问英语
原书主词条 · 2 个连续词条

nothing but do/to do

原书 PDF 第 1038—1039 页

nothing but do/to do1

问

有一本英语惯用法辞典说：“no choice but to do something 一语中的‘to’不可省去。”但我却不止一次地读到不带“to”的句子：

  1. I could not choose but go. 我不得不去。

nothing but do 1000

  1. He did nothing but complain. (PEG) 他只是抱怨。
答

统而言之,介词 but 后面的动词,一般带有“to”:

  1. We had no alternative but to confess our guilt. (RWRT) 除了承认有罪,我们别无选择。

  2. We have no choice but to arrive late. (MD) 除了迟到,我们别无选择。

  3. He wanted nothing but to stay there. (Sinclair) 他只想留在那里。

但是在 can(could), do 之后, but 后边的动词不定式符号“to”可以省略:

  1. I could not choose but love her. 除了爱她,我别无选择。

  2. He does everything in the house but put the children to bed. (CGEL) 除了放孩子上床睡觉之外, 家里的什么事他都干。

  3. We'll do anything (everything) but confess our guilt. 除了承认我们有罪之外,我们什么事情都愿意干。

  4. I do nothing but write verse. (Yeats) 我只写韵文。

  5. There seemed nothing else to do but send for a doctor. (Mis) 除了去请医生,看来没有别的办法。

  6. So there was nothing to do but follow. (Sinclair) 因此, 只能服从。

  7. There was nothing to do but wait till he came back. (PEG) 只好等待他回来。(除了等他回来以外,别无他法。)

  8. I've done everything you want but make the beds. (LEG) 除了铺床之外,你要我做的事我都做了。

  9. Election days are torture because there's nothing to do but wait. (Hillary, Living History) 选举的日子实在是种折磨，因为除了等待，什么也不能做。(希拉里，《亲历历史》)

(参见 but 11^{11} )

Markdown：英语常见问题解答大词典-6.md · 3028—3069 行PDF：第 1038 页 · nothing but do/to do 1

nothing but do/to do2

问

“I thought you had planned to practice the piano today.” “I did nothing but ____ letters all day.”

A. write B. to write

C. wrote D. writing(《英语结构难题解释》, 复旦大学出版社, 1995 年, p. 58)

该书给的答案是 A。难道不能选 B 吗？

答

一般的趋向是: 在 can(could), do 之后, but 后边的动词不定式符号“to”是可以省略的。关于这方面的例句, 见 nothing but do/to do 1^{1} 和 but 11^{11} 。但是, 请注意, 这种省略是选择性的, 而不是强制性的。

There was nothing to do but to remain. (Davies) 只能留下来,别无办法。

由此可以看出,上面的试题作为语法结构试题是不恰当的。请参见 but 11^{11} 。那里有大量的实例。

不难证明,下面的英语试题存在着同样的毛病:

I missed the last bus, I could do nothing but ____ in the village for the night.

A.staying B.stayed C.to stay D.stay

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