名人教英文：分别微妙的多义词
有读者问yet的用法。not yet表示「还未」，例如：he has not yet come，那么he has yet to come又作何解呢？虽然没有not字，但has yet to也有「还未」的意思，确切点说，解作「应发生而未发生」，通常用于书面语和正式的语境，例如：
‧although the government has poured billions of dollars into the language fund, students have yet to show significant improvement in chinese and english proficiency.
表达否定的意思，不一定要用not。hardly、barely、scarcely等字都有「几乎不」的意思，通常和can/could、any或 it is... that连用，例如：
‧john did not work hard enough. it was hardly surprising that he failed the exam.（即「不令人意外」）
‧when mr smith first moved to hong kong, he hardly spoke any cantonese.
（即「不能说广东话」）
‧the speaker spoke very softly. i could barely hear him.
（即「差点就听不见」）
‧this place has changed completely. i can scarcely believe my eyes.
（即「几乎不能相信自己的眼睛」）
这些字亦可解作「仅仅」、「刚刚」，往往与when或before一同使用，如：
‧prof chan was barely 14 years old when she got her phd.（陈教授拿博士时只有14岁）
‧i had hardly arrived home before the phone rang.
（电话响起前，我刚刚回到家中。）
all but也有两个不同的解法。第一个解法是「除了……之外」（except），用于名词前面，例如：
‧all but one of the students wanted to have extra lessons after school.
（除了一个学生之外，其他学生都想在放学后补课。）
第二个解法是「几乎完全」（almost），用以修饰动词，例如：
‧the constitutional reforms implemented by the colonial government in the run-up to the handover all but changed hong kong's political landscape.
（回归前殖民地政府推行的政制改革几乎完全将香港的政治环境改变。）