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ysw1990
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Posts: 10
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 Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 9:25 pm Post subject: idioms with 'any' confuses me |
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1. I don't know any but you who could lend me such a huge amount of money.
-> Is it possible to replace 'any but' with 'all but'?
2. Today's game is not anyting like as exciting as the game of yesterday.
-> Does it mean that yesterday's game was quite exciting but today's was not or both games were not exciting?
-> And also, as a foreigner, how could I understand and translate the sentence in the smoothest way? I am confused with the phrase, 'anything like'.
3. Writing the report will take anywhere near five hours, so I don't have time to go to a movie.
-> I learned that there is only subtle difference in meaning between 'anything like' and 'anywhere near'. But unlike question number 2, 'anywhere near' in this sentence means rather like 'almost'. Is it because there is no 'not' in this sentence?
Always thank you.  |
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pugachevV
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 2295
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:44 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| 1. I don't know any but you who could lend me such a huge amount of money. |
Usually we would say "anyone but you.
2. Today's game is not anything like as exciting as the game of yesterday.
It means today's game is not as exciting as yesterday's, and the difference is very noticeable.
You could also say today's game is nowhere near as exciting as yesterday's.
The phrases serve to emphasise the difference between today's game and yesterday's. You could also use it in any comparison of anything. e.g. The Lada is nowhere near as good a car as the Mercedes-Benz. This hotel is not anything like as good as the one in Morocco.
Is the hotel in Dubai anything like the one in Morocco? |
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