到馬六甲旅行，在一家馬拉人開的手信店，看見一張手寫的告示，內容如下︰
Nice to see. Nice to hold.
Once broken is considered sold.
看了這告示，我不禁要微笑了。店主有文采，寫告示也要來個押韻哩（hold 和 sold，押 /ould/，近似英文字母 “O” 音）。
除此之外，更引起我興趣的，是 (1a*)「Once broken is considered sold」一句。這種寫法，常見於香港學生的文章。這種句子看似文法正確，但細心觀察和分析，仍能看來問題來。
不少同學認為這句子合符文法，因為這句子看似 SVO 俱全。就像以下句子一樣︰
(2) John is a handsome guy. [註1]
一般學生對 (2) 的誤解，容易導致他們寫出像 (1a*) 的句式來。因為他們認定「X is Y.」就是一句完整而合符文法的句子。同時，因為不少同學寫英文，習慣先用中文把句子想一遍，然後才翻成英文，在 (2) 一句，同學心中可能先有以下的中文構思句子︰
(2a) 某某人是個英俊的男生。
然後才逐步翻譯，而寫出「某某人」即「John」，「是」即「is」，「（一）個英俊的男生」即「a handsome guy」此一從 (2a) 到 (2) 的語言轉換過程。
正因如此，有些同學會認為寫出 (1a*)，或覺得 (1a*) 合符文法。因為 (1a*) 是由 (1b) 轉變過來的︰
(1b) 一旦損毀即（是）當作售出論。
「一旦損毀」譯為「Once broken」，「即（是）」譯「is」，「當作售出論」譯「considered sold」；還不正確嗎？他們想。
問題在於，「Once broken」並不是主語。即使在中文句子裡，「一旦損毀」也不是主語。[註2]
(1a*) 的主語究竟在哪裡呢？既然「Once broken」不是主語，但主語看來也不會是「is」、「considered」，或「sold」。答案呼之欲出了︰這一句欠缺主語——也正是 (1a*) 不合符文法的地方。
是故，更正這句子，使之合符文法，只須加上主語，如下︰
(1) Once broken it is considered sold.
「It」指的是「該件商品」。「Once broken」和「considered sold」兩個子句（clauses) 分享同一主語 It，所以 (1) 其實由
(1^) Once it is broken
(1^^) It is considered sold
合併而成的。這個結構在英文文法稱為「懸垂修飾語」(Dangling modifier) 。(1^) 和 (1^^) 是條件關係，(1) 是條件句。
商店貨架地方有限，店主其實可以把「It is」略去，只寫作︰
(1c) Once broken considered sold.
題外話︰雖然本篇文章的靈感來自一句馬拉人筆下的英文，但和華人學生也有密切關係。很多亞洲語言都有相似的語法特徵。有些華人學生的錯誤，也常見於其他南亞的學生身上，反之亦然。例如，中文句子可以因應情況而省略主語，如 (1b)，馬拉語也一樣。試看以下的句子︰
(3) I remember, when I was still small, I often went fishing.
中文可以寫為︰
(3a) 記得還小的時候，經常去釣魚。
馬拉語也可以寫為︰
(3b) Ingat-ingat (remember), waktu (when) masih (still) kecil (small), sering (often) pergi (go) memancing (fishing). [註3]
C.A. Jo
註:
[1] 嚴格來說，合符英文文法的句子，不一定是 SVO，還有其他的句型，包括 SV (where V = intransitive verb)、SVC、SVA、VO 等；而 (2) 並不是 SVO 句型，而是 SVC 句型。(1a*) 涉牽的問題也比最基礎型的 SVO 更複雜，因為它是被動句。為簡單起見，我假設所有合符英文句子都是 SVO。
[2] 因為本篇探討主題不在中文句法，筆者不想旁生節枝。但在課堂上，筆者最常引用古巨基《友共情》的一句歌詞「下雨天總掛念從前」，給學生思考。「下雨天總掛念從前」的主語是甚麼呢？是不是「下雨天」？不妨思考一下。有機會我再另寫文章討論。但此刻你如果相信「下雨天」並不是歌詞的主語，那就很自然解釋為甚麼 (1a*) 的主語不應是「Once broken」了。
[3] 馬拉語例子出自 David Deterding (2007). Singapore English. Edinburgh University Press.
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