there was nothing to do but do sth。除了做……之外，沒有其它事可以做。例如：There was nothing much to do in the evening but read. 晚上除了讀書以外無事可做。

There was nothing to do/be done

There was nothing to do.沒有什么可做的.

There was nothing to be done.沒有什么要去完成的.

這個區別就在于后面的 to do 和 to be done.

to do 強調的是還沒有做的事情,前面加上了nothing 就是說沒有還沒有做的事情,于是整個句子翻譯下來就是：“沒什么事情可做的,無所事事”.

to be done 強調的是想完成卻還沒完成,前面加上了 nothing 就是說沒有要去完成的,于是整個句子翻譯下來就是：“沒有什么要去完成的”.

there was nothing

什么都沒有

The doctor said there was nothing wrong with me.

醫生說我什么毛病也沒有。

She shook it to make sure there was nothing inside.

她把它晃了晃，以確定里面沒有東西。

There was nothing they could do, outside of hoping things would get better.

除了盼望情況好轉，他們無能為力。

The doctor reassured him that there was nothing seriously wrong.

醫生安慰他說，沒什么嚴重的病。

There was nothing else for it but to resign.

除了辭職，沒有別的辦法。