這些商務(wù)英語詞匯一定不能用錯(cuò)

Using the right word can matter. Using the wrong word can matter even more. I once lost a potential gig because I used "who" instead of "whom" in a proposal letter.

選詞正確至關(guān)重要，然而用錯(cuò)了詞，就更不能忽視了。筆者曾經(jīng)錯(cuò)失了一個(gè)潛在的演出機(jī)會(huì)，原因是我在提案里把 “whom”誤用成 “who”了。

Even just one incorrectly used word-especially when you're trying to make a great impression-can ruin everything. Is that unfair? Yes... but it does happen.

即使只是單單一個(gè)誤用的詞語——尤其當(dāng)你正盡力給他人留下良好印象的時(shí)候——也會(huì)毀了所有的東西。這聽起來不是很公平對(duì)嗎?是的，但事實(shí)就是這樣。

To make sure that doesn't happen to you, I've collected some of the most common incorrectly used words from other posts into one epic post.

為了避免同類的事情發(fā)生在大家的身上，筆者在別的文章里收集了一些最常見的誤用詞匯，整理到這里來了。

Here we go.

接下來請(qǐng)看。

Adverse and averse

Adverse means harmful or unfavorable: "Adverse market conditions caused the IPO to be poorly subscribed." Averse refers to feelings of dislike or opposition: "I was averse to paying $18 a share for a company that generates no revenue."

adverse意為有害的或不順利的：“不利市場條件導(dǎo)致初次公開募股情況不容樂觀。”averse意為厭惡或敵對(duì)的情感：“我對(duì)支付每股18美元公司投資，卻不能得到任何利潤的行為表示反感。

But, hey, feel free to have an aversion to adverse conditions.

恩，不要介意對(duì)不利的條件感到反感。

Advise and advice

Aside from the two words being pronounced differently (the s in advise sounds like az), advise is a verb while advice is a noun. Advice is what you give (whether or not the recipient is interested in that gift is a different issue altogether) when you advise someone.

除了這兩個(gè)單詞的發(fā)音不同(advise中的s發(fā)起來類似az)，advise是動(dòng)詞，而advice是名詞。Advice就是你給別人 “advise” 的忠告(至于接收者是否感興趣則另當(dāng)別論)。

So "Thank you for the advise" is incorrect, while "I advise you not to bore me with your advice in the future" is correct if pretentious.[en]

所以 “Thank you for the advise” 是不對(duì)的，而當(dāng)你在顯擺“I advise you not to bore me with your advice in the future”的用法則是正確的。

[en]Affect and effect

Verbs first. Affect means to influence: "Impatient investors affected our roll-out date."Effect means to accomplish something: "The board effected a sweeping policy change."

先說動(dòng)詞吧。Affect意為制造影響：“缺乏耐心的發(fā)明家影響了我們的初次展出的日期。”effect意為達(dá)到某種目的：“董事會(huì)達(dá)到了全面改革的目的。”

How you use effect or affect can be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them and can effect changes by directly implementing them. Bottom line, use effect if you're making it happen, and affect if you're having an impact on something that someone else is trying to make happen.

使用effect和affect會(huì)給人造成困惑。例如，董事會(huì)能通過給它制造影響而affect(影響)改革，以及為了effect(達(dá)到)改革的目的而直接實(shí)施該措施。“底線是，如果是你促成事件發(fā)生就用effect,在你對(duì)其他人促成的事件中產(chǎn)生影響時(shí)用affect”

As for nouns, effect is almost always correct: "Once he was fired he was given 20 minutes to gather his personal effects." Affect refers to an emotional state, so unless you're a psychologist you probably have little reason to use it.

而作名詞用的時(shí)候，effect幾乎怎么用都不會(huì)錯(cuò)：“有一次他被解雇了，然后可以用20分鐘收拾自己的個(gè)人物品。”affect指代情感狀態(tài)，所以如果你不是心理學(xué)家，你也很少有機(jī)會(huì)用到這個(gè)詞。

Aggressive and enthusiastic

Aggressive is a very popular business adjective: aggressive sales force, aggressive revenue projections, aggressive product rollout. But unfortunately, aggressive means ready to attack, or pursuing aims forcefully, possibly unduly so.

aggressive是一個(gè)很常用的商務(wù)形容詞：aggressive sales force(積極的銷售團(tuán)隊(duì))，aggressive revenue projections(積極的收入預(yù)測)aggressive product rollout(積極的產(chǎn)品展示)。不過，aggressive也有蓄勢攻擊，或激烈地達(dá)到目的，一般帶有過分的意味。

Of course, most people have seen aggressive used that way for so long they don't think of it negatively; to them it just means hard-charging, results-oriented, driven, etc., none of which are bad things.

