How many times have you been to the Great Wall??
How often have you been in love in your life?
请教专家: how many times 与how often能否互换,谢谢。
对于How often have you been in love in your life?一句,《牛津英语用法指南》的两个版本给出了两个不同的翻译:
第二版:How often have you been in love in your life? 你一生中多久谈一次恋爱?
第三版:How often have you been in love in your life? 你一生中谈了多少次恋爱?
我觉得很奇怪,按理说其中有个翻译可能是“误”译。但为了慎重起见,我查了一些词典,发现以上两种翻译都没错。原来how often有两个用法:
一是表示“每隔多久”(这是大多数语法书和词典都有介绍的)。如:
How often do you exercise? 你多久锻炼一次?
How often do you wash your hair? 你多长时间洗一次头发?
How often do you see your parents? 你多多去看望一次你的父母?
二是表示“多少次”(与how many times同义),《牛津高阶英汉双解辞典》第6版认为这是属于口语(spoken)用法。如:
(spoken) How many times (= how often) do I have to tell you not to do that? 我得告诉你多少回不要做那种事?(《牛津高阶英汉双解辞典》time词典)