a 喂！昨晚过得真愉快——精美的晚餐，精美的餐馆。

　　b yes, we all enjoyed it.  it’s a pity i had to leave early.

　　b 是的，我们都很开心。 但是遗憾的是我不得不先离开。

　　a yes, why did you leave early?

　　a 是的，你为什么要先离开？

　　b i left because i had an early start at work this morning.

　　b 我离开是因为我今天早晨要早早开始工作。

　　a oh, i forgot.  you had a meeting at 8am.

　　a 噢，我忘了。你今天上午8点有一个会。

　　b yes, and i had some work to prepare ╟ so i thought an early night was a good idea.

　　b 是的，我还有一些准备工作要做——所以我想我昨晚应该早点结束。

　　a i’m sure you were right.  anyway it was a great evening!

　　a 我肯定你是对的。无论如何，那都是一个心旷神怡的夜晚！

　　notes  注释

　　1 you can use the phrase it’s a pity . . . / it’s a pity . . . (or it’s a shame . . . / it’s a shame . . .) in various ways, e.g.: it’s a pity i had to leave early / it’s a pity i had to leave early; it’s a pity it rained / it’s a pity it rained; it’s a pity i missed the party / it’s a pity i missed the party.

　　在很多情形下都可以用it’s a pity . . . / 很遗憾 . . .（ 或者 it’s a shame . . . /真遗憾. . .）这个短语，例如：it’s a pity i had to leave early /很遗憾我不得不先离开； it’s a pity it rained / 很遗憾，天下雨了； it’s a pity i missed the party /错过了晚会我真感到遗憾。

　　2 remember the verb have to . . . / have to  . . . (or must . . . / must . . . ): when using it in the past, you use had to / had to, e.g.:  i had to leave early / i had to leave early

　　记住动词have to . . . / 不得不 . . . (或者must . . . /必须 . . . ):当用于说过去的事情时用had to /不得不，例如：i had to leave early /我不得不先离开。

　　3 early / early and the opposite, late / late can be used in many ways, e.g.: i had to leave early / i had to leave early; i didn’t want to be late / i didn’t want to be late; an early night / an early night; the traffic made me late / the traffic made me late.

　　early /早和它的反义词late /晚可以用在很多的情形下，例如：i had to leave early / 我不得不先走； i didn’t want to be late / 我不想迟到； an early night /早早结束的夜晚；the traffic made me late /交通阻塞让我迟到了。