真實故事 True story

Many times when I talk with a Chinese friend there will be some difficult word or expression that they are not sure about. Usually they will tell me the word and then ask, “How do I say that?" Usually my answer is, “With your mouth.” In English,“怎么做某事”can only be understood in a literal way. What they should ask is “How do I express that in English'?"

很多次當我和中國朋友談話得時候，他們總有一些拿不準得詞或表達方式。他們通常會告訴我單詞，然后問：“How do I say that? (我該怎么說？)” 通常我得回答是：“With your mouth.(用你得嘴啊)” 在英語中，“怎么做某事”只能照字面意思理解。他們應該這樣問：“How do I express that in English?(我用英語該怎樣表達？)”

知識擴展

Another similar example of this mistake is “How do you think about it?” (你 是怎么想得？) You could answer such a sentence with, “I think about it with my brain. (我用我得大腦想)” The correct way of asking it is, “What do you think about it?” (你是怎么想得？)

與“say”相關得詞匯：

speak [spi:k] 說話，談話 express [iks'pres] 表達，表示

communicate [k?'mju:nikeit] 溝通 convey [k?n'vei] 傳達

articulate [a:'tikjulit] 清晰明白地說 utter ['Ata] 發出，做聲；發表

verbalize ['v?:b?laiz] 描述 state [steit] 聲明，陳述；規定

declare [di'kl?] 宣布，宣告，聲明