Picture two things placed side by side so the gap between them shows: they are not the same. That gap is the whole verb. When the two things are people, the gap is between their opinions — which is why two of English's most useful polite disagreements are built from this one word.

可以想成:兩樣東西並排放著,中間那道差距就露出來了——它們不一樣。這道差距就是這個動詞的全部。當並排的是兩個人,差的就是想法;也正因為如此,英文裡兩句很好用的客氣異議都是用這個字組起來的。要注意它是不及物動詞,後面接介系詞(from、in、about),不會說 differ something。

Two branches

兩者之間有差距

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be different · verb · B1

to not be the same as something else in some way.

不同;有差異

把分歧好好收起來

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agree to differ · verb · B2

to stop arguing and accept that you and the other person will never agree.

各持己見;同意保留不同看法

原始詞典資料4 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,摘錄並精簡格式,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

differverb詞源 1/ˈdɪfə/

  • 1

    Not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.

    • When we look to the individuals of the same variety or sub-variety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which strikes us, is, that they generally differ much more from each other, than do the individuals of any one species or variety in a state of nature.
    • These shoes only differ from those ones in having slightly longer laces.
  • 2

    Not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.

    • The numbers 3 and 21 differ by 18.
  • 3

    Not to have the same traits or characteristics; to be unalike or distinct.

    • May 11, 1827, George Canning, Changes in the Administration I differ from the honourable baronet on both these subjects
    • Historical interpretation has differed over the role played by the king of Denmark and Norway in the impignoration of the islands.

differnoun詞源 2/ˈdɪfə/

  • 1

    computingengineeringmathematicsA program that diffs, a diff.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary,已精簡格式;依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用,改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。