核心问题
New Concept English, Book 2, L. 52 有一道练习题:
I (near) (nearly) missed the bus this morning.
答案为 nearly。但我搞不清楚句子的真正意义:到底是“我差点儿没赶上公共汽车”,还是“我差点赶上了公共汽车”呢?
词典解答
如同 almost 一样, nearly 放在动词前时表示眼看就要发生而实际上并未发生的事。也就是说, nearly 实质上是对动词的否定, 尽管是轻微的否定。
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He was nearly run over by a car. (New Concept English, Book 2, L. 52) 他差点儿被一辆汽车压过去。(实际上他未被压着)
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The ball struck him so hard that he nearly fell into the water. (New Concept English, Book 2, L. 30) 球重重地击在他身上，他差点儿掉进河里去。(实际上他未掉进河里去)
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I nearly fell off my bike. (PEU) 我差点儿(没)从自行车上摔下来。
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I nearly stopped and asked what he wanted. (PEU) 我差点儿停下来问他有什么事。[参见 almost, miss(v.) ]