(1) 两者均可用来表示“在/到一条线、一条河、一条道路或街道等等的另一边”,表示与细长之物有关的位置或运动。
- I challenge you to jump over/across the stream.
我倒要看看你敢不敢跳过这条溪流。 - The post office is not very far, just over/across the street.
邮局不是很远,就在街对面。 - Do you think we'll be over/across the frontier by midday tomorrow?
你认为明天中午前我们能越过边界吗?
(2) over用于水面上或超出水面上的(但不用于水中的) 运动。
- How long would it take to swim across the river?
游过这条河需要用多长时间?(不能用over)
(3) 两者均可用来表示“在高的障碍物(如篱墙、山岭、树篱等) 的另一边”,但要表示向某种高的物体的另一侧运动,则多用over,有时也用across。
- If we can be over/across the fence before sunrise, we'll get a chance.
如能在日出前到达篱墙那一边,我们就有机可乘了。 - When I last saw him, he was climbing very slowly over the fence.
我最后看见他时,他正缓慢地爬过篱墙。 - It took us two hours to travel across the mountains.
我们花了两个小时翻过大山。
(4) across和over均可用于表示“一个区域(如田野、沙漠、舞厅等)内的运动”。
- Who are those people wandering over/across the fields?
那些在田野里闲逛的人是谁?
(5) 但如表示“从一个区域的一边到另一边”时,只能用across。
It took him six weeks to walk across the blazing desert.
他花了六周的时间才走过炎热的沙漠。(不用over the desert)
(6) over通常不用于立体空间(如房间)内的运动。
- He walked across the room, smiling strangely.
他走到房间另一边,奇怪地微笑着。
(7) 副词over比介词over 含义更宽。 如,通常不说Let's swim over the river to the church.但可以说:Let's swim over to the church.