saying ) : I haven’t
got a thing to wear! — WRf ^ #J # J8R! 0 There
wasn’t a thing we could do to help. 7 A ffcO i£#H# ± ft (tfj 0 0 Ignore what he said—it doesn’t mean a
thing, smmmmit, mmmi^
►
FACT/EVENT/SITUATION/ACTION #•&;
^.tKk'lfE; fr->J
5
[C] a fact, an event, a situation or an action; what sb says or thinks jfE; ffjfe; if iff; SI&:
There
are a lot of things she doesn’t know about me. fie
Mo 0 There’s
another thing I’d like to ask you. — J4 $! 0 % 0 O A terrible thing happened last
night.
He
found the whole thing (= the situation) very boring. ffiEJfSfW'lf 7 7AP o 0 I’ve got loads of things to do
today. 7
A He ^ i4 M ♦ M flfc ■> 0 The main thing
to
remember is to switch off the burglar alarm. SH iS 7 A & ^ & $¥ IS W 7 o 0 I like camping, climbing and that sort of thing. 0
She
said the first
thing that came into her head.
7 ft ^ iftft & o 0 'Why did you tell her our secret?’ ‘I did no such thing!’ “fle*
ft 'A fE^fH ? *
7
M & # 7 ! ” 0 Let’s forget the whole thing {= everything). 6 things [pi.]
the general situation, as
it affects sb 7 M ffi; 'If #1; 77: Things haven’t gone entirely to plan. 7771$ Mit $J A M o o (informal) Hi, Jane! How are
things? ff{|, fgj, jfi ^ M &.# ? o Think things over before you
decide. 5fclB'ltE4#lt0 As things stand at present, he seems
certain to win. #§ @ frit51#, o All things considered
(=
considering all the difficulties or problems), she’s done very well. M7#7l£F„ o Why do
you make things so difficult for yourself?
►
WHAT IS NEEDEO/RIGHT •'$%&}/
&*£ M rfF 7 [C, usually sing.]
what is needed or socially acceptable W U (Hj 7 ®; it ^ #J 7 M; 7ii 7 ®: You need
something to cheer you up—I know just the thing! fft H Jc ft £> tSf-F
0 to
say the
right/wrong thing ift f# W /
7 % W Itfl if o The best thing to do is to
apologize. if tt7fi±Ho
►
THINGS OF PARTICULAR TYPE 8 things
[pi.] (formal) (followed
by an adjective 1§ 1$ 7 # i® all that can be
described in a particular way 7" ■ • • ♦
other words for thing
Instead
of using the word thing, try to use more precise
and interesting words,
especially in formal written
English. 1^7$ thing 7,
m,
■
aspect AM: That was the most puzzling aspect
of the situation. (...the
most puzzling thing about...) gpH
■
attribute Jji| 14; #14; #Ht: Curiosity is
an essential attribute for a journalist. (... an
essential thing for a journalist to have.)
■
characteristic #14; #®; #A: This bird has several interesting
characteristics. ( There are several interesting things
about this bird.)
ltt#®0
■
detail ; #'lf: / want to know every detail of what
happened. [... everything about ...)W$kTM¥$i
■
feature#®; #$; #fe: Noise is a familiar feature of
city life. (...
a familiar thing in city life.)
■
issue iAfg; iH®: She has campaigned on many
controversial issues. (... many controversial things.) jtfe
■
matter ^ |f; IfE; ®IS: We have several important matters
to deal with at this meeting. (... several
important things ...) MlWJ17M^I"]® i&±&So
point MA; it A; JEM: That’s a very interesting
2099 thing
$5;
/L ;H • • • W 7 ®: She loves all things Japanese, jt ji
►
CREATURE 7#J 9 [C] (used with an
adjective A7Wis]j7
M) a
living creature 7^1; Ah living
things are composed of cells.
►
PERSON/ANIMAL A; ft®} 10 [C] (with an adjective
(informal) used to talk to or
about a person or an animal, to show how you feel about them ( fa A^c %}%}, ^^'If QM ) A, Mik, You silly thing! fft
ItSf!
o You must be starving, you poor things, ffc f]-£Ji1«7,. fMm^W'ltW^fAo
o The cat’s
very ill, poor old thing.
ff»TOl A is one
thing, B is a’nother I it's ‘one
thing to do A, it’s a nother thing to do B B is very different from
A, for example it is more difficult, serious or
important
|WJ:
Romance is
one thing, marriage is quite another. M If Ji—0:7, -HI#. 0 It’s one thing to tease
your sister, but it’s another to hit her. *0
♦ , fi.fTMIPIfc^ ^J*jTfe7A ,all/,other things being equal if the conditions stay
the same; if other conditions are the same
ffe'lf E-*#: All things being equal, we should
finish the job tomorrow. —hfl]^
AAZ7 I # o and ‘things (like ‘that) (informal) used when you do not
want to complete a list ^ ; A : She
likes nice clothes and things like that. AIK7.
o I’ve been busy shopping and
things.
II ft 7 ^ ^
W ♦ 'If o be all
things to all ‘men/
‘people 1 (of
people A) to please everyone by changing your attitudes or opinions to suit
different people fAAAi^A; A.®## 2 (of things #$f) to
be understood or used in different ways by different people C # JE A , I? # JE
Hi come to/be the same ‘thing to have the same result or meaning H+g
|WJ; EA+10 be a ‘good thing (that) ... to be lucky that...
7S6^7; ^7: It’s a good
thing we got here early. 7 7fSin-¥•?!!7&JLo be no bad ‘thing (that) ... used to say that
although sth seems to be bad, it could have good results 77JifW; We didn’t want
the press to get hold of the story, but it might be no bad thing.
point you made. (... a very interesting thing you said.)
■
subject ; M @; 7f4: The book covers a number of subjects, {...a number of things.) 77# Ail 7
lie
m topic ifeM; if®; j® £}: We discussed a wide range of topics, (...a wide range of things.)
MM'fr Ttf%
w trait 714;
#®; #A: Her
generosity is one of her most attractive traits. (... one of the most attractive things
about her.)
■
Don’t use thing after an adjective when the adjective can be used on its
own.
)n ® jjp thing: Having your own computer is very
useful.
SaW-fitfJUfflMAo o Having your own computer is a very
useful thing.
m It is often more natural to use
words like something, anything, etc. instead of thing. X>X something, anything thing ®S B: I have
something important to tell you. ^^fillffll^'lf lc 7 o I have an importan t Iking to
tell you. o Do you want anything else? *Jij A
o Do you want any other thing?
m It is more natural to say a lot, a
great deal, much, etc. rather than many things. * a lot, a great deal,
much ^is] tfc many things |7$*: I have so
much to tell you. 0 1 have
so many things to tell you. o She knows a lot about basketball. o She knows many
things about basketball