- 1n/tɪˈbetən/person from Tibet西藏人
A person who comes from Tibet, or whose family and language belong to the Tibetan people.
文法可數名詞:前面可以加 a/an,要表示複數時常常加 -s。
這裡同一個字變成名詞,指人。它是可數的。所以可以說 a Tibetan、two Tibetans。單數前面一定要有冠詞 a。He is a Tibetan 才完整。日常說話其實更常用形容詞。像 She is Tibetan,意思一樣,語氣比較輕。複數就是加 s:Tibetans。無論名詞或形容詞,T 都要大寫。
示範例句 · Example
Our guide was a Tibetan who had grown up near the lake.
中文翻譯我們的嚮導是一位在湖邊長大的西藏人。
Here the same word is a countable noun naming a person. You can say a Tibetan, two Tibetans, many Tibetans. Because it is countable, it needs an article in the singular: he is a Tibetan, not he is Tibetan-noun with nothing in front. In everyday speech people often use the adjective instead and say 'she is Tibetan', which means the same thing and sounds lighter. Keep the capital T in both. The plural is regular: Tibetans.
常見搭配
a young Tibetan
一位年輕的西藏人
a young person from Tibet
A young Tibetan showed us how the bread was made.
Tibetans living abroad
住在國外的西藏人
Tibetan people who live outside Tibet
Tibetans living abroad often keep the language at home.
- 2n/tɪˈbetən/Tibetan language藏語
The language of Tibet — the language Tibetan people speak and write.
文法不可數名詞:通常不加 a/an,也不加 -s 來表示複數。
這是「語言」的意思。語言在英文裡是不可數的。所以前面不加 a,後面也不加 s。要說 speak Tibetan、learn Tibetan、in Tibetan。想講得正式一點,可以說 the Tibetan language。那時候 Tibetan 又變回形容詞了。英文大部分語言名稱都長這樣。所以「那裡的人」和「那裡的語言」常常同一個形狀。分辨的線索在文法。前面有 a 或後面有 s,指的是人。什麼都沒加,多半是語言。
This is the language sense, and it is uncountable. That changes the grammar in two ways. You do not put a in front of it, and you do not add s: say speak Tibetan, learn Tibetan, in Tibetan. If you want to make it sound more formal or more precise, you can say the Tibetan language, where Tibetan goes back to being an adjective. English names most languages with this same shape, so the word for the people and the word for their language often look identical, and only the grammar around them tells you which one you are reading.
常見搭配
speak Tibetan
會說藏語
to be able to use the Tibetan language
Does anyone here speak Tibetan?
in Tibetan
用藏語
using the Tibetan language
The song was sung in Tibetan.
the Tibetan language
藏語(較正式的說法)
the language of Tibet, named in a fuller way
The course introduces the Tibetan language and its writing.