect English

Go through the list of 6 sentences with your child. Let your child spot the mistakes and ask him/her to tell you how they should be corrected.

1.	Yong Meng was only three years old when he could read. He knew the alphabet since he was two years old. And his favourite alphabet was “I”.
2.	Ravi was driving his car to the mechanic when another car almost knocked into him. Lucky Ravi horned at the driver and he wake up.
3.	Siew Lee always don’t know what we’re talking about. Don’t know why she so blur one.
4.	Mummy is sick and I cannot go to work today. I think I better take off day or take MC.
5.	My father travels to China for business every month got one time like this. My mummy say every time daddy outstation I got to help her do housework.
6.	My dad doesn’t like that actress because she slangs a lot. I think she is trying to copycat the Americans.

Suggested Answers:

1.	Yong Meng was only three years old when he could read. He knew the alphabet when he was two years old. And his favourite letter was “I”.
2.	Ravi was driving his car to the mechanic when another car almost knocked into him. Luckily Ravi honked at the driver to alert him to the danger.
3.	Siew Lee often doesn’t know what we’re talking about. I’m not sure why she is so scatterbrained.
4.	Mummy is sick and I cannot go to work today. I think I had better take a day off or get an MC (medical certificate) so that I can go on medical leave.
5.	On average, my father travels to China almost once every month. My mummy says every time daddy goes overseas, I need to help her with the household chores.
6.	My dad doesn’t like that actress because she speaks with a foreign accent. I think she is trying to mimic the Americans.

jjrchome · 发表于 3-4-2012 11:42:50|来自：新加坡

一则关于“英译中”的笑话：

建屋局华文广告不知所云（转载）
http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120330_019.shtml

建屋发展局改走温馨路线，昨天刊登各报章的广告，不再用以往“硬邦邦”的设计概念，改而使用以食谱的方式呈现售屋详情。美中不足的是，华文广告的内容多处直译自英文广告词，令人不知所云。

　　这则半版的报章广告，主题为“建造您心仪的家园”（Recipe for your perfect home），与读者分享各项最新预购组屋项目的构想图和基本资料，以及剩余组屋销售计划的26个地点，希望购屋者能够从中获取信息，调制出理想的居住环境。广告设计从简，周边以巧克力、鸡蛋、面粉等食材的图案点缀，视觉上充满了暖意。它所呈现的信息也简单易懂，方便公众了解详情，令人眼前一亮。

　　不过，广告为强调这次有大批新组屋将在成熟组屋区兴建，在英文版中提到“A large sprinkling of mature estates”，华文广告却翻译为“大方撒上已发展组屋区”，让人摸不着头脑。

　　建屋局受询说，广告设计灵感取自于烹饪食谱，文字为配合概念，特意以创意方式经营。不过，一些中文读者可能对中文版的文字感到别扭。为提供有意购屋者有关销售组屋活动详情，当局经常采用不一样的创意概念，以更好地向他们传达信息。