与有关的特殊结构

十五、与“than”有关的特殊结构

than除了用来引导比较状语从句外，还常常与more，no，not，less，nothing，other，rather，sooner等词语构成各种不同意义的固定结构。从表面上看，有的词组形式非常相似，但实际上意义迥然不同，使用时极易混淆，其中有些结构比较难译，也容易译错。

1．more...than

more...than结构有两种不同的用法：第一种是大家非常熟悉的比较级，比较两个事物的同一性质，译为“比……更……”；第二种用法是比较同一事物的两个不同性质，此处的than连接的是两个并列的表语，但在意义上偏重前者，而压低后者，常译为“与其说……，不如说……”。例如：

（1）第一种用法：

I know you better than she.我比她更了解你。

He is more tired today than（he was）yesterday.

他今天比昨天更疲乏。

The work is progressing rapidly than was expected.

工作进展得比预料的更快。

She teaches more patiently now than ever before.

她教书比以往任何时候都更有耐心。

Jobs and work do much more than most of us realize to provide happiness and contentment.

职业和工作在使人得到幸福与满足方面所起的作用比我们大多数人意识到的要多得多。

That afternoon I did more trade stuck there in the snow than when Is topped at the propers topping places and chimed my arrival.

那天下午，车子虽然陷在雪中动弹不得，可与我以往待在合适的停靠点吆喝叫卖相比，生意更好。

（2）第二种用法：

He is more brave than wise.他有勇无谋。

It is more blue than green.与其说是绿色，倒不如说是蓝色。

The child was more frightened than hurt.

这孩子的伤倒不算什么，只是受惊不小。

The book seems to be more a dictionary than a grammar.

这本书与其说是一本语法书，倒不如说是一本词典。

He is more a poet than a philosopher.

与其说他是哲学家，不如说他是诗人。

She is more diligent than clever.

与其说她聪明，不如说她勤奋。

2. less than+数字

less than+数字这一结构在意义上与more than+数字结构正好相反，它表示不足的近似数，常译为“……以下”“不到……”“少于……”。例如：

The carbon content in mild steel is less than 0.3 percent.

轧钢的含碳量在百分之零点三以下。

In a fission bomb，all the fissionable atoms are used up in less than one millionth of a second.

在原子弹中，所有裂变原子在不到百万分之一秒的时间内就会全部消耗完。

3. less...than

当less与than分开使用时，其用法与less than+数字结构也不相同，它表示一方的程度或数量不及另一方。这一结构有时相当于not so...as结构，译为“比……小”“不及……”“不如……”“不像……”等。例如：

Statistics show that people now drink less beer than they used to，and smoke fewer cigarettes.统计数字表明人们现在比过去喝啤酒少了，而且烟抽得也少了。

Electrical and magnetic quantities are less simple than length，mass or time.

=...are not so simple as length，mass or time.

电量和磁量不像长度、质量或时间那么简单。

注　意

less...than结构也可表示“与其说……，倒不如说……”。试比较：

She was less hurt than frightened.

与其说她受了伤，倒不如说她吓坏了。（否定前者）

She was more hurt than frightened.

与其说她吓坏了，不如说她受了伤。（否定前者）

4.no less than

no less than结构= as many as/as much as，是no more than的反义词，修饰数量词时，强调“多”。这一结构在意义上与less than+数字和less...than结构不同，常译为“有……之多”“多达……”“和……一样”“不亚于……”“原来就是”。例如：

There were no less than 50 people present.

在场的多达五十人。

There were not less than/at least a thousand people there.

那里至少有一千人。

No less than a thousand people came.

= It was surprising that there were so many.

来的人竟然有上千人之多。

China’s women，no less than men，are participating in all kinds of work in the socialist construction of their country.中国妇女和男人一样，正在参加祖国的各项社会主义建设工作。

Housing is no less important than food.

住房和粮食问题同样重要。

He is no less than the mayor.他原来就是市长。

注　意

试比较no less than与no more than的含义：

There were no less than fifty killed and wounded.

= There were as many as fifty killed and wounded.

伤亡多达50人。

His parents give him no less than one hundred yuan every month.= His parents give him as much as one hundred yuan evry month.他父母每月给他多达100元。

His parents give him no more than one hundred yuan every month.= His parents give him only one hundred yuan every month.他父母每月只给他100元。

5．no better than

no better than= practically the same as，一般译为“简直是……”。例如：

He is no better than a crook.他简直是个无赖。

Her laboratory is no better than a shed.

