2014-07-10

【商業英語】混淆詞組出沒注意

每次批改學生的商業書信,尤其是求職信與商務電郵時,經常看到他們把一些常見的詞語混淆,並錯誤地運用在句子裏,把一份完本寫得大好的文件折扣大減。這星期就讓我們探討一些經常被容易混淆的詞組,以及其正確的使用方法。
讀者們除要注意這些字的詞類(part of speech)外,還要細心留意下列例子,避免以後再犯同一錯誤。當然,可能你會認為犯了一些大多數人都會犯的錯誤,實屬無傷大雅,但在這競爭激烈的香港,你會甘心只做平庸的一群嗎?有時就是這一點點的差別,便奠定誰勝誰負了。
 e.g. a) They are afraid of being laid off (被解僱).        
b) I fear to request a pay-rise (加人工).
c) Not everyone has the fear of death. (這裏用作名詞)       
註:“Afraid of”“fear”同樣有「害怕」的意思,但“afraid of”是形容詞,之前要加“verb-to-be”(is, am, are),而“fear”則可是動詞或名詞,兩者的用法不一。
 e.g. a) It is already 5 a.m. and they are still watching a World Cup match.            
     b) It is 5:25 p.m. and the employees are all ready to leave the office.
 註:“Already”指「已經」,是副詞;而“all ready”有「全部準備好」的意思,兩者的意思不同。

e.g. a) We are not altogether wrong in that.  
b) You can’t do the project on your own! Let’s do it all together
註:“Altogether”指「完全地」,是副詞;而“all together” (分開兩個字)有「一齊」的意思,兩者的意思不一。

e.g. a) The employees are always ready to work overtime.  
       b) They have tried all ways to solve the problem but they could not. 
註:“Always”有「總是」、「每次都」的意思,是副詞;而“all ways” (分開兩個字)有「所有的方法」的意思,兩者的意思不一。 

e.g. a) Everyone needs to perform well in the department.        
        b) Every one of the employees knows about the company’s vision and mission statement. 
註:“Everyone”“every one”同樣有「每個人」的意思,但“everyone”泛指「所有人」,而“every one” (分開兩個字)則較著重「每一」,並且之後通常跟「of +名詞」。
e.g. a) Newspapers keep us informed about daily happenings.
       b) The Dairy Farm produces most of the dairy products in HK.              
       c) Some people keep diaries
註:“Daily”指「每天的」、「每天地」;“dairy”有「奶製品的」意思;而“diary”是「日記」或「日程簿
」,三者的意思完全不同,讀音也不一。

e.g. a) This is my everyday schedule.            
       b) We have a long meeting every day
註:“Everyday”“every day”同樣有「每天」的意思,但“everyday”是形容詞,之後要跟名詞,如“everyday routine” (每天的例行公事),而“every day” (分開兩個字)則指「天天」,兩者的用法不一,但不少人香港人都錯誤地把“every day”寫成“everyday”。 
大家不妨試試以下的練習,測試一下自己是否已經清楚明白以上容易混淆詞組的運用(答案在文章結尾)。 
  1. We were (A. already /B. all ready) to go in fifteen minutes.
  2. Let’s do the demanding task (A. all together / B. altogether).
  3. The merchant deals with (A. daily / B. dairy / C. diary) products.
  4. They have used (A. always / B. all ways) to get more clients.
  5. Your interpretation is not (A. all together / B. altogether) wrong.
  6. We (A. afraid of / B. fear) that he has had an accident on his new motorbike.
  7. Would (A. anyone / B. any one) like to come with me?
  8. He kept his (A. daily / B. dairy / C. diary) in the drawer.
  9. (A. Anyone / B. Any one) of those proposals will suit us.
  10. If (A. everyone / B. every one) comes to the talk, there won’t be enough seats.
  11. He is (A. always / B. all ways) ready to undertake responsibility.
  12. The captain kept a (A. daily / B. dairy / D. diary) record of the voyage.
  13. Can you tell me who is not (A. afraid of / B. fear) the boss?
  14. We are (A. already / B. all ready) to face the challenges ahead.
  15. We do not (A. altogether / B. all together) approve of the decision.
 答案:
1.B    2.A    3.B    4.B     5.B     6.B     7.A     8.C     9.B   10.A   11.A   12.A   13.A   14.B   15.A

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