爱华网【英语词汇】
describe、narrate、relate 、
portray、depict
description、account
佳中
describe“描述”、“描绘”、“形容”、“叙述”指通过描写、描述人或事的外
表、性质，使人得到一个清晰地印象。
1) He describes his own method of photographing motor races,and gives hints on
the choice of subjects andviewpoints.
他描述了在摩托车比赛摄影的方法,并提及主题的选择和看法。
2) Obviously it isvery difficult to describe such a complex system insimple,
predictiveterms.
显然，是很难用简单预测性的语言来形容这种复杂系统。
3) We willdescribe each of these methods in more detail in thefollowing
section.
在下面的小节中我们将更详细地描述每一种方法。
4) The Englishlanguage possesses a vivid saying to describe this sortof
situation.
英语中有句俗语生动地描绘了这种情景。
narrate“叙述”、“讲述”，指将事件的细节作适当的叙述，使听者或读者清楚地
理解所发生的事。
1) Defoe vividly narrated the adventuresof Robinson Crusoe on his desert
island.
笛福生动地叙述了他在荒岛上“鲁滨逊漂流”的经历。
2) He continued tonarrate his strange experience which we all wanderedat.
他继续叙述他的奇怪的经历,对此我们都感到很惊奇。
3）To narrateis to give an account of what happened or ishappening.
记叙文讲述的是发生在当前或过去事情的经过。
relate“叙述”、“讲述”，用法同 narrate，但没有它正式。
1) He related to the police what he hadseen on the scene of the traffic
accident.
他向警察讲述了他在交通事故现场看到的前景。
2)He was joyfully relating to his colleagues some interestingexperiences in his
tour toEngland when the manager camein.
经理进来时，他正在兴奋地向他的同事讲述他到英格兰旅游的一些经历
portray“描绘”、“描述”，指抓住事物的最显著的特点或人物的肖像、性格、品
德、情感，用图画或文字方式细腻地描绘。
1) Many teachers will not want to usebooks in which gender roles are portrayed
in a traditional male-centeredway.
老师大都不想使用以传统男子为中心的方式描绘性别作用的书本。
2)Although Mathilde is portrayed as a rather sad and lonelyfigure, it is still
she who controls most of whathappens in thestory.
虽然玛蒂尔德被描绘成一个相当悲伤和孤独的人,但是她仍然占据了是故事中的大部分情
节。
3)However, his own character bears no resemblance to thepeople which he
portrayed in thenovel.
然而,他自身的性格与这部小说描绘的人毫无相似之处。
depict“描绘”、“描述”，与portray一样，也指用图画或文字描绘事物或人物。
1) The novelist isnoted especially for his skill in depictingcharacter.
这位小说家在描绘人物性格技巧方面特别有名。
2)The oil painting vividly depicts an old farmer who has gonethrough various
trails oflife.
油画生动地描绘了一位老农夫所经历的各种生活痕迹。
3) Most of theDunhuang Murals depict Buddhiststories.
敦煌壁画所描绘的大都是佛教内容。
description
account
这两个名词常用于表示“描述”。
1) He gave us a vividdescription of the experience in his tour to someEuropean
countries.
他向我们生动地描述他到一些欧洲国家旅游的经历。
2) The witness’sdescription of what had happened at the scene of theaccident
is not accurate.
目击者对事故现场所发生的描述是不确切的。
3）Afterhe had given an account of the difficul ties ahead, he wenton to suggest
ways of overcomingthem.
他讲述了眼前的困难后又继续提出了解决这些困难的方法。
4)Myths are accounts of important events that are supposed tohave occurred some
time duringaculture’s formativeyears.
神话是讲述据说是某一文化在形成期间所发生的重要事件。