當(dāng)然，很多人早已熟悉aggressive的以上用法，并不會(huì)把它認(rèn)為是負(fù)面的詞語，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)詞語的意思只是強(qiáng)硬的，結(jié)果導(dǎo)向的，奮發(fā)圖強(qiáng)的，等等，沒有一個(gè)是負(fù)面的意思。

But some people may not see it that way. So consider using words like enthusiastic,eager, committed, dedicated, or even passionate.

不過有些人不卻不會(huì)這么認(rèn)為。所以可以考慮使用諸如enthusiastic(熱情的)，eager(渴望的)，committed(堅(jiān)定的)，dedicated(專注的)，或者甚至是passionate(激情的)。

Award and reward

An award is a prize. Musicians win Grammy Awards. Car companies win J.D. Power awards. Employees win Employee of the Month awards. Think of an award as the result of a contest or competition.

award是一個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。音樂家得的獎(jiǎng)是格萊美獎(jiǎng);汽車公司可以得J.D. Power獎(jiǎng);雇員得的是月度最佳員工獎(jiǎng)。所以award可以視為某個(gè)競賽或比賽的獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。

A reward is something given in return for effort, achievement, hard work, merit, etc. A sales commission is a reward. A bonus is a reward. A free trip for landing the highest number of new customers is a reward.

reward就是對(duì)努力，成就，辛勤工作，功績等作出的犒賞。銷售傭金是reward，補(bǔ)貼是reward。最佳業(yè)務(wù)員的免費(fèi)旅行也是reward。

Be happy when your employees win industry or civic awards, and reward them for the hard work and sacrifices they make to help your business grow.

所以當(dāng)你的員工獲得行業(yè)獎(jiǎng)或公民獎(jiǎng)(award)的時(shí)候應(yīng)該感到高興，然后就犒賞(reward)他們?yōu)楣緲I(yè)績所付出的辛勤工作。

Between and among

Use between when you name separate and individual items. Take "The team will decide between Mary, Marcia, and Steve when we fill the open customer service position." Mary, Marcia, and Steve are separate and distinct, so between is correct.

當(dāng)你表示不同的或單獨(dú)的名目時(shí)，使用between。比如“團(tuán)隊(duì)將會(huì)在Mary, Marcia和Steve之間(between)選出擔(dān)任客戶服務(wù)經(jīng)理的人員。Mary, Marcia和Steve都是不同的個(gè)體，所以使用between是正確的。

Use among when there are three or more items but they are not named separately. Like, "The team will decide among a number of candidates when we fill the open customer service position." Who are the candidates? You haven't named them separately, so among is correct.

如果存在三個(gè)或以上的，但不是單獨(dú)的個(gè)體時(shí)，使用among。例如：“團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)在一些申請(qǐng)者里挑選一位員工填補(bǔ)客戶服務(wù)經(jīng)理的空缺。”那么哪些人是申請(qǐng)人呢?這里并沒有獨(dú)自提出來，所以可以使用among。

And we're assuming there are more than two candidates; otherwise you'd say between. If there are two candidates you could say, "I just can't decide between them."

并且這里指的是多于兩位申請(qǐng)者，否則就應(yīng)該用between了。如果申請(qǐng)者是兩位，你就該說“我不能在他們之間(between)做決定。”

Bring and take

Both have to do with objects you move or carry. The difference is in the point of reference: You bring things here and you take them there. You ask people to bring something to you, and you ask people to take something to someone or somewhere else.

兩個(gè)詞都有移動(dòng)或攜帶物品的意思。區(qū)別就在于：你把東西帶到這里來(bring)，然后把它們拿到那里去(take)。你請(qǐng)求別人帶點(diǎn)東西來給你(bring)，然后你請(qǐng)求別人拿點(diǎn)東西給某人或帶去某個(gè)地方(take)。

"Can you bring an appetizer to John's party"? Nope.

