志願軍、受聘至今 - 古德明

                
                
問：立法會議員梁美芬倡議成立的「志願軍」，英文可不可譯做volunteer forces或volunteer reserve forces？
答：Forces指海陸空三軍，例如英國的Volunteer Reserve Forces（志願後備軍）包括the Territorial Army（本土防衞隊）、the Royal Naval Reserve（皇家後備海軍）、the Royal Auxiliary Air Force（皇家輔助空軍）。梁同志說的，應只是陸上軍隊，即army；而根據共軍慣例，軍名應冠以People一字：Comrade Priscilla Leung Mei-fun advocated the establishment of a People's Volunteer Army to combat the reactionary elements in Hong Kong（普麗西拉．梁美芬同志鼓吹成立人民志願軍，對付香港的反動分子）。
問：要說「某人一九九零年開始，一直受聘於本公司」，可不可以說He has been employing by our Company since 1990？假如說He has been employed等，恐怕不能表達「他將繼續受聘」的意思。
答：He has been employed by the company since 1990是正確說法，改為He has been in the employ of the company since 1990應該還好一點。He has been employing by the company since 1990則文法、意思都不妥當。
留意He has been employed是被動語態（passive voice），即「他被聘用」；He has been employing卻是主動語態（active voice），即「他聘用……」，例如：He has been employing temps for several weeks to help with his work（過去幾個星期，他都有聘用臨時工，幫助工作）。He has been employing temps只是說過去幾個星期的事，並沒有「將繼續聘用」的意思。