- 1aB2
/ˈprefərəbəl/
better than something else, or more suitable for a particular purpose — used when you are saying which of two or more choices you would rather have.
比較好；更合適
核心畫面
Picture two options sitting side by side, and a hand reaching for one of them. Preferable is the label on the one the hand goes to — not 'the good one' in the absolute, but 'the one I'd rather have, given these choices'. The comparison is built into the word: it never stands alone, there is always something else it is better than.
「兩個選項擺在你面前，你的手伸向其中一個」。preferable 就是貼在那隻手伸過去的那一個上面的標籤——不是絕對…更多收起
「兩個選項擺在你面前，你的手伸向其中一個」。preferable 就是貼在那隻手伸過去的那一個上面的標籤——不是絕對意義上的「好東西」，而是「在這幾個選擇裡，我寧願要這個」。比較的意味是內建在字裡的：它背後永遠站著另一個被比下去的選項，就算那個選項沒有說出口。常見句型是 X is preferable to Y（注意是 to，不是 than）；也常說 It would be preferable to do X，意思是「這樣做會比較好」。語氣偏正式、偏冷靜——它像是在權衡之後給的判斷，不是脫口而出的喜好。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。
preferableadj/ˈpɹɛf.(ə.)ɹə.b(ə)l/
- 1
Better than some other option; preferred.
- This work has been the care and ſtudy of ſome years; as far as health, and other affairs, would permit. For, this appeared, to the author, of as much greater importance, than any other hiſtory whatever; as morality and religion are more excellent, than any temporal affairs; and the hiſtory of true religion, præferrable to that of impoſtures and deluſions.
- It is not to the point that an inequality of material goods, at high levels, may not be preferable to an equality of material goods at a lower level, precisely for such reasons as self-respect.
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。