as plain as day一目瞭然

兩個短句一答一續，把一輩子的絕望壓進幾個詞，冷靜得嚇人。

Never was. Never will be.

別人抱怨現狀、你認定這事從來沒好過時用；安慰人或正式彙報時別說。

Never has been. Never will be. ／ It never was, and it never will be.

literary

兩個 Never 都重讀，句間明顯停頓，結尾 will be 放平。

Never was easy. Never will be. 從來就不輕鬆。以後也不會。

The system never worked. Never will. 這套辦法從來就不管用。以後也不會。

一句大白話成語，把誰都看得見卻沒人肯認的事摁到檯面上。

It's as plain as day.

要強調事情一目瞭然時用；對長輩或正式文書裡換成顯而易見更穩。

It's as clear as day. ／ It's as plain as the nose on your face.

中性

重音落在 plain 和 day，整句平平說出，別上揚。

It's as plain as day that you forgot. 明擺著，你就是忘了。

沒用一句重話，只指出「本不必」，就把一場死亡說成不該發生的事。

They didn't have to ...

想說別人本不該做某件已做的事時用；追責太重時先看場合。

There was no need to kill the boy. ／ They could have spared the boy.

中性

didn't have to 連成一句帶過，kill the boy 放慢，結尾下沉。

You didn't have to embarrass her like that. 你本來不必那樣讓她難堪。

給死亡定性並扣上舊案，把一場街頭暴力接進更長的不公鏈條，憤怒有了歷史。

They did it again, just like ...

指認暴行並聯系舊案時用，抗議或公共發聲可以，私密場合要顧及聽者感受。

It's murder, and it's happened before. ／ They did it again, same as before.

中性

It's murder 重讀，just like Michael Stewart 放慢。

It's murder. They did it again, just like before. 這是謀殺。他們又幹了一次，跟以前一樣。