say, tell, talk, speak,call之分別

英語漫談系列(40)

中文表達“說、講、談、論”之義，英文可用say, tell, talk, speak,call

五字，但因牽連慣用語用法，且字義本身之及物與不及物用法，及

其引申意義頗廣，茲分述如下︰

1.      talk vi & vt

Money talks. 金錢萬能。~ about +obj. 談到= mention；~ over(= discuss) + obj. 討論

*We tried everything we could to talk John into giving up his plan. 我們

盡量設法說服John放棄其計畫。(talk +人 +into +Ving：= persuade說服)

If you are talking their language, things might be different. 若你講他們想聽的話，事情也許

就不同。

(talk某人的language=說法、看法與某人相似)

*Finally, Jane was talked out of the proposal. (buying a new car) 終於他們說服Jane 不提出此案 (買部新車)。(talk out of 勸阻=dissuade+人 from +Ving / n.)

2. say vt.

a. ~ one’s say 說出想說的話

b. ~”Yes”同意；~“No”拒絕

We must ~ “No” to drug. (narcotic) 我們必須向毒品說不。

He is too young to say” No” to a lady. 他太年輕以致不敢拒絕女士的請求。

*c. “It goes without ~ ing that…. 「勿庸置言」：

It goes without saying that health is above all others. = It is unnecessary to say that health is more important than all others. 健康比其他一切重要，是勿庸置言。

d. ~ (cry) uncle 求饒；承認失敗

Joe fought for five minutes, but he had to ~ uncle. Joe雖打了五分鐘，

卻不得不投降。

e. to ~ nothing of + n.甭提，遑論。= let alone = not to mention

In the accident, he was physically hurt, to ~ nothing of the damaged car.

f. say one’s prayers：念禱告文

He is a pious Christian; he always says his prayers before going to bed.

他是位虔誠的基督徒；他睡前總是念禱告文。(prayer不論給誰聽，一律用say；含say ~ to之意)。

3. tell vt. =say to

a. ~ time 懂得看時間 He is old enough to ~time. 他長大到能看懂時間。

b. ~ the difference between A and B.分辨 A 和B 

c. ~ one’s fortune 看…人的相

a fortune-teller 看相者* a psychic (Taro) ；card reader (用撲克牌或塔羅牌看相者)；a psychic palm reader (看手相者)

*比較︰人+ make a fortune 發財；物 (事) cost (人) a fortune 花了一大筆錢

d. Don’t tell me, the man lied again. 難不成，此人又說謊。

*比較︰You are ~ ing me!還用你說? (以上兩句均為口語英語)

e. ~ a lie 說謊； ~ the truth 說實話；〔~ one’s tale講身世~ ；a tale 說出原委，~ tales講他人壞話〕

《Dead men ~ no tales》死人不會造謠。(死無對證)

  

f. There is no ~ ing…..= It is impossible to tell…無法知道

There is no ~ if she ever found her lost kid. 無法知道她是否找到失蹤

的小孩。slumdog  frieda pinto

4. speak  vt.講話； ~ to + 人= tell + 人

 a. ~ + 語言 (English, French, German) 比較︰

b. ~ one’s mind 說出內心話

We have every right to speak our mind. 我們有充分的權利說出

內心話。   

            

c. ~ volumes 溢於言表

The nice present she gave spoke volumes for what she thinks of you. 她送的禮充顯示她愛你。

 

《Speak of the devil when he shall appear.》說曹操，曹操到。

比較：He got angry because someone called him names. 因為有人辱罵他，所以他生氣。

5. call vt. ( ~ one names = swear at 咒罵) 。call one’s name叫…的名字 When you call my name, I will respond immediately. 叫我的名字時，我就立即回應。

a. ~ the roll 點名。

b. C~ it a day 今天到此為止。

c. C~ a spade a spade 有話直說。

d. ~ attention to +事 (吸引對…之注意)

A notice displayed in the shop window called attention to the recent

increase in prices. 櫥窗內的字條，使人注意到最近物價的上漲。

e. ~it quits 收工、結束(感情)：We are through, and lets call it quits.

好聚好散吧。

f. He is, what is ~ed , a double-crosser= He is a so-called double crosser.

他是位所謂的叛徒。

Justin Lai編

01/18/2014

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   說曹操曹

   

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