名人教英文:分别微妙的多义词
有读者问yet的用法。not yet表示「还未」,例如:he has not yet come,那么he has yet to come又作何解呢?虽然没有not字,但has yet to也有「还未」的意思,确切点说,解作「应发生而未发生」,通常用于书面语和正式的语境,例如:
?although the government has poured billions of dollars into the language fund, students have yet to show significant improvement in chinese and english proficiency.
表达否定的意思,不一定要用not。hardly、barely、scarcely等字都有「几乎不」的意思,通常和can/could、any或 it is... that连用,例如:
?john did not work hard enough. it was hardly surprising that he failed the exam.(即「不令人意外」)
?when mr smith first moved to hong kong, he hardly spoke any cantonese.
(即「不能说广东话」)