第511期:你和Native Speaker的英文表達到底差在哪?

日常口語交流已經較爲得心應手的你，有沒有一個苦惱？那就是你的詞彙量似乎還停留在“小學生”階段，說的時候腦海裏瞬間浮現的就是那麼幾個單詞、短語。常常使用同樣的表達，別說聽的人，可能連自己都會覺得乏味而尷尬。

一種語言的魅力正在於它的豐富的內涵和變化。英語表達的多樣性主要包括兩個方面，一是單詞和短語的多樣性，比如優缺點的表達，學渣可能會說advantages and disadvantages，學霸會說pros and cons，而學神就使用了高級的merits and demerits。另一個是句式的多樣性，包括陳述語序、倒裝語序、部分倒裝等等。想要完全掌握英語各式各樣的表達，只怕對於母語爲英語的人來說，也是一種挑戰。今天我們分享的就是一個Native Speaker 講述英語多樣化表達帶來的挑戰。

New Words

spice n.香料，調味品；趣味，情趣；
insomnia n.失眠；失眠症；
subtle adj.微妙的；巧妙的；敏感的；
crayfish n.小龍蝦；
angle vi. 垂釣；斜移；彎曲成一角度；從（某角度）報道；
razor shells n.竹蟶；

Variety is the spice of life, and because many words of modern English come from lots of different sources, French, German, Nordic languages, Latin, Spanish and even Hindi and Eskimo, speakers and writers have lots of choices when it comes to which words to use.

變化是生活的調味品，因爲現代英語的許多單詞來自不同的語種，法語、德語、北歐語言、拉丁語、西班牙語，甚至還有印地語和愛斯基摩語，所以說英語的人和英文作家在使用詞彙時有很多選擇。

For example:
Is this bed hard or solid?
Is he clever / intelligent / bright / smart ...?
This all makes English a rich language, but it can be frustrating.

例如：

這牀硬嗎？

他聰明嗎？

這一切都使英語成爲一種豐富的語言，但太豐富卻可能讓人沮喪。

My husband occasionally has a restless night, which involves getting up at 3 am and making tea or catching up on the ironing. Does he suffer from sleeplessness or insomnia? I would say sleeplessness because I know he was asleep by 10 pm and that it only happens about once every few weeks. On the other hand, I have been a poor sleeper since I was young; often not falling to sleep until 3 am or even later and then waking up again around 7am. So, I would say I have insomnia. In this case the choice is governed by the degree of sleeplessness. It is a subtle difference, but there is a difference.

我丈夫偶爾會有一個不眠之夜，包括在凌晨3點起牀，泡茶或熨衣服。他是失眠（sleeplessness）還是患有失眠症（insomnia）？我會說只是失眠（sleeplessness），因爲我知道他晚上10點就睡着了，而且每隔幾周才發生一次而已。另一方面，我從年輕時就睡得很差；通常直到凌晨3點或更晚才入睡，然後在早上7點左右醒來。所以，我想說我纔有失眠症（insomnia）。在這種情況下，詞彙的選擇是由失眠的程度決定的。這是個很細微的差別，但確實存在。

It is the same when it comes to describing interests and hobbies. Do you go fishing or angling? The latter is specifically for using a hook and line, but the more general term fishing covers everything, including lying on your stomach and pulling crayfish out of a stream or even catching razor shells on a beach armed with a packet of salt.

描述興趣愛好也是一樣。你去捕魚（fishing）還是釣魚（angling）?-後者是專門用於描述使用魚鉤和魚線。更通用的捕魚（fishing）則涵蓋了一切，包括趴着從溪中拽出小龍蝦，甚至在海灘上用一包鹽釣到竹蟶。

OMG! I hear you cry. How can you, as a learner, be expected to learn all this? Well, I'll be honest. You can't. It is the sort of knowledge that comes when using the language, in real situations. So, even though it can be confusing, and for a while you may always choose the same word again and again, you will still be understood, and asking someone what something means is a great way of starting a conversation.

天哪！我聽見你哭了。作爲一個學習者，怎麼能被期望學明白所有這些？好吧，說實話，你不能。這是一種在實際生活中使用時才能獲得的知識。所以，儘管這可能會讓人感到困擾，並且在一段時間內，你可能會一遍又一遍地使用同一個詞，大家會理解的。而問別人某件事的意思是什麼，是一個開啓對話的好方法。

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