VOA慢速英语2018 顺便说一下，Mind You

By the Way vs. Mind You

English phrases can be difficult to remember since the meaning of each individual word may not give any clue as to a phrase’s meaning.

英语短语可能很难记住，因为各个单词的含义可能无法给出任何关于短语含义的线索。

In today’s Ask a Teacher, Inna from the Ukraine asks about two phrases. Here is her question:

在今天的名师答疑节目中，来自乌克兰的Inna问到了两条短语。以下是她的问题：

Question:

问题：

Hello. Can you please explain the difference between "by the way" and "mind you" and how to use these phrases correctly? Thank you.

你好，你能否解释一下 by the way 和 mind you 之间的区别，以及如何正确使用这些短语？谢谢！

Answer:

回答：

Hello, Inna, and thanks for your question.

你好，Inna，感谢你的提问。

I never thought of these two phrases as having anything in common, but your question gave me something to research! Here’s what I found: Both “mind you” and “by the way” are used to direct the listener’s attention to an added piece of information. But that is as far as their similarities go.

我从没认为这两个短语有任何共同之处，但是你的提问让我去研究了一下。以下是我的发现：mind you 和 by the way 都用于提醒听众注意附加信息，但是它们也就这点相似之处。

By the way

顺便提一句

English speakers use “by the way” when we want to quickly ask or say something that is partly or totally unrelated to the subject of discussion 1.

英语人士在想要快速问到或说出与讨论主题部分或完全无关的内容时，就会用到 by the way 这个短语。

For example, suppose you were talking to a friend about a city you visited, and how beautiful it was. Then, suddenly, you remember something unrelated – your future travel plans with your friend. You might say something like this:

例如，假设你正在跟一位朋友谈论你去过的城市，以及这些城市有多漂亮。然后，突然你想起了一些无关的事情，也就是你跟你的朋友未来的旅行计划。你可能会这样说：

The architecture was gorgeous 2. And, we visited the flower gardens and ancient temples. Oh, by the way, are we still going to London in November?

这些建筑很华丽，我们还参观了花园和古庙。哦，顺便问一句，我们11月还去伦敦吗？

Mind you

不过

But, unlike with “by the way,” we do not use “mind you” to add a piece of unrelated information to what we just said.

但是跟 by the way 的用法不同，我们不会使用 mind you 来补充一些跟我们刚刚说的完全不相关的信息。

We usually use “mind you” to show differences between two statements. It has a similar meaning to “however” or “but, just to let you know” or “on the other hand.” It helps us make clear to the listener that we don’t want our statement to be misunderstood.

我们通常使用 mind you 来表示两个陈述之间的差异。它的含义类似 however（然而），或者是 but, just to let you know（但是，你得知道）或者是on the other hand（从另一方面来说）。它帮助我们让听众弄明白，我们不希望自己的陈述被误解。

For example, imagine that a teacher had received excellent online reviews from people who took her class. So, you decided 3 to try it. But, you did not enjoy the class. You might say:

例如，假设一位老师从她的学生那得到了很好的网络评价。所以你决定去试一试，但是你不喜欢她的课。你可能会说：

Her class wasn’t very good. Mind you, I think she’s a nice person.

她的课不咋样。不过，我觉得她是个好人。

It is similar to saying, “Her class wasn’t very good. But, just to let you know, I think she’s a nice person.”

这句话类似于说：她的课上得不咋样。但是你得知道，我觉得她是个好人。

You can also put “mind you” at the end of a sentence, like this:

你还可以把 mind you 放在句末，如下所示：

I think she’s a nice person, mind you.

我觉得她是个好人，请注意。

Note that “mind you” is not used very much in everyday American English.

请注意 mind you 在日常美式英语中不太常用。

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

以上就是今日名师答疑的全部内容。

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

phrase – n. a brief expression that is commonly used

clue – n. something that helps a person find something, understand something, or solve a mystery

architecture – n. a method or style of building

on the other hand – expression. used to introduce statements that describe two different or opposite ideas, people or other things

review – n. an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone