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To outnumber another group is to be more in number than they are. If a class has 20 girls and 8 boys, the girls outnumber the boys.
To outnumber另一群 another group是 is to be more in number than they are數量比他們多. If如果 a class一個班 has 20 girls and 8 boys有20個女生、8個男生, the girls女生 outnumber the boys人數比男生多.
Police can outnumber , or the other way round. The verb is ordinary and clear, used in news, history, and everyday talk when the point is how many, not how strong.
Police警察 can outnumber protesters人數可能比抗議者多, or the other way round或反過來也可能. The verb這個動詞 is是 ordinary and clear平常又清楚, used in news, history, and everyday talk用在新聞、歷史和日常對話裡 when the point is how many, not how strong當重點是數量而不是強弱的時候.
You will often meet it in the other direction too: to be outnumbered means the other side has more people than you.
You你 will often meet it in the other direction too也常會遇到反過來的用法: to be outnumbered被outnumber means意思是 the other side另一邊 has more people than you人數比你多.
Though actually, outnumber only talks about count. A small group can still win; the word does not say who is braver or better armed, only who has more bodies, more votes, more items.
Though actually不過實際上, outnumber只 only talks about count講的是數量. A small group一小群人 can still win還是可能贏; the word這個字 does not say並沒有說 who is braver or better armed誰比較勇敢或武器比較好, only只是說 who has more bodies, more votes, more items誰的人數、票數、數量比較多.
Students sometimes want a 'than' after it, because Chinese often needs 比. In English the object comes straight after the verb: they outnumbered us, not they outnumbered than us. If you want the size of the gap, you add it at the end: outnumber someone two to one.
Students學生 sometimes有時 want想要 a 'than' after it在後面加個'than', because因為 Chinese中文 often需要 needs 比. In English在英文裡, the object受詞 comes straight after the verb直接放在動詞後面: they outnumbered us他們人數比我們多, not不是 they outnumbered than us. If如果 you你 want想表達 the size of the gap差距有多大, you你 add it at the end就加在句尾: outnumber someone two to one以二比一超過某人.
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
outnumberverb/aʊtˈnʌmbə(ɹ)/
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To be more in number than somebody or something.
- Women outnumbered men by two to one.
- There are 105 D.B. Type "23" engines and they were intended to replace the famous Prussian "P8" class 4-6-0s (Type "38"), but dieselisation prevented further construction and they are greatly outnumbered by the thousand or so "P8s" which are still in service and which can be seen on a great variety of duties.
資料來源:英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary(CC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。