或者也可以用名詞 offense(冒犯)或動詞 misunderstand(誤會、誤解)來表達類似意思:
No offense, but… 沒有冒犯的意思,只是...
Please don't take offense, but… 請別見怪,只是...
Please don't misunderstand me, but… 請別誤會我,只是...
A: No offense, but I think you need to improve your professional knowledge.(沒有冒犯的意思,只是我認為你必須加強你的專業知識。)
B: None taken. I'm new to the industry, and I know I have a lot to learn.(沒關係。我剛踏入這個行業,我也知道我有很多要學習。)
因為生氣或心直口快而說錯話...
除了單純說 Sorry!(抱歉!)或 Sorry about that!(那些話我很抱歉!)之外,也可以運用下列的表達法:I didn't mean it. 我不是有意的。
假如和朋友大吵時脫口說出「不想再看到你」,事後懊悔想道歉時就可以說:
When I said I didn't want to see you again, I didn't mean it. Please forgive me.(當我說不想再看到你,我不是有意的。請原諒我。)
I didn't mean to… / I didn't intend to... / I never intended to… 我不是有意去...
這裡的 mean 跟 intend 都是動詞「有意去...」的意思,後面經常加上 to do something 表示「有意去做某事」。例如,一時口快說出傷人的話,事後想道歉時可以說:
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things.(我很抱歉。我不是有意說出那些話的。)
I apologize. I didn't intend to hurt your feelings.(我道歉。我不是有意讓你感到受傷的。)
That was not my intention. 那不是我的本意。
Intention 是名詞「意圖、目的」的意思,所以整句要表達的就是「那不是我的本意」,例如:
If my language offended you, that was not my intention. Please don't take it to heart.(如果我的表達方式冒犯到你,那不是我的本意。請別往心裡去。)
學會這些表達法後,相信下回遇到溝通不良的情況,就比較知道該如何開口澄清或降低傷害囉!
本文經授權轉載自希平方–看YouTube學英文(原標題:『我不是有意的!』英文怎麼說?)
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