英语短语"nothing but"的核心含义是“只有、仅仅、只不过”,用于强调“除了后面的内容外,没有其他”,突出事物的单一性或局限性。
"nothing but" 相当于 "only" 或 "just",但语气更强烈,常用来缩小范围、强调重点。例如:
The fridge has nothing but milk.(冰箱里只有牛奶。)
He is nothing but a liar.(他只不过是个骗子。)
根据后面接的成分不同,"nothing but" 有以下几种常见用法:
最常见的用法,直接强调“只有某事物”。
I want nothing but your support.(我只需要你的支持。)
The room contains nothing but a desk and a chair.(房间里只有一张桌子和一把椅子。)
注意:不定式的"to"是否省略,取决于前面是否有实义动词"do"的形式(do/does/did/doing/done):
如果前面有"do":不定式省略"to";
如果前面没有"do":不定式保留"to"。
🌰 例子:
有"do"的情况:
He did nothing but play games all day.(他整天除了打游戏什么都没做。)
I have nothing to do but wait.(我没事可做,只能等。)
没有"do"的情况:
She wants nothing but to travel the world.(她只想要环游世界。)
They hope for nothing but to win.(他们只希望赢。)
用来强调“仅仅是某种状态”,相当于“非常、完全”(隐含“没有其他特点”)。
The party was nothing but boring.(派对简直无聊透顶。)
She was nothing but kind to me.(她对我好得没话说/她对我只有善意。)
"nothing but" = 只有、仅仅(肯定后面的内容);
"anything but" = 根本不、一点也不(否定后面的内容)。
🌰 对比:
He is nothing but lazy.(他就是懒。)
He is anything but lazy.(他根本不懒。)
因为"nothing"是单数主语,后面的"but..."是介词短语(修饰nothing),所以谓语动词用单数。
Nothing but water is in the bottle.(瓶子里只有水。)
Nothing but books is sold here.(这里只卖书。)
Her answer was nothing but excuses.(她的回答全是借口。)
We saw nothing but fog on the mountain.(我们在山上只看到雾。)
I can think of nothing but you.(我满脑子都是你。)
总结:"nothing but" 是一个强调单一性的短语,核心是“只有...,没有其他”,用法灵活但需注意不定式的"to"和与"anything but"的区别~