about
- prep. 关于；大约；在 … 周围
- adv. 大约；附近；到处；在周围
- adj. 即将的；正要的；在流行中的
What /How about … ? ……怎么样？
care about 关心，在意
worry about / be worried about 担心……
be sorry/excited about 对……感到难过/兴奋
be about to do sth. 即将要做某事
二、词义辨析
almost 指在程度上相差很小，差不多。
nearly 与almost含义基本相同，侧重指数量、时间或空间上的接近。
about 常可分almost和nearly换用，但about用于表示时间、数量的“大约”时，实际数量可能多也可能少。
approximately 多用于书面语，指精确度接近某个标准以致误差可忽略不计。
around 多用于非正式场合，常见于美国英语。
roughly 指按精略估计，常代替about。
三、常见搭配
大约；左右
SYN approximately :
It costs about $10.
这大约要花 10 元钱。
They waited (for) about an hour.
他们等了一小时左右。
He arrived (at) about ten.
他是十点钟左右到的。
2. nearly; very close to
将近；几乎:
I’m just about ready.
我就要准备好了。
This is about the best we can hope for.
这差不多是我们所能希望的最好结果。
3. (especially BrE) in many directions; here and there
到处；处处；各处:
The children were rushing about in the garden.
孩子们在花园里跑来跑去。
4. (especially BrE) in no particular order; in various places
凌乱地；四处；到处:
Her books were lying about on the floor.
她的书在地板上东一本西一本地放着。
5. (especially BrE) doing nothing in particular
闲着；无所事事:
People were standing about in the road.
人们在路上闲站着。
6. (especially BrE) able to be found in a place
在某地；附近；周围:
There was nobody about.
附近没有人。
There’s a lot of flu about.
这一带流感肆虐。
7. (technical 术语 or formal) facing the opposite direction
向后转；掉转方向；掉头:
He brought the ship about.
他掉转船头。
⇨ note at around
IDIOMS
▪ that’s about ‘all | that’s about ‘it
used to say that you have finished telling sb about sth and there is nothing to add
我要说的就是这些；我的话完了:
‘Anything else?’ ‘No, that’s about it for now.’
“还有什么要说的吗？” “没有了,现在我要说的就是这些。”
⇨ more at just adv., out adv.preposition
1. on the subject of sb / sth; in connection with sb / sth
关于；对于:
a book about flowers
一本关于花卉的书
Tell me all about it.
把这件事全部告诉我。
What’s she so angry about?
她为什么生这么大的气？
There’s something strange about him.
他有点怪。
I don’t know what you’re on about (= talking about).
我不懂你在谈什么。
There’s nothing you can do about it now.
现在你对此毫无办法。
2. used to describe the purpose or an aspect of sth
目的是；为了；涉及…方面:
Movies are all about making money these days.
当今电影就是只顾赚钱。
What was all that about? (= what was the reason for what has just happened?)
这到底是怎么回事？
3. busy with sth; doing sth
忙于；从事于:
Everywhere people were going about their daily business.
无论哪里人们都在忙着干日常工作。
And while you’re about it… (= while you’re doing that)
在你干这件事的同时,顺便…
4. (especially BrE) in many directions in a place; here and there
在…到处；在…各处:
We wandered about the town for an hour or so.
我们在城里到处游逛了一个小时左右。
He looked about the room.
他在房间里四下看了看。
5. (especially BrE) in various parts of a place; here and there
在…四处:
The papers were strewn about the room.
房间里四处乱扔着文件。
6. (especially BrE) next to a place or person; in the area mentioned
在…附近；在…地方:
She’s somewhere about the office.
她在办公室附近。
7. (literary) surrounding sb / sth
围绕:
She wore a shawl about her shoulders.
她披了一件披肩。
▪ how / what about…?
1. used when asking for information about sb / sth
(询问消息)怎么样,如何:
How about Ruth? Have you heard from her?
鲁思怎么样了？你有她的消息吗？
I’m having fish. What about you?
我吃鱼,你呢？
2. used to make a suggestion
(建议时说)怎么样,好吗:
How about going for a walk?
去散散步怎么样？
What about a break?
休息一下如何？adjective▪ be about to do sth
to be close to doing sth; to be going to do sth very soon
即将,行将,正要(做某事):
I was just about to ask you the same thing.
我刚才正要问你同一件事情。
▪ not be about to do sth
to not be willing to do sth; to not intend to do sth
不愿,无意(做某事):
I’ve never done any cooking and I’m not about to start now.
