3. a lot of vs. plenty of vs. a large number of vs. a large amount of vs. a great/good deal of
4. a series of vs. a spate of
5. abandon vs. desert vs. forsake
6. abbreviation vs. acronym vs. contraction
7. abhorrent vs. aberrant
8. abide vs. conform vs. comply
9. abjure vs. adjure
10. able to vs. capable of
11. abnormal vs. subnormal
12. about to vs. going to vs. be to V
13. about vs. on
14. above vs. over
15. abroad vs. aboard
16. absent oneself vs. be absent from vs. away
17. abstemious vs. abstinent
18. abstractly vs. abstractedly
19. accent vs. intonation
20. accept vs. receive
21. accident vs. incident vs. event vs. incidence
22. acclamation vs. acclimation
23. accurate vs. exact
24. acid vs. sour
25. action vs. step vs. measure
26. acuity vs. acumen
27. adjacent vs. adjoining
28. adopt vs. adapt vs. adept
29. adopted vs. adoptive
30. advantage vs. profit vs. benefit
31. accessible vs. assessable
32. accord vs. accordance
33. according to vs. according as vs. in one’s opinion vs. based on
34. acetic vs. ascetic
35. acrobatic vs. aerobic
36. across vs. through vs. cross vs. thru
37. act vs. scene
38. acting vs. active
39. AD vs. BC
40. ad hoc vs. ad-lib
41. adaptation vs. acclimation
42. admit vs. concede vs. confess
43. advance vs. advanced vs. advancing
44. advance vs. advancement
45. advantage vs. strong point
46. adventure vs. venture
47. adverse vs. averse
48. advert vs. avert
49. advertisement vs. advertising vs. commercial vs. propaganda
50. advice vs. advise vs. suggestion
51. affect vs. effect vs. effects
52. affect vs. influence
53. affecting vs. affected
54. affection vs. affectation
55. afraid of vs. afraid to
56. after vs. afterwards
57. ago vs. before
58. agree vs. agree with vs. agree on vs. agree to vs. accede
59. aid vs. abet
60. aide vs. assistant vs. aid
61. aim vs. goal vs. purpose vs. destination
62. air vs. airs
63. air-conditioner vs. air-conditioning
64. airplane vs. aeroplane vs. aircraft
65. alarm vs. alert
66. alcohol vs. liquor vs. spirit vs. wine vs. beer vs. champagne
67. alike vs. like
68. all vs. whole
69. all right vs. alright
70. all together vs. altogether
71. alleviate vs. allay vs. relieve
72. alligator vs. crocodile
73. allow of vs. allow for
74. almost vs. nearly
75. alone vs. lonely vs. along vs. lonesome vs. on ones own
76. also vs. as well vs. too
77. alter vs. altar
78. alteration vs. altercation
79. alternate(ly) vs. alternative(ly)
80. alumna vs. alumnus vs. alma mater
81. amass vs. accumulate
82. amber vs. ember
83. ambiguous vs. equivocal vs. ambivalent
84. amble vs. ample vs. sufficient
85. amend vs. emend
86. American English vs. British English
87. amiable vs. amicable
88. amoral vs. immoral
89. amplify vs. magnify
90. amuse vs. bemuse
91. an only child vs. the only child
92. analyze vs. assay
93. announce vs. declare
94. another vs. other vs. others vs. the other vs. the others
95. answer vs. answer for vs. answer to
96. antigen vs. antibody
97. anxious about vs. anxious for vs. anxious to
98. any vs. some
99. any longer vs. no longer
100. any more vs. anymore
……等等,共1300組
序
前言
筆者於日常生活中,不論是新聞媒體、飯店、車站、捷運上、甚至是美術館,常見誤用英文字詞,如此不僅有傷專業形象,在外國人眼中不免暗自竊笑,嚴重點恐會引起軒然大波,諸如2014年食用油風暴,澳洲駐台辦事處還正式發出官方聲明:「For Industry Use (工產業用)」,而不是翻譯為「工業用」(Industrial Use),正確使用字詞的重要性可見一斑。除此之外,筆者本身為英文教師,多年的教學經驗,更深刻體會易混淆的英文字詞,對學習者造成相當大的困擾。更重要的是,訪間同類型書籍並不多,且往往只列200-300則字詞比較,有感於此,筆者花了近兩年時間編寫本書,以期幫助英文學習者。本書雖為字典,但其實書內的每一則都值得讀者好好細讀一番。
本書共計收集1,300則,由A至Z按字母順序排序,針對容易搞混之英文相似字,包含字義上、字形上容易混淆之單字及片語,簡單用中文說明相異處後,輔以淺顯易懂的英文例句加深讀者印象,例如: Xmas vs. X’mas,一般而言,國人常會將Xmas誤寫成X’mas;又如: die of vs. die from 中文翻譯皆為「死於……」,但事實上of及from後所加的原因並不相同。另外,部分字詞又進一步增列進階學習,盼能讓讀者加深加廣學習。