含蓄否定句

英语中有时可用never, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, scarcely ever (指次数极少) 以及barely, hardly, scarcely (=not just几乎不) 等副词组成否定句和近似否定句，含有这类词或词组的句子就叫“含蓄否定句”。如：

We never see them nowadays. 如今我们全看不到他们了。

We hardly (ever) / scarcely (ever) / rarely see them nowadays. 如今我们难得见到他们了。

We rarely stay in hotels, for we can’t afford it. 我们很少住旅馆，因为我们住不起。

Nowadays, we drive down to the coast only rarely. 如今，我们可难得开车去海边。

This soup is hardly / barely / scarcely warm (enough). 这汤不怎么 (够) 热。

She plays hardly / barely / scarcely well enough. 她演奏得不够好。

It might stop raining, but I hardly / scarcely think it likely. 雨也许会停，可是我认为不大可能。

Jimmy barely knows his multiplication tables yet. 吉米还不太会背九九表。

You never / seldom work on Sundays, do you? 你从不 / 几乎不在星期天工作，是吗?

She had a lot of friends and was usually asked out in the evenings, so she seldom spent an evening at home.  她有很多朋友，晚上常被邀请外出，因此她晚上很少在家里呆着。

注意，由于hardly, barely和scarcely等本身是否定词，所以不可与not或never 连用。