内容简介

学业进步、升职加薪、老友重逢……人生中的许多重要时刻往往可能会对我们产生深远的影响。你知道如何用英语描述这种 “影响” 吗？本期节目回答一位热心听众关于如何区分动词 “impact”、“influence” 和 “affect” 的提问。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Beth
Hello and welcome to Question and Answer of the Week. I'm Beth.

Buli
And I'm Buli. 本期节目我们要回答下面的问题。

Question
Hi, this is the first time I'm writing to you, so I'm a bit anxious but also excited. I wonder if you could explain the differences between these three words: 'impact', 'influence', 'affect'. They all have the same meaning of '影响' in Chinese, but I can't distinguish them clearly.

Buli
这位听众想知道，英语中三个都可以表示 “影响” 的动词 “impact”、“influence” 和 “affect” 有什么不同。

Beth
Good question. 'Impact', 'influence' and 'affect' can all be verbs – now that is 'affect' that begins with the letter 'a'. Now, 'impact' and 'influence' are also nouns, but the noun for 'affect' is 'effect' that begins with an 'e'. But in this programme, we're going to look at the verbs.

Buli
首先需要注意的是，“impact” 和 “influence” 不但可以用作动词，还可以作名词使用；而 “affect” 对应的名词是 “effect”，在拼读上是不同的。在本期节目中，我们将讲解这三个词作动词，意思为 “某物对某人造成了影响” 时的区别。首先来听一组例句。

Examples
Getting a pay rise really impacted me.
Getting a pay rise really influenced me.
Getting a pay rise really affected me.
（这次加薪对我影响很大。）

Buli
上面这些例句的意思都是 “加薪这件事对我造成了某种影响”。

Beth
They can all be used in this way to mean the pay rise had an impact on you. Now, we've added another sentence to each. So, listen again to hear the small differences in meaning.

Buli
接下来，为了体现这三个动词含义上的区别，我们来对这些例句进行一些改写，然后结合新的例句来讲解。请注意听下面三个例句的不同之处。

Examples
Getting a pay rise really impacted me and my lifestyle. I bought a new house and started eating out more.
（加薪确实影响了我和我的生活方式。我买了一套新房子，而且出门吃饭的次数也更频繁了。）

Getting a pay rise really influenced me to change how I view my value within the company. It gave me a lot more confidence.
（加薪确实影响了我的心态，改变了我如何看待自己对公司的价值。也让我更加自信了。）

Getting a pay rise really affected me. I was overcome with emotion.
（加薪对我影响很大。我激动坏了。）

Beth
So, let's start with 'impact'. The word 'impact' can also mean force or an action, a little bit like the word 'hit'. Now, metaphorically, it means there is a powerful effect on a person or thing, so it's often followed by a noun, and this is the main meaning.

Buli
“Impact” 作动词时有两种读法：“impact” 和 “impact”。“Impact” 不但有 “影响” 的意思，还有 “冲击，撞击” 的意思。所以它可以用来比喻 “造成具有强大冲击力的影响”。比如，在第一个例句中，就有 “impacted my lifestyle”，含义是 “对我的生活方式造成了某种深刻的影响”。这是 “impact” 的基本含义。“Impact” 有时还有另一层引申义：“对某事造成了实际的改变”。比如，例句中的 “eating out more（出门吃饭更频繁了）”。

Beth
This is the secondary meaning, and you don't have to say what the result of the impact was. Let's hear some more examples.

Examples
Financial experts predict that the legislation will severely impact the economy.
（金融专家预测说这项法律会对经济造成严重影响。）

The students are hoping the zero-waste campaign will impact the university and its policies.
（学生们希望这次杜绝浪费的活动能够影响他们所在的大学和大学的相关政策。）

Buli
通过上面的例子我们可以看出，“impact” 虽然具有 “造成了实际改变” 的引申义，但这种改变的具体内容并不需要直接描述出来。接下来，我们要讲解的单词是 “influence”。让我们来回顾一下它的例句。

Example
Getting a pay rise really influenced me to change how I view my value within the company. It gave me a lot more confidence.
（加薪确实影响了我的心态，改变了我如何看待自己对公司的价值。也让我更加自信了。）

Beth
Here, the person was influenced to do something – a result. They changed how they value themselves within the company. The main meaning of 'influence' is what happened after an 'impact' – the results.

Buli
当我们用 “influence” 来表示 “影响” 时，通常是指 “某事对某人具有影响，从而造成了某种结果”。来听一组例句。

Example
My grandmother had a great influence on my childhood. She taught me right from wrong.
（我的祖母对我的儿时成长影响很深。是她教会了我明辨是非。）

The jury's verdict was that his brother had influenced him to commit the crime.
（陪审团裁定他的兄弟影响了他，促使他实施了犯罪行为。）

Buli
通过上面的例句可以看出，与 “impact” 相比，“influence” 更加强调了 “这个影响造成了某种结果”，并且这种影响通常是对人的行为和思想上的。

Beth
However, we should say that the difference between 'influence' and 'impact' is very small, and they are often used interchangeably.

Buli
没错。在表达 “影响” 时，“influence” 和 “impact” 的区别并不大，经常可以替换使用。最后，让我们来看看 “affect” 和上面两个词的区别。先来回顾一下例句。

Example
Getting a pay rise really affected me. I was overcome with emotion.
（加薪对我影响很大。我激动坏了。）

Beth
'Affect' is very often used to talk about feelings and health, both mental and physical.

Buli
“Affect” 经常用来描述 “对人的情绪、生理或心理健康造成了影响”。上面的例子中，说话者的情绪就被加薪这件事影响到了，进而 “overcome with emotion（情绪激动到无法控制）”。

Beth
Here, this is positive, but you can also be affected negatively. Listen to these examples.

Examples
The accident really affected his sleep. He struggled with nightmares for weeks.
（这场事故严重影响了他的睡眠。他连续好多周一直受噩梦困扰。）

There was dampness in the new flat, and it started to affect his breathing.
（新公寓有潮气，并且开始影响到了他的正常呼吸。）

Buli
从上面的例子可以看出，“affect” 所造成的影响既可以是正面的，也可以是负面的。但这种影响通常作用于人本身的情绪或健康，不常用于行为或想法的改变，这是它和 “influence” 与 “impact” 的主要区别。

Beth
Remember, if you have a question about the English language you'd like to ask us, please send us an email. Our email address is: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你也可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye, everyone.

Beth
Bye!