我弄不清 sensual 与 sensuous 有何区别, 如, sensual music 与 sensuous music; sensual pleasure 与 sensuous pleasure; sensual man, sensuous man. The Oxford Duden German Dictionary 将 sensual 和 sensuous 不加区分地译作德语 sinnlich(感官的)。
sensual 与 sensuous 虽然都与 senses(感官)有关,但前者主要是指肉体上的,而非精神上的,有时含有贬义。例如:
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the sensual delight in a hot bath after hard work (WBD) 干完累活以后洗个热水澡这种感官上的快乐
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The light was amber-brown in vast, dark chambers shuttered from young light, where, in great walnut beds, the glorious women stirred in sensual warmth their lavish limbs. (RWRT) 百页窗挡住了晨光，因此宽敞、昏暗的卧室里，光线朦胧，卧室中几张胡桃木大床上，几个妖艳的女人在肉感的温暖中微微动了动丰满的四肢。
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sensual music to which veiled women danced(Cassell's) 蒙面女人跳舞时用的性感音乐
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an extravagantly sensual woman... 一个放肆的性感女人……
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plump sensual lips 丰满性感的嘴唇
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a sensual woman. 一个性感的女人
sensuous 永远是个褒义词,它涉及到由于对美好事物的鉴赏而产生的感官或感情上的享乐。例如:
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She derives sensuous delight from traditional church music. (WBD) 她从传统教堂音乐中得到感官欢乐。
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Sculpture is a sensuous art. (EED) 雕塑是一种感官艺术。
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a sensuous poet 一位引起美感的诗人
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sensuous music/painting 引起美感的音乐/绘画
sentence adverbial(句子状语) 见 wisely, delightfully, kindly, foolishly, rightly sentences of implied condition (含蓄条件句)
Holmes took the snake with the piece of rope, threw it into the open metal chest and shut it ... Holmes said to her, "You were supposed to die like that. No doctor would have noticed the tiny teeth marks of the snake on your skin."
上句为何使用 would have noticed?
上句中的 would have noticed 是表示与过去事实相反的虚拟式。在该句的前后虽然找不到虚拟条件从句(非真实条件从句)，但是它却暗含在上下文中。这是任何一个读者都能感觉出来的: If the snake had bitten you, no doctor would have noticed the tiny teeth marks of the snake on your skin. (如果你被蛇咬了的话，医生是不会注意到你皮肤上被蛇咬的细小的齿痕的。)下面是类似的实例：
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I would have bought it. (可能暗含: If I had had much money) 我本可以把它买下来的。
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I would have failed. (可能暗含: If I had made less efforts) 那样,我就会失败了。