英语短语confine…to的核心含义是“限制;限定;把…局限于”,或引申为“将…禁闭/关押在(某处)”(强调“强制限制范围”)。以下是详细解析:
1、 抽象限制:将事物(如讨论、注意力、开支等)限定在某个范围、领域或程度内;
2、 物理限制:将人/物强制限制在某个具体空间(如房间、牢房、轮椅等),或因客观原因(如疾病)无法离开某地。
短语结构为:confine + 宾语(人/物/抽象事物) + to + 范围(名词/代词/动名词)
(注意:to是介词,后面必须接名词性成分,不能接动词原形!)
表示“某人把…限制在…范围内”。
抽象限制:
Please confine your questions to the topic of environmental protection.(请把问题限制在环保主题内。)
We need to confine our expenses to $500 this month.(我们本月开支必须限制在500美元以内。)
物理限制:
The teacher confined the noisy students to the classroom after class.(老师课后把吵闹的学生留在教室里。)
The prison confines dangerous criminals to high-security cells.(监狱将危险罪犯关押在高安保牢房。)
表示“某人主动限制自己做某事”(强调自律)。
I confine myself to one cup of coffee a day.(我每天只喝一杯咖啡。)
She confined herself to reading for an hour before bed.(她睡前只看一小时书。)
表示“…被限制在…;…只能(因客观原因)待在…”。
After the accident, he was confined to a wheelchair.(事故后,他只能坐轮椅。)
Due to the storm, all flights are confined to the airport.(因暴雨,所有航班都被困在机场。)
The patient is confined to bed for a week.(病人需卧床一周。)(常见搭配:confine to bed 卧床休息)
语境类型 | 例句 |
---|---|
讨论/发言限制 | Confine your remarks to the main issue—don’t go off topic.(别跑题,发言紧扣核心问题。) |
身体状况限制 | She’s confined to her home by a bad cold.(重感冒让她只能待在家里。) |
活动范围限制 | The dog is confined to the backyard when we’re out.(我们出门时,狗被关在后院。) |
资源/时间限制 | We must confine the project to a 3-month timeline.(项目必须限制在3个月内完成。) |
to是介词:后面接名词、代词或动名词(如confine to discussing the problem,而非confine to discuss);
与limit…to的区别:
confine 更强调“强制/严格限制”(如禁闭、因客观原因无法离开);
limit 更侧重“设定边界”(如数量、时间的上限),语气更温和。
例:He limited his screen time to 2 hours a day.(他把屏幕时间限制在每天2小时。)(自律)
He was confined to his room for breaking the rules.(他因违规被关在房间里。)(强制)