being前置的疑问

英文：It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together.

翻译：三个英国人各自来到陌生国度，这似乎是让我们聚在一起的唯一理由。

疑问：

1. 这句话中的being是不是前置了？本来的语序是“the fact of three celibate Englishmen being in a foreign capital”？这里为什么要谓语前置呢？是因为nothing这个含否定意义的单词吗？还是为了强调呢？

2. could have done:

① used to show that you are annoyed that sb did not do sth 《牛津高阶》

② used to say that something was a possibility in the past, but did not actually happen 《朗文当代》

如果按照第二个意思是否这样理解：只有“在陌生国度”这个情况才很可能使英国人欢聚一堂，但结果他们却没有相聚。但作者表达的意思是三个英国人确实相聚了。这句话中的could have done怎么理解呢？

《朗文》nothing but: only

It seemed likely that nothing but the fact...

= It seemed likely that only the fact...

of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital 这是动名词短语（系表结构）作介词of的宾语。其中in a foreign capital为定语。being的逻辑主语由后面的us提示。

could have done在本句中不是你在词典中查出的词义, 那是虚拟语气用法。本句中could have done为说话人对过去事件发生的可能性的推测。即“有可能..."。并非与事实相反。

句义：我们三个都是身处外国首都的英国禁欲者，可能这就是让我们聚在一起的唯一原因。

曹荣禄 -

擅长：动词用法,句法问题 | 采纳率 82% | 回答于 1秒前

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mengxin Z 1秒前

1. ... the fact of being three celibate Englishmen

这只是一个写作风格或偏好问题, 很常见的。

比如你可以说，because he is a student

你可以换种说法：because of being a student.

the fact of being three celibate Englishmen

= the fact that they were three celibate Englishmen

2. could have done: 本能够，实际没有；本可能

It seemed likely that nothing but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital could have brought us together.

你看这样理解，会不会有那翻译的意思？

It seemed likely that nothing could have brought us together + but the fact of being three celibate Englishmen in a foreign capital