agent
agent — 名詞
- agentsingular
- agentsplural
1. someone employed to handle business matters for another person or company — for
代理人
替他人處理業務並收取佣金的人
someone employed to handle business matters for another person or company — for example, booking a singer's tour, selling a house, or arranging insurance — usually in return for a fee or commission.
Farouk called her travel agent to change the date of her flight to Tokyo.
Farouk 打電話給旅行社的業務員，更改了飛往東京的航班日期。
common collocation: travel agent
The Patel family hired a real estate agent to help them sell their old apartment.
Patel 一家請了一位房仲，幫他們把舊公寓賣掉。
common collocation: real estate agent
Ravi works as an insurance agent and visits clients across the city every week.
Ravi 是一名保險業務員，每週都會在城裡到處拜訪客戶。
pattern: works as a/an + agent
All payments must be made through our authorised agent in Taipei.
所有款項都必須透過我們在台北的授權代理人支付。
formal: 'authorised agent'
Mateo's father is the local agent for a German car company.
Mateo 的爸爸是某家德國車廠在當地的代理商。
pattern: agent for + company
- travel agent
- real estate agent
- estate agent
- insurance agent
- booking agent
- authorised agent
- act as an agent
- through an agent
- representative
broader; covers anyone who speaks for another, not only in business deals
- broker
specifically arranges deals between two parties (insurance broker, stockbroker)
- dealer
buys and sells goods on their own account, not on commission
文法句型
agent for + organization/person
agent of + company
用法筆記
Often appears in a fixed compound that names the field — travel agent, estate agent, insurance agent, shipping agent. Distinguish from sense 2, which is restricted to managing artists, writers, and athletes.
常見錯誤
2. a person who finds work, signs contracts, and arranges publishing deals on behal
經紀人
替演員、作家、運動員談合約的人
a person who finds work, signs contracts, and arranges publishing deals on behalf of an entertainer, athlete, or author, usually in return for a percentage of the client's earnings.
The young actress signed with a Hollywood agent two months after her first film.
那位年輕女演員在拍完第一部電影兩個月後，就和一位好萊塢經紀人簽了約。
pattern: sign with + agent
Noa phoned his literary agent to discuss the contract for his new novel.
Noa 打電話給他的文學經紀人，討論他新小說的合約。
compound: literary agent
Most professional footballers in Europe rely on an agent to negotiate their salaries.
歐洲大多數職業足球員都靠經紀人替他們談薪水。
collocation: negotiate (a contract/salary)
Her agent takes fifteen percent of every concert fee she earns.
她的經紀人會從她每場演唱會的酬勞中抽走百分之十五。
fee/commission context
- literary agent
- talent agent
- sports agent
- Hollywood agent
- sign with an agent
- her/his agent
- manager
in music and sport, takes a wider role in shaping the client's career, not just finding work
- representative
neutral and broader; an agent is a specific kind of representative
文法句型
someone's agent
literary/sports agent
用法筆記
Subject is almost always a person in entertainment, publishing, or sport. The word 'agent' alone in this context is enough — speakers do not need to add 'talent' or 'literary' if the context is clear.
常見錯誤
3. a person who collects information in secret for a government, intelligence servi
特務；情報員
替政府或情報機構祕密蒐集資訊的人
a person who collects information in secret for a government, intelligence service, or other organisation, often while pretending to be someone else.
During the war, British agents were dropped into France to gather information.
戰爭期間，英國特務被空投到法國去蒐集情報。
passive: be dropped/sent in
The novel follows a young CIA agent working undercover in Moscow.
這本小說講的是一位年輕的中情局特務在莫斯科從事臥底工作。
compound: CIA/FBI agent
Two enemy agents were arrested at the border with stolen documents.
兩名敵方情報員在邊境被逮捕，身上還帶著被偷的文件。
collocation: enemy agents
Hannah always wanted to be a secret agent, just like the heroes in spy films.
Hannah 一直想當特務，就像諜報片裡的英雄一樣。
fixed phrase: secret agent
The defector confessed that he had been an agent for a foreign government for ten years.
