If I had owned a Maserati, I would have traveled around Taiwan.

  • If I had owned a Maserati, I would have traveled around Taiwan. (如果我有一部瑪莎拉蒂,我會環遊台灣) (正)
  • If I had owned a Maserati, I would of traveled around Taiwan. (誤)

解說:許多人「聽音拼字」,將 would have, should have, could have, might have, may have, must have 或其縮寫字 would’ve, should’ve, could’ve, might’ve, may’ve, must’ve 拼寫成 would of, should of, could of, might of, may of, must of。雖然這些拼字反映了實際的發音,但一般咸認這些都是錯誤或非正規 (nonstandard) 的拼法。

The dog lay at its owner’s feet.

  • The dog lay at its owner’s feet. (狗趴在主人腳邊) (正)
  • The dog laid at its owner’s feet. (誤)

解說:「(人、動物) 躺,臥,趴」的動詞為 lie,其時態變化為 lie, lay, lain, lying。「(物品) 放 (置);(動物) 下蛋,產卵」的動詞為 lay,其時態變化為 lay, laid, laid, laying。Lie 為不及物動詞,而 lay 為及物動詞。此外,lie 還意為「撒謊,說謊」(不及物動詞),其時態變化為 lie, lied, lied, lying。

We live a stone’s throw from the station.

  • We live a stone’s throw from the station. (我們住的地方離車站很近) (正)
  • We live a stones throw from the station. (誤)

解說:stone’s throw 為固定用語,stone 後面須有所有格符號 (‘)。這個片語意為「近距離;短距離 (a short distance)」(字面意思為「一個人投石的距離」),其後都是接副詞 away 或介系詞 from。下面為接 away 的例句:

  • My house is only a stone’s throw away. (我的房子就在不遠處 / 我的房子離這裡很近)

He put 2 spoonfuls of honey in each of the two cups.

  • He put 2 spoonfuls of honey in each of the two cups. (他在這兩個杯子裡各加了兩匙蜂蜜) (正)
  • He put 2 spoonsful of honey in each of the two cups. (誤)

解說:bucketful (一桶之量)、cupful (一杯之量)、handful (一把之量) 和 spoonful (一匙之量) 等由「容器 + ful」所構成的複合名詞,是直接在它們的末尾加 s 來構成複數,如 spoonfuls,而不是在「容器」後面加 s,所以 spoonsful 是錯的。

Scolionophobia and Phobophobia

Phobia 這個名詞意為「恐懼症;懼怕」,但它也是個字尾或後綴 (suffix),即 -phobia。英文中由 -phobia 所構成的複合名詞不在少數,千奇百怪,其中有兩個字頗有意思,那就是 Scolionophobia (學校恐懼症,亦即看到學校就會害怕的恐懼症) 和 Phobophobia (恐恐懼症,亦即害怕得了恐懼症的恐懼症)。