| 词组 | near, nearly |
| 释义 | near, nearly A few books express disapproval of the use of near in the sense "almost, nearly." Jensen 1935 tells his readers not to use it; Shaw 1975, 1987 recommends using nearly instead; and the Harper 1975, 1985 usage panel dealt with it in the combination near-perfect and passed it only 52 percent to 48 percent. The sense is an old one (the OED dates it back to about 1200) and has been used by some respected literary figures, especially in less than lofty contexts: • My uncle Toby's wound was near well —Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, 1759 • ... we are not near ready —Emily Dickinson, letter, 15 June 1851 • ... but a bloody sweep came along and he near drove his gear into my eye —James Joyce, Ulysses, 1922 • This is pretty near a record —James Thurber, letter, November 1939 • The piece is pretty near done —E. B. White, letter, 21 Feb. 1942 • ... in my case it's not anything near as neat as a filing case, it's more like a junk box —William Faulkner, 6 May 1957, in Faulkner in the University, 1959 • Children don't have near as good taste as the experts would like to think —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 14 June 1958 Whether you use near or nearly in constructions like these and like near-perfect is a matter of your own ear. Near is one of those flat adverbs (right and mighty are two others) that may sound just a little old-fashioned to the modern ear. Although this use of near is idiomatic, more writers today would probably choose nearly instead, especially in anything meant to be published. See also flat adverbs. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。