1、near, nearly
near用作副詞時,有nearly(幾乎,差不多)的意思,等于almost, 這時候可以通用。不過,往往在表示這一層意思時,人們習慣用nearly,而很少用near,尤其是用來修飾數(shù)詞時。例如:it is nearly ten o'clock. 差不多十點鐘了。dinner is nearly ready. 晚飯就要好了。i was near (or: nearly) being killed; it was a very near thing. 我?guī)缀鯁拭,真懸。there are nearly enough people here to do the job. 干這項活,這里人手差不多夠了。
near在作形容詞時,主要用來表示場所、時間,有“在附近”和“逼近”的意思。例如:don't go far away; stay somewhere near. 別走遠,就在附近呆著。the spring festival is drawing near. 春節(jié)即將來臨。
注意:副詞nearly要盡可能靠近它所修飾的那個詞或詞組,否則,有可能會影響全句的意思。試比較:our production brigade nearly lost fifty cattle in the flood. 我們生產(chǎn)隊在發(fā)洪水時幾乎損失了五十頭牛。(事實上沒有損失)our production brigade lost nearly fifty cattle in the flood. 我們生產(chǎn)隊在洪水中損失了差不多五十頭牛。(事實上損失了將近五十頭)
2、necessary, necessity
necessary作名詞用時,盡管與necessity同義,均可表示“必需品”,“必要的東西”的意思,但用法有別。necessary盡管是可數(shù)名詞,但通常用作復數(shù)形式necessaries; necessity可用作可數(shù)名詞,既可用作單數(shù),也可用作復數(shù),但常見作復數(shù)。試比較:these are our necessaries of life. 這些是我們的生活必需品。the shop is selling daily necessaries. 那個商店正在出售日用品。air is a necessity. 空氣是必需品。good maps are a necessity to travellers. 好的地圖是旅行者必不可少的東西。food, water and clothes are the basic necessities of life. 食物,水和衣服是基本的必需品。
necessity主要用作不可數(shù)名詞,表示抽象的概念,有“必要性,必然性”的意思,necessary作名詞則沒有這些含義。例如:there is no necessity for me to do this. 我沒有做這件事的必要。he feels the necessity to have an outing. 他覺得有必要出外游玩一次!
3、near to, next to
near to的意思是 “接近,靠近”,指時間、空間及距離上的接近。next to的意思是“緊靠著”,指位置上的相互緊靠。例如:it's getting near to our spring festival. 春節(jié)快要到了。the chemical works is built too near to us. 這個化工廠造得離我們太近了。as we got near to the town it began to snow. 當我們快到鎮(zhèn)上時,天開始下雪了。the girl came and sat next to me. 這個女孩走過來并坐在我邊上。the two cinemas are next to each other. 這兩個電影院靠得很近。i don't like wool next to my skin. 我不喜歡直接穿羊毛衫。
next to另可表示“幾乎”及“僅次于”,它常用于next to nothing結構,表示“幾乎沒有”,相當于almost nothing。例如:i knew next to nothing about the matter. 對這件事我?guī)缀跻粺o所知。next to dancing, i like playing the guitar. 除了跳舞,我最喜歡彈吉它。new york is the largest city next to london. 紐約是僅次于倫敦的最大城市。
4、no more...than, not more...than
no more...than等于not...any more than,意為“同...一樣不”,意味著兩者都否定。no more后可接名詞,形容詞,副詞或動詞;than是從屬連詞,常引出省略的比較狀語從句。兩個分句的重點往往在前一個分句,翻譯時要把分句的次序顛倒,才能表達出重點來。例如:a fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears. 愚人之不能自知其蠢,如同其不能自見其耳。i am no more fond of playing the guitar than he is. 我和他都不喜歡彈吉他。
no more than連用,等于not any more than, 其后多接數(shù)詞,表示“只不過是,僅僅”的意思,相當于only。例如:there are no more than ten tickets left. 僅剩下十張票。
not more... than等于less...than或not so...as,表示“不及,不如;不比...更”的意思,意味著兩者都肯定,但著重點往往在從句,翻譯時按原來順序譯出即可。例如:it goes without saying that this subject is not more important than that one. 毋庸質疑,這個問題不比那個問題更重要。
not more than連用,其后也一般接數(shù)詞,表示“不超過……,至多(=at most)"的意思。例如:i read not more than twenty pages every day. 我每天最多讀二十頁書。the reservoir was built by a productive brigade of not more than 200 households. 這個水庫是由一個不到二百戶人家的生產(chǎn)大隊建造的!
