喜樂美語

You put two things side by side and carry one of them out in front — that front one is the one you would rather have.

可以想成：兩樣東西擺在你面前，你把其中一個往前挪、擺到前頭——那個被你放在前面的，就是你比較想要的。prefer 的動作核心，比較像「把某個選項放在別的前面」。

From the word’s history

From Latin praeferre = prae- (before) + ferre (to carry) — literally to carry before, to set in front. Liking one thing more is putting it in front of the rest; and the old legal prefer a charge is literally laying it before a court.

來自拉丁文 praeferre：prae-（在前）＋ ferre（帶、拿），字面就是「拿到前面、擺在前頭」。比較喜歡某樣東西，就是把它擺到別的前面；而法律上的「提出控告」，字面也是把案子「呈到」法庭面前。

etymonline.com/word/prefer (Latin praeferre = prae- + ferre)

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

同家族的字

過去式 preferred過去分詞 preferred-ing preferring三單 prefers

意思相近

like betterbring chargesfavourpress chargesfavoraccusewould ratherchoosewishwould likewould rather you didn'tplease don't

意思相反

drop charges

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。

preferverb[pɹɪˈfɝ]

  • 1

    To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.

    • I prefer tea to coffee.
    • I'd prefer it if you didn't do it.
  • 2

    datedTo advance, promote (someone or something).

    • So ſhall you haue a ſhorter iourney to your deſires, by the meanes I ſhall then haue to preferre them. And the impediment moſt profitably remoued, without the which there were no expectation of our proſperitie.
    • And the maiden pleaſed him, and ſhe obtained kindneſſe of him,[…], and hee preferred her and her maids, vnto the beſt place of the houſe of the women.
  • 3

    To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").

    • […], let him go, And preſently preferre his ſuite to Cæſar.
    • At length the Maroons, who were delighted to have him with them, became diſ­con­tent­ed with his abſence, and for ſeveral years, during the ſeſſions of the Houſe of Aſſembly, preferred repeated complaints againſt him.
  • 4

    obsoleteTo put forward for acceptance; to introduce, recommend (to).

    • one Master David Hume, who making some use of his purse, gave him Letters to his friends in Scotland to preferre him to King Iames.
    • Such were the arguments which my will boldly preferred to my conscience, as coin which ought to be current; and which conscience, like a grumbling shopkeeper, was contented to accept,[…].

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。