VOA名师答疑2023 all right和alright的用法

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Humera in Pakistan.

大家好! 本周《名师答疑》，我们回答来自巴基斯坦的胡梅拉的一个问题。

Humera writes, Amazing way of teaching¹.

胡梅拉写道，超赞的教学方式。

I would like to know the difference between alright (one word) and all right (two words).

我想知道alright(一个词)和all right(两个词)的区别。

Thanks.

谢谢。

Dear Humera, Thank you for writing to us.

亲爱的胡梅拉，感谢你的来信。

This set of words is interesting because it shows a possible change in the English language.

这组单词很有趣，因为它显示了英语语言中可能发生的变化。

The two separate words “all right” and the single word “alright” both describe something that is fairly good or acceptable².

两个单独的单词all right和一个单词alright都表示某种东西相当好或可以接受。

We use them in the same way we use the expression “okay.”

它们的用法和okay是一样的。

Let us begin with the two-word adjective³, “all right.”

我们先看由两个单词组成的形容词all right。

In this example, you can see that “all right” means something is not outstanding or special:

在这个例句中，你可以看到all right表示某件事并不突出或特别：

That writer’s first book was great but her second one was just all right.

那个作家的第一本书很棒，但她的第二本书就只算还行。

We also use “all right” to talk about someone’s health.

我们也用all right来谈论某人的健康状况。

It means a person is healthy or not sick.

表示一个人是健康的或没有生病。

I asked Mom if she was feeling better and she said she was all right.

我问妈妈是否感觉好些了，她说她很好。

You may hear “all right” used as an adverb along with verbs like “seem.”

你可能会听到all right用作副词，和seem这样的动词连用。

The milk is a week old, but it seems all right, because it doesn’t smell bad.

牛奶已经放了一周了，但看起来还可以，因为闻起来没有怪味道。

You will often hear "all right" at the beginning or end of a statement:

在一句话的开头或结尾经常会听到all right：

Let him know I stopped by, all right?

告诉他我来过，好吗？

So, you’re free tonight? All right, let’s go to the movies.

那么，你今晚有空？那行，我们去看电影吧。

Now, let us consider the single word, “alright.”

现在，让我们来看看单个单词alright。

Here is where you can see language change happening in real time.

从中你可以看到语言实时发生的变化。

You can use it in the same ways we talked about here with “all right” as two words.

它和上面提到的all right的用法一样。

In writing, it gives a more informal feeling.

用于写作时，它给人一种更随意的感觉。

Language experts say that this written form is appearing more frequently these days and may be based on the idea that the expression is similar to the adverbs “already” and “altogether.”

语言专家说，这种写法最近越来越常见，可能是基于这样一种想法，即这个词类似于副词already和altogether。

When you want to make someone feel better, you might say, Everything is going to be alright.

当你想安慰别人时，你可能会说，一切都会好起来的。

You may also have heard this expression as two words repeated many times in popular songs and in movies.

你可能也在流行歌曲和电影中听到过all right反复出现。

Here is the song Hey Ya by Outkast:

以下是Outkast的歌曲Hey Ya：

I say what's, what's cooler than being cool? (Ice Cold!)

什么比冷酷更酷？(冰冷！)

All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right Okay now, ladies.

好了好了好了，女士们。

However, you should know that some English speakers consider alright (one word) to be a mistake.

然而，也要知道，有些英语使用者认为alright(一个单词)是错误的。

And that’s Ask a Teacher. I’m Jill Robbins. And I’m Faith Pirlo.

以上就是本期《名师答疑》。我是吉尔·罗宾斯。我是费思·皮尔洛。

1 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

2 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

3 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。