词典词条 · 问答

doubt/suspect

核心问题

doubtsuspect 都作“怀疑”解。我总是搞不清它们之间的差别。《英语常用同义词详解》(世界图书出版公司, p. 119) 对它们作了如下的辨析:“如指事物, doubt 是疑其无, suspect 是疑其有。”

照此说法, suspect evidence 应是指“认为有证据”, suspect one's motives 应是指“认为有动机”。是这样吗?

词典解答

为了搞清 doubtsuspect 之间的语义差别,最好是先搞清汉语“怀疑”的真实含义。汉语的“怀疑”有两个对立的含义:A. “不大相信”,例如“他的话叫人怀疑”。B. “猜想”“认为”,例如“我怀疑他是个骗子”。

英语的 doubt 只用于上面的第一种含义(不大相信), 而 suspect 可用于上面的两种含义。请对比下列实例:

  1. Do you doubt my word? 你怀疑我的话吗?(你以为我在说谎吗?)

  2. I doubt if he will come. 我怀疑他会来(我看他不一定来了)。

  3. I doubt that she will get the job. (=I don't think she will.) 我怀疑(不大相信)她会得到那个职位。

  4. I suspect his motives. (第一种含义: If you suspect something, you doubt that it can be trusted or that it is reliable.) 我怀疑他的动机。

  5. I suspect the truth of her statement. (第一种含义) 我对她那番话的真实性表示怀疑。(我不大相信她的话是真的。)

  6. I suspect it to be a lie. (第二种含义: If you suspect something, you think that it is likely or is probably true.) 我怀疑那是谎言(我认为那是谎言)。

  7. John wasn't at college today—I suspect that he's ill. (第二种含义) 约翰今天没上课——我猜他是病了。

  8. We suspect they'll be a little late. (第二种含义) 我们认为他们会晚来一会儿。指出下面译文中的错误并改正过来:

No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. (NCE, 3, p. 78)

[原译]没有人怀疑,农场中还可能有一个未露过面的人。情况也确实如此。(《新概念英语》,朗文出版公司、世界图书出版公司版,p.135)

练习题

请做下面的英语试题:

She ____ that it was a trick to get her involved in the matter, for she knew them too well. A. doubted B. suspected C. conceived D. convinced

来源:英语常见问题解答大词典-3.md · 第 27112747 行 · 原文哈希 67cbe1ad94