at most 和at least 都是介詞短語,在句中做狀語,修飾數(shù)量或程度的詞語.
的確,一般說來,狀語,尤其是表示方式的狀語,往往出現(xiàn)在被它修飾的動詞后,或干脆在句尾,如：
He spoke highly of his professor.
He does everything carefull.
但也有很多狀語人們傾向于前置,盡管后置按語法也對,例如頻率狀語：
He often works late into night.
He is sometimes careliess.
at least 和 at least 就是這樣的,放在它們所修飾的表示數(shù)詞或程度的詞語前.所以最為常用的詞序應(yīng)該是：
The girl is at least 7.
The pencil costs at most five yuan.
需要說明的是 --- 前面提到過 --- 換個詞序在語法上還是允許的；而且,有時候?yàn)榱藦?qiáng)調(diào),或加強(qiáng)狀語的預(yù)期,說話者還故意把他們放到一個不同尋常的位置,如句尾：
The girl is 7 at least.
The pencil costs five yuan at most,