So yesterday morning, I'm running a bit late, I grab a piece of toast and head out to my car, but my car won't start. So I have to take the bus.

昨天早上我有點遲到，於是我抓了片吐司之後衝向我的車子，但我的車卻發不動，所以我只好搭公車。

Now, let me pause me right there.

讓我在這裡暫停一下。

Did you notice anything unusual grammatically about what she, I, just said?

你有沒有注意到她，也就是我，在說話時的文法上有什麼不尋常的地方？

When did all this happen?

這一切是什麼時候發生的？

So yesterday morning. I'm running a bit late...

昨天早上我有點遲到...

Yesterday morning. So it's past, right?

昨天上午。所以它是過去式，對嗎？

OK, so listen again. How many past verb forms can you hear?

好，再聽一遍。你聽到了多少個過去式動詞？

So yesterday morning, I'm running a bit late, I grab a piece of toast and head out to my car, but my car won't start. So I have to take the bus.

昨天早上我有點遲到，於是我抓了片吐司之後衝向我的車子，但我的車卻發不動，所以我只好搭公車。

Thank you, Joanne. Right, let's look at the score.

謝謝你，Joanne。好的，我們來看看分數吧。

Now would you look at that: zero, nil, nothing, zilch, nought.

看看這個結果：零，無，沒有，空，0。

I think we can agree that this did happen in the past.

我想我們都能同意，這確實是在過去發生的事情。

So how is it that Joanne didn't use any past forms? Did I, she make a mistake?

既然如此，為什麼 Joanne 卻沒有使用任何過去式呢？我，也就是她，是否犯了錯誤？

Well, surprisingly, no.

這個嘛，令人意外的，其實並沒有。

Let me explain how it's possible to use the present to talk about the past.

讓我來解釋一下為什麼能用現在式來描述過去發生的事情吧。

We call it the historical present, or it may also be called the dramatic present, or narrative present.

我們將這種用法稱為歷史現在式，有時也被稱作戲劇現在式，或敘述現在式。

We use it a lot when we tell jokes or anecdotes, for example, because using present forms to describe past actions makes the story seem more immediate, more engaging, more personal.

舉例來說，我們常在講笑話或軼事時使用這種用法，因為用現在的形式來描述過去的行動會使這個故事看起來更直接、更有吸引力、更身歷其境。

We also see present forms being used for the past a lot in news headlines, whether read by newsreaders, or written in print, or online.

我們也經常能在新聞頭條中看到現在式被用於過去發生的事情，無論是主播念出頭條，或是印刷在報紙上，或是網路上的新聞文章。

And historians might use it to talk about the ancient past in a way to make history more appealing.

而歷史學家也會用它來談論古代發生的事情，讓歷史以更有吸引力的方式呈現。

In 1066, William the Conqueror invades and thousands of new words enter the English language.

1066 年，征服者威廉入侵了，並將成千上萬的新單字引入了英文之中。

Now, in all of these cases, we could use past forms.

上述的所有的例子也都能用過去式來描述。

Let's get Joanne back to tell us the story again, only this time, using past forms.

讓我們來請 Joanne 再來講述一次這個故事吧，但這次只會用過去式。

So yesterday morning I was running a bit late, I grabbed a piece of toast and headed out to my car, but it wouldn't start and I had to take the bus.

昨天早上我有點遲到，於是我抓了片吐司之後衝向了我的車，卻發現它發動不了，所以我只好搭公車了。

Let's have a look at the past form scoreboard, and we've got a grand total of five.

我們再來看看過去式計數板，發現總共有五個過去式單詞。

Exactly the same events, but using past forms.

描述的是同一個事件，但用的是過去式。

Umm, it's not quite as involving, not quite as engaging, but it is still correct.

如此一來就變得沒那麼引人入勝，比較不身歷其境，但在文法上還是正確的用法。

[Is 'will' the future and 'would' the past?]

[「will」是未來式，而「would」是過去式嗎？]

Now, I want to go back to the car.

現在我想再回頭提一下那台車。

My car won't start.

我的車發不動。

Notice here that we have what might appear to be a future form being used in the present to talk about something that happened in the past.

要注意的是，在這裡我們看似在現在式的句子裡用了一個未來式的字，來描述在過去發生過的事情。

The first thing to mention here is that 'will' is not really a future form.

而首先要提到就是，「will」其實並不是個未來式單詞。

It's a modal auxiliary, and we do use it to talk about an intention to do something in the future, say, for example, opening a window.

它是一個語助詞，而我們確實會用它來談論一個想在未來施行的意圖。比如說，打開一扇窗戶。

It's hot. I'll open the window.

天氣很熱。我要來把窗戶打開。

The act of opening the window might be in the future, but the intention to open it is in the present, at the moment of speaking.

打開窗戶的行為可能會在未來發生，但想將它打開的意圖則是在現在，在說出口的時候存在的。

It might seem weird, but 'will' actually refers to present time, not future time.

這乍看之下可能感覺很奇怪，但「will」實際上指的是現在的時間，而不是未來的時間。

And believe it or not, it's the same for would and wouldn't.

信不信由你，would 和 wouldn't 也是同個道理。

In the same way that will and won't are not about future time, would and wouldn't aren't about past time.

就像 will 和 won't 描述的不是未來的時間，would 和 wouldn't 描述的也不是過去的時間。

It's a bit more tricky to get your head around that point, so I would prefer to talk about that another time.

這點比較難想得通，因此我想要在之後有機會再來講解。

Oh, look! I just use 'would' to talk about something that hasn't happened yet.

啊！我剛用了「would」來討論還沒發生的事情。

Hmm. An example that shows it can't be the past.

嗯。這是一個表明它並不是過去式的好例子。

So I'm going to have to knock off a point from our past-o-meter.

而這也代表我們得在過去式技術表上扣一分。

Before I leave you, one more thing to make you think.

在結束之前，這裡還有一件事能讓你好好思考一下。

As we've seen, 'will' is used for an intention, a plan, an idea to do something. So when we say:

如我們剛才所看到的，「will」會被用在想要做某事的意圖、計畫和想法上。所以當我們說：

My car won't start!

我的車發不動！

Are we suggesting the car doesn't have the will to start, it has chosen not to start just to wind us up, just to make us angry?

我們是不是在暗示車子本身不想發動，自己選擇了不發動來惹火我們，就為了讓我們生氣？

It may be we choose to give the human quality of stubbornness to an inanimate object as a way to express our frustration.

這可能是我們想賦予動彈不得的物品一個擬人化的特質，用來表達我們所感受到的挫折感。

Well, my car certainly is inanimate at the moment, and that is very frustrating.

唉，我的車現在是真的動彈不得了，而這確實讓人感到非常挫折。