1、be afraid of sth (sb) 害怕某事(某人)。如:
Are you afraid of dogs? 你害狗嗎?
There’s nothing to be afraid of. 沒(méi)什么可害怕的。
比較:
He is afraid of her. 他怕她。
He is afraid with her. 跟她在一起時(shí),他很害怕。
2、be afraid of doing sth
(1) 擔(dān)心會(huì)發(fā)生某事或某情況(但實(shí)際上未必會(huì)發(fā)生)。如:
She was afraid of waking her husband. 她怕吵醒她丈夫。
I was afraid of hurting her feelings. 我怕傷害她的感情。
注:be afraid of doing sth 表示擔(dān)心會(huì)發(fā)生某事或某情況時(shí),其后也可用 be afraid that 替換。如:
He was afraid of losing face. =He was afraid (that) he’d lose face. 他怕失面子。
(2) 害怕做某事或不敢做某事(指缺乏勇氣或害怕其后果而不敢)。如:
I’m afraid of telling her. 我不敢告訴她。
He was afraid of jumping. 他不敢跳。
3、be afraid to do sth 害怕做某事或不敢做某事。如:
He was afraid to fly in a plane. 他不敢坐飛機(jī)。
He was afraid to go into the house and meet his father. 他不敢進(jìn)屋去見(jiàn)他父親。
注:以上兩類句型的異同之處:表示擔(dān)心會(huì)發(fā)生某事或某情況,只能用 be afraid of doing sth, 而表示害怕做某事或不敢做某事等,則兩者都可用。如:
Don’t be afraid to ask [of asking] question. 不要害怕問(wèn)問(wèn)題。
He is afraid to go out [of going out] alone at night. 他不敢晚上一個(gè)人出去。