PETS－2語法講解(256)

　　I couldn't get over how pale and drawn she looked.
　　對話
　　Kirsty: Have you seen Vicky's mother lately?
　　Babs: No, why do you ask?
　　Kirsty: Well, I saw her yesterday and I couldn't get over how pale and drawn she looked; completely different from when I last saw her.
　　Babs: Oh, dear, what do you think is the matter?
　　Kirsty: She must be suffering from some kind of illness.
　　Babs: Well I hope it's nothing serious, like cancer or something like that.
　　Kirsty: Me too. That would be awful.
　　Babs: Whatever it is, Vicky must be very worried about her.
　　基施蒂:最近有沒有見過維基的媽媽？
　　巴佈絲:沒有，爲什麽會這樣問？
　　基施蒂:我昨天見到她，她臉色蒼白，麪容憔悴，跟我上次看到她的樣子完全不同，我至今仍感不安。
　　巴佈絲:啊，依你看，她怎麽了？
　　基施蒂:她一定是患了什麽病。
　　巴佈絲:希望不是癌症之類惡疾吧。
　　基施蒂:希望如此，否則就麻煩了。
　　巴佈絲:無論是什麽病，維基一定很擔心。
　　I couldn't get over how pale and drawn she looked一語中的get over，是指‘把（不愉快或可驚事情、曾經相戀的人等）忘懷’，例如：(1) I just can't get over the way he criticized me yesterday（昨天他那樣批評我，我至今還耿耿於懷）。(2) I still can't get over her, although she has left me for another man（雖然她另有新歡捨我而去，我對她仍未能忘情）。
　　Drawn是draw的過去分詞(past participle)，作形容詞用，指‘（因疾病、疲倦等）憔悴’，例如：She looked drawn after working round the clock（她工作了二十四小時，看來十分憔悴）。 She appeared completely different from when I last saw her是說‘她看來和我上次見到她時完全不同’。Different經常和三個字連用：from、to、than，意思沒有分別，但引起的爭論可不少。有人認爲different from是正確說法，也有人認爲different than是卑俗的美國說法。其實different than一詞，英國十七世紀名作家迪福（Daniel Defoe，《魯賓遜漂流記》作者）、十八世紀名詩人柯立芝(Samuel T Coleridge)等都有使用。不過，假如你擔心被人譏爲 ‘不正確’，那麽，說different from最爲保險，例如：His ideas are different from（或to/than）mine（他的意見和我不同）。今天，different from在美、英都是標準說法，different to多用於英國而少用於美國，different than則多用於美國，英國人一般不用。