下面是一句从一张餐馆广告中看到的话: If you have few years of experience in managing a fine dining restaurant and possess the capability to organize and operate banquet functions, you are the person we are looking for. 这句话很清楚,但是否有不妥之处?有!看起来是芝麻绿豆事,但却是关系到数目和数量的问题。 英语里的数目词包括many, a few, few, a large number of 等。数量词是much, a little, little, a great deal of等。前者和可数复数名词连用,如例①-③;后者则和不可数名词连用,如例④-⑥: ① Jason has written many books. ② David has a few good friends. ③ There are a large number of people in the cinema. ④ How much money do you need? ⑤ I need only a little sugar for my coffee. ⑥ One can get a great deal of knowledge from reading. 在数目词中,有few和a few两个。看似相同,其实差别甚大,一不小心,可能有错。例如: ⑦ The minister is leaving Singapore for few days. ⑧ Many students here can speak English quite fluently, but a few can write well. 显然,⑦里的few和⑧里的a few要对换,才符合全句的意思。 Few的意思是not many( 不多;少);反义词是many 。A few的意思是some(一些);反义词里none(没有)。例如: |