你好自豪咁講一句「My family has five people」,對方頓咗微微一頓先有禮貌咁點頭。佢明你講乜,但冇一個 native speaker 會咁講。點解?因為喺英文入面,屋企人(family)唔係「有」幾多個人,family 本身就「係」嗰啲人。文法上轉得好細,但味道完全唔同。
快速答案
英文唔會講「my family has X people」,因為 family 通常當佢係一個整體,而唔係一個裝住人嘅容器。自然嘅講法包括:"There are five of us," "We're a family of five," "There are five people in my family," 或者簡單啲嘅 "There are five of us at home." 四種講法都好順耳。用「has」嗰種就好似硬翻譯出嚟咁。
真實例句
| 英文講法 | 幾時用 |
|---|---|
| There are five of us. | 快、口語、好常用 |
| We're a family of five. | 講得齊整,好啱自我介紹用 |
| There are five people in my family. | 教科書啲,但仍然可以接受 |
| It's just me and my mom. | 細家庭,輕鬆語氣 |
| There are four of us at home. | 強調「同住嘅人」,唔係 extended family |
| My immediate family is small. | 指父母同兄弟姊妹咁多 |
| I come from a big family. | 暗示兄弟姊妹或者親戚好多 |
| I'm an only child. | 冇兄弟姊妹 |
| We're a household of three. | 稍為 formal — 通常喺表格或者調查見到 |
| My extended family is huge. | 包括堂表兄弟姊妹、姨姨叔叔、爺嫲公婆 |
常見錯誤
- "My family has five people." → "There are five of us." · Family 係一個整體,唔係一個裝住可數嘢嘅容器。
- "I have a big family with seven members." → "I come from a big family." · "Members" 聽落似某啲 club 嘅成員;直接講「big family」就得。
- "We are five persons." → "There are five of us." · "Persons" 係法律/公文用字;日常英文用「people」 —— 或者索性唔提。
- "In my home, we live four people." → "There are four of us at home." · 用「there are」嚟重組句子。
- "My family is consist of mom, dad, and me." → "My family is my mom, dad, and me." · "Consists of" 可以用,但「is consist of」係文法錯。
迷你對話
識個新同學 A: So, tell me about your family. B: There are four of us — my parents, my younger brother, and me. A: Nice. I come from a big family. Six kids. B: Six! Wow. Are you the oldest? A: Middle child. Forever invisible. B: Classic.
一齊填表格 A: It says "household size." B: Hmm. Does that mean my whole family or just the people I live with? A: Just the ones you live with right now. B: Then it's three. My parents and me. A: Same. Three for me too — just me and my two flatmates. B: Wait, flatmates count as household? A: For this form, yeah. Same address.
語氣筆記
英文入面 family 同 household 唔係同一樣嘢。Family 通常係指有血緣、婚姻或者領養關係嘅人 —— 你嘅兄弟姊妹就算住喺地球另一邊,佢哋仍然係你 family。Household 就係依家同你住喺同一屋簷下嘅人,有冇親戚關係都計。Flatmate 可以係同一個 household;一個住喺外國嘅兄弟姊妹係你 family,但唔係你 household。
仲有要記住:immediate family = 父母、兄弟姊妹、配偶、仔女。Extended family = 姨叔姑舅、堂表兄弟姊妹、爺嫲公婆等等。Nuclear family 帶少少社會學味,指父母加佢哋嘅仔女,書面用得多過傾偈用。
小測試:揀最自然嘅句子
喺輕鬆嘅 party 上面,邊一句聽落最自然?
- A. My family has six members.
- B. There are six of us.
你想喺問卷上面描述同你住喺同一個單位嘅人:
- A. My family is four people.
- B. There are four of us in the household.
邊一句意思係「冇兄弟姊妹」?
- A. I'm an only child.
- B. I have a single family.
答案
- B — "There are six of us" 係日常最自然嘅講法。
- B — 同住嘅人,用 household 至啱。
- A — "Only child" 係固定表達;"single family" 唔係呢個意思。
一句總結
唔好逐隻字翻譯「我屋企有 X 個人」。英文鍾意講 "there are X of us" 或者 "we're a family of X." 記住 family 同 household 嘅分別,第一次開口就講得自然。五秒鐘修正,一世受用。