这两个词都有“相当”、“适中”的意思,但fairly主要用于修饰褒义的形容词和副词(如bravely,good,nice,well等)而rather主要修饰贬义的形容词和副词(如bad,stupidly,ugly等):
' h2 C) ]9 m* W1 l7 E+ } Tom is fairly clever,but Peter is rather stupid.
4 a" p$ q8 y9 R8 d& q; F$ y 汤姆相当聪明,而彼得就颇笨。
5 W" X/ M& |! m6 t( B I walk fairly fast but Ann walks rather slowly.1 {. z( W9 Z2 T! `- E9 J
我走得相当快,而安就走得相当慢。' t# N. g$ [, H# e7 F7 i
两者都可以与分词连用:2 l4 Q7 h6 W ~* |' K5 Q$ X* E
He was fairly relaxed;she was rather tense.. S5 K6 r7 n' p5 H$ i8 D" Y! }
他很放松,而她就相当紧张。/ f+ J: E9 O$ Q" A8 b4 K; c
a fairly interesting film一部相当有意思的电影, O+ @) G5 I3 c% `3 {
a rather boring book一本相当乏味的书% R$ h( y Q ~2 }' O) P. I. Q
不定冠词必须放在fairly之前,但可放在rather之前或之后:* t4 E% ?) P1 F. ~; v6 h9 {1 T
a fairly light box一个相当轻的盒子
/ \/ Q/ h7 B2 e a rather heavy box/rather a heavy box
2 U/ X! ~) s/ K V, V# S 一个相当重的盒子一些本身没有褒贬意义的形容词和副词如fast,slow,thin,thick,hot,cold等,之前加上fairly时表示赞许而加上rather时表示不赞许。This soup is fairly hot(这汤还挺热)这意味说话人喜欢喝热汤。而This soup is rather hot(这汤太热了)就意味着说话人嫌汤太热了点。% f8 s1 J. t6 y4 e. v
rather可用在alike,like,similar,different等词及比较级之前,这时它的含义是“少许”或“略微”:
; i8 d: B: m$ I- Y+ U t, | Siamese cats are rather like dogs in some ways.
0 U) O& f- ]; o$ K7 u 暹罗猫在某些方面长得有点儿像狗。: [ u1 k7 A8 |) N) i
The weather was rather worse than I had expected+ T. s, V: k/ c$ W
天气要比我预料的还坏。
# {5 S" P9 |( w4 ^) ~% |' K rather a可以与一些名词连用,如disappiontment,disadvan-tage,nuisance,pity,shame及joke:
/ Q/ H) U8 e' J6 `' Z It’s rather a nuisance that we can’t park here.
u9 D% Y! ?' O! v" g& |# ] 真讨厌,我们不能在这里停车。(有点不方便)7 o" ~) L2 [9 z( z0 z' [4 y' k
It’s rather a shame that he has to work on Sundays.4 c* M( K, v+ r( w0 C& [; w
真讨厌,他连星期天也得去上班。(有点不公平)
( b' S# Q/ e- l' l* g( c; | fairly则不能这样用。
1 ]" G- o) H5 `) }! s6 W5 v rather可以用在某些褒义的形容词和副词之前,如amusing,clever,good,pretty,well等,但其含义变了。这时它几乎相当于very之意,没有贬义,如She is rather clever(她很聪明)。
" h) M1 I3 D5 X* Q! o: G Z4 z$ B 这句含义相当于She is very clever。rather这样用时显然具有比fairly更深的褒义,如It is a fairly good play(这个戏还算可以)。这一说法会起到劝阻旁人去看戏的作用。但如果说It israther a good play(这个戏很好)则无疑是一种推荐。有时rather这样用时含有“惊讶”之意:
8 c6 d: P5 X, B9 I5 J/ f% v& F$ V —I suppose the house was filthy. F: f, J& ~, m+ J
—No,as a matter of fact it was rather clean.& {8 p" I9 H& B: c# t
—我想屋子一定很脏。
: }, W1 @; ~% g" `6 J1 n —不,它实际上却很干净。/ C4 I1 O$ D# Z% `9 Z
rather也可用在enjoy与like这两个词前,有时还可用在dis-like与object这一类动词之前:
! Y( i6 d3 ^0 J {7 j5 W I rather like the smell of petrol.. e9 c8 t2 A. G: K
我倒很喜欢汽油味儿。$ v4 Z k& O2 y; r! a, b+ O2 B
He rather enjoys queueing.6 ?$ U. G1 @( L0 U0 Q
他却很喜欢排队。
, Q) F8 G; V1 D* k/ { rather还可以用来对由以上动词构成的问句作简单回答:
1 [9 u9 y/ W/ c+ H8 |0 g) l/ I U —Do you like him?
" Y; R/ n7 Y+ `! m( Q —Yes,I do,rather.
; A: K1 i6 D6 M —你喜欢他吗?
7 W0 J, G# T4 W# K, Q8 K —是的,我倒相当喜欢他。
; G4 A( \5 S7 n( P o rather+like/enjoy主要用于表现一种“喜爱”,而这种喜爱是出乎旁人或说话者本人意料之外的。但它也可以用来强调动词,如I rather like Tom(我很喜欢汤姆)。这就要比I likeTom(我喜欢汤姆)具有更强烈的感情色彩。 |