薄冰、司树森教授答读者问

　　薄冰、 司树森教授答读者问

　　问：我在学习过程中经常遇到这两个副词：almost和nearly,我知道它们的意思很相近，但我不知道它们在用法上究竟有什么不同，在什么地方用最合适？请给予解释。

　　答：almost(nearly but not quite)和nearly (almost, but not completely or exactly)都意为：“几乎，差不多”，是常用的同(近)义词。在很多情况下，在作程度副词(adverbs of degree)修饰动词、形容词、副词、数词和名词(短语)时，两者通常可以换用。如：1) She fell and almost (nearly) broke her neck. 2) I nearly (almost) missed the train. 3) It was almost (nearly) dark. 4) Frozen vegetables are nearly (almost) always cheaper than fresh ones. 5) I am almost (nearly) twenty-one years old. 6) It’s almost (nearly) time to start. 7) We had been waiting almost (nearly) the whole morning but there was still no sign of him.尤其是在表达几乎、接近(到达、感到满足)的时候，如：8) We had almost (nearly) reached our destination. 9) The man is almost (nearly) 90 years old.

　　此外，两者都可以修饰不定代词，all, every 和everybody。如：10) Almost (Nearly) all of my friends came to the party. 11) Now let me try to explain how and why these things have come to pass in almost (nearly) every civilized country.

　　然而，almost和nearly两者并不完全同义，用法也不尽相同。首先，almost语气较重，它所表示的接近程度大于nearly，因此很多权威词典都将它释义为very nearly but not completely, 请比较两个颇为有趣的例子：12)A book that is almost completed is nearer its completion than one that is nearly completed. 13)It’s almost lunch time(若12点是午饭时间则可能是11点57分)It’s nearly lunch time.(可能是11点45分)其次，在使用频率上，almost 高于nearly,即almost 更为普通、多用，尤其是在口语中；almost 多用于美国英语，而nearly 则多用英国英语。前者侧重于“短缺，差一点儿，不足”，而后者nearly 则表示“接近”。如：14)They had almost finished when they were interrupted. 15) They are nearly at the end of their journey.还有，在nearly的前面可以用very, pretty和not来修饰，而almost则不可能。如：16) I very nearly did forget. 17) We pretty nearly missed the train.再有，在否定词no, none, never, nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere等之前可以用almost,但不可用nearly。如：18)There was almost no snow that winter. 19)Almost no one (Hardly anyone)believed him. 20) She said almost nothing worth hearing.

　　顺便提一下，由于any常用于否定结构，所以它也可与almost连用。如：21)Almost any bus will do.但应注意，almost不可后接not,如不可说：I am almost not prepared.(但可以说almost impossible, almost unprepared等)上述只有almost 可后接否定词的原因是否定词不能给予具体的衡量或比较；由于同样的原因，在一些内含感情或心态(feeling or state of mind)的场合，一般也只可用almost,相当于汉语的“简直”。 如：22)I almost wish I had taken his advice. 23)You could almost imagine you were in Switzerland. 24)It almost seems (looks) that something is wrong with the TV set.

　　在当代英语中，almost 有时并不强调其but not completedly or exactly(但不完全或确切是)的含义，而多少有点肯定的成分，相当于virtually或practically(可以说是)。如：25)The holidays are almost over. 26)I believe you’re almost honest.

　　还应该记住，通常不说not almost，但可说not nearly ，其意不是“不近于，不近乎”，而是意为“远远不(够)，一点也不”(not at all)，而且已经是成语型的固定用法了。如：27)It is not nearly so expensive as I thought. 28)I have ￡20, but that is not nearly enough for my (journey)fare.

　　最后，在当代英语中有将almost作形容词用的倾向，而nearly作形容词用却比较少见(有例外情况)。如: 29)Mazo had innocent brown eyes and baby cheeks and an almost sweetness about him... 30)At nearly Christmas the foliage was as brilliant as when the outrage was committed.

　　最后，很多同学的来信中都提到“应该如何记忆生词”的问题。下面几点仅供同学们参考：(一)记忆生词时，要全面地记，即要记其形(拼写形式)、声(读音)、义(释义)和类(所属词类)。(二)记忆生词时，要做到“四到”，即眼到、耳到、手到和心到。(三)记忆生词时，要结合其所用的场合或情景，避免孤立地去记忆，最好同时记其所在句子或典型例句。(四)要多重复，尽量避免突击式地背词汇表。

　　问：我是在校生，学习中见到这样一个句子：(1)It would appear that his intention was to leave off last week.我不明白句中that引导的是什么从句，请解释。

　　答：你所提问句中的appear是连系动词(linking verb), 其意为：“似乎，好像，看来”(to seem, to be likely, to give to other people a particular idea or feeling, eg. about one’s character, feelings, or intentions)，尤其多用于正式语体或书面语，连系动词是表示不完全谓语关系的动词，其后须有表语构成名词性的合成谓语。 appear的表语既可以是名词、形容词、分词、不定式(短语)、介词短语也可以是由that等引导的从句。如：(2)He may appear a fool but actually he is quite clever.(3)The city appeared calm affer the previous night’s fighting.(4)You appear to have misunderstood our intention.(5)The rocket appeared about 12 to 15 feet in diameter.(6)It appears that neocolonialist country will take action.

　　通常，我们说that引导的是表语从句(predicative clause)，但也有些语法学家认为是主语从句(subject clause)。其实，我们可以把It appears that...看作一种结构或句型来记忆。如：(7)It appears that there has been a change.注意该句型中的that可以省略，尤其是在口语中。如：(8)It appears (that) the plane did not land at Rome. 还应该注意，该句型通常不用进行时态。

　　顺便提一下，该句型也可以有一些相应的变化：It appears that (as if)...如：(9)It appears that (as if) he will win the prize. 还可以说：It appears to sb. that...如:(10)It appears to me that you are all mistaken. 还有It appears (seems)to sb. to be， 如：(11)It appears (seems) to him to be all right.

　　(薄冰 司树森答)