有人問你一條好平常嘅問題 —— "So how did you end up in this city?" —— 而誠實嘅答案偏偏拖到前度。小小恐慌即刻浮現:應該講幾多?邊啲字聽落 chill,邊啲字會令對方眼神飄向自己杯嘢飲?以下幾招教你點樣用英文講前度,而又唔會令成個對話定格。
快速答案
「My ex」係最日常嘅講法。正式場合用「my former partner」,如果牽涉婚姻就用「my ex-husband / ex-wife」;想拉開少少距離就用「someone I used to date」呢類軟啲嘅 phrase。重點唔係揀邊個字,而係語氣 —— 平實、簡短、唔帶 bitter。
真實用法
| 情況 | 自然嘅講法 | 備註 |
|---|---|---|
| 隨口提及 | "My ex used to live here." | 簡短、中性、非常常用。 |
| 講前度配偶 | "My ex-husband / ex-wife." | 加 context 又唔戲劇化。 |
| 好耐之前 | "Someone I used to date." | 溫和、vague、有禮貌。 |
| 正式 / 法律向 | "My former partner." | Office 語氣,無判斷。 |
| 啱啱分手 | "We recently split up." | 過去式 + 軟 verb。 |
| Friendly 框架 | "An old boyfriend of mine." | 溫暖咁拉開距離。 |
| 過咗 | "I'm in a different place now." | 情緒上 closure,唔係八卦。 |
| 想 close 個話題 | "Anyway — long story." | 萬用 escape hatch。 |
常見錯誤
- "My old wife lives in Toronto." → "My ex-wife lives in Toronto." · 「Old wife」聽落好似佢年紀好大;「ex-」先係標準前綴。
- "I have an X-boyfriend." → "I have an ex-boyfriend." · 前綴係「ex-」(拉丁文),唔係英文字母 X。
- "My before-girlfriend was a teacher." → "My ex-girlfriend was a teacher." · 「Before-girlfriend」根本唔係英文;「ex-」可以 handle 所有「以前」嘅關係字眼。
- "We are broken up." → "We broke up." or "We've broken up." · 「Are broken up」聽落怪;native 偏好主動過去式或者 present perfect。
- "He is my ex husband actual." → "He's actually my ex-husband." · 副詞位置重要;「actually」要擺喺名詞短語之前。
Mini Dialogues
Dialogue 1 — Coffee with a new friend A: Wait, so you lived in Lisbon? B: For two years, yeah. My ex was Portuguese. A: Ohh — and you stayed after? B: A little while. Then I moved back. Long story. A: Got it.
Dialogue 2 — At a party A: I love your jacket — where's it from? B: Honestly? My ex bought it for my birthday three years ago. A: Ha — well, he had taste. B: He really did. That might be the only nice thing I say about him.
語氣筆記
講前度嘅鐵律係:簡短、平和。提兩秒鐘聽落好健康;講五分鐘獨白就會畀人覺得未過得到。Native speaker 通常會用一啲 framing 字眼將個話題 soften:「back when」、「at the time」、「years ago」。新識嘅人面前,要避開帶情緒嘅形容詞(「crazy ex」、「psycho ex」、「evil ex」)—— 就算當笑話講都係 red flag。如果對話開始太私人,「long story」係一個全世界都接受嘅收尾方式。同好朋友之間,語氣可以轉成 dark humor;同同事之間,保持中性或者乾脆唔提。
Practice: Choose the Natural Sentence
Explaining why you have a key to a certain apartment:
- A. "It was my before-boyfriend's place."
- B. "It was my ex-boyfriend's place."
At a work dinner, your boss asks about your weekend:
- A. "My crazy ex showed up uninvited. It was a whole thing."
- B. "Something came up with someone I used to know. All fine now."
Mentioning that you visited a foreign city years ago:
- A. "I went there with an old boyfriend of mine, way back."
- B. "I went there with X-boyfriend long time."
答案
- B —— 「ex-」係標準前綴;「before-boyfriend」根本唔存在。
- B —— 工作場合要用軟啲嘅 framing;「crazy ex」係 oversharing 又帶判斷。
- A —— 流暢、地道,而且 article 用得啱。
一句總結
「Ex」呢個字細細粒、native、語氣平靜就會自然。重話留返畀信得過嘅朋友,正式場合用「former partner」,而最強嘅一招永遠係:停一停,然後轉話題。