PETS－2語法講解(131)

　　I'll buy one at the box office.
　　對話
　　Angus: Where are you off to in such a hurry?
　　Martin: I'm just off to the movie theater to see the latest Nicole Kidman movie.
　　Angus: I've seen it, it's really good. Have you got a ticket?
　　Martin: No, I'll buy one at the box office.
　　Angus: You could have saved yourself a lot of time by buying it on the internet.
　　Martin: I didn't know you could do that. You must show me how to do it.
　　安格斯：你這樣匆忙，要去哪裡？
　　馬丁：我要上電*看科爾．基曼最新的電影。
　　安格斯：我看過了，的確是部好電影。你買了入場券沒有？
　　馬丁：沒有，我會去售票処買。
　　安格斯：假如你早點在互聯網上購買，會節省不少時間。
　　馬丁：我不知道可以這樣買票。你得教我網上買票的辦法。
　　‘電*’美式英文叫movie theater、movie house或theater，英式則叫cinema。‘劇院’美式英文也叫theater，這和英式無別，但英式拼法是theatre。‘電影’的美式叫法是movie，英式是film，所以，同是看電影，美國人go to the theater/the movies，英國人則go to the cinema/the films；‘愛看電影者’也分爲美國的moviegoers和英國的filmgoers。‘售票処’美英無別是box office或ticket office。I called the box office to find out if there were any seats left即 ‘我打電話到售票処，看還有沒有賸餘座位’。要去售票処買票，則可像馬丁那樣說：I'll buy a ticket at the box office。畱意介系詞(preposition)用at，不用in。At和in的一個分別，今天不妨談談。一些有特定用途的建築物，用at帶出，是說其用途；用in帶出，是說‘在其內’。所以，‘我在售票処買票’是I bought a ticket AT the box office，而‘我看見售票処裡有兩個售票員’則是I saw two clerks IN the box office。假如Tom was at the library/supermarket/bank/theater，那麽，湯姆是在看書/買東西/辦理財務/看電影；假如Tom was in the library/supermarket/bank/theater，則他是在圖書館/超級市場/銀行/電*之內。儅然，I enjoy eating at/in that restaurant這一句，無論用at還是in，意思其實沒有分別：我喜歡在那家餐厛喫飯。此外，在英國，‘上學’和‘到教堂禮拜’叫做at school/college和at church，但美國人現在多說in school/college，也有說in church。My daughter is in college即‘我女兒是大學生’。