本周英文正確說，「提前」和「延後」的英文大有學問，但大多數的人都用錯了。看完本篇不再犯錯

本周的英文正確說單元，教練來分享幾個常用但經常用錯的英文。

提前/事先

請不要一直使用in advance這個字，要學會正確的用法。下面的例句你會怎麼填空？

Please let me know __________if you are coming to the party. 

如果要來參加派對請事先跟我講。

The meeting has been __________ to Monday because our boss is leaving for Hong Kong early.

會議提前了，因為老闆要提早飛去香港。

上面兩個句子都有提前或事先的意思，但用的字詞不一樣。

(O) Please let me know in advance/beforehand if you're coming to the party. 

(O) The meeting has been brought forward to Monday because our boss is leaving for Hong Kong early.

延後 delay/ to put back

延後也是經常被錯用的英文，請看下面的例句：

(X) We have to delay the meeting to next week. 會議要延後至下周。

這是我在外商職場生涯幾十年中，最常聽見的錯誤。正確的用法請看下面示範。

(O) We have to put the meeting back a week. 

其實delay正確來說不是延後，而有拖延的意思。這樣想可能可以減少犯錯。

(O) We have to delay the meeting for as long as possible because Jessie is still in another meeting with our client.