英語中有許多單詞形似,但意義卻截然不同。這些詞的存在讓不少人無奈,一不小心就掉入陷阱。
在外網上,老外總結了17組常見的容易混淆的詞。來看看有讓你頭疼不已的那一組嗎?
beside: 介詞,意為「緊挨著,在······旁邊」。
例句:
I sit beside John in class.
上課時我坐在約翰旁邊。
Could you get me that book? It's beside the lamp.
你能把那本書給我嗎?它就放在燈的旁邊。
besides: 副詞,意為「也」「同樣地」;做介詞時意為「除此之外」。
例句:
(adverb) He's responsible for sales, and a lot more besides.
(副詞)他負責銷售,以及其他許多事。
(preposition) Besides tennis, I play soccer and basketball.
(介詞)除了網球,我還喜歡足球和籃球。
clothes: 你穿的衣物,如牛仔褲、襯衫、上衣等。
例句:
Just a moment, let me change my clothes.
等一會兒,讓我先換個衣服。
Tommy, get your clothes on!
湯米,把你的衣服穿好!
cloths: 用來做清潔或其他用途的材料。
例句:
There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.
壁櫥裡有一些布。用它們來清潔廚房吧。
I have a few pieces of cloth that I use.
我有一些用過的布塊。
dead: 形容詞,意為「死亡的,無生命的」。
例句:
Unfortunately, our dog has been dead for a few months.
不幸的是,我們的狗已經去世幾個月了。
Don't touch that bird. It's dead.
別碰那隻鳥。它已經死了。
died: 動詞die的過去式和過去分詞形式。
例句:
His grandfather died two years ago.
他的祖父兩年前去世了。
A number of people have died in the accident.
許多人在這場意外中喪生。
experience: 名詞,意為某人經歷的某事;也可以用作不可數名詞,表示「經驗,通過完成某事而獲得的知識」。
例句:
(first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.
(第一種)他在德國的經歷相當悽慘。
(second meaning) I'm afraid I don't have much sales experience.
(第二種)恐怕我的銷售經驗不足。
experiment: 名詞,意為「為了得到結果而做的某事」,常在談論科學家及其研究時使用。
例句:
They did a number of experiments last week.
上周,他們做了許多實驗。
Don't worry it's just an experiment. I'm not going to keep my beard.
別擔心,只是個實驗而已。我不打算留鬍子。
felt: 動詞feel的過去式和過去分詞形式。
例句:
I felt better after I had a good dinner.
一頓豐盛的晚飯後,我感覺好多了。
He hasn't felt so well for a long time.
他很久都沒有感覺這麼好了。
fell: 動詞fall的過去式。
例句:
He fell from a tree and broke his leg.
他從樹上掉下來,摔傷了腿。
Unfortunately, I fell down and hurt myself.
不幸的是,我掉了下來,受了傷。
female: 女人或雌性動物。
例句:
The female of the species is very aggressive.
這種雌性生物極具攻擊力。
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.
這個「女或男」的問題問的是「你是女人還是男人」。
feminine: 形容詞,用來描述女性常有的特徵或行為方式。
例句:
He's an excellent boss with a feminine intuition.
他是一位優秀的老闆,有著女性的直覺。
The house was decorated in a very feminine manner.
這座房子的裝飾非常女性化。
its: 物主限定詞(形容詞性物主代詞),類似於my或your。
例句:
Its color is red.
它是紅色的。
The dog didn't eat all of its food.
這隻狗什麼都不吃。
it's: it is或it has的縮寫形式。
例句:
(it is) It's difficult to understand him.
他真是一個讓人讀不透的人。
(it has) It's been a long time since I had a beer.
我已經很久沒喝過啤酒了。
last: 形容詞,常表示「最後的」。
例句:
I took the last train to Memphis.
我乘上了去往孟斐斯的末班車。
This is the last test of the semester!
這是本學期最後一次測驗。
latest: 形容詞,意為「最近的」或「最新的」。
例句:
His latest book is excellent.
他的新書寫得非常棒。
Have you seen his latest painting?