5、no one else, no other one
這兩個詞組都表示“沒有別人或別的東西”的意思,兩者可以換用。其中的one均為代名詞,指代人或物;else和other均為形容詞,不同的是前者作后置形容詞,后者作前置形容詞。例如:there is no one else (or: no other one) to compare with him in this respect. 在這方面無人能比得上他。no other one(or: no one else) knows about it. 再沒有別的人知道這件事。
值得注意的是,else作形容詞時,通常用來修飾疑問代詞,復合不定代詞(如:somebody, anything, anyone等)或者含有數(shù)量意義的代名詞(如: much, little, all等)。else也可作副詞,用來修飾疑問副詞或者以where 結尾的復合疑問副詞(如:anywhere, nowhere等)。例如:what else did she say? 她還說了什么?it must have been somewhere else. 肯定是在其他什么地方。you should put your honor above all else. 你應當把榮譽放在其他一切之上。not much else is known. 其他都不清楚。
other作形容詞時,只用來修飾名詞或者代名詞one/ ones, 其位置只能位于所修飾的(代)名詞之前。例如:i am studying maxism-leninism, mathematics and other subjects. 我正學習馬克思列寧主義,數(shù)學和其他課程。
注意:else和other均可用來修飾帶any, some, a few等的名詞。例如:i don't want any books else.(= i don't want any other books.) 我再不需要其他書了!
6、no use, of no use
這兩個詞組都用在連系動詞be的后面作表語,表示“沒有用”的意義,兩者在意義上沒有什么差別,可以通用,只是它們的語法結構不一樣。no use作表語是因為use前面有形容詞no的緣故。如果沒有形容詞no, use則不能單獨作表語。不能說this book is use.只能說:this book is of use或者:this book is useful.再例如:this book is (of) no use. 這本書沒有用。complaining is (of) no use. 抱怨是沒有用的。
of no use屬于“of+抽象名詞”結構,這種結構相當于相應的同根形容詞。它有肯定形式和否定形式,否定形式一般也是在抽象名詞前加形容詞no(如of no use)。例如:this reference material is of no use to us. (= this reference material isn't useful to us.) 這種參考資料對我們是沒有用的。this medicine is of no use to your cold. 這種藥對你的感冒沒有用。
注意:以下五句的意思相同,但用法都不一樣,請注意它們的區(qū)別:
reading without remembering is no use.
reading without remembering is of no use.
it is no use reading without remembering.
it is of no use reading without remembering.
there is no use in / of reading without remembering.讀而不記是沒有用的!
7、none, no one
none主要用作代詞。作代詞時,可以指人,是“沒有什么人”的意思;也可以指物,是“沒有什么東西”的意思。none往往受of引起的介詞短語的限制,of后可接復數(shù)可數(shù)名詞,作主語時,謂語動詞多用復數(shù)形式;of后接不可數(shù)名詞時,其謂語動詞只能是單數(shù)形式。none of之后的可數(shù)名詞或代詞必須指三個以上的人或者事物。例如:none of the passengers were aware of the danger. 這些旅客中沒有人意識到危險性。none of us are interested in the story. 我們都對這個故事不感興趣。none of the money was ever recorded. 一點錢都沒有得到。
no one中的no是形容詞,one是代詞,常用于口語中,一般用來指人,其含義是“not even one(連一個人也不/沒有)”因此它比none的意思要強。no one作主語時,謂語動詞只能用單數(shù)形式。例如:no one was killed in that battle. 在那次戰(zhàn)斗中沒有人犧牲。apart from him, i had no one to talk to. 除了他以外,我沒有人可以交談!
