1. of course

　　A是一位初到中国的澳大利亚人，B是一位学英语的中国学生。下面是他们之间的一段对话：

　　A：Is this a good restaurant?

　　B: Of course.(失误)

　　A: Is it open on Sundays?

　　B: Of course. (失误)

　　短语of course是以客气的方式表示同意或愿意提供帮助，相当于"certainly"。它可回答Can you help me?或May I borrow this book?一类的请求。但在回答别人的询问时用of course就是不礼貌的。如：

　　-Do many students study English at your school?

　　-Yes, they do./Yes, the majority.

　　这里如用of course回答，便暗示这个事实十分明显，你应该知道。

　　2. definitely与certainly

　　1) definitely用于强调某一陈述。如：He's definitely the best player in the team.；而certainly常在说话人多少有点疑问的情况下使用。如：It's certainly very beautiful, but it's for too expensive.有时这种疑问并不明显地表示出来，而只是在暗示。如：

　　-He's a brilliant student, isn't he?

　　-Well, he certainly works very hard.(=but I do not agree that he is brilliant.)

　　2)在回答具体问题时，definitely比certainly更为常用。如：

　　-Is he good at his job?

　　-Oh yes, definitely.

　　3)在回答请求时，可用certainly/of course，而不能用definitely。如：

　　-Can you help me with my homework?

　　-Yes, certainly.

　　3. surely与certainly

　　1)在英国英语中，surely并不总是具有与certainly相同的含义。如：

　　a. He surely doesn't expect me to pay him immediately.(=I hope he doesn't expect this and I don't think he ought to.)

　　b. He certainly doesn't expect me to pay him immediately.(= I know he doesn't expect the money now.)

　　2)在美国英语中，surely (常缩略为sure)可以像certainly和of course一样用于回答对方的要求，表示愿意提供帮助。如：

　　-Can I borrow this book?

　　-Yes, certainly/of course/surely/sure.

　　(文/张正荣；英语辅导报大学二年级版03～04学年第38期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)