弄清楚afraid的用法
Look up
afraid (adjective)
1. feeling fear; frightened because you think that you might be hurt or suffer
- Don't be afraid!
* afraid of somebody or something
- It's all over. There's nothing to be afraid of now.
- Are you afraid of spiders?
* afraid of doing something
- I started to feel afraid of going out alone at night.
* afraid to do sth.
- She was afraid to open the door.
2. worried about what might happen
- She was afraid of upsetting her parents.
- Tamsin was afraid of making a fool of herself. (make a fool of someone or oneself)
- Don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand.
- The boy wasn't afraid to say what he believed.
- We were afraid (that) we were going to capsize (overturn) the boat.
3. afraid for sb. or sth. = worried or frightened that sth unpleasant, dangerous, etc. will happen to a particular person or thing
- I am not afraid for me, but for the baby.
- They had already fired three people and he was afraid for his job.
IDIOMS
* I'm afraid = used as a polite way of telling somebody something that is unpleasant or disappointing, or that you are sorry about
- I can't help you, I'm afraid.
- I'm afraid we can't come.
- I'm afraid that it's not finished yet.
- He's no better, I'm afraid to say.
- 'Is there any left?' 'I'm afraid not.'
- 'Will it hurt?' 'I'm afraid so.'
Use
- I am afraid of taking the IELTS exam again.
- He is afraid of attending formal functions.
- I am afraid to talk with strangers in social activities.
- Her supervisor is very strict, so she is afraid for her PhD conversion.
- I am afraid that she can't come to our group meeting on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment