too

上面的说法已经过时,现在 too 用于句首的实例屡见不鲜,尤其是在美国英语中。例如:

1. Too, the customers will find many foreign goods there. 顾客还会在那里发现许多外国货。

2. Many births and deaths were not recorded in the parish registers of England and Wales. Too, some of the other denominations kept poor records. (ECD) 在英格兰和威尔士的教区记事录中许多生、死都无记录。一些其他教派所作的记录也很差劲。

3. She's had her novel published this year; but too, she's written some interesting articles on acupuncture. (CGEL) 今年她的小说出版了；此外，她还写了一些有关针刺疗法的有趣文章。

脱离上下文，上面两个译文都可能是正确的。因为副词 too 可以作两种理解。但是，在上面的上下文里，只有译文(2)才是正确的。英文原意不是说：“美国乡村音乐歌手上了电视，许多英国、加拿大和澳大利亚的乡村音乐歌手也上了电视”，而是说许多英国、加拿大和澳大利亚的乡村音乐歌手不仅到处演唱，而且还上了电视。

位于句尾的 too 有可能修饰句子的任何成分。因此,为了避免歧义,在书面语中可使它靠近它所修饰的词语。

1. Her husband, too, spends a lot of money. [(不仅她)她丈夫也大量花钱。]

2. Her husband spends a lot of money, too. [她丈夫(不仅能挣)还能花许多钱。]

3. Her husband spends a lot of money on dress, too. [她丈夫(不仅在其他方面)还在服装上花很多钱。]

因此,放在句尾的 too,在上下文不清楚的条件下,有时候会产生歧义:

1. I've been to Paris, too.

(A) (除别人之外)我也去过巴黎。

(B) (除别的地方之外)我还去过巴黎。

2. She likes traveling, too.

(A) 她也喜欢旅游。

(B) 她还喜欢旅游。

3. He plays the guitar and sings, too. (A) 他会弹吉他, 还会唱歌。 (B) 他也会弹吉他和唱歌。

用在形容词或副词之前的 too 还有一个未被许多词典收入的词义: very(很, 非常, 极其)。

1. Oh, your poodle is too charming. 噢,你的这条长卷毛狗太可爱了。

2. The little girl was too much interested in Jim's bicycle. 这个小女孩对吉米的自行车太感兴趣了。

(参见 too perfect, too ready to,

在一般情况下,too...to do 结构具有否定意义。例如:

He was too excited to say a word. 他激动得一句话也说不出来。

但是，当 all too, but too, only too, quite too 与动词不定式连用时，就没有否定意义了。

1. They are all too satisfied to take the opinions of others without the pain of thought for themselves. 他们都满足于不费脑筋思考就采纳别人的观点。

2. “Yes, I think you’d better leave off,” said Tom, and Alice was only too glad to do so. 汤姆说：“是的，我认为你最好是离开。”于是艾丽丝便很高兴地离开了。

3. I'm only too pleased to help you. (Palmer) 我很高兴帮助你。

4. They are but too glad to do so. 他们很高兴这样做。

(参见 only too)