生活美語《What are the main grounds for divorce》
What are the main grounds for divorce
離婚的主要原因是什麼
Carolina：I’m very grateful to you for agreeing to help with my article on divorce. I know what a busy divorce lawyer you are.
卡羅萊娜：你答應幫忙我寫這篇離婚特稿，實在感謝得很。我知道，身為離婚事務律師，你工作十分繁忙。
Erskine：It’s my pleasure, really. I’m happy to help.
厄斯全：別客氣。我很高興能夠效勞。
Carolina：Well, many thanks. Now the first question I would like to ask is what are the main grounds for divorce in our city.
卡羅萊娜：謝謝你。我的第一個問題是，就我們這個城市而言，離婚的主要原因是什麼。
Erskine：Well, there are many. But common among them is infidelity on the part of one partner.
厄斯全：原因有很多。但一個常見原因，是夫妻之間有一方不忠。
Carolina：That’s not surprising, I guess. What about the others?
卡羅萊娜：這也許並不奇怪。其他原因是什麼？
Erskine：Well desertion, where one partner leaves the other, often for another.
厄斯全：遺棄，一方棄其配偶而去，往往是搭上了另一個人。
Carolina：That must be a particularly difficult situation when children are involved.
卡羅萊娜：假如夫妻之間有了孩子，這情況一定更難處理。
Erskine：Yes, that’s right. I always find such cases very sad.
厄斯全：不錯。看到這類事情，我總覺得很可悲。
多學一點點 卡羅萊娜錯了嗎?
卡羅萊娜問離婚事務律師所：The first question I would like to ask is what are the main grounds for divorce。這當然是間接問句(indirect question)，一般而言，直接問句(direct question)會用「動詞(verb)/助動詞(auxiliary verb)+主詞(subject)」句式，間接問句則會用「主詞+動詞/助動詞」句式，例如What is he？變為間接問句，可作I asked what he was（我問他是做什麼的）。
但卡羅萊娜的間接問句，動詞are置於主詞the main grounds之前，文法也沒有錯。英文有一條法則，就是以「who/what/ which/+be(即are、was等)」帶出的直接問題，假如那who、what、which所代表的，在回答的句子中可作主詞，那麼，改為間接問句，動詞be置於主詞前後都可以。例如Who is the traitor？(誰是叛徒？)回答可以是Judas is the traitor（猶大是叛徒），who代表答案的主詞Judas。改為間接問句，你就可以說They asked who was the traitor或They asked who the traitor was。同樣，What are the main grounds for divorce？答案可以是Infidelity and desertion are the main grounds for divorce，那what 代表答案的主詞infidelity and desertion。改為間接問句，就可以說I would like to know what are the main grounds for divorce/what the main grounds for divorce are 。
至於What is he？答案不可以是A doctor is he，但可以是He is a doctor（他是做醫生的），那What代表a doctor 而不是答案的主詞he，所以，改為間接問句，就應該說I asked what he was，不宜說I asked what was he。
