nothing還是anything not　　

有朋友在本站“答疑中心”詢問該用 nothing 還是 anything not。問題見：　　

www.hz123456.com/guestbook/Guest_Reply.asp?TopicID=1775 　　

該問題由本站特約作者及專家顧問龍楠老師回答如下：　　

按照你現在的理解思路，我估計：

你不太理解I know nothing about it. 因為你會對“知道 nothing”感到疑惑；

同樣你也可能不太理解He learned nothing at school. 因為你會對“學到 nothing”感到疑惑；

同樣你也可能不太理解He told me nothing. 因為你會對“告訴我 nothing”感到疑惑。

我說得對嗎？但你要知道這些子都是非常正確且地道的表達。　　

假我們把這些句子中的nohting改為not…anything，你可能就覺得可以理解了。如：　　

I know nothing about it.=I don’t know anything about it.　　

He learned nothing at school. = He didn’t learn anything at school.　　

He told me nothing. = He didn’t tell me anything.　　

以上改寫都是成立的，因為 anything 是放在 not 的后面。　　

注意英語有個習慣：any, anything, anyone, anybody  等只能放在否定詞的后面，而不能將其放在否定詞的前面，比如可以說 not…anything，但不能說 anything…not。所以下面第一句是“正”句，第二句是“誤”句：　　

正：Nothing taught by others can have the same effect on you as that learned by youself.　　

誤：Anything taught by others can't have the same effect on you as that learned by youself.　　

同樣的道理，以下各句的 nothing 也不能改為 anything…not：　　

Nothing happened that night.  那天晚上沒發生什么事。　　

Nothing can travel faster than light. 什么東西也不如光走得快。　　

Nothing can make up for the loss of a child.  什么也彌補不了失去孩子的痛苦。　　

Nothing seemed to cure him of his nervousness.  好像什么都沒法消除他的緊張。　　

如不能說成：　　

Anything didn’t happen that night.（誤）　　

Anything can’t travel faster than light.（誤）　　

Anything can’t make up for the loss of a child.（誤）　　

Anything didn’t seem to cure him of his nervousness.（誤）