“be junior to”是一个表示比较关系的英语短语,核心含义是“比……年轻;比……资历浅;比……地位/级别低”,强调在年龄、资历、职位或等级上处于“较次”的位置。
“junior”本身是形容词,意为“年轻的;资历浅的;下级的”,“be junior to”通过“to”连接比较对象,明确“比某人/某物更‘ junior’”的关系。
1、 结构搭配:
常用结构为 “主语 + be junior to + 比较对象(sb.)+ (in sth. 补充比较维度)”。
“比较对象”通常是人(偶尔是事物,如“rank/position”);
“in sth.”用于说明具体比较的方面(如年龄、经验、职位等),可省略(若语境明确)。
2、 介词注意:
不能用“than”代替“to”!类似的形容词(如“senior/superior/inferior”)都需与“to”搭配表示比较(因这些词本身隐含“相对地位”,而非普通形容词比较级)。
My brother is junior to me by two years.(我弟弟比我小两岁。)
She looks mature, but she’s actually junior to most of her friends in age.(她看起来成熟,但实际上年龄比大多数朋友小。)
As a new hire, he is junior to everyone else in the team in experience.(作为新员工,他的经验比团队里所有人都浅。)
The intern is junior to the full-time staff in both status and salary.(实习生的地位和薪资都比正式员工低。)
The department head is junior to the CEO in the company hierarchy.(部门主管在公司层级中比CEO级别低。)
In the military, a lieutenant is junior to a captain.(在军队中,中尉比上尉级别低。)
I was junior to her when we studied at the same university.(我们在同一所大学时,我比她低一届。)
The freshman class is junior to the sophomore class.(新生班级比大二班级低一年级。)
“be senior to”(比……年长/资深/级别高),可对比记忆:
He is senior to me in age but junior to me in computer skills.(他年龄比我大,但电脑技能比我差。)
❌ 错误:He is junior than me.
✅ 正确:He is junior to me.(他比我年轻/资历浅。)
综上,“be junior to”是描述相对地位/年龄/资历的常用短语,只要抓住“to”的搭配和“比较维度”的补充,就能准确使用~