“bear…a spite”并非独立的固定短语,更准确的表达是“bear (a) spite against sb.”,核心含义是“对某人怀恨在心;对某人抱有恶意”。
bear:此处为及物动词,意为“持有、怀有(某种情感/态度)”(to hold or keep a feeling/attitude);
spite:不可数或可数名词(常用单数),指“恶意、怨恨、泄愤”(malice or desire to harm others);
against:介词,引出“怀恨的对象”。
主语 + bear (a) spite + against + 宾语(怀恨的对象)
注:不定冠词“a”可加可不加,语义无差异,但“bear spite against sb.”更简洁常见。
多用于描述长期积累的怨恨,或劝告他人不要心怀恶意。
描述怨恨:
She still bears a spite against her former colleague who sabotaged her promotion.
(她仍对从前破坏她晋升的同事怀恨在心。)
劝告场景:
Don’t bear spite against those who made mistakes—everyone deserves a second chance.
(别对犯错的人怀恨在心——每个人都值得一次机会。)
省略“a”的情况:
He has borne spite against his neighbor for years over a property dispute.
(因房产纠纷,他对邻居怀恨了好几年。)
介词搭配:必须用“against”引出对象,不能用“to”或“towards”(错误:bear spite to sb.);
与“bear a grudge”的区别:两者都表示“怀恨”,但“spite”更强调主动的恶意(想伤害对方的意图),而“grudge”侧重因过去冒犯而积累的怨恨(如“记仇”);
相关短语:
out of spite:出于恶意(He broke the vase out of spite. 他砸花瓶是出于恶意。)
in spite of:尽管(表转折,与“怀恨”无关)。
“bear (a) spite against sb.”是表达“对某人怀恨/有恶意”的准确短语,核心是“bear + 恶意 + 针对对象”,需注意介词和语境的使用。