“走路”上班是by foot，还是on foot？

“走路”上班是by foot，还是on foot？

当你在说、写英文时，会不会也是个“差不多先生”？小心！就算只是一点点的小疏忽，都可能让整个句子变成大笑话！

以下这5句话，你看得出哪里有问题吗？

1 　It wasn't easy to move a big refrigerator, but my brother gave me his hand.（移动一台大冰箱并不容易，幸好弟弟帮了我一把。）

2 　I don't want to chat with Sally because she loves to split hair.（我不想和莎莉聊天，因为她就爱在小事上吹毛求疵。）

3 　Helen is not worried about the exam; it was a piece of a cake for her.（海伦并不担心考试，对她来说，那根本不算什么。）

4 　In response to the environmental protection, I go to work by foot every day.（为响应环保，我每天走路上班。）

5 　Jenny had to fill in a team member who was ill.（珍妮必须接替一位病假同事的工作。）

正确用法

1 　It wasn't easy to move a big refrigerator, but my brother gave me a hand .

give someone a hand是一个惯用语，用在对方独力完成某事有困难而助他一臂之力时。若是将冠词a换成所有格his / her / my…，整句话就变成了血腥的大白话——把手给了对方！

2 　I don't want to chat with Sally because she loves to split hairs .

split hairs是指在细枝末节的问题上做不必要的争辩。如果使用不可数的hair，指的是头上的头发，句义就变成莎莉爱“劈头发”。

3 　Helen is not worried about the exam; it was a piece of cake for her.

a piece of cake这个俗语是指一件事很容易办成；若是在cake前面多加了冠词a，就真的是指“一块蛋糕”了。

4 　In response to the environmental protection, I go to work on foot every day.

表达走路或步行，应该用on foot；by foot不合语法，而且硬要解释的话，会变成“搭乘脚丫子”去上班。

5 　Jenny had to fill in for a team member who was ill.

fill in for someone是暂时替代某人工作的意思，如果少了for，整句话的意思就变成珍妮要去“填满”这位生病的同事。