What a pity.

所謂‘好事不出門，壞事傳千里’，我們?nèi)粘Ｔ诓煌緩浇邮盏礁鞣N千奇百怪的消息，像某人的貓兒跑掉，某某人跳樓等等，對于聽到一些不幸的消息，外國人很喜歡說：What a pity.(真遺憾，真可憐)。通常What a pity. 都是用在一些不幸的小事上，例如：車子被涂鴉或買不中彩票，也可以用What a shame. / That's bad news.　如果那件事情是比較嚴重的，例如某人過世、爆發(fā)戰(zhàn)爭等等，就要用強烈一點的說法：That's terrible. / That's awful. / I'm sorry to hear that.(很難過聽到這樣)。

對話

A：Did you know Bobby has gained 30 pounds since he got married three months ago?

B：His wife must be a good cook.

A：Yes, she is. But she's gained 40 pounds too.

B：What a pity.

甲：你知不知道波比結婚三個月來已重了30磅?

乙：他的妻子定是個烹飪高手。

甲：沒錯，但她也重了40磅。

乙：真可憐哦!

要表示可惜或同情，英文可說：What a pity.　/ That's(或It's)a pity. 或What a shame. / That's(或It's)a shame. 例如："Look at the new carpet. It's ruined." "Oh, what a shame!"(‘看這張新地毯，毀啦!’‘啊，真可惜。’)

此外，你還可以說：Oh dear. 或Oh no.，例如："I've lost my mobile." "Oh no, that's the third time!"(‘我失去了行動電話。’‘哎呀，這是第三次了。’)

另一個常見說法，是以How字帶出一些形容詞 (adjective) 或作形容詞用的現(xiàn)在分詞(present participle，即ing形式動詞)：How upsetting / disturbing / annoying.(真令人不快)、How awful / dreadful / frightful / terrible.(真糟糕)、How unfortunate.(真不幸)。例如："I'm afraid the picnic will have to be cancelled because of the rain." "How disappointing!"(‘由于下雨，野餐旅游得取消了。’‘真可惜。’)

當然，sorry也可以表示惋惜，例如："My wife's heart condition has worsened." "Oh, I'm sorry about that."(‘我妻子的心臟病更加嚴重了。’‘啊，我聽了也覺得難過。’)

最后不妨談談What a mercy. / That's(或It's)a mercy. 和Pity一樣，mercy也可解作‘同情’，但What a mercy. 等?有‘幸而’含義，不是說‘可惜’，切勿和What a pity. 等混淆，例如：It is a mercy that he's not coming.(幸好他不會來)。