In everyday English, people usually use the phrases tell the difference between somebody/something or tell somebody/something from somebody/something, rather than distinguish: 在日常英语中,人们一般使用短语 tell the difference between sb/sth 或 tell sb/sth from sb/sth,而不用 distinguish
He can’t tell the difference between right and wrong.
他无法分辨是非。
How do you tell cancer cells from healthy cells?
怎么区分癌细胞和健康细胞?
2[transitiveT not in progressive]DIFFERENT to be the thing that makes someone or something different or special 使有区别,使有特色
distinguish somebody/something from
The factor that distinguishes this company from the competition is customer service.
使这家公司在竞争中脱颖而出的是其客户服务。
distinguishing feature/mark/characteristic
The main distinguishing feature of this species is the leaf shape.
这一品种的主要特征是叶子的形状。
3[transitiveT not in progressive]SEE written to be able to see the shape of something or hear a particular sound 看清;认出;听出
The light was too dim for me to distinguish anything clearly.
光线太暗,我什么也看不清。
4distinguish yourselfDO WELLto do something so well that people notice and remember you 表现突出
He distinguished himself on several occasions in the civil war.
他在内战中屡次表现突出。
Examples from the Corpus
distinguish yourself• Look, we were just kids, who like all kids want to distinguish ourselves from our parents.• Eastwood distinguished himself as an actor before becoming a director.• Bradley has distinguished himself as the top scorer on the team.• He distinguished himself as third-string quarterback for the football team.• During the battle five Troll Slayers distinguished themselves by attacking and destroying three Trolls which were perilously close to crushing Duregar himself.• Tim distinguished himself for eleven years in Miami, including the history-making 1972 undefeated season that climaxed in the 1973 SuperBowl.• She has been unable to effectively distinguish herself from other objects on a sensorimotor level.• The Conservatives under John Major tried to distinguish themselves from their Thatcherite past by stressing a commitment to quality public services.• He was clever, but disinclined to distinguish himself in study, athletic but lazy, honest but argumentative.• Perhaps Hincmar's silence here was tactful, since Charles the Bald's sons had not distinguished themselves in the traditionalroles.• After joining the newspaper, she quickly distinguished herself with a series of hard-hitting exposés.
Examples from the Corpus
distinguish• The difficulty in distinguishing between hypotheses was not surprising since only 209 families with Crohn's disease were available for analysis.• They had to distinguish between problems because of a lack of ability from those of a lack of motivation.• Even a expert would find it hard to distinguish between the originalpainting and the copy.• From that time onwards there was reason still, but not so much reason, to distinguish between trusts and legacies.• The trick in improving quality was to distinguish between variationdue to random causes and that due to specific or assignable causes.• Several thousand minerals can be distinguished, each defined by its own set of properties.• There's not a lot that distinguishes her from the other candidates.• A tinybaby soon learns to distinguish its mother's face from other adults' faces.• It was just possible to distinguish the darkenedvillage below.• I shall not attempt to distinguish the particular sources of individual ideas.• What really distinguishes the proposal?• I couldn't distinguish the words, but his tone was clear.• What distinguishes this approach from previous attempts to deal with HIV?
distinguish between• Young children often can't distinguish betweenTVprograms and commercials.
distinguishing feature/mark/characteristic• You know, to put on my passport where it says any scars or distinguishing features.• The contrast of his short-cropped white hair against his deep clayey tan was his only distinguishing feature.• Two rectangularbuildings there had a pitsunk in one corner which might be taken as a distinguishing feature.• It is reason, he argued, that is the distinguishing feature of human beings as against other examples of creation.• But the striking and distinguishing feature of organisms is organisation without such simplespatialregularity.• It has a completely unique quality and is obviously one of the distinguishing features of our century.• The evolution of a rudimentarybureaucracy was, by 1180, the distinguishing feature of royal and princely administrations.• The distinguishing feature of the Africanelephant is the size of its ears.• But race is not the distinguishing characteristic of this growing rapeepidemic.• The melodies of most composers have distinguishing characteristics which make them instantly identifiable.
