A: What’s wrong with you? B: I kind of think my boyfriend is lying to me.
A:妳怎麼了?
B:我覺得我男友在騙我。
在上面的例句裡,說話者不確定男友是否100%在說謊,但卻感覺有點不對勁。
A: Hi, have you watched the new movie yet?
B: Yeah, kind of. I started watching it last night, but I fell asleep halfway through.
A:嗨,你看過那部新電影了嗎?
B:是啊,對。我昨晚開始看的,但看到一半就睡著了。
A: Hey, what do you think about drinking at the bar tonight? B: Uhh… I’m kind of tired today.
A:嘿,今晚去酒吧喝酒怎麼樣?
B:呃…我今天有點累。
A: Do you have time to talk now? B: I’m kind of busy right now. Can we talk five minutes later?
A:你現在有時間說話嗎?
B:我現在有點忙。我們可以五分鐘後再聊嗎?
sort of
sort of 和 kind of 幾乎是可以互換的表達。 sort of 也可以帶入句子裡或單獨使用,在日常對話和 SNS 中通常縮寫為 sorta。
它和kind of之間的區別在於「確定性」的差異。
例如’m sort of hungry.和I’m kind of hungry.就有不同的印象。
sort of hungry(確定性低):有點餓,但不一定想吃東西 kind of hungry(確定性高):感覺有點餓,想吃東西
雖然有細微差別,但無論用哪一個,都不會有太多溝通上的問題。
A: How did you learn to play the guitar? B: I’m a sort of self-taught player.
A:你是怎麼學會彈吉他的?
B:我是一個自學成才的樂手。
A: Did you enjoy the concert last night? B: Sort of. The music was good, but the venue was too crowded and hot.
A:昨晚的演唱會你玩得開心嗎?
B:不錯。音樂很棒,但場地太擠太熱了。
A: Have you seen the new staff started to work for our company yesterday? What do you think of him? B: I think he is sort of a strange guy. He didn’t even look me in the eye.
A: 你昨天有看到我們公司新來的員工嗎?你覺得他怎麼樣?
B:我覺得他有點奇怪。他甚至沒看著我的眼睛。
A: What did you do last weekend? B: Nothing special. I went to the mall, did some shopping, and then I think I watched a movie or something like that.
A: 上週末你做了什麼?
B:沒什麼特別的。我去賣場採買,然後看了一些影片之類的。
A: This dish is so yummy! How do you make it? B: Well, it’s pretty simple. You just cook the noodles, stir-fry some vegetables and meat, and then mix everything together with the sauce. Something like that.
A:這道菜真好吃!你怎麼做的?
B:嗯,很簡單。你只要煮麵條,炒一些蔬菜和肉,再把所有東西跟醬汁混合在一起,就這樣。
A: What’s the weather going to be like tomorrow? B: I’m not sure, the forecast says there’s a chance of rain, but it could also be sunny. Something like that.
A: 明天天氣怎麼樣?
B:我不確定,天氣預報說可能會下雨,但也可能是晴天之類的。
A: How old were you when that accident happened? Fifteen? B: Something like that.
A:那次事故發生時你幾歲?15?
B:差不多吧。
Something like that.就是「(非100% 準確)就是這樣的感覺」的意思。
that’s about it
That’s about it.通常是指說完大概的內容之後即結束對話,或轉移話題。
這是在That’s it.(就是這樣)加上about這樣「模棱兩可」的說法。
A: Do you have anything else to talk about? B: Well, that’s about it.
A:你還有什麼要談的嗎?
B:嗯,就這樣。
A: How was your vacation? Did you go anywhere to enjoy yourself? B: Sure, I went to Hawaii for a week. We did some sightseeing, went to the beach, and just relaxed. That’s about it.
A:你假期過得如何?有去什麼開心的地方嗎?
B:當然,我去了夏威夷一週。我們去觀光,去海灘,放鬆一下。就這樣。
A: How was the party last night? B: It was pretty good. We had some food and drinks, listened to music, and talked with friends. That’s about it.
A:昨晚的聚會怎麼樣?
B:很不錯。我們吃了點東西,喝了點酒,聽了音樂,和朋友聊天。就這樣。