rather/fairly

在英语里确实有这么一种倾向。例如，人们常说 fairly clean, rather dirty, fairly well, rather badly, fairly clever, rather stupid。

1. It's fairly warm in here. 这里很暖和(令人感到很舒适)。

2. It's rather warm in here. 这里太热(比我们所希望的要热,令人感到不大舒服)。(rather warm = too warm)

3. It's rather cold this morning, but the weatherman says it will turn out fairly warm tomorrow. 今天早晨有点儿冷，但天气预报员报告说，明天将会相当暖和。

4. The temperature in the boiler is $\$left\{ \begin{array}{ll}fairly & \text{high. (A)}\\ rather & \text{high. (B)} \end{array} \right. 锅炉里的温度 $\$left\{ \begin{array}{ll}\text{相当高。(A)}\\ \text{有些过高。(B)} \end{array} \right.

句(4A)表示“高”是合意的,是优点,而句(4B)则表示“高”是超过了正常的温度,是不合意的,是缺点。

5. “This soup is rather hot.” implies that it is a little too hot for him. “This soup is rather hot.” 意味着菜汤对于他稍微烫了一些。

但是,上述情况仅仅是一个大体倾向,决不是说,rather 永远不能用于修饰具有积极意义的形容词。下面的例句可以证明这一点:

1. I did rather well in that test—better than I expected. (LEG) 这次考试我考得相当不错——比我预料的还好。

2. I was rather pleased when I won the Nobel Prize. (LDCE) 当我获得诺贝尔奖金时, 我相当高兴。

3. His English is rather good. 他的英语相当不错。

4. She is rather a nice nurse. 她是一位相当好的护士。

5. It's rather a good idea. 这是一个相当好的主意。

6. You've done rather well. (ALD) 你干得相当好。

7. rather better(CGEL) 好一点儿