課本中不會(huì)教你的[R]575　reduce，diminish，lower，lessen和decrease

575　reduce，diminish，lower，lessen和decrease

① reduce常用作及物動(dòng)詞，意為“減少，降低，使處于”，在表示“減少”這層意思上，有l(wèi)ower的含義。結(jié)構(gòu)為：

reduce sth.

reduce sth. to…把……減少到，使處于……狀態(tài)

be reduced to

They are reducing wages. 他們?cè)跍p少工資。

She reduced the price of the coat to 50 dollars. 她把那件大衣的價(jià)格減為50美元。

For some time he was reduced to begging. 有一段時(shí)間他淪為乞丐。

The hotel was reduced to ashes. 那家旅館被燒成了灰燼。

② reduce還可用作不及物動(dòng)詞，表示“減肥”。

He is trying to reduce. 他正在減肥。

She has been reducing for half a year. 她減肥已經(jīng)半年了。

③ 在表示減少，強(qiáng)調(diào)減少結(jié)果上，diminish更確切。

The drought diminishes the supplies of vegetables. 旱災(zāi)減少了蔬菜供應(yīng)。

The illness diminished his strength. 疾病使他喪失了不少體力。

④ lower表示下降，與bring down差不多。

lower the prices 降低價(jià)格

lower one's voice 放低聲音

⑤ lessen表示減少，減輕，不用具體數(shù)目表示；decrease可以用具體數(shù)目表示，但往往強(qiáng)調(diào)變小的過程，漸變的經(jīng)過。

His fever has lessened. It has decreased from 38℃ to 37℃. 他的燒退了，體溫已從38℃降到了37℃。