中英之鑒 中式英語之鑒380

[誤] This is one of the main characters of Shakespeare\'s sonnets.

[正] This is one of the main characteristics of Sharkespeare\'s sonnets.

注：character 是表示某一事物的總體特征(the combination of qualities which make a thing different from others)，而 characteristic 則表示事物的具體特征。由此說來，一個(gè)事物只有一個(gè) character，但卻可以有多個(gè) characteristic。所以在上面的例句中，one of the main characters 是錯(cuò)誤的，應(yīng)該改成 one of the main characteristics。又如：A person\'s character is always formed in his early years(一個(gè)人的性格通常在小時(shí)候養(yǎng)成);Carelessness is one of his characteristics(粗心是他的一個(gè)特點(diǎn))。