強調說法、不能更好 - 古德明

2012年11月21日 - 蘋果

問：It is tomorrow that / when we leave for Taiwan（我們明天去臺灣）、It was in Hong Kong that / where I was born（我是在香港出世的）這兩句，that字是不是可用when或where取代？又是不是都可略去？

答：讀者示下的兩句，意思等於We leave for Taiwan tomorrow以及I was born in Hong Kong，但為了強調tomorrow和Hong Kong，就用it帶出這兩個字，而接以關係子句（relative clause，即用that、which、who、whom四字帶出的子句）。這是常見句式，例如讀者那兩句，改而強調「臺灣」和「我」，可以這樣寫：It is Taiwan that / which we leave for tomorrow、It is I that / who was born in Hong Kong。That、which、who、whom這四個關係代名詞（relative pronoun），不可用when、where等取代。

關係代名詞用在兩個名詞或代名詞之間，循例可以略去，所以你絕對可以說It is tomorrow we leave for Taiwan、It was in Hong Kong I was born等。

問：同學做了口頭報告之後，要稱讚他「做得不可能更好了」，應說It couldn't be better還是It couldn't have been better？

答：做口頭報告既已是過去的事，就應說It couldn't have been better。假如同學做報告之前，先準備了發言大綱給你看，你覺得好得無以復加，則可說：The outline is excellent. It couldn't be better。換言之，couldn't be better是說現在的事。