這名叛逃者承認，自己已經替某個外國政府當了十年的情報員。
pattern: agent for + government
- secret agent
- double agent
- undercover agent
- CIA agent
- FBI agent
- enemy agent
- foreign agent
文法句型
secret/undercover agent
agent for + country/agency
用法筆記
Frequently appears in fixed compounds: 'secret agent', 'double agent', 'undercover agent', 'CIA agent', 'FBI agent'. In American English, 'agent' on its own can also mean a federal officer (e.g. 'an FBI agent investigated the case').
常見錯誤
4. a substance, force, or thing that brings about a particular result or change — f
製劑；媒介
能造成某種變化或效果的物質或力量
a substance, force, or thing that brings about a particular result or change — for example, a chemical that cleans surfaces, a microbe that causes disease, or a powerful idea that transforms a society.
Bleach is a strong cleaning agent and should never be mixed with other chemicals.
漂白水是強效的清潔劑，絕對不能跟其他化學品混在一起。
compound: cleaning agent
Scientists identified the virus as the agent responsible for the outbreak in the village.
科學家確認那種病毒就是造成村莊疫情爆發的病原。
pattern: agent responsible for + result
Many people believe that education is the most powerful agent of social change.
許多人相信，教育是推動社會變革最強而有力的媒介。
pattern: agent of + change
The factory uses a special drying agent to remove moisture from the packaged food.
工廠使用一種特殊的乾燥劑，把包裝食品裡的水分去除。
compound: [purpose] + agent
Salt has long been used as a preserving agent for meat and fish.
鹽長久以來一直被當作保存肉類和魚類的防腐劑。
compound: preserving agent
- cleaning agent
- bleaching agent
- drying agent
- chemical agent
- biological agent
- infectious agent
- agent of change
- active agent
文法句型
a + adjective + agent (cleaning agent, infectious agent)
agent of + change/destruction
用法筆記
Almost always appears with a modifier that names what the substance does: cleaning, drying, bleaching, oxidising, infectious, biological, chemical. The phrase 'agent of change' is a near-fixed metaphor in social and political writing.
常見錯誤
5. a piece of software, usually powered by artificial intelligence, that can carry
AI 代理
能自行執行任務的人工智慧軟體程式
a piece of software, usually powered by artificial intelligence, that can carry out tasks on its own — such as searching the web, booking tickets, or making decisions — without a person guiding each step.
The new AI agent can read your emails and book meetings for you automatically.
新的 AI 代理程式可以讀你的電子郵件，並且自動幫你安排會議。
compound: AI agent
Engineers at the start-up built a software agent that monitors prices on hundreds of websites.
這家新創公司的工程師打造了一個軟體代理，會監看上百個網站的價格。
compound: software agent
Many companies now use agents to handle simple customer questions before a human takes over.
現在許多公司都用代理程式先處理簡單的客戶問題，再交給真人接手。
plural collocation: use agents
The agent learned from each conversation and gradually improved its replies.
這個代理程式從每一次對話中學習，回覆也逐漸變得更好。
verb pattern: agent learns / improves
- AI agent
- software agent
- intelligent agent
- autonomous agent
- agent-based system
- deploy an agent
文法句型
AI/software agent
agent + verb (decides, performs, books)
用法筆記
Often shortened to just 'agent' in tech writing (e.g. 'an agent that books your travel'). Distinguish from sense 1: a travel agent is a human, while an AI travel agent is a computer program. Context normally makes the difference clear.
常見錯誤
同根字
常見搭配
名詞搭配
- travel agent
- real estate agent
- estate agent
- insurance agent
- literary agent
- talent agent
- sports agent
- secret agent
- double agent
- undercover agent
- FBI agent
- CIA agent
- cleaning agent
- bleaching agent
- drying agent
- biological agent
- chemical agent
- infectious agent
- AI agent
- software agent
- free agent
常用片語
- agent of change
- act as an agent for
- sign with an agent
- work as an agent
介系詞搭配
- agent for (a company/country)
- agent of (change/destruction)
- through an agent
- act as an agent