如果別人在你旁邊羅嗦個(gè)沒完,你感到厭煩了,說"you are so boring"(你真煩!)。"shut up!"(閉嘴!)自然沒錯(cuò),可人家受得了嗎?不如來一句"oh, come on.give me a break!"(幫幫忙,讓我歇歇吧!)這地道幽默吧?
要想說人"氣色好"。"you look fine!"當(dāng)然不錯(cuò),可如果你說" you're in the pink! "就妙得多了,實(shí)際上,在英語口語中,表示顏色的詞用起來非常形象生動(dòng)。
"他精力充沛"美國人說:"he is bouncy"而不說"he is energetic ",牢記一些日常對(duì)話中的活句式是你一把必備的鑰匙。
如:久仰,"I get mind of you"比"I heard a lot about you."輕松得多。
代問他人好當(dāng)然能用"please remember me to your sister"或"please give my best wishes to your father"不過,若是很好的朋友,何不說,"please give my love to Jim。"
在中國可不能隨便說"我想你",然而,當(dāng)和西方人分手時(shí)說"I will miss you"要比說"good-bye"或"see you soon"有趣得多,不妨一試。
有人開會(huì)遲到了,你若對(duì)他說 "you are late",聽起來象是廢話,若說"did you get lost?",則更能讓他歉然,可別說成"get lost!"那可是讓人滾蛋的意思。
別人征求你的意見,問能否開窗戶等,你要說"you can do that ."就有點(diǎn)土了,用一句"do you have the time? "實(shí)際上,問他人的姓名,地址都可以這么用:"may I have you name?"要比"what's your name? "禮貌得多,不過警察例外。
別人問你不愿公開的問題,切勿用"it's my secret, don't ask such a personal question"回答,一來顯得你沒有個(gè)性,二來也讓對(duì)方尷尬。你可以說"I would rather not say"(還是別說了吧!)。
有時(shí)候,你想說什么,可說是想不起來,你可以說"well…"、"let me see"、"just a moment "或"it's on the tip of my tongue"等,相比之下,最后一個(gè)句型是最地道的。
交談時(shí),你可能會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)換話題,不要只說"by the way "實(shí)際上,"to change the subject"、"before I forget"、"while I remember"、"mind you"都是既地道有受歡迎的表達(dá)。
遇到你不懂的問題時(shí)可別不懂裝懂,"I know"可能是中國人用得最多,而美國人最不能接受的一句話。當(dāng)一美國教師向你解釋某個(gè)問題時(shí),你如果連說兩遍"I know",我敢保證,他不會(huì)再跟你說什么了。用"I got it "就順耳得多,要是不懂就說"I'm not clear about it ."不過如果你會(huì)說"It's past my understanding"或"it's beyond me ."你的教師定會(huì)驚訝不已的.