名人教英文：谁是你的第一伴娘？
who's your maid of honour?
谁是你的第一伴娘？
hettie: the wedding's only two weeks away now. are you feeling nervous?
赫蒂﹕ 还有两个星期就要举行婚礼，你紧张吗？
yvonne: well i am a bit. i just hope everything goes well on the big day.
伊冯娜﹕嗯，有一点。希望那个大日子一切顺利吧。
hettie: any special problems?
赫蒂﹕ 有什么特别问题吗？
yvonne: well my mother's sister and my father's sister have never liked each other, so we've got to try and keep them apart somehow.
伊冯娜﹕我姨母和姑母向来不相得，我们须设法把她们分开。
hettie: don't worry. i'm sure it will be all right. who's your maid of honour?
赫蒂﹕ 不用担心，一定不会有事的。谁是你的第一伴娘？
yvonne: oh, my sister jolly. she's organising the bridesmaids so that's all taken care of.
伊冯娜﹕啊，是舍妹乔莉。她会安排其他伴娘，这一切都由她办理。
hettie: who are they?
赫蒂﹕ 那些伴娘是谁？
yvonne: they're the daughters of my married sister and my two brothers.
伊冯娜﹕是我已婚姊姊和两个哥哥的女儿。
hettie: all in the family!
赫蒂﹕ 都是一家人！
伊冯娜婚期已近，有点紧张，说i am a bit (nervous)。这一句改为i am a little nervous可不可以？
答案是「可以」。然则i am not a bit nervous（我一点都不紧张）可不可改为i am not a little nervous？
答案是「不可以」。a bit等于a little，但not a bit却和not a little大不相同﹕not a bit是「一点也不」，not a little则是「很」或「十分」，也即very much，例如﹕she was not a little upset when her husband again asked her for money（丈夫又向她要钱，令她十分不高兴）。把not a little改为not a bit，则是「她丝毫没有感到不高兴」。
留意we've got to try and keep them apart这一句。try和go、come一样，其后常用and取代to带出另一动词，例如﹕(1) he went to buy / went and bought some flour（他去买些面粉）。(2) she came to help / came and helped me（她来给我援手）。不过，try的用法和go、come有一点不同﹕try必须是原形（infinitive）才可以和and连用，所以we tried to keep them apart不可以改为we tried and kept them apart。
bridesmaid是伴娘，而几个伴娘之中，责任最大的一个叫maid of honour。又maid of honour除了指「伴娘」，也可指女王、王后、公主等的未婚侍女。有时，伴娘的工作会由小男孩做，这样的男孩叫做page，即「男小傧相」或「男侍童」