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divide和separate的糾葛
■山東 劉永科
目前，國內出版的一些英語辨析詞典和教輔書上，都對divide和separate這兩個詞作了明確的辨析。說它們在詞義和用法上有很大差別：divide是“把…分成幾部分”；而separate是“把……分隔開來”。而且divide只能跟into連用，構成句式divide…into；separate只能跟from連用，構成句式separate…from。
有一次，去一所學校聽英語示范課，有位老師也講了這個問題，例句恰巧是人教版高中英語課本上的兩個句子：
這位老師也講到了divide和separate的區別，其觀點跟上面提到的書上說法一致。
事實果真如此嗎？
實際上，這兩個詞是同義詞，沒有什么本質上的差別。現實英語中根本不像詞典和教輔書上說的那樣有很大差別。它們都可以跟from連用，意思都是“把…分隔開來”；它們也都可以跟into連用，意思都是“把…分成幾個部分”。例如：
1. The hospital had to separate the patients from the others. = The hospital had to divide the patients from the others. 醫院不得不把病人和其他人隔離開來。(在這里separate…from與divide…from相同)
2. The largest landmass is usually divided into two continents along the Ural Mountains . = The largest landmass is usually separated into two continents along the Ural Mountains . 最大的陸地通常沿烏拉山脈分成兩個大陸。(在這里divide…into與separate…into相同)
在現實語言中，這樣的用法可以說比比皆是，信手沾來。例如：
1. divide…from…代替separate…from的例句
The sick has to be divided from others. 必須把這個病人和其他人隔離開。
Mr. Green's courtyard is divided from mine by a high wall.一堵高墻把格林先生的庭院和我的庭院分開了。
His study is divided from the living-room by a thin wooden partition.他的書房是用薄板從起居室分隔而成的。
Column titles are divided from the rest of the worksheet by a horizontal line.通過一條水平線將標題與其余部分分開。
I am divided from mankind, and know nothing about the colorful world.我現在與世隔絕，對五彩繽紛的世界一無所知。
Individual benefit can not be divided from the collective.個人的利益是與集體的利益分不開的。
With the adjustment of structure and the reallocation of educational sources, professional education is divided from general education. 隨著教育結構的調整和教育資源的重新配置，職教已從普教中分離出來了。
2. separate…into代替 divide…into的例句
The land was separated into small fields. 那塊地被分割為小塊的田地。
The party was separated into three cars. 一行人分乘三部車子。
We were separated into several different search parties. 我們分成幾個搜索小組。
The children were separated into groups for thegame. 那些兒童分成小組做游戲。
The code is separated into discrete source files.這些代碼被分隔成離散的源文件。
The house has been separated into different flats.這所房子已被分成幾套不同的公寓房間。
The test was separated into three divisions. 試題分為三個部分。
The wine cabinet is separated into 6 zones. 酒柜被分成6個小區域。
The personnel are separated into part-timer and full-time staff. 全體職工分為非全日工制和全日制工作人員。
Tea leaves are separated into classes according to size and so marketed. 茶葉按葉子的大小劃分為若干等級，并照此銷售。(m.52ysedu.com)
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