一提到“穷”,好多人首先想到的必定是poor。其实呢,就像老外形容“老人”时不用old、用senior一样,poor这个词他们也是不太常用的。那应该怎么用英语形容“穷”呢?一起来看。
Poor给人一种消极感,所以可以试试更为中性的struggling(艰难的)或disadvantaged(弱势群体的):
1. There are a lot of struggling families who need our help.
有很多艰难度日的家庭需要我们的帮助。
2. He lived his whole life as a struggling artist and didn't become famous until after his death.
作为艺术家,他一生贫困潦倒,直到死后才成名。
3. this scholarship supports disadvantaged youth who can't afford to pay for their education.
该奖学金用以资助那些负担不起学费的贫困年轻人。
4. A new educational program has been set up for economically disadvantaged children.
他们设立了一个新的面向贫困儿童的教育计划。
表示“没钱”还有很多口语化表达,比如美剧中常见的broke(破产了)等:
5. I can't afford to go on holiday this year - I'm flat broke.
今年我没法去度假了——我彻底没钱了。
6. Nobody loves you when you're down and out.
你穷困潦倒的时候没人喜欢你。
7. They're not badly off but they don't have much money to spare.
他们并不穷——只是闲钱不多而已。
8. We're a bit hard up at the moment so we're not thinking about holidays.
我们最近手头有点紧,所以不考虑度假了。