set your mind to下定決心

請把夢想和努力綁在一起：星星只幫你一半，剩下的一半得自己走。

You can do anything you set your mind to.

鼓勵孩子或後輩定下目標、付諸努力時用，真誠不油膩。

You can do anything you put your mind to. ／ Set your mind to it and you'll get there.

中性

anything 重讀，set your mind to 連讀放慢收尾。

Work at it, and nothing you aim for is out of reach. 肯下功夫，你瞄準的事就沒有夠不著的。

給童話打上現實的補丁，卻又不打碎它：許願有用，只是不夠。

That old star can only take you part of the way.

既要保護希望又要提醒努力時用，適合長輩對晚輩。

Wishing takes you halfway; work does the rest. ／ The star can't do it all for you.

中性

old star 重讀，part of the way 放慢收尾。

A dream can only carry you so far; the rest is work. 夢想只能帶你走一段路，剩下的靠努力。

把天賦說成一種需要被分享的東西：不是炫耀的資本，而是欠別人的一份禮。

A gift this special just got to be shared.

鼓勵別人把才華拿出來用時用，語氣溫暖。

A gift like that is meant to be shared. ／ Talent this good belongs to everyone.

中性

this special 重讀，got to be shared 連讀放慢。

A talent like yours deserves to be shared with people. 你這樣的才華，該拿出來和大家分享。

最高階的讚美不靠形容詞堆砌，只靠一句「我嘗過最好的」，把驚喜說得實在又有分量。

This is the best ... I've ever tasted.

吃到、用到特別滿意的東西時用，後面換成你嘗過的具體食物；正式場合也可用，但語氣偏熱情。

That's the best I've ever had. ／ I've never tasted anything better.

口語

best 重讀，I've ever tasted 連讀後放慢收尾。

This is the best soup I have ever tasted. 這是我喝過最好喝的湯。

一句輕飄飄的「我早就知道」，把驕傲藏在懶洋洋的語氣裡，親暱又好笑。

I could've told you that.

對方剛發現你早就知道的事時用，語氣要輕鬆；對不熟的人說會顯得居高臨下。

I could have told you so. ／ Tell me something I don't know.

口語

could've 弱讀，told you that 連讀輕收。

You figured it out? I could have told you that yesterday. 你想明白了？我昨天就能告訴你。