Expressions of Date

Dear Sir,

　　I found there are two kinds of expression when we use English, such as 2nd May 2001 and 2 May 2001. Both of them appear in English books. Could you please tell me which expression is right?

Dear Tony,

　　As a rule, we write either(1) 2nd May, 2001 or (2) May 2, 2001

　　In speaking, (1) is “The second of May, 2001” (2) is “May the second, 2001”.

　　Examples:

　　(1) We started working again on the 2nd of May, 2001.

　　(2) We started working again on May 2, 2001.

陈博士：

　　(1)The Wholesaler finances the bulk of retail trade by supplying goods on credit. Most of the small retail traders buy goods on credit from the wholesalers and the wholesalers finance the producer in turn of paying him promptly.

　　麻烦您帮我翻译成华文，谢谢。

　　(2) Voluntary Chain是什么意思？

　　(3) Goods are prepacked.

　　What does PREPACK means?

　　(4) "Dectrine of Proxinate Cause" means...?

　　(5) "Principle of Subrogation"mean...?

Jamie：

　　(2)、(4)、(5)有专词意味，必须详细查询，才可确定语义。

　　从字面看，(2)是“自动链”或“自愿团”。(4)是“自接原因”的教义；(5)是“代位”／“债权代替”的原则。

　　(3)的意思是“食物是预先包装的”；“Prepacked”是“预先包装”和“Prepackaged”同。

　　(1) 试译如下：

　　“批发商提供款项让大多数零售商赊购物品。多数的零售商以赊欠方式向批发商购物而批发商却迅速地付款给制造厂家，加强其资金。

《联合早报》

<<<更多来信     <<<中英双语专辑