我从来没有做过饭,也不想从现在开始做起来。
1. concerning or relating to a particular subject关于:
2. used to show why someone is angry, happy, upset etc因为〔用以表明生气、开心、烦恼等的原因〕:
3. in many different directions within a particular place, or in different parts of a place到处;SYNaround,round
4. in the nature or character of a person or thing在…（身）上〔指性格或特点〕:
5. what / how about sb / sth spoken
a. used to ask a question that directs attention to another person or thing某人/某物怎么样（怎么办）〔用以将注意力转向另一人或另一物〕:
b. used to make a suggestion某人/某事物怎么样（好吗）〔用以提建议〕:
6. do something about sth to do something to solve a problem or stop a bad situation想办法解决某个问题，处理某坏情况:
7. if an organization, a job, an activity etc is about something, that is its basic purpose目的是:
8. while you’re about it spokenused to tell someone to do something while they are doing something else because it would be easier to do both things at the same time顺便:
9. what was all that about? spokenused to ask the reason for something that has just happened, especially someone’s angry behaviour这究竟怎么回事？
10. literarysurrounding a person or thing围绕〔某人或某事〕:
⇒be quick about it at QUICK¹ (5)
⇒go about your business at BUSINESS(12)
2 about adverb
1. also round about spokena little more or less than a particular number, amount, or size大约，大概;SYN roughly
2. BrEin many different directions within a place or in different parts of a place到处，处处;SYN around
3. near to you or in the same place as you在附近，在…周围; 在同一地方:
4. BrE spokenexisting or available now有:
5. informalalmost or probably几乎:
6. that’s about it / all spoken
a. used to tell someone that you have told them everything you know知道的都说了:
b. used to say that there is nothing else available这就是全部，就这些:
7. so as to face in the opposite direction向相反方向，转身，掉头:
3 aboutadjective
1. be about to do sth if someone is about to do something, or if something is about to happen, they will do it or it will happen very soon即将（马上）做某事:
2. not be about to do sth informalused to emphasize that you have no intention of doing something不打算做某事〔用于强调〕:
⇒out and about at OUT¹ (3)
⇒be up and about at UP¹ (11)
In addition to the uses shown below, about is used after some verbs, nouns, and adjectives to introduce extra information. About is also often used after verbs of movement, such as ‘walk’ and ‘drive’, and in phrasal verbs such as ‘mess about’ and ‘set about’, especially in British English.
除下列用法外，about可用在一些动词、名词和形容词后引出附加信息。about还常用在walk, drive等表示动作的动词后或mess about，set about 等短语动词中，这类情况尤见于英国英语。
- She came in for a coffee, and told me about her friend Shona…
她进来喝了杯咖啡，并向我谈起了她的朋友肖纳。
- She knew a lot about food…
她对食物很在行。
- He never complains about his wife.
他从不抱怨妻子。
- …advice about exercise and diet…
关于锻炼和饮食的建议
- Leadership is about the ability to implement change.
领导才能就是要有实施变革的能力。
- ‘I’m sorry about Patrick,’ she said…
“我为帕特里克感到难过，”她说。
- I feel so guilty and angry about the whole issue.
我对整件事深感内疚和气愤。
- Rachel was going to do something about Jacob…
蕾切尔将对雅各布有所行动。
- He said he’d ask Nina for a divorce, but he never did anything about it.
他说会跟尼娜提出离婚，可是他却从未付诸实际。
- There was a warmth and passion about him I never knew existed…
他身上有一股我从不知道的热情和激情。
- I think there’s something a little peculiar about the results of your test.
我认为你的化验结果有点不对劲。
- In my local health centre there’s about forty parking spaces…
我们本地的保健中心约有40个停车位。
- The rate of inflation is running at about 2.7 percent.
通货膨胀率大约为2.7%。
- Everyone was running about.
大家都在跑来跑去。
- About is also a preposition.
- From 1879 to 1888 he wandered about Germany, Switzerland, and Italy…
从1879到1888年，他游历于德国、瑞士和意大利等地。
- His hair was drifting about his shoulders like dirty snow.
他的头发像脏兮兮的雪一样披散在肩上。
- From 1879 to 1888 he wandered about Germany, Switzerland, and Italy…
- Helen threw her arms about him…
海伦张开双臂拥抱他。
- She was elegantly dressed with a double strand of pearls about her neck.
她着装典雅，搭配着一条双层珍珠项链。
- There’s lots of money about these days for schemes like this.
近来这类计划资金充足。
- I think he’s about to leave…
我看他要走了。
- Argentina has lifted all restrictions on trade and visas are about to be abolished…
阿根廷已经取消所有贸易限制，签证制也将废止。
- The film was about to start.
