14. 用that代單數名詞，those代復數名詞
“你車子的機器比我的好。”這句話譯成英文時為“The engine of your car is better than mine.”。據說這是錯誤的，但不知錯在什么地方，請詳加說明。
【解答】譯出的英文句子的確是錯誤的，因為比較不倫不類。句子的mine = my car，是代表整個的汽車，不能拿來代表汽車上的機器，所以應說“The engine of your car is better than that of mine.”才對。這樣拿代表我車engine的that，與你車engine相比，自然就門當戶對了。
如果所比的東西是一個復數名詞的話，就要把that也改為復數，例如：
The houses of the rich are generally larger than those of the poor.（闊人的房子都比窮人的大。）
Modern schools are far better than those of a century ago.（現代的學校比一個世紀前的好得多了。）
Elizabeth’s expeditions by sea were in general more successful than those which she attempted by land.（伊麗莎白的海上遠征，一般地看來，比陸上的遠征更為成功。）
茲再舉出幾個單數that的例，以供參考：
The climate is like that of France.（氣候和法國相像。）
His manner was that of a gentleman.（他的態度有君子風。）
The weight of an ox is much more than that of a horse.（牛重于馬。）
The cost of oil is less than that of gas.（油的價錢少于煤氣的價錢。）