pretty

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讀者Sheena 來電郵問，pretty 加在形容詞（或副詞）之前，具有加強作用抑或減弱作用？

(1) 坊間一些字典似乎詮釋得未夠全面，只說作為副詞的pretty，解作「很」或「非常」，一味予人該字只具「加強」作用。其實不然，pretty 兼具兩種作用；若要分辨，常須依據上文下理來定。

(2) 根據The Cambridge Grammar of EnglishLanguage 所言， 副詞pretty 常用作減弱語，相當於fairly，例如：

I'm pretty certain she enjoys it.

我有點相信，她是喜歡此事的。

She was in pretty good health; only a littletired.

她健康尚算不錯，只是略為疲勞。

(3) 對以上詮釋， Random House Webster'sDictionary 所言亦是佐證：

The qualifying adverb pretty, meaning"fairly" or "moderately", has been in generaluse for about 400 years.

註：請特別留意moderately（適度）這個字。(4) 不過，The Cambridge Grammar of EnglishLanguage 又指出，副詞pretty 如同fairly，亦可用作強化語，例如：

She drives pretty fast.

她車開得非常之快。

This work of yours is a pretty poor effort.

你此項工作做得很差。