■嚴格說來,at the point of與on the point of是有區(qū)別的。
1. at the point of 指“在……時”“在臨近……時”。如以下實例均摘自英語詞典:
at the point of death (=about to die at any moment) 在臨死時
at the point of greatest success 在最成功的時候
at the point of greatest happiness 在最得意的時候
2. on the point of 指“正要……之際”“就要…之時”。如以下實例均摘自英語詞典:
She looked on the point of tears. 她看起來就要哭了。
I was on the point of going to bed when you rang. 你來電話時我正要睡覺。
He bit his tongue as he found himself on the point of saying ‘follow that car’. 他想說“跟上那輛車”,話到嘴邊又咽了回去。
I was on the point of posting the letter when I saw it didn’t have a stamp on it. 我正準備寄信,突然發(fā)現(xiàn)上面沒貼郵票。
■但事實上,在現(xiàn)代英語中兩者有時可以不加區(qū)別地混用。如:
The climber was at / on the point of death when they found him. 當他們發(fā)現(xiàn)那個登山者的時候,他已奄奄一息。——摘自《牛津高階英漢雙解詞》第6版
I was just on the point of going out the door. 我正準備要出門。——摘自《美國英語習語和短語動詞詞典》
We were almost at the point of buying a new car. 我們正準備要買輛新車。——摘自《美國英語習語和短語動詞詞典》
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