英语语法知识

Having said that，是在口语交谈（spoken language）中经常出现的一个转折词（transitional phrase）。我们来看看它的具体意思及用法。

线上词典LearnersDictionary指出：““Having said that” it is a signal that they are going to say something which will contrast or disagree with what they said a moment ago. ” 即：说话的人往往把Having said that作为一个信号，提示对方：下面我说的话将会与我刚才说的内容观点相对、或产生分歧。

在中文里，Having said that，可以考虑翻译为：“说了这么多，尽管如此，不过，然而”等。

参考例句：You guys have done a pretty good job. Having said that, I still think there’s room for improvement.（你们的工作完成得不错，然而，我认为仍然有可以改进的空间）。

除了Having said that之外，that said，that being said，都可表示类似的转折意思，用法也与having said that一致。例如：I’m having my hands full right now, that said, I’ll still take time to review your proposal. （我现在忙得不可开交，尽管如此，我还是会抽时间审阅你的建议案）。

参考链接：

http://learnersdictionary.com/qa/Having-said-that-or-That-said

http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_that_being_said_mean

前两天Will和一个教英文的老师交流，对方说的是英式英语，她在说英文时，我不经意听到“October the third”这样的说法，我立即条件反射地纠正她，说：“应该是October third吧？不用加the。” 对方似乎吓了一跳，回应说：“不用加the吗？你确定？” 我说：“恩，很确定。比如：July fourth，是不用说成July the fourth的。除非你说the Fourth of July。”

在这之后，我也自己查证了一下，其实严格来说，October the third的说法也没有问题，在用英语说日期时，定冠词the可加也可不加，取决于你说的是英式英语还是美式英语。英式英语通常会加the，而美式英语则通常会忽略掉the。

如果你有兴趣，不妨参考Wikipedia的这条解释：”Dates often include a definite article in UK spoken English, such as “the eleventh of July”, or “July the eleventh”; American speakers most commonly say “July eleventh”, and the form “July eleven” is now occasionally used by American speakers.” （访问原文）此外，这篇名为“Dates in spoken English”的文章也对于日期的读法提供了非常到位的解释。