first 與 at first的用法區(qū)別
first 與 at first的用法區(qū)別
(1) first 意爲(wèi)“先”“首先”,主要用來說明順序,暗示接下去還有其他的動作或事件要發(fā)生,因此其後往往接有或暗示有 then, next, last 之類的詞。如:
First think and then speak. 先想後說。
First, I must apologize to you. 首先,我要曏你們表示歉意。
(2) at first 意爲(wèi)“起初”“開始”,它主要強調(diào)前後對照,暗示接下去的動作與前麪的動詞不同甚至相反,因此其後通常有but, afterwards, soon, at last 等詞語相呼應(yīng)。如:
The work was hard at first, but I got used to it. (www.yingyuyufa.com)起初這活兒很累,不過後來我習(xí)慣了。
At first they were very happy, but then things started going wrong. 起初他們生活得很幸福,但後來就開始出問題了。
注意上,at first與at last不是一對反義詞組,後者的意思是“終於”“最終”。如:
She has at last got everything ready. 她最後把一切準(zhǔn)備好了。
At last the bus came. I had been waiting for half an hour. 最後公共汽車來了,我已等了半小時。