In English, the word “have” has several different usages, including to express possession — as we have just done — and for the present perfect tense, as we have just done. We also have to point out that “have” is also used to express necessity. As we have just done.
Of those three, today we only have space for “possession” and “necessity.” For these, British English uses two forms: “have” and “have got.” The former is the preferred option in more formal English, and therefore predominantly used in the written form; the latter is often used in spoken English. American English prefers the use of “have,” and rarely uses “have got.” These differences entail different grammatical constructions.
Another difference in the use of “have” between American and British English is with nouns such as “shower,” “bath” and “wash” — to speak about washing — and “break,” “holiday” and “rest” when speaking about resting. British English uses both “have” and “take”; American English tends to use “have” more often than “take.”
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
英文字「have」有幾種不同的用法,包括表示「擁有」(例如前句英文原文──「has」several different usages),以及表示現在完成式(例如,We 「have」just done──我們剛做好了)。我們也必須指出,「have」也用於表示「必須」(例如前句英文原文──「have」to point out)。
上述「have」所具有的這三種意思,我們今天的篇幅只夠討論「擁有」和「必須」這兩個意義。英式英文是用「have」和「have got」這兩種形式來表示「擁有」或「必須」。較正式的英式英文會用「have」,因此這用法主要見於書面形式;而「have got」通常是用在英式英文的口語。美式英文則較偏好使用「have」,很少說「have got」。這些差異帶來了不同的文法結構。
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
「have」的用法在美式與英式英文中的另一區別,可見於後接名詞的用法,例如「have」接「shower」(淋浴)、「bath」(泡澡)和「wash」(洗滌)等表示清洗的名詞,以及「break」(休息)、「holiday」(放假)和「rest」(休息)等有關休息的名詞。英式英文「have」和「take」兩者皆可使用──例如「have a shower」、「take a shower」,美式英文則傾向較常用「have」。
(台北時報林俐凱譯)
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