aught
/ɔːt/ (bre, ipa) · /ɔːt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈȯt ˈät/ (ame, mw)
aught — 代名詞
1. Any thing, event, or detail at all, usually in old-fashioned or literary English
任何事物
任何一件東西、事或情況
Any thing, event, or detail at all, usually in old-fashioned or literary English.
If aught remains in the box, Sade will give it away tonight.
如果盒子裡還有任何東西，Sade 今晚就會把它送人。
pattern: if aught + verb
Gabriel asked whether aught had changed since the village meeting.
Gabriel 問自從村裡開會後，是否有任何事改變了。
pattern: whether aught + verb
Should aught trouble Hui during the trip, call the hotel desk.
旅途中如果有任何事讓 Hui 困擾，就打給飯店櫃台。
Rohan promised to return at once if aught went wrong.
Rohan 答應如果出了任何事，他會立刻回來。
The letter said Apinya could write again if aught was unclear.
信上說，如果有任何地方不清楚，Apinya 可以再寫信來。
文法句型
if aught + verb
whether aught + verb
should aught + verb
用法筆記
Mostly found in literary or deliberately old-fashioned writing, often after if, whether, or should. Distinguish from noun sense 2, where aught names something unimportant rather than an unspecified thing.
常見錯誤
aught — 副詞
1. In any degree or way; at all, especially in old-fashioned negatives or compariso
絲毫
完全；一點也不
In any degree or way; at all, especially in old-fashioned negatives or comparisons.
Ava was not aught afraid of the barking dog.
Ava 對那隻狂吠的狗絲毫不害怕。
pattern: not aught + adjective
Esme did not sleep aught better in the hot upstairs room.
Esme 在那間悶熱的樓上房間裡一點也沒睡得比較好。
pattern: not + verb + aught + comparative
The note did not make matters aught clearer to the new clerk.
那張便條絲毫沒有讓新職員更弄懂情況。
Zayd was not aught surprised when the lights failed again.
燈又熄了時，Zayd 絲毫不覺得意外。
Ryan's knee was not aught worse after the long bus ride.
坐了那麼久的公車後，Ryan 的膝蓋一點也沒有變得更糟。
- at all
The direct modern equivalent and by far the usual wording today.
- in the least
Also appears after negatives, often with a slightly more formal tone.
- in any way
Broader and less literary; it can sound less compact than 'aught'.
文法句型
not aught + adjective
not aught + comparative
did not + verb + aught
用法筆記
Usually follows a negative and means 'at all' or 'in the least'. Modern everyday English almost always uses 'at all' instead.
常見錯誤
aught — 名詞
1. The figure or amount that represents zero.
零
數字零；表示沒有
The figure or amount that represents zero.
On the old scoreboard, the visitors had aught after three innings.
在那個老記分板上，客隊打了三局後還是零分。
score context: have aught on the board
In the ledger, Esme wrote aught where no payment arrived.
在帳本裡，Esme 在沒有收到款項的地方寫了零。
record-keeping use: write aught
Gabriel copied aught into the final box on the tax form.
Gabriel 在報稅表最後一格填上了零。
The coach laughed that the team still had aught on the board.
教練笑說，球隊現在記分板上還是零。
The farmer marked aught beside the first sheep sold that week.
農夫在那週第一隻賣掉的羊旁邊標了零。
- one
The next number above zero.
- a positive number
Any amount greater than zero, rather than none.
文法句型
have aught on the board
write aught beside + noun
用法筆記
Mostly seen in old-fashioned number talk, scores, or written records. Modern English normally uses 'zero' or, in British contexts, 'nought' instead.
2. Something regarded as so small or unimportant that it counts as nothing.
算不了什麼
微小到不值得重視
Something regarded as so small or unimportant that it counts as nothing.
To the wealthy owner, the repair bill was aught.
對那位有錢的老闆來說，這筆修理費算不了什麼。
predicative use: be aught
The tiny scratch was aught after the bicycle crash.
和腳踏車摔車相比，那道小刮痕根本算不了什麼。
Esme said one rude comment was aught beside her mother's safety.
Esme 說，相較於她母親的平安，一句無禮的話算不了什麼。
Rohan treated the delay as aught and kept walking to the station.
Rohan 把那點延誤當成算不了什麼，繼續往車站走去。
After years away, the old rumor seemed aught beside the new crisis.
離開多年後，那則舊流言和新的危機相比算不了什麼。
文法句型
be aught
treat + noun + as aught
aught beside + noun
用法筆記
Usually appears in a predicative structure that dismisses something as unimportant. Distinguish from pronoun sense 1, which means 'anything' rather than 'something of no value'.
3. The decade from 2000 through 2009, usually in the phrase 'the aughts'.
零零年代
西元2000到2009年
The decade from 2000 through 2009, usually in the phrase 'the aughts'.
Fashion from the aughts is back in many shop windows this spring.
零零年代的時尚在今年春天又回到了許多店家的櫥窗裡。
time label: from the aughts
Ava keeps a blog about pop songs from the aughts.
Ava 經營一個部落格，專門寫零零年代的流行歌曲。
The class compared internet speeds in the nineties and the aughts.
班上比較了九零年代和零零年代的網路速度。
Most family photos on that shelf were taken in the aughts.
那個架子上的多數家庭照片都是在零零年代拍的。
Hui remembers the aughts as the years of small silver cameras.
Hui 記得零零年代是小型銀色相機盛行的那些年。
- the 2000s
The straightforward modern label for the same decade.
- the first decade of the twenty-first century
Much more formal and exact, while 'the aughts' is shorter and more conversational.
- the nineties
The decade immediately before the aughts.
- the 2010s
The decade immediately after the aughts.
文法句型
in the aughts
from the aughts
用法筆記
Normally used in the plural phrase 'the aughts' when talking about the first decade of the 2000s. This modern time-label sense is separate from noun sense 1, which simply means zero.