動詞 locate、position、orientate 的區別

內容簡介

一位聽眾想知道單詞 “locate、position、orientate” 作動詞時的區別。它們的意思都與 “位置，方位” 有關，但用法不同。動詞 “locate” 可以表示 “確定人或物的位置”；動詞 “position” 的意思是 “將事物小心地放在確切的位置上”；動詞 “orientate” 的意思是 “使事物面朝特定的方向”。本期節目將具體講解這三個近義詞的用法和區別。

文字稿

（關於臺詞的備註: 請註意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Jiaying
大傢好，歡迎收聽 AYYBLOG英語教學的 “你問我答” 節目。I’m Jiaying.

Phil
And I’m Phil, we’ve got a question from one of our listeners.

Question
Hello, I want to know the difference between ‘locate’, ‘position’ and ‘orientate’ as verbs.

Phil
It’s a brilliant question because these words are very similar. So, we need to look at the ways that they are different.

Jiaying
動詞 “locate”、“position” 和 “orientate” 都與一個事物的 “位置或方位” 有關，但具體的用法不同。先來看一看動詞 “locate” 應該怎麼用。

Phil
‘Locate’ can mean different things. One meaning is ‘find’. You might need to ‘locate a problem’, or ‘locate the right person to fix it’.

Jiaying
動詞 “locate” 主要有兩個和 “位置” 有關的用法。第一個是 “確定、發現…的位置”。比如：“locate the problem（發現問題所在）”、“locate the right person to fix the problem（找到解決這個問題的人）”。

Phil
We also use ‘locate’ to talk about deciding where to put a business, organisation or building. Because we’re usually more interested in where these things are, rather than who put them there, it’s really common to use this verb in the passive.

Jiaying
動詞 “locate” 的第二個常見的用法是用來表示 “將企業、組織或建築物設立、建立在某處”。由於這裡想表達的重點信息是 “地點或地理位置”，而不是 “將其設立在某處的人”，所以這裡動詞 “locate” 多用作被動語態：“be located + 介詞 + 地點”。

根據所描述的事物所在的周圍環境和地理特征的不同，“be located” 後面跟的介詞會相應地發生改變。比如：“be located in/near/next to/beside/on”。聽三個例句。

Examples
We decided to locate our factory in this city because there is a large local workforce.
（我們決定把工廠設在這個城市，因為當地有大量的勞動力。）

Many company head offices are located in capital cities.
（許多公司的總部都設在首都城市。）

The house is located next to a river in a quiet and peaceful area.
（這座房子坐落在一個安靜祥和的地區，毗鄰一條河。）

Phil
Let’s think about ‘positioning’ something somewhere. This often suggests that something needs to be placed in a particular way, or a particular location for a reason.

Jiaying
沒錯，動詞 “position” 可以用來表示 “安放、放置” 某個物體，強調 “將其放在確切的位置上” 或 “放置的動作十分小心、謹慎”。

Phil
It could be that a component in a machine will only work properly if it’s in exactly the right place, or there could be something that someone can only do if they’re stood in the correct location.

Jiaying
比如，隻有將一臺機器中的某個部件 “position（放置）” 在特定的位置時，機器和部件才能正常工作。再如，隻有當你 “position yourself（站在，坐在）” 特定的地方時，才能完成特定的事情。來聽三個例句。

Examples
The sign needs to be positioned where everyone can see it.
（這個標志需要被放置在每個人都能看到的地方。）

The radio controls are positioned so that they are easy to reach while driving.
（收音機的控制裝置被安裝在瞭駕駛時易於夠到的地方。）

During the game, the defender positioned himself between the attacker and the goal, stopping him scoring.
（在這場比賽中，防守隊員處於進攻隊員和球門之間，從而阻止瞭進攻隊員得分。）

Phil
‘Orientate’ is the final word that we’re looking at. It’s often used to mean ‘put something somewhere so that it’s in line with or pointing towards something else’. If you orientate something towards something else, it faces it, if you orientate it away from something else, it faces in a different direction.

Jiaying
沒錯，問題中的最後一個詞 “orientate” 常用來表示 “調整物體的方向，使其面向另一個事物或特定的方向”，也就是 “orientate something towards something else”。註意：當我們說 “orientate something away from something else” 的時候，意思則是 “調整物體的方向，使其不再面向另一個事物或特定的方向”。

此外，“orientate” 還有一個衍生出來的抽象含義，意思是 “使產品或服務面向、適應特定人群或以某個方向為目標”。聽三個使用瞭動詞 “orientate” 的例句。

Examples
If we orientate all the furniture towards the window, everyone will be able to enjoy the view.
（如果我們把所有的傢具都朝向窗戶擺放，所有人就都能欣賞到窗外的景色瞭。）

We need to orientate the antenna so that it picks up the strongest signals.
（我們需要調整天線的方向，使它能接收到最強的信號。）

We’ve decided to orientate our production towards the luxury fashion market.
（我們已決定將產品面向時尚奢侈品市場。）

Phil
So, we use ‘locate’ to mean ‘find’ or indicate where an organisation or a building is. ‘Position’ can mean to ‘put things carefully in a particular place’ and ‘orientate’ can mean to ‘make things point towards other things’.

Jiaying
總結一下：動詞 “locate” 可以表示 “確定、找到人或物的位置”；它還可以表示 “將企業、組織或建築物設立、建立在某處”，在談論事物 “位於某處” 時，多用作被動語態：“be located + 介詞”。動詞 “position” 表示 “安放、放置”，強調 “將事物放在確切的位置上” 或 “動作十分小心、謹慎”。動詞 “orientate” 除瞭表示 “使物體面向另一個事物或特定的方向” 以外，還可以引申為 “使產品或服務面向、適應特定的人群或目標” 的意思。

Phil
We hope that we’ve answered your question. Remember that if you have a question you’d like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.

Jiaying
你也可以通過微博將問題發送給我們。我們的微博賬號是 “AYYBLOG英語教學”。Bye, everyone!

Phil
Bye.