2013年3月29日 星期五

學生易混淆字詞:Decrease、Reduce、Decline


知道這裡有不少讀者都是DSE考試的考生,所以今日決定講講幾個學生常混淆的三個字,分別為decreasedeclinereduce


很多學生「學憧」了新的英文生字後,往往只會隨便查一查中文譯法就完工,疏忽了不同字詞的用法和詳細解釋。正因如此,很多學生作文時經常錯漏百出,寫來寫去也無法進步。留意:少於一半考生能夠在英文科取得及格分數(level 3)或以上;及格與「肥佬」之間,就可能在於字詞運用是否正確、恰當



針對這個死因,以下會先講講三個字的相似及相異的地方:

Part One: Decrease
Decrease是動詞,可以是及物動詞(transitive verb),也可以是不及物動詞(intransitive verb)兩者的意思及用法是有分別的

Example One: The number of people visiting the park has decreased significantly. (adapted from Macmillan Dictionary)

Example Two: The food price decreased yesterday.

上面兩個例子中的decrease都解作「下降」,是不及物動詞;大家可以見到decrease後面沒有跟著受詞(object)。很多時,這裡的decrease是與數字有關,包括價格、人口、次數等等。

Example Three: The new system decreases the risk to public health. (adapted from Macmillan Dictionary)

例三中的decrease解作「減低」,是及物動詞;留意decrease後面是跟著受詞。

現在,學生可以試一試以下的練習:
Exercise One:
以下的decrease解作甚麼﹖(下降 減低) 答案見文章結尾。

1. Population decreased because of famine.

2. Prices are expected to decrease by less than 1 per cent this year. (adapted from Macmillan Dictionary)

3. The population of the area has decreased radically. (adapted from Oxford Dictionary)

4. The government wants to decrease population growth. (adapted from Longman Dictionary)


Part Two: Reduce
Reduce這個字的最常用法是用作及物動詞,解作「減低」;我們可以將例三改寫成例四:

Example Four: The new system reduces the risk to public health.

大家可以再看看更多例句:

Example Five: The helmet law should reduce injuries in motorcycle accidents. (adapted from Longman Dictionary)

Example Six: The governor announced a new plan to reduce crime. (adapted from Longman Dictionary)

如果想學更多reduce的用法,可以翻查Macmillan DictionaryLongman Dictionary(Longman Dictionary有介紹reduce在甚麼時候是不及物動詞。)

學生可以再嘗試做一題練習:
Exercise Two:
早前看到有學生的作文用錯了reduce一字,不知道大家能否看得出問題在哪裡﹖答案見下。
In recent years, the populations of sharks are reducing rapidly.


Part Three: Decline
decline是用作decrease的同義詞時,一定是不及物動詞,亦只能解作「下降」:

Example Seven: Spending on information technology has declined. (adapted from Longman Dictionary)

例句七中的decline是指「數量下降」。

Example Eight: In many cases living standards are declining. (adapted from Macmillan Dictionary)

例句八中的decline則是指「質量下降」,亦即是「更差(become worse)

Reduce的其他用法與decrease的關係不大,讀者可以自行參考Macmillan DictionaryLongman Dictionary的解說。


Part Four: Comparison and Contrast
這個列表概括了decreasereducedecline三個字的性質、解釋和用法:

Decrease
Reduce
Decline
Intransitive Verb
(Meaning)
Yes
下降 (常用於數字)
No
Yes
下降、更差 (可用於數量及質量等)
Transitive Verb
(Meaning)
Yes
減低
Yes
減低
No

再次提醒DSE考生:少於一半考生能夠在英文科取得及格分數(level 3)或以上,所以要努力改善英文,除了要打好基本功(文法)之外,也需要多學生字,才可以穩奪佳績。

答案
Exercise One: 1. 下降; 2. 下降; 3. 下降; 4. 減低.
Exercise Two: 句子中的reducing並非解作「下降」,而且它應該是及物動詞,所以正確寫法是decreasing或declining。(rapidly是副詞,不是受詞,所以"...reducing rapidly."是錯了文法的。)


Picture Source:
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

4 則留言:

匿名 提到...

所以"...reducing rapidly."是錯了文法的。)

The number of people visiting the park has decreased significantly

同樣句尾都用副詞, 但+ing既後就唔加得?

Autodidact 提到...

重點不是在於有ing還是無ing,而是transitive & intransitive verbs的分別。請細閱reduce和decrease的兩部分。

匿名 提到...

明白了
所以改正是: In recent years, the populations of sharks are reduced rapidly.

八里人 提到...

這BLOG好熟悉
好像是我學到Decline時來看過一遍
現在學到reduce又來了一遍XD