2010年5月中旬,好萊塢知名男星約翰屈伏塔(John Travolta)傳出又要當爸爸的消息。媒體報導說:
His wife is about three months pregnant.
(他的太太已懷了大約三個月的身孕。)
上述be pregnant意思是「懷孕」,也可用get pregnant這種句型來替代。由上述「星」聞可知,在be動詞和pregnant此字之間,還可穿插各種不同的修飾語。再來看以下例句:
Amy looks pregnant.
(阿美看似懷孕了。)
Jenny got pregnant.
(珍妮懷孕了。)
Kelly is pregnant.
(凱莉懷孕了。)
Lucy is pregnant with Henry’s child.
(露西懷了亨利的孩子。)
注:be pregnant with有「懷了什麼」的意涵,介系詞with後面一定有受詞。
Amy is around six months pregnant.
(阿美約有六個月的身孕。)
Mrs. Jones is over eight months pregnant.
(瓊斯太太懷孕已超過8個月了。)
She is very pregnant.
(她肚子好大。)
注:也可說She is heavyly pregnant.
2008年1月上旬,前奧斯卡影后妮可基嫚(Nicole Kidman)及其鄉村歌曲歌手夫婿凱斯厄本(Keith Urban)傳出了喜訊:
The couple are expecting their first baby together.
(這對夫婦正在期待他倆第一個孩子的出生。)
上述be expecting意思也是「懷孕」。正如同be pregnant一樣,這也是英文很常見的表達方式。然學英文的人要注意的是,兩者用法不盡相同。且看以下例句:
Helen is expecting.
(海倫懷孕了。)
The couple are expecting the arrival of the their child.
(這對夫婦在期待他倆孩子的到來。)
Mrs. Smith, her husband, her daughter and her son are expecting a new addition to their family.
(史密斯太太及其丈夫、女兒和兒子都在期待一新增人口來到他們家。)
注:addition是名詞,作「增加的人( 或物 )」解。動詞是add。
說穿了,兩者不同之處在於:be expecting這件事可由兩個以上的人一起做,例如:She and her husband are expecting.至於be pregnant這件事卻只能由一個人做。你只能說:She is pregnant.卻不能說:She and her husband are pregnant. 那是因為:be expecting的真正意涵乃是「期待孩子的誕生」;be pregnant的真正意涵則是「肚子裡有了胎兒」。
除了上述be pregnant和be expecting兩者之外,英語還有以下好幾種表達「懷孕」的方式。例如:
Mary is having a daughter.
(瑪莉懷了個女兒。)
His wife is having a son.
(他太太懷了個兒子。)
Lulu is having twins.
(她懷了雙胞胎。)
She is carrying.
(她懷孕了。)
在2007年英國出品的影片「伊莉莎白---輝煌年代」(Elizabeth---The Golden Age)裡有段劇情,令人印象深刻。英國女王伊莉莎白一世最親信的侍女貝絲(Bess Thrackmorton)搶走了一直傾慕著女王的英俊男子羅利(Sir Walter Raleigh)。女王發覺此事之後,有一天突然問貝絲:
Are you with child ?
(你是不是懷孕了?)
注:這裡的with child也是「懷孕」的意思。
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