請款不是說「request payment」(四)
4、我們可以提早開會,讓每個人都可以參加嗎?
(錯)Can we have the meeting in advance so that everyone can participate in?
(對)Can we bring the time of the meeting forward to suit everyone?
想到提前,我們腦海裡很快會出現in advance,但這裡並不合適用,in advance指的是「事先」,「在做某事或在一個特定時間之前」,是一個副詞,並不是「提前」這個動作。
★ If you're going to come, please let me know in advance.
如果你要來的話,請事先通知我。
而把會議「提前」,我們需要一個動詞,口語一點,我們可以說make it earlier,這時bring forward這個片語就派得上用場。
★ The meeting's been brought forward to Thursday.
有「提前」,就有「延後」。
★ 我們不得不將會議延後一周。
(錯)We have to delay the meeting to next week.
(對)We have to put the meeting back a week.
延後可以用put back,delay是一種「拖延」的狀態,如果要表現拖到下周再開,可以說:
★ We have to delay the meeting until next week.