VOA名师答疑2023 never mind和it doesn't matter的用法

Hello!

大家好!

This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Jesús, from Spain, about the difference between “never mind” and “it doesn’t matter.”

本期《名师答疑》，我们回答来自西班牙的赫苏斯的问题，即never mind和it doesn't matter有什么区别。

Hello, My name is Jesús, and I find the use of "never mind" and "it doesn't matter" sometimes confusing, could you clear it up for me, please?

你好，我叫赫苏斯，我觉得never mind和it doesn't matter的用法有时会让人感到困惑，你能帮我解释清楚吗？

Thank you from Spain.

来自西班牙的感谢。

Dear Jesús, thank you for your question.

亲爱的赫苏斯，谢谢你的提问。

We will start with the expression “never mind.”

我们先看never mind。

Often, we use “never mind” as an imperative¹ or command form to tell someone to leave a subject or topic alone.

我们通常以祈使或命令语气用never mind告诉某人，不要去管某个话题。

This is especially true if a request is not fulfilled² or a question is left unanswered.

尤其是在请求未得到满足或问题未得到回答的情况下会这样用。

For example, if you have a question like: Can you help me put away the groceries?

例如，如果你提出了这样的问题：你能帮我把日用品放好吗？

And it goes unanswered.

而这个问题没有得到回应。

You can reply: Never mind, I will do it without you.

你可以回答：算了，我自己来放吧。

In this exchange, “never mind” is used as a command to mean “ignore what was just asked or said.”

在这种交流中，never mind是一种命令，意思是“忽略刚才所问或所说的话”。

Another way we can use “never mind” is as a conjunction³, a part of speech that joins together two ideas, clauses⁴ or sentences.

never mind也可以用作连词，连词就是把两个想法、从句或句子连在一起的一种词性。

When used as a conjunction, “never mind” connects two options, the second option being the least likely or wanted.

用作连词时，never mind连接两个选项，第二个选项是最不可能的或最不想要的。

For example: I do not like traveling to work. There are too many people on the bus, never mind that it takes 45 minutes to get there.

例如：我不喜欢上班通勤。公交上人太多了，更别说要花45分钟才能到。

In this sentence, “never mind” acts the same as another conjunction, “in addition.”

在这句话中，never mind与另一个连词in addition的用法相同。

In the above example, the second option is expressed as the worst part of traveling to work.

在上面的例句中，第二种选择被表达为上班通勤中最糟糕的部分。

“It doesn’t matter” means that the subject or issue is not important.

It doesn’t matter意思是问题不重要。

We can reword the sentence to understand it better: It does not matter (to me).

我们可以改写这个句子，从而更好地理解它：(对我来说)这无关紧要。

The verb “matter” means to be of importance.

动词matter的意思是重要。

So when we say, “it doesn’t matter” we are saying “this issue or subject is not important.”

所以，当我们说it doesn't matter时，我们是在说“这个问题并不重要。”

For example, if we are given a choice between two things, and we say “it doesn’t matter,” we are saying that either choice is acceptable⁵.

例如，如果让我们在两件事之间做出选择，而我们说it doesn't matter，意思就是选哪一个都是可以接受的。

Do you want coffee or tea? It doesn’t matter.

你要咖啡还是茶？都行。

Here we are saying that the choices are unimportant⁶ and we could enjoy either coffee or tea.

在这里，我们说的是选择并不重要，咖啡或茶都很好。

Sometimes, both of these expressions can be combined, as follows: Never mind, it doesn’t matter.

有时，这两种表达可以用在一起，比如：算了，无所谓的。

This sentence demonstrates⁷ our lack of interest in the subject and expresses that we do not care to talk about the situation any further.

这句话表明我们对这个问题没有兴趣，并表示我们不想继续谈论这个问题。

Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Jesús!

请让我们知道这些解释和例句是否对你有帮助，赫苏斯！

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

以上就是本期《名师答疑》，我是费思·皮尔洛，我是吉尔·罗宾斯。

1 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

2 fulfilled   

adj.满足的，个人志向得以实现的v.满足( fulfil的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；尽到；应验

参考例句：

• He doesn't feel fulfilled in his present job. 目前的工作未能让他感到满足。
• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 conjunction   

n.联合，连接，接合；连接词

参考例句：

• Two or more sentences may be joined together by a conjunction.两个或两个以上的句子可以用连词连接。
• The conjunction of heavy rains and high winds caused flooding.暴风雨的同时发生引起了洪水泛滥。

4 clauses   

从句( clause的名词复数 )； （法律文件等的）条款

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。

5 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。

6 unimportant   

adj.不重要的，无意义的

参考例句：

• Let's not quarrel about such unimportant matters.我们不要为这些小事争吵了。
• Money seems unimportant when sets beside the joys of family life.与天伦之乐相比，金钱显得微不足道。

7 demonstrates   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的第三人称单数 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• I hope this message demonstrates my feelings to the students. 我希望这个祝词能表达出我对学生们的感情。
• I hope this demonstrates to you how I feel. 我希望这能向你表明我的感受。