接續上一篇商業英文最常見的錯誤 Part I
˙What is your job?
問別人工作是什麼,很多人直接問 ”What is your job?” 或是 “ What is your work?”
當然,其實這是正確的句子,但是聽起來有點太過直接且奇怪。
在一般英文為母語的國家,他們要問對方在做甚麼工作的時候,
會用的句子為 “What do you do?” 或是 “What do you do for a living?”
另外,job和work也有一些不同;他最近在銀行找到一份工作。
就不要說成 ”He has recently found a work at the bank.”
Work 作「工作、職業」解時,為不可數名詞;job 為可數名詞,
正確的說法應該是 “He has recently found a job at the bank.”
˙Personnel vs. Personal
這兩個字都是從Person變化來的,請注意它們的字尾拼法及重音!
"Personnel" 是「公司員工」或「人事部門」。
All personnel of the company are eligible for the retirement plan. (公司員工都有資格參與退休計劃)
Personnel /p,ɚsən'ɛl/重音在字尾。
"Personal " 是形容詞,指「私人的」或是「親自的」。
It's all a matter of personal taste.(這純屬個人興趣)"Personal /p'ɚsɪnɪl/"的重音在第一音節。
˙Executive vs. Execution
一位 "executive" 是指公司的主管。CEO執行長是"Chief executive officer"的縮寫,
executive的唸法是/ɪgz'ɛkjətɪv/,注意重音。
和Executive很像的一個字是execution /,ɛksəkj'uʃən/,意思是執行或執行力。
重音在"U",它的動詞是"execute" ,既是執行,也有處決的意思,
把執行長講成 "execute" - 有置人於死地的錯覺,不要用錯了。
例如:
He will lead the execution of the company's corporate strategy, collaborating with the executive team on company-wide initiatives such as strategic ventures and business development. (他將帶領公司的企業戰略的執行,如企業戰略和業務發展的管理團隊合作。)
˙Discuss & discussion
工作場合裡整天都有大大小小的討論在進行中。但討論discuss或discussion這個字卻經常被用錯。
例如:When I discuss with my client, I can not say the things that I want to say because of my poor English.
看出來這句話哪裡錯了嗎?
中文的「和....討論」,最容易聯想到的英文就是discuss。
Discuss是一個及物動詞,不能用discuss about或是they are discussing" ,
也不能用"discuss with somebody",discuss後面一定要加一個討論的主題。
像discuss the topic,discuss the proposal。
所以這句話要改成
(O) When I talk to my client, I cannot say the things that I want to say because of my poor English.
同理再比較下面兩句
(X) They'd like to discuss about what to do next.
(O) They'd like to discuss what to do next.
They'd like to discuss what to do next.也可以寫成They want a discussion about/ on what to do next.
˙I look forward to hearing from you.
這個片語通常使用在商業書信的結尾。有些人會寫成,"I look forward to hear from you." 這是錯的,
因為look forward to的to是介係詞,後面一定要用V-ing動名詞型式。
例句:
• I look forward to our meeting.
• I look forward to meeting you.
˙Headquarters and Information
很多人自動會去掉 "headquarters" 的 "s",又莫名其妙地幫 "information" 加上 "s"。
Headquarters 是單數名詞,指的是總部: Brussel, which is the headquarters of the Common Market, is an attractive city. (布魯塞爾是歐洲共同市場的總部,它是一個非常美麗的城市。)
總部這個字字尾是"s",很容易讓人以為是複數名詞。其實它是單數,去掉 "s" 就成了動詞 "to headquarter."
另外,很多人也會在information字尾加上 "s"。大部分的人推斷如果他們需要很多資訊,他們就會改為複數,例如 "The book contains many useful informations." 但是資訊是不可數名詞。這句話要改成 "The book contains much useful information."
留言列表