Around、About、Nearly、Over、Under:英文點樣令數字冇咁精確
有個學英文嘅人喺會議上講:「We have nearly thirty applicants, maybe thirty-two。」佢嘅同事輕輕噉糾正佢:「If it's thirty-two, that's over thirty, not nearly thirty。」Nearly 呢個字指向下面 —— 指住一個仲未到嘅數。Over 就指向上面。一個細細嘅字,意思就反晒。
點解呢樣嘢重要
好多時候,你喺真實對話入面唔需要確切數字。你會估。「About 20 people came。」「Nearly midnight。」「Just over a mile。」揀啱個約數字眼,就會話畀聽嘅人知你係指略多、略少,定係差唔多。揀錯咗,你就可能會應承一啲你做唔到嘅嘢,又或者報告咗指向錯誤方向嘅資料。好消息係,呢套約數字眼數量唔多,而且每一個都有清晰嘅方向。
規律
About 同 around 意思係 接近 某個數,冇強烈嘅高過或者低過嘅感覺。「About 30 people」可能係 28 或者 32。佢哋喺日常口語入面最常用。
Roughly 同 approximately 意思一樣,但聽落較正式或者書面。「Roughly half the audience」啱喺報告用;「about half」啱喺對話用。
Nearly 同 almost 意思係 接近但仲未到。佢哋指向 下面,朝住個數。「Nearly 8 o'clock」通常係指 7:55 左右,而唔係 8:05。
Over 同 more than 意思係 高過 某個數。「Over 100 people came」即係至少 101。
Under 同 less than 意思係 低過 某個數。
Just over 同 just under 加咗 僅僅 嘅意思。「Just over a mile」即係比一英里多少少。
Give or take 係口語,意思係 加減。「Fifty people, give or take」即係大約 45 至 55。
-ish 係加喺數字或者時間後面嘅口語後綴:「30-ish」即係大約 30;「7-ish」即係大約七點鐘。
錯誤 / 自然 / 點解
| 錯誤 | 自然 | 點解 |
|---|---|---|
| We had nearly 32 applicants, more than 30. | We had over 30 applicants, around 32. | Nearly 指向個數下面;32 喺 30 之上,所以用 over 先啱。 |
| The meeting starts at about exactly 3 p.m. | The meeting starts at about 3 p.m. | About 本身已經包含咗不確定性;exactly 同佢矛盾。 |
| I waited for nearly two hours, around two and a half. | I waited for over two hours, around two and a half. | Nearly 會解做少過兩個鐘;兩個半係多過。 |
| Approximately 50-ish people came. | Approximately 50 people came. | Approximately 同 -ish 意思一樣;兩個一齊用係重複。 |
| There were under or equal 20 students. | There were 20 or fewer students. | Under 解做嚴格少過;要表達「少過或等於」,就用 or fewer。 |
| It's almost 8 p.m., maybe 8:15. | It's just past 8 p.m., maybe 8:15. | Almost 8 即係 8 點之前;just past 8 先啱實際時間。 |
| Give and take 10 minutes | Give or take 10 minutes | 固定表達係 give OR take,唔係 and。 |
| About of 30 people attended. | About 30 people attended. | About 喺數字前面唔接 of。 |
常見情境
估人群數目。「There were about 200 people at the concert — maybe a few more, maybe a few less。」如果你真係數到 230,就改用「over 200」或者「a little over 200」。
講時間。「It's nearly 6」通常係指 5:50 至 5:58。「It's just after 6」即係 6:01 至大約 6:10。「6-ish」即係 5:45 至 6:15 之間任何時間,好口語。
喺鋪頭講價錢。「The phone costs just under $500。」即係 $480 至 $499。如果係 $501,你就會講「just over $500」。
旅行時間。「The flight is roughly five hours。」比 about 正式。「Around five hours」喺口語入面一樣得。
報告出席率。「More than 60 percent of the staff voted in favor。」老細想知方向(高過),唔只係接近。
煮嘢估量。「Add about a cup of flour. Give or take a little, depending on the dough。」煮嘢嘅對話成日將兩個約數疊埋一齊。
約輕鬆嘅聚會。「Let's meet at the café 7-ish, sound good?」-ish 呢個後綴友善又有彈性 —— 大部分 native speaker 都好鍾意用。
睇圖表。「Sales rose by just over 10 percent in Q1, then dropped nearly 5 percent in Q2。」Just over 示意僅僅高過;nearly 示意差少少先到。
常犯嘅錯誤
- 用 nearly 嚟講高過目標嘅數字。Nearly 永遠指向下面。
- 將重複嘅約數詞砌埋一齊:roughly about、approximately around —— 揀一個就得。
- 唔記得 almost 同 nearly 解做「仲未到」—— 佢哋描述一個未達到嘅數值。
- 講 over than 或者 under than。要單獨用 over 同 under,又或者用 more than 同 less than。
- 當 about 同 exactly 可以並存 —— 其實唔可以。
- 喺正式書寫入面濫用 -ish。佢喺傾偈同口語入面好好用,但喺文章入面就尷尬。
- 混淆 just over(略高)同 just under(略低)。佢哋係相反,唔係同義。
- 講咗 give and take,而唔係固定嘅 give or take。
迷你練習
揀最啱嘅字,改寫每句。
- The trip took ______ three hours (3 hours and 5 minutes).
- We sold ______ 100 tickets (97 sold).
- The boss arrives at the office ______ 9 a.m. every day (somewhere from 8:50 to 9:10).
- The bag weighs ______ 5 pounds (4 pounds 14 ounces).
- The recipe makes ______ 12 cookies, give or take.
總結
用 about 同 around 表示一般嘅接近,用 roughly 同 approximately 喺正式語境表達同一個意思,用 nearly 同 almost 表示 仲未到,用 over 同 more than 表示高過,用 under 同 less than 表示低過,用 just over / just under 表示任何一邊 僅僅 嘅情況。方向好重要:nearly 指向下,over 指向上。揀啱個字,你嘅數字就會自然到位,就算唔係確切數字都得。
想喺真實嘅試題句子入面練習數字、量詞同單位?喺 ExamRift 開始練習。