This is an interesting question, Farhoush and I&39;m afraid that there are at least seven ways to use the adjective &39;afraid&39;! The most common meaning of &39;afraid&39; is the one I have just used to introduce the topic -when we want to politely tell someone something that may upset, disappoint, annoy or even worry them.

Farhoush，这个问题很有趣呢。但是我恐怕得说，形容词afraid至少有七种用法呢。‘afraid’最常见的用法就是我刚才在引入我们的话题时所用的——当我们要用礼貌的方式告诉别人一些让他们失望、烦人或担心的事情的时候。

In terms of the grammar, we can say either: &39;I&39;m afraid that there are at least seven ways&39; OR. . .

从语法方面来说，我们有以下的用法：‘I&39;m afraid that there are at least seven ways&39;（有that）或者。

&39;I&39;m afraid there are at least seven ways&39; - without using&39;that&39;. We usually hear this meaning of &39;afraid&39; in spoken English.

‘I&39;m afraid there are at least seven ways&39; —没有that。我们常在口语中听到‘afraid’的这种意思。

The next most common meaning of &39;afraid&39; is &39;to be frightened&39;. But remember that &39;afraid&39; can&39;t be used before a noun, so we can&39;t talk about &39;an easily afraid person&39;. That&39;s not right.

‘afraid’的另一种常见的用法是‘to be frightened&39;（害怕）。但切记，afraid不能放在名词之前，所以我们不能说‘an easily afraid person&39;，这是不对的。

Instead, try these: &39;He&39;s an easily frightened person&39; or even simpler, &39;He&39;s easily frightened.

我们可以这么说：‘He&39;s an easily frightened person&39; 或者简单点‘He&39;s easily frightened.&39; （他很容易受惊吓）。

&39;He&39;s afraid of something&39; - for example, He&39;s afraid of spiders. &39;He&39;s afraid to do something - for example: He&39;s afraid to ask for help.

‘他害怕某种东西’，比如吧，他害怕蜘蛛。例如，他害怕做某种事情，例如，他害怕开口寻求帮助。

&39;He&39;s afraid of doing something - for example: He&39;s afraid of flying. So lots of examples there!

他害怕某种东西，如，他害怕坐飞机。这样的例子有很多！

Less common uses of the adjective &39;afraid&39; are used as a way of saying either &39;yes&39; or &39;no&39;. &39;Afraid&39; + not. . . is used to mean &39;no&39; .

afraid这个形容词的一种不常见的用法是，被用来表示首肯或者否决（答应或者拒绝）。afraid not被用来表示no。

And &39;Afraid&39; + so. . . is used to mean &39;yes&39;. Here&39;s an example of how we can use &39;afraid&39; to mean &39;no&39;:

而afraid so被用来表示yes。这里还有使用afraid来表示no的例子。

A: Are you doing anything nice this weekend, Femi. F: I&39;m afraid not, I have to work - I need the money!

Femi，这个周末会做什么好玩的事情吗？不会呢，得工作，我需要钱啊！

Or when someone calls and the person they want to speak to isn&39;t there: A: Could I speak to Sun Chen please?

又或者，当某人打电话，但是他们要找的人不在当场：可以找一下Sun Chen吗？

B: I&39;m afraid not, he&39;s not available at the moment. Would you like to leave a message? Next, &39;afraid&39; meaning &39;yes&39;:

恐怕不行呢，他现在没空。你愿意留言吗？接下来，afraid表示yes的例子：

A: Are you leaving now, Yvonne? Y: I&39;m afraid so, I have to be home by 9 o&39;clock.

Yvonne，你现在就要走吗？是的呢。我得9点就到家。

So let&39;s sum up. . . We can use the word &39;afraid&39; in the following ways:

我们来总结一下：afraid有以下几种用法：

First, to politely tell someone something that may disappoint them. Second, to simply mean: &39;frightened&39;.

首先，是一种礼貌的方式告知某人某事可能会令他们失望。第二，可以是简单的frightened的意思——受惊吓。

And third, to mean &39;yes&39; when we say &39;I&39;m afraid so&39; - and &39;no&39; when we say &39;I&39;m afraid not&39;.

第三，当我们使用I&39;m afraid so的时候，是yes的意思。而当我们说I&39;m afraid not的时候指的是no。

So, to return to the most common meaning of &39;afraid&39;; I&39;m afraid that there are several uses of the word! And I hope this has helped.

再看一眼，afraid最常见的一种意思，我恐怕得说，它的用法有若干种呢！希望这个对你有帮助。