筆者想問問大家一個英文問題:
Why are you
here? 和 Why are you
in here? 有甚麼分別呢?
記得小時候,老師為求方便,教 here 通常只會說前面不用加
preposition,例如:
I’ve lived here for about ten years.(我住在這裡大約十年了。)
Please put
the box here.(請把箱子放在這裡。)
長大後會慢慢發覺事實又不是這樣,here 前面其實可以出現
preposition,例如:
Come over
here.(過來這裡。)
There are
lots of good restaurants round here.(這兒附近有很多好的餐廳。)
不過,上面例句的
preposition 都有明顯的意思,反而多數人最大的疑惑是:究竟 here 前面可否加 in?
因為 here 本身的意思是 in this place,所以再加 in 會令人懷疑是否多此一舉,但其實 here 和 in here 在意義上是有點細微的差別。
如果單獨用
here,所指的是廣泛的地方,可以是地區、地點或場所,沒有室內或室外之分,例如:
The people here are very nice.(這裡的人都很友善。)
Shall we
have lunch here?(我們在這裡吃午飯好嗎?)
You are not
allowed to park here.(請勿在這裡泊車。)
如果你在室內的地方,想強調在某個有限的空間內,可以用 in here,例如:
There aren’t
enough chairs in here.(這兒的椅子不夠。)
Why did you hide the letter in here?(你為甚麼把信藏在這裡?)
It’s so cold
in here. Would you close the window?(這裡很冷啊,你把窗子關上好嗎?)
至於本文開首的
Why are you here? 和 Why are you in here?,分別就在於你想強調的是 a general location 還是
somewhere inside。
舉例說,你參加朋友的派對,突然見到某個同事,可以問:Why are you here? (=
Why do you come to this party?)。然後,你見到另一個朋友在房間內不出來,可以問:Why are you in here? (= Why don’t you come out?)。