电影快开场了。
表示没有明确方向的移动，可用around, round 和about: It’s so romantic up there, flying around in a small plane（坐着小型飞机在空中翱翔真浪漫），I spent a couple of hours driving round Richmond（我花了几个小时驱车漫游里士满），Police constables walk about with guns on their hips.（警员们胯上别枪四处巡逻）。表示某物就在手头或能够获得，可用around或about作副词, 但不可用round: There is a lot of talent around at the moment（目前有大量现成人才），There are not that many jobs about（可供选择的工作并不多）。round 作名词、动词和形容词有许多其他意思，参见round词条；在这些情况下不可用around。
- Despite considerable pain she has been getting out and about almost as normal…
尽管还很痛，她已经基本上行动如常。
- The regulations were relaxed and the prisoners could get out and about a bit.
规定有所放宽，犯人可以出去短暂放风。
- They often saw me out and about.
他们经常看见我四处奔波。
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We’re about ready to go.我们差不多准备好要走了。
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I’m about starved.我快饿死了。
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Are you about finished?你快做完了吗？
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This one is about as bad as that one.这个几乎跟那个一样糟。
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That’s about all I know at this point.我现在知道的差不多就这些。
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It’s about time to go.差不多该走了。
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That’s about all the time we have.我们几乎就剩这点时间了。
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We tried just about everything we could think of.我们几乎试过了所有能想到的方法。
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“Is there anything else to do?” “No, that’s about it/all.” [=that’s it/all; there is nothing else to do]“还有什么要做的吗？”“没有了，差不多都做完了。”
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The repair should cost about [=approximately, roughly] $200.修理费大约200美元。
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We should leave in about 10 minutes.我们大概10分钟之后出发。
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We got home at about 8 o’clock. = (US) We got home around about 8 o’clock. = (Brit) We got home round about 8 o’clock. [=it was approximately 8 o’clock when we got home]我们回到家大约是8点钟。
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He is about to leave. [=he will be leaving very soon]他即将离开。
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We’re about to join our friends for dinner.我们马上与朋友们会合去吃晚饭。
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Their daughter is about to graduate from college.他们的女儿即将大学毕业。
— often used with not to stress that someone will not do something常与not连用强调某人将不会去做某事
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I’m not about to quit. [=I am not going to quit; I will not quit]我是不会放弃的。
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They wandered about [=around] for several hours.他们四处游逛了好几个钟头。
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People were standing about [=around], talking quietly in small groups.人们三三两两地四下站着，轻声交谈。
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His tools were scattered about [=around] carelessly.他的工具四处乱扔。
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There was no one about. [=there was no one around; there was no one there]四下无人。
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turn about [=(more commonly) around]转身
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The captain ordered us to bring the ship about.船长命令我们调转船头。
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There has been a lot of anger about [=concerning] the decision.许多人对这个决定感到愤慨。
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We did something about the problems.我们针对这些问题采取了一些措施。
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That’s what I like about you.我就喜欢你这一点。
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What are you so pleased about?什么事让你这么高兴？
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I’m worried about her.我担心她。
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I forgot all about it.我完全把它忘记了。
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There’s a question about [=as to] how the problem should be fixed.这个问题如何解决也还是个疑问。
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I spoke about my past.我讲到了我的过去。
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She told me all about her vacation.她向我讲述了度假的所有情况。
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What’s he yammering about now? = (Brit) What’s he on about now?他在抱怨什么呀？
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books about birds关于鸟类的书籍
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a novel about Spain一部关于西班牙的小说
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There is a mature wisdom about her. [=she has a quality of mature wisdom]她身上有一种成熟的睿智。
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What was the most exciting thing about your vacation? [=what part of your vacation was most exciting?]你的假期中最令人兴奋的是什么？
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There’s something weird about that guy. [=that guy is weird]那个家伙有点古怪。
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A good marriage is (all) about trust. [=trust is the most important part of a good marriage]幸福婚姻最重要的就是相互信任。
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The work he does is all about helping young people.他所从事的工作就是帮助年轻人。
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a night about [=around] midsummer仲夏前后的一个晚上
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Fish are abundant about [=around] the reefs.暗礁附近鱼很多。
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He traveled all about [=around] the country.他游遍了全国。
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He’s a well-known figure about [=around, throughout] the town.他在镇上是家喻户晓的人物。
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A crowd gathered about [=around] him.一群人聚集在他周围。
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They wrapped the blanket about [=around] her.他们用毯子把她裹住。
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He was slow about doing his work. [=he did his work slowly]他干活儿很慢。
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If you’re going to do that, you need to be quick about it. [=you need to do it quickly]如果你决定做这件事情，就必须手脚麻利。
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Do it well while you’re about it. [=while you’re at it]做事就要好好做。
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He seems to know what he’s about. [=to know what he’s doing]他似乎知道自己在做什么。
