ｎｅａｒｌｙ与ａｌｍｏｓｔ的用法点拨

赵会娟

1. When I came back, my wife was not ____ ready for meals.

A. almost B. nearly C. fairly D. hardly

2. He told me that ____ nothing there was worth looking into.

A. nearly B. almost C. hardly D. seldom

3. He enjoys a cup of coffee sometimes but ____ he drinks tea.

A. most B. almost C. nearly D. mostly

从以上试题中不难看出， almost, nearly象一对姊妹，常常作为一题的选项同时出现。因此，深知他们之间的异同对做题是有很大帮助的。

一、 相同点

almost与nearly当 “几乎”、 “差不多”讲时，两个可以通用

1.修饰动词时，一般放在主要动词前面或系动词be后面，都表示眼看就要发生而实际上并未发生的事。例如：

①Last year she was very ill and almost died.

②The newsreel had almost(nearly) finished when I went to the cinema.

③His cough was nearly, but not quite, cured.

2.在谈到比较具体的事情时，如时间、空间的进展及可以衡量或比较的东西时，或与all, every, always连用时, 两者可以换用。例如：

①Almost (Nearly) all the girls like to dance.

②Nearly all the people are here.

③The presidents of almost all the big corporations in the country are men.

注意：⑴nearly与almost当“几乎”、“差不多”、“将近”讲时都可用在行为动词的否定式之前。例如：

①I almost/nearly didnt meet him. 我差点没见到他。

②I almost/nearly cant answer your questions.

我几乎不能回答你的问题。

⑵nearly是对动词的否定，但是轻微的。例如:

①The ball struck him so hard that he nearly fell into the water.

球重重地击在他身上，他差点掉进河里。

②There the expedition nearly ended in disaster.

在那儿，探险队险遭灭顶之灾。

⑶almost此时相当于just about but not。例如：

He was almost drowned.

3.almost与nearly修饰形容词、副词、名词时可以互换。例如：

①The street was almost empty.

②When the train got in, it was nearly midnight.

③You look worn out. Youve been standing nearly all the evening.

4.nearly， almost都可与具体数字连用。例如：

I dont know he is nearly/almost 40 years old.

二、 不同点

1.almost=very nearly,指程度上相差很少, almost与no, none, nothing, never, nobody, nowhere等表示否定意义的词连用时，可用hardly, scarcely代替，但后面不加否定词。nearly则不可与上述词连用。此时almost+“否定词”相当于scarcely anything/anyone或hardly anything/anyone。例如：

①Almost no one(=Hardly anyone) believes her.

②The speaker said almost nothing(=scarcely anything) worth listening to. 那位发言人所说的话几乎没有一句是值得听的。

注意：

①almost不能用作定语修饰名词。

②almost前不能加very。例如：

They didnt buy almost any. (×)

Almost all the students(=Most students) passed the exam. (Almost students passed the exam. ×)

2.nearly可与not, nor, never连用，相当于by no means, far from，意思为“根本不，完全不，一点也不，相差很远，远不及，远没有”。例如：

①There are not nearly enough people to do the job.

②I have $20, but that isnt nearly enough for my journey. I shall need much more.

③Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.

注意：在very, pretty后只用nearly。例如：

It is very nearly dark. Lets go home.

3.almost一般用来修饰表示感情或心理状态的动词、形容词或用在含有抽象的，无比较和衡量的东西的句子里，而nearly多用于数量在时间空间上接近。例如：

①I almost wish I had taken his advice then.

②What I saw was almost too good to be true.

③Its nearly one year since they married.

④I almost think what he said is right.

5.在more than, any, too之前通常用 almost，而不用 nearly。例如：

①Almost more than ten students failed in the exam.

②Almost any one can do it.

6．almost一般指纯事实的叙述，而nearly则带有一定的感情色彩。例如：

①The book cost me almost 30 yuan.

这本书差不多花了30元。（只陈述事实）

②The book cost me nearly 30 yuan.

这本书差不多花了我30元。（有嫌贵的意思）

巩固练习:

1. He always goes to bed very late, so he ____ before 7:00 a.m.

A. almost gets up never B. gets up nearly never

C. almost never gets up D. never gets up nearly

2. He was proud that he ____ made no mistakes in the test.

A. nearly B. mostly C. hardly D. almost

3. ——Your dress is beautiful, Mary.

——Thank you. But it doesnt fit me around the waist ____ right.

A. quite B. almost C. nearly D. rather

4. ——Thats a beautiful table cloth.

——Yes, but it is not ____ long enough for this table.

A. nearly B. almost C. hardly D. mostly

5. ——Do you like those kinds of cigarettes?

——____ cigarettes agree with me.

A. Hardly no B. Nearly no C. Rarely no D. Almost no

6. We have saved some money, but its not ____ enough to buy a new house.

A. entirely B. nearly C. almost D. completely

Key:1.C 2.D 3.A 4.A 5.D 6.B