释义 |
■ cannot1) cannot (could not) 与 too 连用,意思不是“不能太过”,而是“再…不过”、“无以复加”(这里的 cannot 不是“不应该”,而是“不可能有此情况”)。这一点,中国人容易出错。 - You can't be too careful.你千万要小心。(直译:“你无论多么小心也不过分。”不是“你不能过分小心。”)
有时候 too 可以先于 cannot 或 could not。 - And too much importance can't be placed on the value of meeting with a prospective doctor face to face. (Saratoga Parent, May 31, 2002)而且,同一位物色中的医生面对面交谈,其价值是无论如何看重都不为过的。
2) cannot(主要用 could not 形式)与形容词或副词比较级连用,也有“无以复加”的意思。 - Things couldn't be better.情况再好不过了。
- I couldn't agree with you more.你的意见,我完全同意。
- But intelligence officials and experts say that could not be further from the truth. (US News & World Report, Aug. 12, 2002, p.18)但是情报官员和专家说那与事实完全不符。
- You couldn't be more mistaken.你大错特错了。
- He could not have cared less.他根本不放在心上。
- For many businesses, the loss of telephone service Thursday couldn't have come at a worse time.对于许多企业来说,星期四电话不通,时间是最不凑巧的了。
- The candidates could not be at a greater distance on this issue.各个候选人在这个问题上彼此的距离极大。
- They couldn't think any worse of him than they already did.(John Darnton, The Darwin Conspiracy, p.189)他们对他的印象,已经坏到无以复加了。
- The contrast between the morning paper and the news on radio and television could not have been more dramatic this morning.今天上午拿清早报纸和广播电视新闻对比一下,反差大极了。
与表示“过分”的动词连用,也有这种情况。 - The awful toll exacted on the soldiers and citizens cannot be exaggerated.军人和平民伤亡惨重,不计其数。
祝贺人家结婚,可以说:It couldn't happen to two nicer people. 直译:“这样的好事,不会有更美满的一对能遇到的了。”意译:“天生一对,地造一双。”或:“天作之合。”参见 overemphasize 与 overestimate 条。这种用法,中国人比较难理解,理解了也较难驯熟掌握,需要特别注意。 3) If you want the ultimate in calculators, you couldn't do better than to choose Sharp. 如果你想要最新式的计算器,你就最好莫如选择夏普(广告)。在这句中,couldn't do better than inf. 也是表示“好到无以复加”的意思。但是如果 than 后面不是动词不定式而是一个名词,而且主语不是指人而是指物,就仍然保持“(主语)比某物的效果好不到哪里去”的意思,而没有“最好莫如做某事”的含义。 - After a decade of study, Merck last year abandoned its effort to develop a new type of antidepressant when it couldn't do better than a placebo in tests.经过十年的研究,默克公司去年放弃了努力,不再开发一种新的抗抑郁症药品,因为这种药品经过试用,功效并没有超过安慰剂。
4) enough 也有与 too 类似的情况。 - I can't thank you enough.我不知怎样谢你才好。
5) can 后面加上 not, never 之类的否定词,通常意思是“不可能”或“不可以”而不是“可能不”或“可以不”。表示“可能不”或“可以不”,要说 need not 或 may not(但 may not 有时候也有“不可以”的意思)。但是如果 can 和后面的否定词离开很远,也可以表示“可能不”或“可以不”。 - You can work an entire lifetime in this field and never see two cases of autism alike. (The Sunday Gazette, Feb. 25, 2007, A1)你可能在这个行业干一辈子也遇不到两个相同的孤独症病例。
这里的 can 和 never 如果靠在一起,意思就会变成为“绝不可能”而不是“有可能不”。 目录 |