她的实验室简陋得如同草棚。

6.nothing less than

nothing less than结构的意义与nothing（more or）less than的意义相同，相当于just the same as，no better than，常译为“正好是……”；而nothing...less than+数字则译为“不少于……”“……以上”。例如：

It’s nothing less than murder to send such a small group of soldiers out to attack those heavily defended enemy position.

派这样一小股士兵去攻击那些有重兵把守的敌军阵地无疑是叫他们去送死。

We expected nothing less than a revolution.

我们完全预料到会发生革命。

Nothing in this shop is less than（= costs below）￡10.

这家商店的东西没有低于十英镑的。

7.no/not more than

no/not more than= only，just，一般译为“不过”“仅仅”，常修饰数量词，强调少；notmore than= atmost，常译作“充其量”“至多”；修饰数量词时，只说明事实。例如：

He wrote no more than three novels.

他只不过才写了三本小说。

He wrote not more than three novels.

他写的小说至多不超过三部。

There are not more than ten tickets.

剩下的票不超过10张。

注　意

这两种结构用作比较时，no表示对两者的否定，译为“两者都不”；not表示只否定前者，译为“并不比更”“不及”。试比较：

He has no more books than I.

他的书并不比我多多少。=他和我的书都少。

He has not more books than I.他的书不及我的多。

He is not more excited than you are.

他不比你激动。=两人都激动，只是他不比你激动。

8. other than

other than起介词作用，相当于except或apart from，常译作“除……之外”。如果表示anything but的意义时，可译作“决不是”。例如：

There was nothing we could do other than wait.

除了等待以外，我们没有其他办法。

She reads nothing all day long other than detective stories.

她整天除了看侦探小说外，别的什么也不看。

She can hardly be other than annoyed about it.

= She is certain to be annoyed.她当然只会对此感到烦恼。

He knows no other foreign language than French.

他只懂法语，不懂其他外语。

9. rather than

rather than起连词作用，连接两个并列成分，用来肯定前者而否定后者，译为“而不是”。例如：

The job will take months rather than weeks.

完成这项工作需要几个月，而不是几周。

The parents should be blamed rather than the children.

更应受到责备的是父母亲而不是孩子们。

It is for the travelers rather than the enthusiasts that the ail ways must be run.经营铁路是为旅客而不是为铁路爱好者。

10.no sooner...than

这是一种表示时间意义的特殊结构，than引导的是时间状语从句，通常用于过去完成时。若no sooner置于句首，谓语要部分倒装，其意义= when...at once，常译为“一……就”刚……就”。例如：

No sooner had the medical workers arrived than they began putting up simple wards and treating the injured.

医务人员一到就立即动手搭简易病房抢救伤员。

No sooner had we sat down than we found it was time to go.

我们刚刚坐下就发现该走了。

I had no sooner stood up than he waved me to remain sitting.

我刚站起来，他就挥手叫我坐下。

11.would/had rather/sooner...than...

rather/sooner与than之后分别接动词原形。这一结构表示在两个行为之间进行取舍，着重主观上的选择。其用法与more...than结构有些相似，不过后者是在两个表语之间进行选择，译为“宁可……而不愿”“与其……倒不如”。例如：

Liu Hu-lan would rather/sooner die than yield.

刘胡兰宁死不屈。

We would rather go on with the experiment than give it up.

我们宁可把这项实验进行下去，也不愿放弃不做。

I had sooner live in the city than on a farm.

我宁愿住在城里，而不愿住在农场。

We Chinese people would/had rather die than submit to the imperialists.我们中华民族宁死也不向帝国主义屈服。

I would/ had rather join you in research work than go on holiday to the seaside.

我宁愿和你们一起参加科研工作，而不愿到海滨度假。

In such occasions we would rather increase the fiction of the surface than decrease it.在这些情况下，我们与其减少表面摩擦力，倒不如增加表面摩擦力。

注　意

在表示“与其说是……不如说是……”，rather than可与more than互换使用。例如：

Evans is a historian rather than（more than）a writer.

埃文斯与其说是位作家，不如说是位史学家。

He is an artist rather than a philosopher.

= He is more an artist than a philosopher.

与其说他是哲学家，不如说他是艺术家。