delay、defer、postpone、detain的区别

这些动词都可以表示“延迟”、“推迟”、“延缓”、“延期”的意思

postpone 指将做某事开始的时间向后“延迟”、“推迟”，多指主观有意的延迟。

可接名词或动名词作宾语。

1）Something urgent has come up. Could I postpone our appointment?

出了急事，我俩的约会能不能延期?

2）After further review, my boss decided to postpone the merger.

经过进一步的考虑, 我的老板决定推迟合并计划。

3）Did you get the message the meeting has been postponed?‘’

你得没得到通知说会议已经推后了？

4）I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.

在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。

5）They always look for excuses to postpone doing something.

他们总是找藉口拖延做事。

●put off 用法相当于postpone，两者常可以替换。

1）I have to postpone / put off going to Europe till next month since I can’t be away this month.

这个月我离不开，去欧洲的事只能推迟到下个月。

2）I’m afraid that we’ll have to put off our wedding till the Spring Festival.

恐怕咱俩的婚事要推迟到下办。

3）Don’t put off till tomorrow what should be done today.

今日事今日毕。

delay 多指因外界客观原因引起的“推迟”或“耽误”，可表示主观上有意推迟进行某事。

1）The blizzard forced them to delay their summit bid.

暴风雪迫使他们推迟登顶。

2）If the project to be completed by the end of the month is delayed, the construction company will be fined.

如果月底凌工的工程被拖迟，建筑公司将被罚款。

3）Unless an agreement can be reached with creditors to pay or delay the debt, the company could default.

除非能与债权人就偿还或延期偿还这笔债务达成一项协议，否则该公司可能会违约。

4）If you find problems early and get treatment, you can delay or prevent the loss of vision.

若你及早地发现了问题并接受治疗，那么就能延迟或预防失明的发生。

5）I am afraid that you will have to delay going on vacation until next month.

恐怕你将不得不推迟到下个月去度假。

●held up 用法相当于delay，两者常可以替换。

1）I am sorry for being late because I was delayed / held up by heavy traffic.

对不起我来晚了，因为我被堵车给耽搁了。

2）The train he took was held up for over 2 hours.

他乘坐的火车晚点了两个多小时。

3）Continuing confrontation could hold up progress towards reform.

持续的暴力活动可能会阻延改革的进程。

defer 指由于某种原因必须推迟进行某事。也可故意拖延，语气强于postpone。

1）This matter must be finished as quickly as possible, so you’d better defer your departure for a week.

这件事必须尽快完成，所以你最好推迟一个星期离开。

2）We wish to defer our decision until next week.

我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。

3）When you defer design decisions, you're reserving your option to change.

当您推迟设计决定时，你是在保留对更改的选择。

4）They decided to defer taking action until a more appreciate time.

他们决定推迟采取行动，直到一个更合适的时间。

5）Some customers often defer payment for as long as possible.

有些顾客常常会尽可能地拖延付款。

detain 指由于某种原因使某人滞留，走不了而耽搁、延迟。

1）The heavy traffic detained us for half an hour.

拥挤的交通使我们耽搁了半个小时。

2）The matter is not very important and should not detain us very long.

这个问题不是很重要，不会延误我们很长时间。

3）I’m sorry for being late. I was detained by an urgent business in the company.

很抱歉我迟到了，我公司的被紧急业务耽搁了。

4）She was detained in the office by unexpected callers.

有些临时访客把她耽搁在办公室里了。