莫平的英文私塾

本 (1353) 期商周專講 "That's all." 用法. 我們來看看有什麼毛病.

1. A: How are you feeling?

B: Fine. Just a little tired. That's all. (That's all = 沒事.)

評語: B 的回答為中式英文, 應該改為 I'm OK. I'm just a little tired. That's all. 人家問你感覺如何, 若光回答一個 "Fine" 字, 意思其實是 "我好得很 (I'm feeling fine)," 而不是此處想表達的 "我還好." 此外, That's all 此地的意義應該是 "如此而已," 跟 "沒事." 有相當差距.

2. "That's all" 表示 "無可奈何" 或 "沮喪"

例句1: If all the tickets are booked, we shall have to stay at home, that's all. (如果全部機票都賣完了, 我們就得留在家哩, 只能這樣了.)

例句2: That's all. You may go now. (就這樣了. 你可以走了.)

評語: 例句1: 先講英文部分. We "shall" have to stay at home. 美式英語中很少用 "shall", 而是用 "will" 較多. 再看翻譯: "tickets" 直接翻成 "機票" 過於武斷. 如果 tickets 是 "船票" 怎麼辦? 最後看關鍵詞: That's all 完全沒有 "只能這樣了" 的用法. 這裡若用 "That's it (就是這樣了)" 反而比較好. 修改後成為: 

If all the plane tickets are booked, all we can do is stay home and enjoy Hawaii on TV.

例句2: 這句的語意哪裡有 "無可奈何" 或 "沮喪" 的成分呢?

3. 面試結束時跟考官說再見的句子:

I think we're done talking. Thank you for your time. I look forward to working with you. (我們聊得差不多了, 謝謝撥冗會面, 期待與您共事.)

評語: 對著 recruiter 說 "I think we're done talking." 是極為傲慢的口吻, 你若說了這話, 十輩子也找不到工作. 

後面兩句也不對勁: 首先, 考官的工作就是花時間面試人, 何必謝謝他的時間呢? 而 I look forward to working with you. 確切的意思是 "我期待跟您一起 (在人事部門) 工作." 你只想進人事部門的話, 可以這麼說, 若應徵其他部門, 就表錯情了. 其實你該說的是 "我希望進貴公司工作."

經過修正後, 可以這麼說:

I think that's all I want to say about myself for now. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come here for an interview. I look forward to becoming part of this great company. Thank you. Goodbye.