能說“Can you bring an appetize to John’s party?”不能。

Compliment and complement

Compliment means to say something nice. Complement means added to, enhanced, improved, completed, or brought close to perfection.

compliment的意思是說善意的話。Complement的意思是添加到的，增強(qiáng)的，改善的，完成的，或者使其達(dá)到完美的物品。

I can compliment your staff and their service, but if you have no current openings you have a full complement of staff. Or your new app may complement your website.

我贊賞(compliment)你的員工和他們的服務(wù)，如果你當(dāng)前沒有職位空缺，那么你的員工職位就被填滿了(complement)。或你的新手機(jī)應(yīng)用能填滿你的個(gè)人主頁。

For which I may decide to compliment you.

如果你懂得這么使用，我就會(huì)稱贊你。

Continuously and continually

Both words come from the root continue, but they mean very different things. Continuously means never ending. Continual means whatever you're referring to stops and starts.

兩個(gè)詞的詞根都是continue，但是兩個(gè)詞語的意思截然不同。Continuously意為連續(xù)不斷的。Continual意為你所指示的東西一直在停止和結(jié)束的循環(huán)發(fā)生。

Criterion and criteria

A criterion is a principle or standard. If you have more than one criterion, those are referred to as criteria.

critetion指的是原則或標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。如果你的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)多于一個(gè)，那么它們就成為criteria。

Discreet and discrete

Discreet means careful, cautious, showing good judgment: "We made discreet inquiries to determine whether the founder was interested in selling her company."

discreet意為小心謹(jǐn)慎的，判斷精明的： “We made discreet inquiries to determine whether the founder was interested in selling her company.”

Discrete means individual, separate, or distinct: "We analyzed data from a number of discrete market segments to determine overall pricing levels." And if you get confused, remember: You don't use "discretion" to work through sensitive issues; you exercise discretion.

discrete意為個(gè)人的，單獨(dú)的，或截然不同的：“We analyzed data from a number of discrete market segments to determine overall pricing levels.”如果你想表達(dá)敏感的話題，請(qǐng)不要使用discretion(個(gè)人的)，因?yàn)槟憔驮诓顒e對(duì)待(exercise discretion)。

Elicit and illicit

Elicit means to draw out or coax. Think of elicit as the mildest form of extract.

elicit意為抽出或引出。把elicit視為extract(提取)的最溫和的表達(dá)方法。

Illicit means illegal or unlawful, and while I suppose you could elicit a response at gunpoint, you probably shouldn't.

illicit意為非法的或違法的，所以即使我猜測你在槍口脅迫下給出回應(yīng)，但你不應(yīng)該這么做。

Everyday and every day

Every day means, yep, every day - each and every day. If you ate a bagel for breakfast each day this week, you had a bagel every day.

every day的意思，是的，就是每天。每，一，天。如果你一周七天早餐都吃甜甜圈，那么你就是每天(every day)都吃甜甜圈。

Everyday means commonplace or normal. Decide to wear your "everyday shoes" and that means you've chosen to wear the shoes you normally wear.

everyday意為習(xí)慣的或平常的。覺得穿那雙“everyday shoes”就是你選擇平常穿的鞋子。

Evoke and invoke

To evoke is to call to mind; an unusual smell might evoke a long-lost memory. To invoke is to call upon something: help, aid, or maybe a higher power.

evoke意為喚起心理認(rèn)同，比如，一種不尋常的氣味能喚起一段早已遺忘的記憶。而invoke意為請(qǐng)求某種東西：幫助，援助，或更高層次的權(quán)力。

Farther and further

Farther involves a physical distance: "Florida is farther from New York than Tennessee." Further involves a figurative distance: "We can take our business plan no further."

farther指的是物理距離：“弗羅里達(dá)相距紐約的距離比田納西更遠(yuǎn)(farther)。”further指的是比喻的距離：“我們不能再進(jìn)一步(further)實(shí)施我們的商務(wù)計(jì)劃。”

Fewer and less

Use fewer when referring to items you can count, like "fewer hours" or "fewer dollars."

Use "less" when referring to items you can't count, like "less time" or "less money."

指代可數(shù)的物品時(shí)可以使用fewer，比如fewer hours, fewer dollar。如果指代的東西是不可數(shù)的，則使用less，比如 less time, less money.