8、now that, only that
這是兩個由“連詞+that"組成的復合連詞,其連詞是中心詞,that是一個虛詞,?墒∪。now that本是“副詞+that"而構成的復合連詞,但由于that可省略,于是now就被認為是連詞了。now that引導的是原因狀語從句,但它主要是說明一種新的情況,從句與主句的因果關系很小,含有“推論”的意味,因此有的語法學者把它稱為“推論條件連詞”。此短語一般譯為“既然,由于”,相當于since。例如:now that jane had gone and left, or as good as left him, it would have been a comfort to see his son. 簡既然走了,離開了,或者說幾乎是遺棄了他,那么他就可以和兒子見面了,這是多么快慰的事。now that the weather has improved, we'll be able to enjoy the game. 由于現(xiàn)在天氣已經(jīng)好轉,我們將能觀賞這場比賽了。
only that主要引導條件狀語從句,與except that的意義相同,表示“要不是,除...之外”的意思,從句通常位于主句之后;它有時還可引導目的狀語從句,作“只是為了”解。例如:he would probably do well in the examination, only that he gets rather nervous. 要不是他有一點緊張,他可能考得很好。i have nothing against him, only that i dislike his manner. 我除了不喜歡他的態(tài)度外,并沒有反對他。he often praises others only that he may be praised. 他常常只是為了求得別人的表揚而稱贊別人!
9、no tailor, not a tailor
no tailor和not a tailor在句子中充當主語、賓語時,兩者均表示“沒有一個裁縫”,可以替換用。如下列兩句都表示“沒有一個裁縫想要接受這份工作”:no tailor wants to take this job.not a tailor wants to take this job.
當no tailor和not a tailor在句子中用在be動詞后,充當表語時,兩者意義完全不同。前者表示“不懂裁縫,決不是裁縫”,指某人不具備當裁縫的條件,是外行,無資格做裁縫;后者“不是個裁縫”,指某人的職業(yè)或身份不是裁縫。試比較:don't ask me to shorten the trousers for you. i'm no tailor. 別叫我為你改短褲子,我不懂裁縫。you're mistaken! he is not a tailor. he has a job as a barber. 你弄錯了!他不是個裁縫,他是個理發(fā)師。
no加上一個表示職業(yè)的名詞的例子還有:she is no cook. she will probably get all the food from a restaurant. 她不會做飯,她可能會從餐館里買來所有的飯菜。this is no joke. i am no judge. 這決不是開玩笑的事,我根本沒有審理的資格!
10、noise, sound, voice
noise表示“噪音,喧鬧聲”,一般指嘈雜,吵鬧等令人不快的聲音。例如:the noise of the street kept me awake. 街上的吵鬧聲讓我睡不著。the noise of the rain nearly drowned our conversation. 雨聲大得幾乎超過了我們的談話聲。
sound表示“聲音”,含義很廣泛,指任何可以聽到的聲音,包括悅耳及令人不快的聲音。例如:all of a sudden there was the sound of shots and a cry. 突然,有了槍響聲和哭聲。did you hear the strange sound from the next room this morning? 今天早上你是否聽到隔壁房間發(fā)出的怪聲音?
voice表示“嗓音”,一般指人說話,唱歌或笑的聲音。例如:the little girl has a beautiful voice. 這個小女孩有一副好嗓子。the singer has lost her ringing voice as a result of a bad cold. 這位歌手由于重感冒而失去了銀鈴般的嗓音!
11、not to say, not to speak of
這兩個短語形似而意義不同。not to say作“雖不能說,即使不能說”解,表示一種讓步的口氣。not to speak of作“更不用說,更不待言”解,相當于to say nothing of, 用來表示追補意義。例如:it is rather cool, not to say cold. 天氣雖不能說冷,但也算是相當涼了。he sounded impolite, not to say rude. 他那樣說話,即使不算粗魯,也是不禮貌的。she knows german and french, not to speak of english. 她懂德文和法文,更不用說英文了。he cannot find money for bread, not to speak of fish and meat. 他連面包也無錢買,更不用說魚和肉了。