区别辨析immediately、instantly、presently、directly、shortly、soon、at once与right away

immediately、instantly、presently、directly、shortly、soon、at once与right away这些副词或副词词组均有“立刻、马上”之意。

immediately : 指做完一件事后，立即就做另一件事，中间一般没有明显的时间间隔。

We really ought to leave immediately.

我们真的应该马上就走。

The purpose of the meeting wasn't immediately obvious.

会议的目的并不明确。

instantly : 指恰恰就在此刻，一秒钟也没耽误。

Both drivers were killed instantly.

两名司机当即丧生。

presently : 指不久、即将，一种比较过时的说法。

The room was hot and presently her eyes grew heavy and she began to feel sleepy.

屋子里很热，一会儿她就觉得眼皮发沉昏昏欲睡。

directly和immediately同义，指毫无迟疑。

Dr Schwarz will be with you directly.

施瓦茨医生很快就到。

shortly和soon同义，指动作发生或完成的速度之快。

We will shortly be arriving in King's Cross Station.

我们马上就要到国王十字车站了。

soon : 常用词，指行动快，完成速度快。

She'll soon be here./She'll be here soon.

她很快就到。

It will soon be impossible for foreigners to enter the country.

不久以后，外国人就不能进入这个国家了。

The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get there.

我们出发得越早，到那儿也就越早。

Soon after agreeing to go, she realized she'd made a mistake.

同意去之后不久，她就意识到自己犯了一个错误。

How soon (= when) can we sign the contract?

我们什么时候能签订合同？

"When would you like to meet?" "The sooner the better."

“你想什么时候见面？”“越快越好。”

I couldn't get out of that place soon enough.

我恨不得马上离开那个地方。

at once : 口语中常用，语气强烈，指时间紧迫，一刻也不能耽误。

They all started talking at once.

他们同时开始讲起话来。

right away : 主要用于美国英语，语气稍弱于at once，强调动作迅速。

You'd better leave right now.

你最好马上离开。