Ask & Learn闻问切英语口语: It’s not that
读者Derek 看电视剧时听到以下对白:
A: You don't approve of the policy?
B: It's not that.
Derek 想问,如果回答 "No",意思是不赞成该项政策。如果说 "No, it's not that",反而是表示赞同。他希望我在栏目里讨论一下这个现象。
英语的 question tag 对初学英语的人来说很容易混淆,例如:
You don't like hot weather, do you?
如果你不喜欢热天气,答案应该是 "No, I don't";喜欢的话,则回答 "Yes, I do",跟中文的习惯刚好相反。
Derek 提出的对白却跟上面的例子略有不同,因为答案不是简简单单的 "No" 或者 "No, I don't approve",而是 "No, it's not that",答案的主语由 I 变成 it。我们于是可以问 that 指的是什么。很明显 that 指的是"You don't approve of the policy"的说法。这样一来,意思就很明白了。
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