英語中最易混淆的17組詞語

Here are some of the most commonly confused English word pairs. They have been chosen especially for ESL learners.

下面是最為常見的易混淆的英語片語，它們是專為那些將英語作為第二語言的學習者挑選出來的。

beside: preposition meaning 'next to', 'at the side of'

介詞，意為「緊挨著」「在······旁邊」。

Examples:

例子

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: adverb meaning 'also', 'as well'; preposition meaning 'in addition to'

副詞，意為「也」「同樣地」；做介詞時意為「除此之外」。

Examples:

例子：

(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: something you wear - jeans, shirts, blouses, etc.

你穿的衣物，如牛仔褲、襯衫、上衣等。

Examples:

例子：

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: pieces of material used for cleaning or other purposes.

用來做清潔或其他用途的材料。

Examples:

例子：

There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.

壁櫥里有一些布。用它們來清潔廚房吧。

I have a few pieces of cloth that I use.

我有一些用過的布快。

dead: adjective meaning 'not alive'

形容詞，意為「無生命的」

Examples:

例子：

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: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to die'

動詞die的過去式和過去分詞形式。

Examples:

例子：

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: noun meaning something that a person lives through.

名詞，意為某人經歷的某事。

- also used as an uncountable noun meaning 'knowledge gained by doing something'

也可以用作不可數名詞，表示「通過完成某事而獲得的知識」。

Examples:

例子：

(first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.

（第一種）他在德國的經歷相當凄慘。

(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: noun meaning something that you do to see the result. Often used when speaking about scientists and their studies.

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。

Examples:

例子：

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: past tense and past participle of the verb 'to feel'

動詞feel的過去式和過去分詞形式。

Examples:

例子：

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 this well for a long time.

他很久都沒有感覺這麼好了。

fell: past tense of the verb 'to fall'

動詞fall的過去式。

Examples:

例子：

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: the sex of a woman or animal

女人或雌性動物。

Examples:

例子：

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: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a woman

形容詞，用來描述女性常有的特徵或行為方式。

Examples:

例子：

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: possessive determiner similar to 'my' or 'your'

物主限定詞，類似於my或your。

Examples:

例子：

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: Short form of 'it is' or 'it has'

it is或it has的縮寫形式。

Examples:

例子：

(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: adjective usually meaning 'final'

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: adjective meaning 'most recent' or 'new'

形容詞，意為「最近的」或「最新的」。

Examples:

例子：

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: verb meaning 'to put down flat' - past tense - laid, past participle – laid

動詞，意為「放下」，過去式為laid，過去分詞為laid。

Examples:

例子：

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: verb meaning 'to be down' - past tense -lay , past participle – lain

動詞，意為「躺下」，過去式為lay，過去分詞是lain。

Examples:

例子

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: verb meaning 'to misplace'

動詞，意為「丟失」。

Examples:

例子：

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: adjective meaning the opposite of 'tight'

形容詞，意義與「繃緊的」相反。

Examples:

例子：

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: the sex of a man or animal

男人或雄性動物。

Examples:

例子：

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: adjective describing a quality or type of behaviour that is considered typical for a man.

形容詞，用來描述男性常有的特徵或行為方式。

Examples:

例子：

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: noun - what you pay for something.

名詞——你為某物付出的錢

Examples:

例子：

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: noun - an award

名詞——獎勵。

Examples:

例子：

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: adjective meaning 'the most important'

形容詞，意為「最重要的」。

Examples:

例子：

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: a rule (usually in science but also concerning morals)

規則（常用於科學，但也涉及道德領域）

Examples:

例子：

It's the first principle of aerodynamics.

這是氣體力學的第一準則。

He has very loose principles.

他的原則彈性很大。

quite: adverb of degree meaning 'very' or 'rather'

副詞，意為「非常」或「相當」。

Examples:

例子：

This test is quite difficult.

這次測驗非常難。

He was quite exhausted after the long journey.

長時間的旅行后，他疲憊不堪。

quiet: adjective meaning the opposite of loud or noisy

形容詞，意思與「喧鬧的」「嘈雜的」相反。

Examples:

例子：

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: adjective meaning 'having common sense' i.e. 'not stupid'

形容詞，意為「有常識的」，即「不笨的」。

Examples:

例子：

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: adjective meaning 'to feel very deeply' or 'to hurt easily'.

形容詞，意為「敏感的」或「易受傷害的」。

Examples:

例子：

You should be careful with David. He's very sensitive.

你要小心大衛。他非常敏感。

Mary is a very sensitive woman.

瑪麗是一個極易受傷的女人。

shade: protection from the sun, a dark area outside on a sunny day.

在晴天隔絕太陽的蔭涼區。

Examples:

例子：

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: the dark area created by something else on a sunny day.

在晴天，由某物製造出的陰影區。

Examples:

例子：

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？

17.some time / sometimes

some time: refers to an indefinite time in the future

指的是未來一個不確定的時間。

Examples:

例子：

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: adverb of frequency meaning 'occasionally'

頻率副詞，意為「偶爾」。

Examples:

例子：

He sometimes works late.

他有時候會工作到很晚。

Sometimes, I like eating Chinese food.

有時我喜歡吃菜。