頭條日報 頭條網 - It is difficult for women who smoke to get pregnant. by Michael Chugani

Many Hong Kong people do not speak good English but they should not be afraid to speak it. While watching the news on an English language TV channel last week, I saw a University of Hong Kong medical professor talk about the health risks of smoking. His English was not very good. I'll point out his mistakes but I hope this will not deter (discourage, stop, prevent) him from speaking English again. His name is Lam Tai-hing and he is the Chair Professor of Community Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. He told a press conference that the number of female smokers in Hong Kong has risen by 70 percent in the last two decades. A decade is ten years.

        P rof Lam warned that women will find it harder to have babies if they smoke. This is what he said: "Smoking women are difficult to get pregnant." The sentence is grammatically incorrect and he used the word "smoking" in the wrong way. The word "smoking" can be used as a verb, noun, or adjective. For example, you can say: "I am smoking (verb) a cigarette." Or you can say: "Smoking (verbal noun) is forbidden (not allowed) in many places in Hong Kong." You can say: "The smoking (adjective) chimney reminded me of winter in the USA." A "smoking chimney" means there is smoke coming out of the chimney. After you put out a fire in a car, smoke will usually continue to come out for a while. You can say it is a "smoking car."

        However, smoke does not come out of women. It is therefore incorrect to say: "Smoking women are difficult to get pregnant." Prof Lam should have said: "It is difficult for women who smoke to get pregnant." Or he could have said: "Smoking makes it difficult for women to get pregnant." Most people, of course, understood what Prof Lam meant when he said "Smoking women are difficult to get pregnant." That's why I always say you should not be deterred from speaking English even if you make mistakes.

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        許多香港人的英語也不好，但他們不應害怕去講。上星期我看英語頻道的電視新聞，有位香港大學的醫學教授談及吸煙（smoking）對健康的危害。我會指出他的錯處，但希望這不會窒礙（deter）他再說英語。他叫林大慶，是港大社會醫學系首席教授。他在一個記者會中說道 ，在過去二十年（two decades）香港的女性吸煙者人數上升了七成。A decade就是一個十年。

        林教授提醒女性，吸煙會令她們更難於懷孕。他是這樣說的："Smoking women are difficult to get pregnant."這句句子在文法上是錯誤的，他也用錯了smoking這個字。Smoking可以是動詞、名詞或形容詞。例如你可以說：「我在抽着（smoking，動詞）一口煙。」或你可以說：「吸煙（smoking，動名詞）在香港許多地方都是被禁止的（forbidden）。」你又可以說：「那在吐煙（smoking，形容詞）的煙囪令我想起美國的冬天。」若你放火燒車，很多時候都會持續冒出濃煙（smoke），你就可以說那是一輛 "smoking car"。

        然而，煙霧不會從女人身上冒出。因此說 "Smoking women are difficult to get pregnant."是不正確的。林教授應該說："It is difficult for women who smoke to get pregnant."當然，林教授說"Smoking women are difficult to get pregnant."時，許多人也會明白他的意思。因此我常常說，即使你出錯，也不應被嚇倒（deterred）而不說英語。mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=290763§ion_name=wtt&kw=126