A surveyor is someone whose job is to look at something carefully and officially, and then report on it. There are two main kinds and they do quite different work.

A surveyor is someone whose job is to look at something carefully and officiallysurveyor是一種工作是仔細、正式地檢查某樣東西, and then report on it然後寫報告的人。 There are two main kinds這種工作主要有兩種, and they do quite different work做的事情很不一樣。

A land surveyor goes out with instruments and measures land — where the boundaries run, how high the ground is, what shape the site is — so that maps can be drawn and buildings can be placed correctly.

A land surveyora land surveyor土地測量員 goes out with instruments and measures land帶著儀器出去測量土地 — where the boundaries run, how high the ground is, what shape the site is地界線在哪裡、地面有多高、基地是什麼形狀 — so that maps can be drawn and buildings can be placed correctly好讓地圖可以畫出來,建築物可以放在正確的位置。

A building surveyor (very common in Britain) inspects a house and writes a report on its condition: is the roof sound, are there cracks, is it worth the price? In Britain, if you buy a house, you hire a surveyor first, and "the surveyor's report" is a normal part of the conversation.

A building surveyor (very common in Britain)a building surveyor房屋鑑定師(在英國很常見) inspects a house and writes a report on its condition會檢查一棟房子,並針對它的狀況寫報告: is the roof sound, are there cracks, is it worth the price?屋頂穩不穩固、有沒有裂縫、值不值這個價錢? In Britain, if you buy a house, you hire a surveyor first在英國,如果你要買房子,會先請一位surveyor, and 'the surveyor's report' is a normal part of the conversation「the surveyor's report鑑定報告」是對話裡很平常會提到的東西。

In American English that person is more often called a home inspector, and surveyor tends to mean the land kind.

In American English that person is more often called a home inspector在美式英文裡,這種人比較常被叫做home inspector房屋檢查員, and surveyor tends to mean the land kind而surveyor則比較偏向指土地測量那一種。

There is a third, looser use too: a surveyor can be anyone conducting a survey of opinions, though people usually say "researcher" or "interviewer" for that.

There is a third, looser use too還有第三種比較鬆散的用法: a surveyor can be anyone conducting a survey of opinionssurveyor也可以指任何做意見調查的人, though people usually say 'researcher' or 'interviewer' for that不過大家通常會說「researcher研究員」或「interviewer訪問員」來稱呼這種人。