1✦ far from sth, nowhere near sth这两个词都可以替换 not at all，强调“远非，远不”。比如我们在评价某些解决方案时，可以说 These are decent measures， but nowhere near/ far from enough. 这些措施还不错，但还远远不够。2✦ hard, scarcely, rarely, seldom等带有否定意义的副词我们可以用hard, scarcely, rarely, seldom等否定副词来表示“几乎不”，比全然否定的not更加严谨。试比较：A. Without drinking a cup of coffee, many students could not stay awake in his class.B. Without drinking a cup of coffee, many students could hardly stay awake in his class.相对而言，B句更加严谨、地道，毕竟学生不会在课堂上完全睡着。再比如：我不太懂你说什么。A. I can not understand you.B. I can barely understand you.我几乎不认识他。A. I did not know her.B I scarcely knew her.3✦ fail to do sth这是一个超高频的小词。只要对一个动词加以否定，我们都可以用 fail to do sth，但这个用法带有一点“该做而没有做”或“该发生而没有发生”的意思，有时候还可能保持“想做某事但没有做成”的意思。试看下面的来自《经济学人》的例句：Otherwise, rich societies may fail to cope with the needs of ageing and growing populations.否则，富裕社会可能无法应对老龄化和人口增长带来的医疗需求。A movie theme park, intended as a landmark, closed after failing to draw crowds.由于吸引不到游客，曾被寄希望成为地标的一座电影主题公园关门大吉。When education fails to keep pace with technology, the result is inequality.当教育跟不技术进步时，就会造成不平等。4✦ have yet to do sthhave yet to do sth可以表示“该做但尚未做，但是稍后会做”，也是外刊高频表达。Investigators have yet to find or arrest anyone in connection with those explosions.调查人员尚未发现或拘捕任何同这些爆炸案有牵连的人。The full effect has vet to be felt.全部效果尚未感觉到。A just society has yet to be established.一个公正的社会尚有待建立起来。5✦ lack, absence等带有否定意义的词英语中很多词本身就具有否定意义，比如lack, absence等。换句话说，与no或not等否定词连用的词组可以使用意义相同或相近的含否定意义的词来代替，使句式更加简洁。比如：她没有信心。A. She does not have confidence.B. She lacks confidence.再比如：A. When kids do not have discipline at their schools, it means they do not have discipline in the home.B. Absence of discipline at their schools reflects absence of discipline in the home.6✦ ill-, un-, in-, under-等否定前缀构成的词在作文中多用合成词会让你的文章更有英语味儿。同样的，我们可用带有否定前缀的词表示否定，让你的文章更地道。比如：这个国家无法处理精神疾病A. The country cannot treat mental conditions.B. The country fail to treat mental conditions.C. The country is ill-equipped to treat mental conditions.类似的词语还有很多，比如ill-advised, ill-informed, underdeveloped, insufferable, unbearable等等，大家注意在平时的阅读中多积累。7✦ 其他否定词如no, nothing, never, nowhere, nobody, no one, none, no longer等。我们可以用no, nothing等否定词替换not，这是最常见的用法。试看以下例子:不得携狗入内。A. Dogs are not allow.B. No dogs are allowed.她前看不到有希望。A. She could not see any hope.B. She could see no hope ahead.你对此毫无办法。A. You cannot do anything about it.B. There"s nothing you can do about it.这样的事从来没有发生过。A. It hasn"t happened at any time yet.B. It"s never happened yet.我再也容忍不了。A. I cannot stand it.B. I can no longer stand it.8✦ few, littlefew, little也是表示否定意义的词。比如：几乎没有谁能选择自己的死法，不过他们可以选择如何处理自己的身后事。Few choose how they die, but they can choose what happens next.few和little本身带有否定含义，指“很少，几乎没有”。我们可以用 do little to do sth来替换 do not do sth，比如《经济学人》一篇关于环境保护文章里有这样一句话:Environmental groups said the plan was half-baked and would do little to tackle emissions of greenhouse gases.环保组织称该计划考虑不周，对解决温室气体排放贡献不大。
