“much of a +單數名詞”是什么含義？

■本站特約作者  劉永科

在外研版必修五模塊1，有這樣一個句子：It doesn’t make much of a difference（那沒有什么很大的差別）。老師在講解時，一般都把這個地方略過，也很少有論述這個短語的文章。“much of a +單數名詞”是英語比較特殊的一種表達方式，在閱讀中時常會見到。該詞組多見于否定含義的句子，之前經常加too修飾。此外，這個可數名詞一般理解為“形容詞”的含義，much表示程度，理解為“很，十分”的意思。例如：

much of a difference 理解為“有很大差別的”

much of a coward理解為“很膽怯的”

much of a risk理解為“十分危險的”

much of a gentleman 理解為“很紳士的”

此外，much of a…還經常跟too連用，構成：“too much of a…”，例如：

Breaking the law is too much of a risk. 違反法律太危險了。

He was too much of a gentleman to ask them for any money. 他太紳士氣了，不好意思向他們要錢。

He was too much of a coward to tell the truth even to his closest friend. 他太膽怯，甚至對最親密的朋友也不敢說出真相。 　

I find this town too much of a backwater. 　 　 我覺得這個城鎮太閉塞。

She is not much of a journalist. 她并不是一個好記者。

It’s not much of a day for a walk. 今天的天氣不適于散步。

His brother is not much of a companion for him. 他兄弟與他情趣不甚相投。

He’s a good teacher but he’s not much of a disciplinarian. 他是個好老師，但卻不是個很好的紀律執行者。

We are not sure that the administration has much of a strategy beyond that. 我們不能確定政府有著超過這些的更多戰略。

Lenovo might not have much of a brand overseas, but its association with a foreign firm has helped it in China. 聯想在國外可能沒有很強的品牌效應，但收購外國公司一事卻對其在中國的發展幫助不小。

The country’s leaders, they say, are beginning to appreciate how much of a threat climate change poses to China itself. 他們說，該國領導人開始觀察，氣候變化對中國自身構成的威脅到底有多大。

On a sunny day your shadow would not show much of a picture because you are not transparent. 在陽光充足的日子里，你的陰影不會展現很多東西，因為你不是透明的。

This may not make much of a difference in the real world. 這可能不會在現實世界中產生很大的差別。

Peppers have thin skins that don’t offer much of a barrier to pesticides. 辣椒有一層很薄的表皮，對農藥起不到很大的阻礙。

By itself and without faster ice loss, this would not be much of a problem. 如果南極冰架不會以更快的速度融化，這也許不會是什么大問題。

Too much of a good thing can cause harm: High amounts of vitamins in supplements plus what you get in food can put you over the safe limit. 好的東西太多會造成傷害：營養補充品維生素含量過高，加上你從食物中獲取的營養會使你超出安全標準。

Problem: too complex, and too much of a perfectionist. 問題在于：太復雜了，過于追求完美了。

這個結構可以經常使用比較級形式。例如：(www.hz123456.com)

This is much of a sitting room. 這太像個起居室的樣子。

This is more of a sitting room than a kitchen. 與其說這是一個廚房，還不如說這是一個起居室。

No, I wanted to do something that had more of a proper structure to it.不，我想做一件對于我的專業或經歷結構更加合理的工作。