VOA慢速英语2020 上一个星期二是什么时候？

When Was Last Tuesday?

This week we received a question about time expressions from Dara in Cambodia.

本周我们收到了关于时间表达的一个问题，提问者是来自柬埔寨的达拉。 

He asks，do you use the phrase¹ "last Tuesday?"If so, what does it mean?Does it mean "on Tuesday last week" or "on Tuesday this week?" I have the same question for "next Tuesday."

他问，你使用“上个星期二”这样的表达么？如果用的话，它是什么意思呢？它的意思是“上周的星期二”还是“这周的星期二”？关于“下个星期二”，我也有同样的问题。

Thank you.

谢谢你。 

- Dara, Cambodia.Dear Dara,That is a great question. Even native English speakers can misunderstand these expressions."Last" and "next" are both adjectives².

-达拉，来自柬埔寨。亲爱的达拉，这是个很棒的问题。就算是说英语的本地人都可能理解错这样的表达。“上一个”和“下一个”都是形容词。

When we use them with a day of the week, their meaning can change depending on the time we are speaking."Last" means³ the most recent. If today is Wednesday, and I tell you,

当我们把这两个词和一周内的某天连用时，它们的意思会根据我们说话时的时间发生改变。“上一个”意思是最近的。如果今天是星期三，我告诉你，

"I talked with her last Tuesday," you might think I meant I talked with her eight days ago. The reason is if I had talked with her only one day ago, I would have said, "I talked with her yesterday."So, when I say, "I talked with her last Tuesday,” I mean the Tuesday of the week before.Now imagine that today is Thursday or Friday.That means Tuesday is only a few days ago.Here is what I would probably say: “I talked to her on Tuesday.”But now imagine it is Saturday or Sunday, a little further away from the day I talked with her.If I say, "I talked with her last Tuesday" you would probably ask me,

“上个周二我和她说话了，”你可能认为我的意思是我八天前和她说过话。因为如果我就是一天前和她说过话，我会说，“我昨天和她说话了。”所以，当我说“我上个周二和她说话了，” 我的意思是前面那一周的周二。现在假设今天是周四或者周五。那么周二就是几天前。那么我很可能会说：“我周二和她说话了。”但是假设今天是周六或周日，距离我和她说话的时间稍微有点远。如果我说，“我和她上个周二说话了”，

"Do you mean on Tuesday of this week?" to make certain of the exact day.Note that people in different places where English is spoken use these expressions in somewhat⁴ different ways.So it is not unusual for native speakers to ask questions when they hear someone using "last" or "next" with a day.

你很可能会问我，“你说的是本周的周二么？”来确定具体日期。注意，说英语的人们，地区不一样他们使用这些表达的方式也有些不同。所以本地人听到别人说“上一个”或者“下一个”某天时，他们也会询问，这很常见。

"Next" means "coming after the one that just came or happened." Suppose you get a message by email that says, "The meeting is next Tuesday."Since today is Wednesday, it is clear that the meeting will be in six days. But if you have not been reading your email regularly⁵ and you get the message on Monday, you may want to check the date on the message.

“下一个”意思是“刚刚发生的那天之后而来的。”假设你收到一封邮件内容是，“会议安排在下个周二。”因为今天是周三，很明显会议在六天后召开。但是如果你没有定期查看邮件，周一才看到，你可能想要核实消息中会议的日期。

If you did not look at the date of the email, you would probably think the meeting is in eight days.The reason is that the writer would have said, "The meeting is tomorrow" if it was on Tuesday of the current⁶ week.

如果你没有看邮件的日期，你很可能会认为会议在八天后召开。因为如果是本周周二的话，发件人可能会写“会议明天召开。”

You can check your understanding.Imagine that today is Friday.You are having a party eight days from now.Which expression is the best to use?1. Can you come to my party next Saturday?2. Can you come to my party on Saturday?What question do you have about English?Send us an email at [email protected] thats Ask a Teacher for this week.I’m Jill Robbins.

你可以检查下自己是否理解了。假设今天是周五。你将会在八天后开派对。用下面哪个说法最好呢？1. 你下周六能来参加我的派对么？2. 你周六能来参加我的派对么？你有哪些关于英语的问题？可以发邮件到我们的邮箱[email protected].以上就是本周的名师问答内容。吉尔·罗宾斯为您报道。

1 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

2 adjectives   

n.形容词( adjective的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We can form nouns from adjectives. 我们可以用形容词来构成名词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Attributive adjectives precede the noun. 定语形容词位于名词前。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

4 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

5 regularly   

adv.有规则地，一丝不苟地，正式地

参考例句：

• Check the engine oil level regularly.要时常检查机油量。
• We meet regularly to discuss business.我们定期会面讨论事务。

6 current   

n.涌流，趋势，电流，水流，气流；adj.当前的，通用的，流通的，现在的，草写的，最近的

参考例句：

• Electric current is often powerful enough to kill a man.电流常强得足以致命。
• There is a story about her in the current number.最近一期上有关于她的故事。