This is the last thing I would ever want to do.

错误理解：这是我想做的最后一件事情。其实这句话的真正含义是：

这是我最不愿做的一件事情。

经典分析


“The last… to do；the last…+定语从句”中的last的意思为“used to emphasize that sb/sth is the least likely or suitable”，译为“最不愿意；最不可能，最不适当的”。

简单地理解the last person/thing是可以理解为否定意思“最不”：

例句：


He is the last man to do it．他决不会干那件事。

To invite a lie about my mistake is the last thing I'll do．说谎话来掩盖我的错误是我最不愿意干的事。

He is the last person to say such words.

他是最不可能说这样的话的人。

The last thing she needed was more work.

她最不需要的就是更多的工作。

He's the last person I'd trust with a secret.

我要是有什么秘密，告诉谁也不能告诉他。

He is the last man I want to see.


他是我最不想见的人。

He is the last person to tell a lie.


他是最不可能撒谎的人。

The last thing I wanted to do was teach...

我最不想干的事情就是教书。

I honestly thought I'd seen the last of you.

老实说我以为再也不用见到你了。

Jack would be the last man to believe that. 杰克是绝对不可能相信这种事的人。

He is the last person who we would want to come. 他是我们最不欢迎的人。

The last thing I wanted was to upset you.

我最不想让你难过。

Go to school? That's the last thing I want to do!

去上学？我绝不！（含义是我最不想做的事情就是上学。）

He's the last person I'd expect to be mixed up in something like this.

他是我最不希望卷入这种事情的人。

另外，要注意：the last+ explanation结论性的，权威性的（解释）：

Lu Hsun has given the last explanation to this problem in one of his essays．关于这个问题，鲁迅在他的一篇杂文中已经做了结论性的解释。

最后，再分享一个地道句型：

I would be the last to say that……我绝对不认为……

I would be the last to say that science has explained everything.

我绝对不认为科学已经解释了所有事情。