too early还是too soon

问题描述

It is _________ to say what effect, if any, there will be on the workforce.
A. too early
B. too fast
C. too quick
D. too soon
请问选哪个最好？书上给的答案是A。但是觉得D也可以。请问在这里too early与too soon有何区别？敬请专家老师解答，谢谢！

老师答疑

陈老师：

拜读了刘老师和罗老师的有关分析，觉得都有其道理。我从手头的资料中找了几个例句，算是一个补充吧：

▲It is too soon to do sth

It is too soon to reach any definitive judgement. 现在作出最终判断还为时过早。——摘自《牛津英语搭配词典》

It’s too soon to give a definite answer. 要给出一个明确的答复，现在还为时过早。——摘自《柯林斯Cobuild高阶英汉双解学习词典》

It’s still too soon to say whether the operation was a success. 现在说手术是否成功还为时过早。——摘自《朗文当代英语辞典》(2003年第4版)

It is too soon to generalize the study’s findings beyond the study group. 把研究的结果向研究小组以外推广还为时过早。——摘自《麦克米伦高阶美语词典》

So far, he seems to be handling the job well, but it’s really too soon to judge. 到目前为止，他的工作还干得不错，但现在下结论还为时过早。——摘自《剑桥高级英语词典》（第3版）

▲It is too early to do sth

It’s too early to know the outcome of her illness. 现在要想知道她病情的结果还为时过早。——摘自《柯林斯Cobuild高阶英汉双解学习词典》

It’s too early to say whether the show will be a success. 要预测演出是否会成功还为时过早。《朗文当代英语辞典》(2003年第4版)

She considers that it is too early to form a definite conclusion. 她认为现在下确切的结论还为时过早。《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》(第6版)

It is far too early to make sweeping statements about gene therapy. 现在对基因疗法下结论还为时过早。——摘自《柯林斯Cobuild高阶英汉双解学习词典》

▲《朗文当代英语辞典》(2003年第4版)在soon词典将 too soon 作为固定搭配处理，并用 too early 来解释。其相关例句是：

It's still too soon to say whether the operation was a success.

The holidays were over all too soon (=much earlier than you would like).

▲原句意思：It is too early to say what effect, if any, there will be on the workforce. 就算会对劳动力产生一些影响，但现在就说是什么影响还为时过早。

罗老师：

我也查询了一些资料，特别是外文出版社出版的《副词365》，讲解得很清晰，希望提问者查阅，too early在本句中要在语气和意义上更加准确。

陈老师：

那么，词典上的例句，“I thingk it's too soon to tell.我认为那言之过早。”

又如何理解呢？——字面上“too soon”也是表语吧？

刘老师：

我查阅了一些资料，soon作表语的情况确实存在，但我仍然很纠结。因为真的不明白为何时间副词作表语。

It's too soon to know for certain.  现在还太早，不知道确切情况。

It's too soon to talk about leaving. 谈离开的事还太早。

But even with promising economic signs, it's too soon to celebrate. 但即使看见了有希望的经济迹象，现在庆祝还太早。

既然如此，我认为：

1. 这时的soon跟early没有区别，可以互换。

2. It是代词表示“时间”，不是形式主语。“too...to...”结构中，不定式具有否定含义。