同义、近义词、词组范围很广,涉及到各种词类,我们在以上有关章节中已谈到这方面的内容,这里我们仅举数例同义、近义词、词组的辨析。
1.likely,probable,possible
1)likely意为"很可能的";probable一般指有"较大的可能";possible仅指"有可能",不管可能性大小。例如:His election is possible,but not probable.(他有可能当选,但是可能性不大。)The police concluded that the probable(not possi-ble)cause of the fire had been a cigarette butt.(警察得出结论,火灾很可能是由烟蒂引起的。)She is likely to succeed.(她很可能成功。)
2)likely之后常跟不定式,也可接从句,而probable之后通常接从句,不跟不定式。possible作表语时,主语用it,或something,一般不用人作主语。例如:
He is likely to come.
It is likely that he will come.
It is possible that I might be of some use in that part of the work.
注意以下句型:It is likely/probable+that clause sb./sth.+be+likely+不定式
3)likely,probably,possibly作副词时,含义和用法略有不同,likely多和most或very连用;probably=most likely,意为"很可能"。He may possibly succeed.(他或许会成功。)含有"不会成功"的意味较多。
2.lost,missing,gone
1)lost用于修饰物时是"丢失了的"之意。例如:a lost pen,one's lost youth;用于修饰人时是"迷途的"之意。例如:a lost child
2)missing有"失踪的,行踪不明的"之意,因此,"小孩失踪"应用missing。修饰物时,意为"缺少的,不在的"。例如:
There is a page missing from this book.
3)gone意为"离开的"。例如:He is gone.也可作"丧失的,用光的"解。例如:
His hair was nearly all gone.
All his money is gone.
