谈谈more than的用法

何航

简简单单的“more than”，用法可多呢！下面是些好例子：

　　●　a. “more than＋名词”表示“多于……”、“非但……尤其是”如：

　　1）　　modern science is more than a large amount of information.

　　2）　　jason is more than a lecturer； he is a writer， too.

　　●　b. “more than＋数词”含“以上”或“不止”之意，如：

　　3）　　 i have known david for more than 20 years.

　　4）　　let‘s carry out the test with more than the sample copy.

　　●　c. “more than＋形容词”等于“很”或“非常”的意思，如：

　　5）　　in doing scientific experiments， one must be more than careful with the instruments.

　　6）　　i assure you i am more than glad to help you.

　　●　d. 在“more……than……”中，肯定“more”后面的而否定“than”后面的，约等于“是……而不是……”如：

　　7）　　the difference between pure linguistics and applied linguistics is more apparent than real.

　　8）　　this book seems to be more a manual than a text.

　　9）　　catherine is more diligent than intelli-gent.

　　10）　　hearing the loud noise， the boy was more surprised than frightened.

　　●　e. “more than”或“more……than……”＋含“can”的分句时表示“否定意”，如：

　　11）　　that‘s more than i can do.

　　12）　　 don‘t bite off more than you can chew.

　　13）　　in delivering his lecture， jason makes sure not to include more things than the students can understand.

　　●　f. “no more……than……”表示“不……；不如……”，如：

　　14）　　 i can no more do that than anyone else.

　　15）　　a learner can no more obtain knowledge without reading than a farmer can get good harvest without ploughing.“

　　“no more………than……”的语义，也可用“not any more than……”来取代，因此 15 可以变成 16.

　　16）　　a learner cannot…… any more than ……“同样的， 17可以变成 18：

　　17）　　dr hu is no more a poet than dr wu is a philosopher.

　　18）　　 dr hu is not a poet any more than dr wu is a philosopher.

　　此外，“more than”也在一些惯用语中出现，如：

　　19）　　more offen than not （经常），people tend to pay attention to what they can take rather than what they can give.

　　20）　　all of us are more than a little concerned about（非常关心）the current economic problems.

　　总之，“more than”看似简单，其实很有内涵，味道隽永。