let a day go by任由时光溜走

把拖延写成时间的滑落，一天和好几年只隔一次放任。

You let ... go by, and that ... slips into ...

劝人别拖着时用，说给自己听也行；正式场合少用。

one day of delay becomes years ／ waste a day and lose a year

中性

重音在 day 和 years，中间的 slips into 轻轻带过。

You let one deadline slide and suddenly the whole project is late. 你放任一个截止日期过去，整个项目转眼就晚了。

两个 just 对撞：一边刚起步，一边已收场，一句话说完一段关系。

You've just ended what we've just begun.

对刚翻脸的人说，点破时间差；别在正式场合用。

you ended it before it started ／ we just began and you closed it

literary

两个 just 都重读，ended 和 begun 押尾韵。

You just quit what we just built together. 我们一起做起来的东西，你说退就退了。

用一句极简否定，把抑郁说成没有明天，轻描淡写却最重。

I had nothing to look forward to.

描述低谷时用，对亲近的人说；正式报告里别用。

I had nothing ahead of me ／ there was nothing to look forward to

中性

nothing to 连读，重音落在 forward。

After the layoff I had nothing to look forward to. 被裁之后，我没什么可盼的。

一句丧气的断言，用 you know 把对方拉进来，像在求认同。

There's nothing that lasts, you know?

情绪低落时跟熟人感叹用；别对刚失去亲人的人说。

nothing lasts forever ／ nothing is built to last

口语

nothing that 连读，句尾 you know 轻轻上扬。

Nothing that lasts, you know? Everything changes. 没什么能长久，你知道吗？什么都会变。