昨天看新聞時有一則是在報導知名好萊塢導演Martin Scorsese (馬丁•史柯西斯)和新的蜘蛛人男主角Andrew Garfield在台灣拍新片的殺青記者會 會中聊到男主角去逛夜市並買了身上穿的外套 於是記者會的主持人陶晶X就問他:How much did you get it? 只見Garfield楞了一下,有點疑惑地問她:How much? (意思是向她確認她要問的是不是衣服多少錢的問題) 然後他開玩笑地回答:That’s none of your business. (這不干你的事。) 當然陶晶X的專長並不是英文,犯錯是可以理解和被體諒的 不過我們來研究一下這句話 How much did you get it? 到底錯在哪裡
這個句子錯的原因就像我之前寫過一篇問人家是幾歲時結婚的用How old did you get married? 這樣的句子是錯的理由有些類似 (請按這裡看該篇)
問人家買一個東西花了多少錢,較常用的正確說法是How much was it? (若是鞋子、褲子、眼鏡等一定要用複數的東西,或是多樣東西,則問How much were they?) 用過去式的原因是這(些)東西已經買來了 另一個問法是How much did you get it for? (注意最後要加for ) 因為原本描述花費的句子應該是用 I got this jacket for $800. 這樣的句型 其實各位在檢查這種問句時有個很簡單的方法 先想簡答時的答案 如果換成完整的句子通不通或文法對不對 比如要回答How much這個問題,簡答時可直接說eight hundred dollars 但若恢復成完整的句子,I got it 接 eight hundred dollars 變成 I got it eight hundred dollars卻少了一個字,是不完整及不正確的句子 (同樣道理,也不能說I got married 28 years old. 所以問How old did you get married? 也是錯的) 「這件外套是我花八百元買的」要說I got this jacket for eight hundred dollars. 才對 所以問句的最後也要加for才對 「你買這個多少錢?」是How much did you get it for? 而不是How much did you get it? 此外也可以問:How much did you buy it for? 或How much did you pay for it? (複數物將it改為them)