用動詞「wish」表達祝福🧧🐉


新年快樂! 🧧🐉

這個龍年,祝你和你的家人身體健康,財源廣進。


學生經常問我,如何將不同的吉祥語句翻譯成英文,以便向不懂中文的同事和客戶發祝福訊息。


一個直接又自然的方法,是將中文的「祝」翻譯作英文的動詞「wish」。


但一如既往,只知甚麼動詞是不夠的,還要知道配合的文化特徵,才可正確地表達意思。


當動詞「wish」被用作表達「祝你(某東西)」時,它會同時連接一個 indirect object 的名詞組(通常是「you」或「everyone」之類),以及一個長 direct object 的名詞組。


正常的英文詞序,是 indirect object 出現在 direct object 前面:


I wish you (direct object).


這 direct object 正是你祝福 indirect object 對象的事。它會是以名詞組字形出現。


例如:


I wish you health and happiness.


I wish you and your family a prosperous Year of the Dragon


「Health and happiness」 和「a prosperous Year of the Dragon」是「wish」的 direct object,兩個都是名詞組。


這是用英文表達新年祝福的一個直接又自然的方法。


但我偶爾也看到有人用英文寫像以下的祝福句:


I wish you have a good Year of the Dragon*


「wish」後面不是 indirect 和 direct object,卻連接了一個完整的「that-」嵌入式字句 (embedded clause)。


動詞「wish」確實有一個需要靠「that-」子句來完成意思的版本,但它卻有著不同的含義 — 不是「祝」,而是「希望現在沒有發生的事情會發生」。


例如:


I wish you would stop talking to me like this.

(「我希望你不會這樣對我說話」-- 這假定了現實中你正在對我這樣說話) 


使用這個版本的「wish」,嵌入式子句中的限定動詞通常都包含情態動詞「would」,以表達與現實相反的狀況。所以在這語境下,即使說「I wish you have a good year」也是不正確的。


無論如何,想「wish」表達其祝福問候的意思,我們必須在後面加入兩個名詞組。


大家何不趁農曆新年來練習一下,將所有原本想用嵌入式子句來表達的祝福都轉為名詞,正確地用「wish」表達祝福。


例如:


I wish you get a promotion this year*. → I wish you career success this year. 


I wish you and your family are all healthy*. → I wish your family health and happiness.



__________


小練習


請將以下祝福寫成「I wish (indirect object) (direct object)」的句型。


  1. “You will get a lot of business this year!”


I wish _____________ _______________________ .


  1. “You and your family will all be very lucky this year!”


I wish ____________ _______________________ .


___________


答案:


  1. (例) I wish you great success in your business in the Year of the Dragon. 

  2. (例) I wish you and your family good fortune in the Year of the Dragon. 


___________



How do we use "wish" in auspicious greetings?


Happy New Year! 🧧🐉


I wish you and your family happiness, health, and wealth in the Year of the Dragon. 


Students often ask me how to translate different auspicious greetings into English because they would like to send messages to colleagues and clients who don’t speak Chinese.


The most direct translation of the Chinese verb “祝" is the English verb “wish.”


However, as always, just knowing this verb is not enough, because we also need to know its grammatical characteristics in order to use it correctly to express our meaning.


When the verb “wish” is used to express the meaning of “祝你(某東西)," it takes both an indirect object – often “you” or “everyone” etc. – and a direct object.


The indirect object comes before the direct object, as is normal in English word order:



I wish you (direct object).


The direct object is the “thing” that you wish for the indirect object. Because the “thing” you wish is the direct object, you need to make sure that it is in the form of a noun.


For example:



I wish you health and happiness.


I wish you and your family a prosperous Year of the Dragon


“Health and happiness” and “a prosperous Year of the Dragon” are both noun phrases acting as the direct object of “wish” in these sentences.


This is the most straightforward way of saying an auspicious New Year greeting in English. 


I often see people from Hong Kong writing an auspicious greeting like:


I wish you have a good Year of the Dragon*


Instead of an indirect object and a direct object completing “wish,” there is a full “that”-embedded clause after “wish.”


There is indeed one version of the verb “wish” that takes a “that”-clause to complete its meaning, but it expresses a different meaning – not “祝" but rather like “hoping that something that is not happening right now would happen.” 


For example:


I wish you would stop talking to me like this.

(The assumption is that “you” are talking to “me” like this in reality right now.) 


With this version of “wish,” the finite verb inside the embedded clause usually has the modal verb “would” to express that it is contrary to reality, so “I wish you have a good year” would be incorrect even in this context.


Either way, the version of “wish” that we need for auspicious greetings takes an indirect object and direct object instead. 


So, challenge yourself to stick to this version of “wish” this Chinese New Year and change all the things you want to put into an embedded clause into a noun instead.


For example:


I wish you get a promotion this year*. → I wish you all the best in your career this year. 


I wish you and your family are all healthy*. → I wish your family health and happiness.


__________

Mini Exercise


Turn the auspicious sentiments in the sentences below into the form “I wish (indirect object) (direct object).”



  1. “You will get a lot of business this year!”


I wish _____________ _______________________ .


  1. “You and your family will all be very lucky this year!”


I wish ____________ _______________________ .



___________


Answers:


  1. (e.g.) I wish you great success in your business in the Year of the Dragon. 

  2. (e.g.) I wish you and your family good fortune in the Year of the Dragon. 




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