She's five years his junior.
She's his junior by five years.
虽然这是固定用法,但如何理解junior在句中的这种用法?
She's five years his junior.她比他小五岁。
She's his junior by five years.她比他小五岁。
【解析】be two years / ten years etc sb's junior to be younger than someone else by a particular amount 比某人小2岁 / 10岁等:Diane is 12 years her husban's junior. 戴安娜比她丈夫小12岁。(摘自《麦克米伦高阶英汉双解词典》junior)
be + 基数词 + year/years + sb's junior 和 be + sb's junior by + 基数词 + year/years 都是习语,意思都是“小某人......岁”、“比某人小......岁”,根据基数词决定用 year 或 years 。如:She's four years his junior.她比他小四岁。
She's his junior by four years.她比他小四岁。(摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》第7版)
《薄冰英语惯用法词典》有如下解释:
junior用作名词,意思是“年少者”、“较年幼者”。下面几句都可以说,意思相同:
He is my junior by three years.(名词用法)
He is three years my junior.(名词用法)
He is junior to me by three years.(形容词用法)
He is three years junior to me.(形容词用法)
He is three years younger than me.(形容词younger的用法)
这儿几句都意为:“他比我小3岁。”前四句属于比较正式的说法。在口语体中,第五句更为常用。
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