only few 的说法到底对不对
2024-08-01 15:24:11 学考宝 作者：佚名
问题描述
If only few people use a word, a dictionary will either tell you this or not list it.——这个句子到底对不对？
我自始至终认为：这个句子一点问题都没有，是一个合乎语法和逻辑的句子。
下面是我个人对这个问题的理解和看法，欢迎各位专家老师和网友批评指正！
老师答疑
龙老师：
▲这是一个很有趣的问题，对于能否使用 only few 这一表达，各位老师进行如此深入的研究，让人很受启发。Only few 的用法确实比较少见，但是不是 only few 的说法就一定是错的呢？我查了一下“英国国家语料库”（BNC），查到了以下一些例子，供大家参考：
(1) A blonde, like me, only few years younger?
(2) This tA blonde, like me, only few years younger?
(3) A blonde, like me, only few years younger?
(4) ...is a doom which must be faced, to know that which only few can know, and which cannot be further explained.’
(5) Some managers who carry a smaller team of paid workers with only few volunteers have indeed shown support for the new breed of ‘unemployed’ worker, in order to broaden the CAB volunteer base.
(6) The proposed concentration would not only have significantly strengthened ATR's position in the commuter markets, but also have eliminated De Havilland from the relevant market, where there are only few competitors, namely British Aerospace, Saab, Fokker, and some minor firms.
(7) They might also accept that some, if only few, among the many would grow; and that when it had become operationally necessary or desirable a growing business could divide itself and in such a way that the divisions were suitable ‘constituencies’ for the democratic purposes of the co-operative.
(8) So far, only few introns have been detected in mitochondria from angiosperms and gymnosperms and all belong to group II (9, 10, 11).
(9) Some of the patients samples showed extremely high sICAM-1 concentrations with up to 1.700 ng/ml while only few did not differ from the control group.
(10) Oh we had whistles, and strangely enough, very seldom did we use them, simply because there were other traffic about that time if you were a long way away, er you might be nearly to , if you blew your whistle, there were nobody to hear you, I mean people in houses, and they were only few and far between.
至于only few与only a few之间有何区别，还需查查有关资料，进行一些细致的研究。
P.S. 刚才无意中看到黎老师在《only a few 到底是肯定还是否定？》中的解答：由吕志士、袁锡兴主编，许孟雄、李赋宁、胡文仲、薄冰、Nicola Cottell 等中外英语专家审定的《英语惯用法大词典》指出：“only few, so few 相当于 few，表示否定；some few 相当于 some，表示肯定。” “only a few, but a few 相当于 few ，表示否定。” 所以，only few 和 only a few 应该是同义短语。——手头没有这本《英语惯用法大词典》，但根据黎老师给出的资料可以看出，only few 的说法还是成立的，并且与 only a few 属同义短语。
刘老师：
▲在理解和看待问题时，每个人的思路不同，视角也不尽相同，这在所难免。但是，我们不可把毫不相干的两个概念或话题，混为一谈。
谁都知道，There are only few mistakes in his homework. 这个句子是讲不通的。因为only一词是从肯定意义上讲的，在该句中，只有only a few才是对的。
现在，回到原来的问题：If only few people use a word, a dictionary will either tell you this or not list it.跟There are only few mistakes in his homework.是一回事吗？我们能否打破“先入为主”的思维定式？一看到only，马上想到a few，好像只有only a few才是对的。
▲在传统的英语语法中，对条件状语从句没有进行过细的划分。但在逻辑学上，条件句可分为：“充分条件”、“必要条件”和“充分必要条件”（简称“充要条件”）。语法书之所以没有这样做，主要是考虑到是以研究语法为主，所以划分并不具体。至于这三种条件的区别，大家可以阅读逻辑方面的书籍，我在此不赘述。
这三种条件的表述，我们都可以在英语中找到对应的词语。例如：
1. 充分条件：If..., ...如果......，那么......
2. 必要条件：If only..., ...只要......，就......（也可用as long as）
3. 充分必要条件：Only if..., ...只有......,才......
我们在日常生活中，并不在意这些条件的差别，反映在语言上也是一样的。但在法律文书和正规的文体中，这三种条件是有严格区别的，不是随便乱用的。
下面，我分别举例说明：
▲充分条件：If..., ...如果......，那么......
If it rains, we will cancel the match. 如果下雨，我们将取消比赛。
If wood burns, it will send off carbon dioxide. 如果木材燃烧，它将释放二氧化碳。
▲必要条件：If only..., ...只要......，就......（也可用as long as）
If only it clears up, we’ll go. 只要天一放晴，我们就去。
If only you often practise, you can form any habits. 只要常做，你就会养成习惯。
I shall do better if only I have another chance. 只要我再有一个机会，我将做得好些。（葛传槼）
The work will be perfect if only few people make mistakes. 只要极少的人出错，这项工作将会是完美的。
If only few people use a word, a dictionary will either tell you this or not list it. 只要极少数人使用某个单词，词典就会给我们提示，或者不予列出。
【注意】If only可以单独成句，表示虚拟，不在本次讨论之列。
▲充分必要条件：Only if..., ...只有......，才......
He will succeed only if he does his best. 只有竭尽全力，他才会成功。
Only if the case is urgent should you call out the doctor in the middle of the night. 只有患者情况紧急时才半夜叫医生看病。
哈老师：
刘老师看待语法问题的确很深，分析也很透彻。甚至用上了数学上的逻辑语言。在此我想说说对于这个句子的看法。首先这个句子用词“简洁”以至于第一眼看这个句子的时候无法直接分析判定出它想要表达的意思。待仔细分析后才对其中冠词，代词有所概念。其实我觉得大可不必，如果换用些许准确点的单词即可表达清楚。If a certain word is less used by people, the dictionary may either define it or just ignore it.不是更明确吗？ 仅个人意见!
方老师：
刘老师真对不起，给您添麻烦了。没想到我就那么随便问的问题您竟会如此重视。不过说实话，您这次才真的把我绕晕了。可能我toooo young tooooo simple, anyway I am only 14. 还有，我似乎有一点现在尚清醒，您这样解释，那么only 还像您先前斩钉截铁所说的那样修饰people 吗？这有点不科学，有没有？