Origindistinguish
(1500-1600)Frenchdistinguer, from Latindistinguere“to separate using a sharp pointed object”
ADVERB | VERB + DISTINGUISH | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADVERB➤clearly, sharply清楚地/明顯地區別▸➤carefully仔細地區別▸➤easily, readily容易區別◇The adult bird can be readily distinguished by its orange bill.成鳥很容易根據橘黃色喙識別出來。➤accurately, reliably準確地/可靠地區分◇Troops cannot always reliably distinguish between combatants and civilians.軍隊並不總能準確地區分作戰人員和平民百姓。VERB + DISTINGUISH➤be able to, can, could, etc.能夠區分▸➤be unable to不能區分▸➤be difficult to, be hard to, be impossible to, be possible to難以區分;不可能分清;有可能辨別▸➤be important to, be necessary to區分很重要;有必要區分◇It is important to distinguish between cause and effect.重要的是區分因果。PREPOSITION➤between在⋯之中辨別◇It is often difficult to distinguish clearly between fact and fiction in this book.讀這本書經常很難分辨其中的真實和虛構內容。➤from與⋯區分開◇She could not distinguish one child from another.她無法把這兩個孩子區分開。PHRASES➤have difficulty distinguishing, have difficulty in distinguishing, have trouble distinguishing難以/很難/不易區分◇Small children have difficulty distinguishing fiction from reality.小孩子難以將虛構與真實區別開。
distinguish verb ⇨distinguish1 (distinguish between right and wrong)⇨distinguish2 (what distinguishes humans from animals)distinguish1
verb
distinguish between right and wrong辨别是非The power of speech distinguishes humans from animals.语言能力使得人类有别于动物。identifyI could not distinguish her words.distinguish ♦︎ differentiate ♦︎ tellThese words all mean to recognize the difference between two people or things.这些词均表示区分或辨别两者的差异。PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS 句型和搭配◆to distinguish / differentiate / tell A from B◆to distinguish / differentiate between A and B◆to easily distinguish / differentiate / tell sb / sth◆to clearly / sharply / carefully distinguish / differentiate sb / sth■distinguish [intransitive, transitive] (not used in the progressive tenses不用于进行时) (ratherformal) to recognize or show the difference between people or things区分;辨别;分清◆At what age are children able to distinguish between right and wrong?儿童到什么年龄才能辨别是非?◆Sometimes reality and fantasy are hard to distinguish.有时候现实和幻想很难区分。 see also distinction ⇨ difference, discern ⇨ identify■differentiate ˌdɪfəˈrenʃieɪt [intransitive, transitive] (not used in the progressive tenses不用于进行时) (ratherformal, especiallywritten) to distinguish between people or things区分;区别;辨别◆She can just differentiate between light and dark.她勉强能区分明暗。◆Birds are able to differentiate colours.鸟类能够辨别不同的颜色。NOTE辨析 Distinguish or differentiate?There is very little difference in meaning or use between these words. Distinguish is more frequent and more general; differentiate is slightly more formal, used more in scientific matters than in matters of human judgement.这两个词在含义和用法上差别很小,只是distinguish更常用和宽泛,differentiate稍正式,更多用于科学问题而非人的判断◆differentiate between right and wrong◆Sometimes reality and fantasy are hard to differentiate.■tell(told, told) [transitive, no passive] (not used in the progressive tenses不用于进行时) to recognize the difference between two people or things分辨;区分;辨认◆It was hard to tell the difference between the two versions.很难分辨出这两个版本有什么区别。◆I can't tell one twin from the other.我分不清这对双胞胎谁是谁。◆It's difficult to tell them apart.很难把他们区分开来。◆The kittens looked exactly alike-how could you tell which was which?这些小猫看上去一模一样,你怎么能分辨出哪只是哪只呢?ⓘ You say tell the difference between A and B (two things) or tell A and B apart, not 'tell between A and B'.要说tell the difference between A and B或tell A and B apart,不能说tell between A and B◆It's difficult to tell between them.distinguish2
verb
distinguish between right and wrong辨别是非The power of speech distinguishes humans from animals.语言能力使得人类有别于动物。identifyI could not distinguish her words.distinguish ♦︎ set sb/sth apart ♦︎ differentiateThese words all mean to be the characteristic that makes two people, animals or things different.这些词均表示具有与他者区分开来的特征。PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS 句型和搭配◆to distinguish / set apart / differentiate A from B◆a feature distinguishes / sets apart / differentiates A from B◆a factor distinguishes / differentiates A from B■distinguish [transitive] (not used in the progressive tenses不用于进行时) (ratherformal, especiallywritten) to be a characteristic that makes two people, animals or things different成为⋯的特征;使有别于◆What was it that distinguished her from her classmates?是什么使得她有别于班上其他同学呢?◆Does your cat have any distinguishing marks?你的猫有什么特殊标记吗?◆The power of speech distinguishes human beings from animals.语言能力使得人类有别于动物。 see also distinction ⇨ difference■ˌset sb/sth aˈpart
phrasal verb
(setting, set, set) (not used in the progressive tenses不用于进行时) to be a characteristic that makes sb/sth different from or better than others使与众不同;使突出;使优于◆Her clear and elegant writing sets her apart from other journalists.她那清丽典雅的文章使她比别的记者高出一筹。■differentiate ˌdɪfəˈrenʃieɪt [transitive] (not used in the progressive tenses不用于进行时) (ratherformal, especiallywritten) to be a characteristic that makes two people, animals or things different成为⋯的特征;使有别于◆The male's yellow beak differentiates it from the female.雄鸟那黄色的喙是与雌鸟相区别的主要特征。NOTE辨析 Distinguish or differentiate?There is little difference in meaning between these words. Distinguish is more frequent and has a wider range; it is often used about differences that make sb/sth better or more interesting than sb/sth else; differentiate is more often used about scientific matters, without any suggestion of a value judgement being made.这两个词的含义非常接近,只是distinguish使用频率较高且语义较宽泛,常表示人或事物比他者优胜或有趣;differentiate更常用于科学问题,不含价值判断◆What was it that differentiated her from her classmates?◆The power of speech differentiates human beings from animals.