Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？
1. 她變了很多，我幾乎認不得她。
ˇ She has changed so much that I can hardly/scarcely recognize her.
Photo: AdobeStock l 圖片:AdobeStock
χ She has changed so much that I almost cannot recognize her.
註：almost 可以修飾 no, none, nothing。但不可修飾 not，或給 not 修飾。例如：
You’ve made almost no mistakes.
Photo: Adobe Stock l 圖片:Adobe Stock
There is almost nothing left.
Almost none is left.
不可以說 almost not 或 not almost。
「幾乎不」應用 hardly, scarcely 表達。請參考下列句子：
I could hardly stand.（我幾乎站不住了。）
I could hardly see anything in the swirling snow.（在漫天大雪中我幾乎什麼都看不見。）
2. 我們應永遠銘記老師的臨別贈言。
ˇ We shall never forget our teacher’s parting advice.
ˇ We shall always remember our teacher’s parting advice.
χ We shall always not forget our teacher’s parting advice.
χ We shall forever not forget our teacher’s parting advice.
註：用 always not 表示「永遠不」是錯誤的。不能說 *“I shall always not forget it.”，應說 “I shall never forget it.” 或 “I shall always remember.”。不可說 *“Always nobody was absent.”，應說 “Nobody was ever absent.”。 not always 作「並非經常」解。例如英語格言：
Crows are not always black.（烏鴉未必都是黑的。）（借喻事情不可一概而論。）
3. 她答應父母今後決不輕舉妄動了。
ˇ She promised her parents that she would never act so rashly again.
χ She promised her parents that she would not act so rashly forever.
註：表達「永遠不」的全部否定，應該用 never，不是 not forever。
4. 我的習題裏有幾個錯誤。
ˇ There are a few mistakes in my exercise.
χ There are few mistakes in my exercise.
註：few ＝ 少到幾乎沒有，a few 才是表示「有幾個」或「有些」。
“He has few friends.”意為“他幾乎沒有朋友”。little 與 few 一樣都是否定的意思，表示「幾乎無」，a little 表示「有一些」。
“He has little money. ” 表示他幾乎沒錢。little 跟 a little 是用來修飾不可數的名詞，few 跟 a few 是用來修飾可數的名詞。
5. 他沒有兄弟姊妹。
ˇ He has no brothers and sisters.
χ He has not a brother and sister.
註：他是家裡唯一的孩子，沒兄弟姊妹，習慣上說 “no brothers and sisters” 而不是 “no brother and sister”，但一般而言，no 加在單數普通名詞之前，表示「沒有……」。例如：
Has he a son?（英式英語）
( ＝ Does he have a son?) （美式英語）
No, he has no son.
( ＝ No, he doesn’t have.)
注意：在 have, there (/here) is 後面，通常用 no，而不用 not。例如：He has no child.
但下面的句子中可以用 not a：
He has four sisters and not a single brother.
Exercises:
A. 在濃霧中他幾乎什麼也看不見。
He __________ see anything in the thick mist.
1. hardly could 2. almost could not
3. could hardly 4. could not almost
B. 除了你之外她幾乎沒有朋友。
She has __________ friends besides you.
1. few 2. a few 3. little 4. a little
Answers:A. 3 B. 1
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www.bookman.com.tw
蘇正隆 — 台灣翻譯學學會前理事長、師大翻譯研究所兼任副教授; 編著《走讀自然.花言樹語》，《英語的對與錯》，《世紀病毒：必讀防疫英文知識與詞彙》...等。國家教育研究院中英雙語詞彙審議委員；研究領域為翻譯、術語及詞典編譯，從事植物與人文導覽數十年，亦曾應邀遠赴國外大學做植物人文導覽。
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