问
EED 说: “You can use pretty before an adjective or adverb to mean ‘quite’ or ‘rather’”, 但是 Longman English Grammar 则说: “可用 pretty 代替用在形容词或副词之前的 very。” 不知副词 pretty 的词义到底是 rather, 还是 very?
答
按照 CGEL 的说法,副词 pretty 一般用作减弱语,即从一定的标准出发,在程度上有所减弱,其意义相当于 rather, fairly,既可用于修饰使人产生好感的词语,也可以修饰使人产生恶感的词语:pretty clean, pretty dirty。
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I'm pretty certain she enjoys it. 我有点儿相信她会喜欢它的。
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She was in pretty good health; only a little tired. (Bennet) 她的健康情况还是不错的；只是有点疲劳。
CGEL 同时指出, pretty, 如同 fairly 与 rather 一样, 也可以用作形容词和副词的强化语:
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She is tall. 她个头儿很高。
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She drives fast. (CGEL § 7.56) 她车开得很快。
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The traffic is moving pretty slowly. (LEG) 车辆跑得很慢。
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This work of yours is a pretty poor effort. You'd better do it again. (LDCE) 你这件工作做得很差,最好再做一次。