(1) attribute to意为“把……归(因)于……；认为……是……写的；认为……有；认为……原来是……”。
- Jim attributes his success to hard work rather than to his good luck.
吉姆将他的成功归因于努力工作而不是运气好。 - The car accident was attributed to careless driving.
车祸是由粗心驾驶引起的。 - That play has been attributed to Shakespeare.
那个剧本是由莎士比亚写的。 - Some scientists attribute intelligence to ants.
一些科学家认为蚂蚁有智慧。 - Archaeologists attribute the ruins to a flourishing prehistoric kingdom.
考古学家认为这些废墟属于一个昌盛一时的史前王国。
(2) ascribe to意为“认为……是……造成的；把……归因于……；认为(作品等) 是某人的”，在这些意义上，可与attribute to换用。
- He ascribed his failure in the test to carelessness.
他认为他的考试不及格是由于粗心造成的。 - This poem is generally ascribed to Li Bai.
这首诗通常被认为是李白作的。
(3) assign to意为“分派某人做某事或到某处任职；认为……是……的结果；认为某物(尤其作品)属于某人或时代”。
- That young girl was assigned to the job/the office.
那个女孩被委派做这项工作/到办公室工作。 - The accident has been assigned to a faulty part in the engine of the plane.
这次事故被认为是由于飞机引擎的零件缺陷造成的。 - The date of this piece of music is uncertain, but because of its style, it's generally assigned to the early 16th century.
这件音乐作品的时间无法确定，但根据其风格，一般认为它是16世纪初的作品。
(4) impute to意为“把……归(咎)于；把……推诿于；认为某事是……的结果或某人之责任”，多用于坏事，是较正式的用语。
- His enemies tried to impute/attribute some unfortunate remarks to him, who denied having said them.
他的敌人试图把一些不吉利的话推诿于他，但他否认说过这样的话。 - He claimed to be innocent of the crime imputed to him.
对于加之于他的罪名，他声称他是无辜的。 - Don't impute the mistake to him.
不要把这个错误推诿于他。
(5) owe to 是“欠(某人) 债务”，用于引申意义，表示“欠(某人的)人情债；得过(某人)恩惠”，可译为“(应)归功于……；多亏……”，一般用于正面意义。
- I owe $100 to the shopkeeper for what I had yesterday.
我为昨天买的东西欠店主100美元。 - We owe a great deal/a lot to our parents and teachers.
我们应非常感谢我们的父母和老师。 - I owe a thousand apologies (to you) for not being/having been able to attend your wedding ceremony.
我为不能/未能参加你的婚礼向你表示万分抱歉。(用being表示ceremony尚未举行；用having been表示ceremony已举行。) - At any rate, it is to this, no doubt, that he owes his life.
不管怎么说，正是由于这个，毫无疑问，他才大难不死。 - To what do I owe the honor of your visit?
哪阵风使你大驾光临啊？ - People generally owe the discovery of the new continent to Christopher Columbus.
人们通常认为新大陆的发现应归功于哥伦布。
(6) ①put down to意思是“认为……是……造成的；认为……是……的结果”，既可用于好事，也可用于坏事，可用被动形式。
- I put his behavior down to his having had an unhappy childhood.
我认为他的行为是他不幸的童年造成的。 - The outbreak of food poisoning was put down to contaminated food.
这次食物中毒的爆发被认为是由于受污染的食物引起的。
②put down to还作“把……记在……账上；作为……记账”解。
- I'll take three. Will you please deliver them and put them down to my account?
我要买三个，请你把货送来并把它们记在我账上好吗？ - Please put the drinks down to me.
请把饮料钱记在我的账上。 - You can put the cost of the petrol down to business expenses.
你可把汽油费记在业务开支上。
(7) refer to也可表示“认为(某事)是……的结果；把……归功/咎于；认为(某事或某物)发生在或属于(某个时间、地点等)”，可用被动语态，是较正式的用语。
- Many successful businessmen refer their success to hard work and good judgment. 许多成功的商人认为他们的成功是努力工作和良好的决断的结果。
- This style of music is generally referred to the 18th century.
这种音乐风格通常被认为是18世纪的。 - Historians refer the fall of Rome to 410 A.D.
史学家们认为罗马是在公元410年沦陷的。
(8) set down to意为“认为(某事)是……的结果”，可用于好的方面，也可用于坏的方面。
- I set his bad temper down to his recent illness.
我认为他的坏脾气是他近来生病的结果。 - Jim sets his success down to hard work.
吉姆认为他的成功是努力工作的结果。
