"be limited to" 是被动语态短语,字面意为“被限制在……范围内”,引申为“仅限于;局限于;不超过……”,强调事物的范围、数量、对象等被严格限定,无法超出某一界限。
结构:主语 + be动词(时态/人称变化) + limited to + 名词/代词/动名词/名词性从句
注:"be limited to" 后接名词性成分(不能直接接动词原形),表示“被限制的具体内容/范围”。
通过不同场景的例子,更直观理解其用法:
表示事物的边界或覆盖范围被限定,不能扩展。
Our discussion is limited to this topic—we won’t talk about anything else.
(我们的讨论仅限于这个话题——不会涉及其他内容。)
Her knowledge of Chinese is limited to basic greetings.
(她的中文知识局限于基本问候。)
用于规定最大值,不能超过某一数目。
The number of participants is limited to 50.
(参与者人数限制在50人以内。)
The discount is limited to the first 100 customers.
(优惠仅限前100名顾客。)
明确只能某类人/物才能涉及。
Access to the lab is limited to authorized staff.
(实验室准入仅限授权员工。)
The offer is limited to members of our loyalty program.
(优惠仅限我们的 loyalty 计划会员。)
用于思想、行动等抽象层面的约束。
Don’t let your creativity be limited to traditional methods.
(别让你的创造力局限于传统方法。)
His career choices were limited to what his parents approved of.
(他的职业选择仅限于父母认可的范围。)
"be limited to":强调“限制的结果”(即“被限定在……内”);
"be limited by":强调“限制的原因”(即“被……所限制”)。
例句对比:
The project is limited to 6 months. (项目仅限6个月完成。)——结果(时间范围)
The project is limited by budget constraints. (项目受预算限制。)——原因(预算)
根据语境调整be动词的时态:
一般现在时:The speed is limited to 70 mph on this road. (这条路限速70英里/小时。)
一般过去时:The event was limited to invited guests only. (活动仅限受邀嘉宾参加。)
现在完成时:Our options have been limited to two choices. (我们的选择已被限定为两个。)
"be limited to" 是表达“限定范围”的高频短语,核心是“不超出某一界限”。记住其结构(后接名词性成分)和场景(范围、数量、对象、抽象概念),就能准确使用啦!