"at one's ease" 表示“舒适自在;不拘束;放松”,强调人处于没有压力、紧张或不安的状态。
该短语通常与系动词(如 be/feel)或使役动词(如 put/make)搭配,具体如下:
表示“(某人)感到自在/放松”,主语是“感到自在的人”,one's 需替换为对应的形容词性物主代词(my/his/her/their 等)。
He feels at his ease in the company of close friends.(和好朋友在一起时,他感到很自在。)
I wasn’t at my ease during the job interview—they asked too many tough questions.(面试时我很拘谨——他们问了太多难题。)
表示“使某人放松/不拘束”,主语是“让别人放松的人”,one's 对应“被放松的人”。
The hostess put all the guests at their ease with her warm smile.(女主人的温暖笑容让所有客人都放松了下来。)
A few jokes can make a nervous speaker at his ease.(几个笑话能让紧张的演讲者放松下来。)
at (one's) ease:侧重“状态放松”(形容词性);
with ease:侧重“做某事容易”(副词性,= easily)。
对比:
She is at her ease when singing in front of family.(她在家人面前唱歌时很放松。)
She sings the song with ease.(她轻松地唱完了这首歌。)
社交场合:Meeting strangers usually makes me nervous, but today I was at my ease because everyone was friendly.(见陌生人通常让我紧张,但今天我很自在,因为大家都很友好。)
环境适应:After living in the city for a year, he finally felt at his ease.(在城市住了一年后,他终于适应了(感到自在)。)
总结:"at one's ease" 聚焦“人的心理状态放松”,常用在描述社交、环境适应或缓解紧张的场景中。