Hello all,
"He is _____ fifteen years old" means "He is fifteen years old."
A. not less than
B. not more than
C. no less than
D. no more than
Key: D
source: a grammar book by a Chinese professor
I am not too sure about these structures as shown by A, B, C and D.
The following is how I see them:
I think A & C basically mean the same thing, and B & D are basically the same, too.
However, C & D have a strong sense of a personal opinion. Take D for an example,
if you had promised to give me 100 books, but in fact you just gave me about 20,
I would then probably say,"it's no more than 20 books.". It means,
I was not satisfied with the number of the books, because it was not up to my expectation.
Option C is an analogical but somewhat contrary case with D.
On the other hand, I think these kinds of structures depend a lot on the comparison basis.
"It's no more than 20 books" , as a stand alone sentence, from which we can't decide whether
the "20 books" is enough or not for the speaker's expectation. We don't know the comparison basis.
My question,
"He is no more than fifteen years old"
I don't think it can be used as solidly as a rock to mean "He is fifteen years old."
We can only tell the maximal age of "He" is 15. Or a way around, he is at least 15 years old.
So,
Of A, B, C and D, though I will pick D, I think they are all possible.
What if I pick the other three?
What do you think of the topic question?
Many many thanks.
"He is _____ fifteen years old" means "He is fifteen years old."
A. not less than
B. not more than
C. no less than
D. no more than
Key: D
source: a grammar book by a Chinese professor
I am not too sure about these structures as shown by A, B, C and D.
The following is how I see them:
I think A & C basically mean the same thing, and B & D are basically the same, too.
However, C & D have a strong sense of a personal opinion. Take D for an example,
if you had promised to give me 100 books, but in fact you just gave me about 20,
I would then probably say,"it's no more than 20 books.". It means,
I was not satisfied with the number of the books, because it was not up to my expectation.
Option C is an analogical but somewhat contrary case with D.
On the other hand, I think these kinds of structures depend a lot on the comparison basis.
"It's no more than 20 books" , as a stand alone sentence, from which we can't decide whether
the "20 books" is enough or not for the speaker's expectation. We don't know the comparison basis.
My question,
"He is no more than fifteen years old"
I don't think it can be used as solidly as a rock to mean "He is fifteen years old."
We can only tell the maximal age of "He" is 15. Or a way around, he is at least 15 years old.
So,
Of A, B, C and D, though I will pick D, I think they are all possible.
What if I pick the other three?
What do you think of the topic question?
Many many thanks.
