"I think so."居然不是”我也这么想”! 会错意就尴尬了!

2018-08-15 08:46:20  每日学英语

当别人评价某件事情,

我们想表示赞同他,

通常会说 I think so。

但是大家知道吗?

I think so. 真正的意思其实是....

I think so.不能表示认同!

1

我们上学就学过,我这么想/我觉得是I think so, 但口语里I think so=maybe,我们讲过,maybe是一种毫无把握,不清楚的含糊回答,所以你说I think so,就会让外国人会觉得你在敷衍,不靠谱!

Boss: Did you do your work, Jeff?

你工作做完了吗?

You: I think so.

我想是吧。

(PS:这样回答,老板会疯的,你到底做没做完!)

表示认同,可以这样说

I thought the same thing. 嗯,我同意

That's what I was thinking too. 我也是这么想的

That makes two of us. 我们想的一样

I thought the same thing about this plan.

关于这个计划,我也有同样的想法。

I'll think about it. 不是"我会考虑一下"

2

在大多数外国人的耳朵里,这句话其实是被作为拒绝的借口,使用要谨慎。比如你去逛街,服务员想推销,但你并不想买,直接说no不太礼貌,很多人就委婉的说I'll think about it。对方听到这话,就会知趣的离开了。

A: Hey, I have a crush on you, will you go out with me?

我有一点喜欢你,可以和我约会吗?

B: I'll think about it.

我再想想(我拒绝)。

考虑一下,该怎么说?

Let me think about it.让我想一下

Let's chew this over/chew on this好好考虑

(PS:chew是咬和嚼,chew over就是反复咀嚼,比喻反复考虑)

Let's chew over the idea before making any decisions.

在下结论前,让我们再讨论一次。

I think I can't.是中式英文!

3

如果你把"我想我不行"翻译成I think I can't,小编只能说你的中式英文太严重了!在中文里会把否定放在后面,但英文里会把否定提前,变成"我不认为我行"。正确说法是I don't think I can.

I don't think I can finish this without him.

我觉得没有他,我一个人完不成。

You are a good boss, I think.≠我认为你是好老板!

4

如果你这样和同事谈话,小心别有用心的人给你打小报告, I think是"我认为",但故意卖弄放句尾,意思就变成,"起码我这么想,别人我不保证"把你本想加重语气,肯定老板,活生生变成"也就我觉得老板还行"这种酸酸的话。

更好的表达

You are a good boss.我认为您是很好的老板。

You are a great writer.你是很好的作家。

总结:

就像whatever, actually一样,I think也是一个用烂的口水词,但在口语中,完全可以省去这种画蛇添足的表达,直接说会更好。下面就教你,替换千年不变的"I think"!

替换"I think"!

表达看法

I feel...我感觉

I figure that...我觉得

I suppose / guess… 我认为,我估计…

I suppose that was the right thing to do.

我认为那样做是对的。

强调观点

in my view / for my part从我的角度看...

as I see it / it seems to me对我来说是这样

In my view things won't change

依我看,事情不会改变。

不得不发表感受

if you ask me如果你非得问我

to be honest坦白说吧

as far as I'm concerned目前来说我觉得

If you ask me,you're making a big mistake.

如果你非得问,那我告诉你,这是个大错误。

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