The issue of Edison Chan's nude pictures is no longer a hot gossip but its residual effects have kept rippled. At least, the two key persons, Edison and Gillian, still find themselves powerless to step out of the hot water. Their mounting popularity seems to fade out all of a sudden, and the public increasingly get hatred of them. What baffles me is the fact that the issue is a matter of private affairs. However, how come they have to be penalized by market overtly? Little harm they did to others in society, and primarily they were victims of the event, especially on its female part. This reveals how cynical our world goes: their full body exposure makes people no market interest and novelty in, and even feel disgusted with, their performance of any forms. It deals with market value more than social ethics.   

有同學問我，他在南華早報看到以下一句︰

Charles Mok, chairman of the Internet Society, said with the government opening wireless internet connections in public facilities this summer, more of Hong Kong’s 5 million internet users were set to watch the Games through the new media platform.

他問我，上句何解要用more of 而不是more than，兩者用在上句意思會有何分別？

分別很簡單，用more of 時，意思是指那五百萬互聯網使用者中多了人數在街上上網；而用more than 時，意思則是多過五百萬互聯網使用者在街上上網。

Alex T. C. Lam

B.Soc. Sc (Hons) HKU

M.Soc.Sc. HKU

 大家都知，在英文的表達上，時態(tense)扮演很重要的角色，典型的例子，用simple tense的時候，所形容的動作會比較概括化(general)；用上perfect tense，就已經比較「有所指」(specific)，至少，你已經在這個動作加上了一個時間；再用上perfect continuous tense，就會更加「有所指」，不但關顧到該動作的時間性，亦關心到它的頻率性，這些在我的課堂裏已經跟同學分享得清清楚楚。

我再多用一個例子跟大家分享一下，今日的 “The Standard”頭版有一句這樣的英文︰

We would walk past each other like strangers.

Would 向來包含的意思都不簡單，上句所指的意思是甚麼呢？因為有would一字存在，有以下的意思︰

1.          我們將來有機會碰面時，大家不瞅不睬，形同陌路人。倘若有這個意思，would所包含的是一個將來的可能性。

2.          我們過往每當碰面時，大家都不瞅不睬，形同陌路人。倘若有這個意思，would所包含的是一個過往的習性。

根據該報導的上文下理，上句所指的該是第二個意思，是講述一些過去但慣常出現的事情。英文的文法就是這麼吸引，其變化萬千可真趣味盎然。