你見過他最新的畫作嗎?
lay: 動詞,意為「放下」,過去式為laid,過去分詞為laid。
例句:
He laid his pencil down and listened to the teacher.
他放下手中的鉛筆,聽老師講課。
I usually lay my pies on the shelf to cool.
我常常把餡餅放在架子上,讓它變涼。
lie: 動詞,意為「躺下」,過去式為lay,過去分詞是lain。
例句:
The girl lay on the bed asleep.
那個女孩躺在床上睡著了。
At the moment, he's lying on the bed.
此刻,他正躺在床上。
lose: 動詞,意為「丟失」。
例句:
I lost my watch!
我把手錶弄丟了!
Have you ever lost anything valuable?
你有沒有弄丟過珍貴的東西?
loose: 形容詞,意義與「繃緊的」相反。
例句:
Your trousers are very loose!
你的褲子太鬆了!
I need to tighten this screw. It's loose.
我要把螺絲釘擰緊點,它太鬆了。
male:男人或雄性動物。
例句:
The male of the species is very lazy.
這種雄性生物非常懶惰。
The question 'female or male' means 'are you a woman or a man'.
這個「女或男」的問題問的是「你是女人還是男人」。
masculine: 形容詞,用來描述男性常有的特徵或行為方式。
例句:
She's a very masculine woman.
她是一個女漢子。
His opinions are just too masculine for me.
他的觀點對我來說太大男子主義了。
price: 名詞,你為某物付出的錢。
例句:
The price was very cheap.
價格非常便宜。
What's the price of this book?
這本書多少錢?
prize: 名詞,獎勵。
例句:
He won a prize as best actor.
他獲得了最佳男演員獎。
Have you ever won a prize in a competition?
你有沒有在比賽中得過獎?
principal: 形容詞,意為「最重要的」。
例句:
The principal reason for my decision was the money.
我之所以做這個決定,最重要的原因就是錢。
What are the principal irregular verbs?
有哪些重要的不規則動詞?
principle: 規則(常用於科學,但也涉及道德領域)。
例句:
It's the first principle of aerodynamics.
這是空氣動力學的第一準則。
He has very loose principles.
他的原則彈性很大。
quite: 副詞,意為「非常」或「相當」。
例句:
This test is quite difficult.
這次測驗非常難。
He was quite exhausted after the long journey.
長時間的旅行後,他疲憊不堪。
quiet: 形容詞,意思與「喧鬧的」「嘈雜的」相反。
例句:
Could you please be quiet?!
能請你安靜點嗎?
She's a very quiet girl.
她是一個非常安靜的女孩。
sensible: 形容詞,意為「有常識的」,即「不笨的」。
例句:
I wish you would be more sensible about things.
我希望,你遇事能夠更明智一點。
I'm afraid you aren't being very sensible.
恐怕你不夠明智。
sensitive: 形容詞,意為「敏感的」或「易受傷害的」。
例句:
You should be careful with David. He's very sensitive.
你跟大衛相處要注意些。他非常敏感。
Mary is a very sensitive woman.
瑪麗是一個極易受傷的女人。
shade: 在晴天隔絕太陽的蔭涼區。
例句:
You should sit in the shade for a while.
你應該到蔭涼處坐會兒。
It's too hot. I'm going to find some shade.
太熱了,我要找個地方乘涼。
shadow: 在晴天,由某物製造出的陰影區。
例句:
That tree casts a large shadow.
這棵樹投下一大片陰影。
Have you ever noticed your shadow getting longer as it gets later in the day?
你注意到影子會隨著天色越晚而拉長嗎?
some time: 指的是未來一個不確定的時間。
例句:
Let's meet for coffee some time.
找個時間一起喝杯咖啡吧。
I don't know when I'll do it - but I will do it some time.
我不知道什麼時候會去做——但我會在某個時候去做的。
sometimes: 頻率副詞,意為「偶爾」。
例句:
He sometimes works late.
他有時候會工作到很晚。
Sometimes, I like eating Chinese food.
有時我喜歡吃中國菜。
除了上述的單詞,你還遇到過哪些易混詞呢?歡迎留言告訴我們哦~
編輯:然少