中英之鑒 中式英語之鑒274

[正] Marco Polo was born in 1254 into a Venetian merchant family.

注：說生于什么人家，即俗稱投生于某家，故英語要用 into，不用 at。他例如 No man is born into this world whose work is not born with him.(James Russel Lowell)。如果是指由什么人即父母而生，則要用 of，例如 He was born of Chinese parents(of humble parentage, of poor fisherfolk in Holland 等)。但家庭在這種意義之下即可用 of，例如 He was born of a wealthy (noble, good) family. 又 But in every child born of man lurks some of greatness ---waiting for the food.(H. G. Wells) 生于什么人家，有時又可譯成 to 字，例如 She was born to the purple; diamonds suited her. 這個 to 是指的對象，如 Two children were born to them.(他們生有兩個孩子。)Mark Twain was born to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, in Florida, Mo. November 30, 1835.(馬克吐溫以1835年11 月30日，于米蘇里洲佛羅利達(dá)市，作為桑米朗洪克來門斯的兒子而出生的。)