
4. There are six of us.
我們有六個(gè)人.
當(dāng)一個(gè)人中文講了二三十年之后,想到「我們有六個(gè)人。」這樣的句子,想要不翻譯成 "We have six people." 也很難。 "We have six people." 這樣的講法其實(shí)也是沒(méi)錯(cuò),老美也會(huì)這樣講。只是爬山那天我問(wèn)幾個(gè)老美說(shuō),"You have four people?" (你們有四個(gè)人?),其中卻有一個(gè)老美回答我,"No. There are six of us." (不是的,我們有六個(gè)人。) 當(dāng)我聽(tīng)到這樣的句子時(shí),真的是讓我小小地高興了一下,因?yàn)槲野l(fā)現(xiàn)原來(lái)老美還有另一種講法來(lái)表達(dá)總?cè)藬?shù)是多少。所以后來(lái)我也學(xué)聰明了,例如當(dāng)我去餐廳用餐時(shí)侍者問(wèn)我 "How many?" 其實(shí)我可以簡(jiǎn)單地回答 "Two" 就行了,但有時(shí)我也會(huì)小小地賣弄一下,說(shuō) "There are only two of us." (只有兩個(gè)人。)
類似的句型還有像是 "How many of you...?" 這樣的講法,意思是你們當(dāng)中有多少人如何如何,例如老師問(wèn)學(xué)生,你們當(dāng)中有多少人曾經(jīng)看過(guò)鯨魚?這句話可以說(shuō)成 "How many people have ever seen whales?" 或是 "How many of you have ever seen whales?"