編輯/霍楚昀
“To give benefit of doubt”的意思,是指你在對某人產生懷疑時,因為沒有足夠的證據,因此仍決定相信對方的清白。而這句話在不同情況下使用,意思也略有不同。
Daily Video Vocabulary的英文老師特地整理出了 8 組例句。相信你看過之後,也能將這句話活用在生活及寫作中囉!
依照不同的場合使用,”To give benefit of doubt”有「寧願放過也不願錯殺」、「姑且相信」、「這次就先放你一馬」等意思。以下是一些例句:
ex 1. When Mary didn’t do her homework, the teacher didn’t give her the benefit of doubt and decided to punish her.
當Mary沒有寫功課時,老師可沒暫且放過她─老師決定要懲罰她。
ex 2. When she saw her husband talking over the phone very secretly, Samantha gave him the benefit of doubt rather than suspecting him.
當Samantha發現她丈夫偷偷地講電話時,她選擇相信他,而不是懷疑他。
ex 3. Even though Sarah was unsure about the claims made by the anti-ageing cream, she decided to give it the benefit of doubt and bought it.
儘管Sarah並不確定這個抗老乳霜宣稱的效果是真是假,她還是決定給它一個機會,買下它。
ex 4. Sally’s colleagues are tired of giving her the benefit of doubt whenever she calls in sick. They no longer believe it to be genuine.
Sally的同事厭倦了每次她打電話說自己生病時都配合她─他們不再相信她說的是真的了。
ex 5. While narrating her experience with ghosts, Juliet refused to believe it and didn’t bother giving her friend the benefit of doubt.
在描述那些靈異經歷時,Juliet拒絕相信,但也並沒干涉朋友們給予的善意的信任。
ex 6. When mother realized that her daughter had developed the habit of smoking, she refused to listen to any justifications and didn’t give her daughter the benefit of doubt.
當發現女兒養成抽菸的習慣時,這位母親拒絕聽任何理由,也沒打算姑且放她女兒一馬。
ex 7. To save a few bucks, Michelle had to give the store keeper the benefit of doubt while buying her new phone from the grey market.
為了省點錢,Michelle不得不姑且相信商家,從未經商標擁有者授權的市場購買她的新手機。
ex 8. When the coach yelled at his team for no reason, they didn’t react as they knew he was disturbed about something and gave him the benefit of doubt that day.
當教練突然毫無來由地對隊伍叫罵時,隊員沒有任何反應─因他們知道他對於某件事感到煩擾,並選擇相信,而不願怪罪。
圖片來源:aletuzzi