mutual
mutual 這個字該怎麼用?
1. 形容詞 mutual 的用法有二。
它被用來表示兩個人或兩個團體之間「相互」的意思：
- Healy and Russell have great mutual respect. (報紙的文章)
- Mr Ruutel spoke of the need for mutual support in the face of possible sanctions. (電台的報導)
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這是 mutual 較舊的意思，一些人認為這是唯一正確的意思。
有時 mutual 被用來表示兩個或兩個以上的人或團體之間「共同」的意思：
- Discussions were called off by mutual consent. (報紙的文章)
- He has invited councils to approach him at any time to discuss matters of mutual interest. (報紙的報導)
- Julie and Dawn met recently through a mutual friend. (報紙的文章)
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有些人認為這種用法錯誤；他們說應該用 common 或 in common 來取代 mutual：
- It is important that all those involved should come together to discuss matters of common interest. (雜誌的文章)
- They had many friends in common. (小說)
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證據：
在一本英英字典和一項調查中，"mutual" 被用來表示「共同」意思的次數約有1,300次 。與它連用的名詞最常見的是 "friend", "interest", "agreement" 和 "consent"。 a "mutual" friend (316次) 的說法比 a "common" friend (11次) 或 a friend "in common" (19 次) 常見。而 "mutual" agreement (140次) 也比 "common" agreement (26次) 常用。相對地，"common" interests (427次) 的說法比 "mutual" interests (149次) 常見。
建議：
在現代英語中，我們可以接受 mutual 被用來表示「共同」的意思：
- He scrapped a three-year contract with Warwickshire by mutual agreement. (報紙的報導)
- They met through their mutual love of music. (報紙的文章)
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但請注意：common interest 比 mutual interest 來得常見。
- We have a common interest in ensuring that, once decided, policy is properly implemented. (報紙的文章)
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2. 形容詞 mutual 和動詞 share 均被用來表示某些人或團體「共同、共通、共有」的意思：
- People are brought together through their mutual love of the game. (報紙的文章)
- We share an interest in films and plays. (報紙的文章)
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有時我們會見到 mutual 和 share 被用在一起：
- Fleming and his wife shared a mutual desire for violent behaviour. (報紙的文章)
- We shared a number of mutual interests. (雜誌的文章)
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若干人士不喜歡這種用法，宣稱只能使用其中一個字，不能兩個字同時用在一起。
mutual 有時亦被放在敘述聯合的動作或關係的名詞前面：
- Neither sees the increasing mutual co-operation between the two parties as all that astonishing. (報紙的報導)
- Each member continues to evaluate the mood of the other before engaging in any action requiring mutual collaboration. (心理治療書籍)
- A considerable mutual interdependence has grown up between the Saudis and the Yemenis. (電台的報導)
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同樣地，也有人不喜歡這種用法，宣稱 mutual 在這類句子中是多餘的。
證據：
在一本英英字典中，"share" 和 "mutual" 一起出現 24 次。沒有 "mutual" 時 "share" 出現約 400 次，而沒有 "share" 時 "mutual" 出現 67 次。
"mutual co-operation" 出現 38 次，"mutual collaboration" 3 次，"mutual interdependence" 17 次。(在沒有 "mutual" 的情況下，"co-operation", "collaboration" 和 "interdependence" 分別出現 11,000 次，3,000 次 和 400 次。)
建議：
當我們在使用 mutual 這個字時，須避免意思上的重複。例如，我們應該說 "have a mutual interest" 或 "share an interest"，而不要說 "share a mutual interest"：
- The paper says Lithuania and Moscow have a mutual interest in peaceful compromise. (電台的報導)
- They shared a love of opera. (報紙的文章)
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不要說 "mutual co-operation", "mutual collaboration" 或 "mutual interdependence"，只要說 co-operation, collaboration 或 interdependence 就可以了：
- She said she hoped to foster co-operation between schools and business. (報紙的報導)
- The deal is one of the most dramatic examples of the trend towards collaboration among Europe's leading industrial groups. (報紙的報導)
- Senator Cook said interdependence between nations was crucial for each of APEC's 18 economies to prosper. (報紙的報導)
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