(1) ①youth用作可数名词时,通常指青年男子。
- Two youths are waiting for you.
有两个年轻人在等你。 - The police caught a youth trying to break into a shop.
警察抓住了一个试图破门进入商店的年轻人。 - I had great interest in Chinese literature as a youth .
年轻的时候我对中国文学怀有极大兴趣。
②youth可用作集合名词,与定冠词the连用,指青年男女(更常用young people),谓语动词可用复数,也可用单数。
- Youth today are very different from a hundred years ago.
现在的青年与一百年前有很大的不同。
③youth还可指“青春,青年时期”,用作不可数名词。
- They are determined to give their youth to the great sacred cause.
他们决心为这一伟大神圣的事业贡献青春。 - They joined the red army in their youth .
他们年轻的时候就参加了红军。
(2) young可作名词,意为“青年(们),(动物)幼仔”,单复数同形。
- Most higher animals try to protect their young from danger.
大多数高等动物都试图保护它们的幼崽使之免遭危险。 - The young of a lion is called a cub.
小狮子被叫做“cub”。 - The cat brought forth/borne/produced five young at a birth.
那只猫一次生了五只幼仔。 - The young are better fed today in many countries than ever before.
在许多国家,现在的孩子比以前任何时候的都喂养得好。
(3) youngster意为“小孩,年轻人”,特别指男孩,小伙子。
- Let the youngsters enjoy themselves. Stop telling them what to do.
让孩子们痛快地玩吧,不要告诉他们该做什么。 - When I was a youngster , life wasn't as easy as it is now.
当我年轻的时候,生活可不像现在这样轻松。
(4) ①kid指“小孩”,较随便,还指“年轻人”,主要用于美式英语中。
- The kids enjoyed the game very much.
孩子们非常喜欢这项游戏。 - He is just a kid . He has a lot to learn.
他只是一个孩子,有许多东西需要学。
②在美式英语中,kid还可作定语,用在brother和sister前,表示弟弟妹妹。
- Can my kid brother/sister come with us?
能让我弟弟/妹妹跟我们一起来吗?
(5) lad指“男孩,小伙子”,主要用于苏格兰和英格兰北部,常含有爱或友好的意味。
- Ask those lads if they want a drink.
问问那些小伙子是否想喝一杯。 - Come on, lad , let's go.
快点,孩子,让我们走吧。 - He's just a lad . He can't do a man's work yet.
他仅仅是个孩子,还不能做大人做的工作。
(6) offspring意为“子女,后代,幼兽,幼仔”,不与不定冠词连用,复数不加-s。
- The old woman's offspring are wrangling over the estate.
那个老太太的子女们正在为着产业而争吵。 - Mr. Smith's offspring are all in the States now.
史密斯先生的子女现在都在美国。 - The dictionary defines mule as “offspring of a male ass and a mare”.
在这本字典中,骡子被定义为“公驴和母马的杂交后代”。