amends

IPA/əˈmendz/
KK[əmˈɛndz]IPA/əˈmendz/

amends — noun

1. Something good you do for someone you have mistreated, meant to express regret a

1.名詞B2
釋義

Something good you do for someone you have mistreated, meant to express regret and restore goodwill between you.

例句

Zola made amends to her sister by cooking dinner after forgetting her birthday.

make amends to [person] by [doing something]

The politician's effort to make amends came too late — the voters no longer trusted him.

同義詞
  • apology

    focuses on saying sorry in words, while 'amends' emphasizes doing something good

  • atonement

    more formal and religious in tone; suggests making up for a serious moral wrong

  • reparation

    formal term for repairing harm; often used in legal or political contexts

反義詞
  • wrong

    the harmful act that requires making amends in the first place

  • injury

    the damage or hurt that amends aims to fix

文法句型

make amends

make amends to [person] for [wrongdoing]

用法筆記

Always used as part of the fixed phrase 'make amends'. The word 'amends' has no singular form — 'an amend' is incorrect.

常見錯誤

❌I will make an amend for my mistake.
✅I will make amends for my mistake.
💡'amends' is always plural and never used as 'an amend'.
❌She made amends him for the argument.
✅She made amends to him for the argument.
💡the person you apologize to is introduced with 'to'.

2. Financial payment given to make up for harm suffered or for something valuable t

2.名詞C1
釋義

Financial payment given to make up for harm suffered or for something valuable that was damaged or taken.

例句

The court ordered the company to make amends by paying the workers two million dollars.

make amends by [paying amount] to [recipient]

After the accident, the insurance company made amends by paying for the damage to Nora's car.

make amends by [paying for damage]

同義詞
  • compensation

    more general term for anything given to make up for loss; 'amends' is slightly less common in everyday speech

  • restitution

    formal legal term for returning something to its rightful state or owner

  • damages

    legal term for money awarded by a court for harm or loss

反義詞
  • loss

    the harm or deprivation that compensation is meant to address

  • damage

    the injury for which amends are paid

文法句型

make amends for [loss]

make amends to [person] by [action]

用法筆記

Frequently appears in legal and insurance contexts. Unlike Sense 1 (APOLOGETIC ACTION), this sense focuses on financial restitution rather than personal gestures of regret.

常見錯誤

❌The company made amend for the damage.
✅The company made amends for the damage.
💡'amends' has no singular form even when referring to money.
❌She demanded amends to him for breaking her phone.
✅She demanded amends from him for breaking her phone.
💡the person being asked for compensation is introduced with 'from', not 'to'.