今天要和大家分享的口语表达是:out of the question。question在这里是“议题”的意思,out of the question 在议题之外,也就是“不必谈的,不予考虑的,不可能的”,相当于 not worth considering, not possible。
- You can't travel abroad. We can't afford it. It's out of the question.
你不能出国旅游,我们负担不起。这是完全不予考虑的。 - It's out of the question for him to stay in the office so late.
他不可能这么晚还呆在办公室里。
我们经常还看到一种表达,中间没有the,out of question,这个意思完全不一样,是“没有问题的,无疑,毫无疑问”的意思。
- He is out of question the best student in the whole class.
他无疑是班上最优秀的学生。 - English is out of question an international language.
英语毫无疑问是国际化的语言。
一个有趣的现象是如果用错了这两个短语,意思可能完全相反。
- Your taking my car is out of the question.
你想借我的车是不可能的。 - Your taking my car is out of question.
你想借我的车是没有问题的。
那到底如何区别并记住呢,可以这样去理解,out of the question, 这里的question是议题,具体的内容,而out of question,这里的question是疑问,抽象的概念。英语里有很多这样的短语都可以这样去理解。
- at table 抽象概念,“吃饭”;at the table 具体事物,“在桌边”。
- go to school 抽象概念,“上学,到校上课”;go to the school,具体建筑,“去学校”。
- go to sea 抽象概念,“出航,当水手”;go to the sea,具体化了,“去海边”。
下面再回到今天的口语表达,我们再来看几个和out of the question有关的实用例句:
- It's out of the quetion for him to lend you so much money.
他不可能借给你这么多钱。 - She forgot her wallet, so it was out of the question for her to go shopping.
她忘带钱包了,所以不可能去购物。 - If you keep on eating like this, losing weight is out of the question.
如果你照这样吃下去,减肥是根本不可能的。