香港宜居、熟能生巧 - 古德明

2012年06月22日 - 蘋果 

問：Hong Kong is a good place to live（香港是個居住的好地方）一語，live之後要不要加in？

答：Place這個字之後，假如用「to＋原形動詞（infinitive）」或「that/which子句（clause）」，那麼，介系詞（preposition）往往略去。第七版《牛津高階英漢雙解詞典》place條有以下例句：We were looking for a place to eat（我們想找個地方吃東西）。這一句可改寫如下：

（1）We were looking for a place at which to eat。

（2）We were looking for a place to eat at。

（3）We were looking for a place at which we could eat。

（4）We were looking for a place（that/which）we could eat（at）。

（5）We were looking for a place where we could eat。

讀者示下那一句，同樣可改為Hong Kong is a good place in which to live或Hong Kong is a good place to live in。不用介系詞的寫法，較隨便也最常用。

問：「熟能生巧」常見譯做Practice makes perfect，是錯譯吧？改為Fluency leads to sophistication會不會好一點？

答：Practice makes perfect是成語，直譯是「熟練即能完美」，和「熟能生巧」同義。Fluency是「流暢」，sophistication則可解作「精巧」、「老練」、「高雅」、「矯揉造作」、「詭辯」等。Fluency leads to sophistication是什麼意思，恐怕沒有人說得準。