nothing还是anything not　　

有朋友在本站“答疑中心”询问该用 nothing 还是 anything not。问题见：　　

www.yygrammar.com/guestbook/Guest_Reply.asp?TopicID=1775 　　

该问题由本站特约作者及专家顾问龙楠老师回答如下：　　

按照你现在的理解思路，我估计：

你不太理解I know nothing about it. 因为你会对“知道 nothing”感到疑惑；

同样你也可能不太理解He learned nothing at school. 因为你会对“学到 nothing”感到疑惑；

同样你也可能不太理解He told me nothing. 因为你会对“告诉我 nothing”感到疑惑。

我说得对吗？但你要知道这些子都是非常正确且地道的表达。　　

假我们把这些句子中的nohting改为not…anything，你可能就觉得可以理解了。如：　　

I know nothing about it.=I don’t know anything about it.　　

He learned nothing at school. = He didn’t learn anything at school.　　

He told me nothing. = He didn’t tell me anything.　　

以上改写都是成立的，因为 anything 是放在 not 的后面。　　

注意英语有个习惯：any, anything, anyone, anybody  等只能放在否定词的后面，而不能将其放在否定词的前面，比如可以说 not…anything，但不能说 anything…not。所以下面第一句是“正”句，第二句是“误”句：　　

正：Nothing taught by others can have the same effect on you as that learned by youself.　　

误：Anything taught by others can't have the same effect on you as that learned by youself.　　

同样的道理，以下各句的 nothing 也不能改为 anything…not：　　

Nothing happened that night.  那天晚上没发生什么事。　　

Nothing can travel faster than light. 什么东西也不如光走得快。　　

Nothing can make up for the loss of a child.  什么也弥补不了失去孩子的痛苦。　　

Nothing seemed to cure him of his nervousness.  好像什么都没法消除他的紧张。　　

如不能说成：　　

Anything didn’t happen that night.（误）　　

Anything can’t travel faster than light.（误）　　

Anything can’t make up for the loss of a child.（误）　　

Anything didn’t seem to cure him of his nervousness.（误）