assign
assign — 動詞
1. to officially tell someone that a particular job, piece of work, or duty is now
指派；分派
把工作或職責正式交給某人負責
to officially tell someone that a particular job, piece of work, or duty is now their responsibility — for example, a teacher giving homework, or a manager handing out projects at work.
Ms. Lin assigned the chapter on volcanoes to her geography class for homework.
林老師把火山那一章指派給她的地理班當作回家功課。
assign + something + to + somebody
The editor assigned Rachel two long interviews and a short review for next month.
編輯分派給瑞秋下個月兩篇長訪談和一篇短評論。
assign + somebody + two objects
Junior nurses are usually assigned the night shift during their first year.
資淺護理師在第一年通常會被指派上夜班。
Jamal was assigned to the marketing team after the company reorganized its offices.
公司重整辦公室之後，馬可斯被分派到行銷團隊。
Please do not assign extra cleaning duties to the volunteers without telling me first.
請不要在沒先告訴我的情況下，把額外的清潔工作分派給志工。
- withhold
to deliberately not give someone a task or resource
文法句型
assign + somebody + something
assign + something + to + somebody
be assigned + to + something
用法筆記
Object is usually a job, role, or task; the person receiving it appears either as a second object or after 'to'. Frequently passive — the receiver often becomes the subject ('she was assigned...').
常見錯誤
2. to send a worker, soldier, or official to a particular place or position so they
派駐；調派
把人員派往特定地點或職位工作
to send a worker, soldier, or official to a particular place or position so they can do their job there.
The army assigned Captain Reyes to a small base near the northern border last spring.
去年春天，軍方把雷耶斯上尉派駐到北部邊境附近的一個小基地。
assign + person + to + place
Two young diplomats were assigned to the embassy in Tokyo for a three-year posting.
兩名年輕外交官被派駐到東京大使館，任期三年。
passive: be assigned to + post
The reporter has been assigned to cover the climate summit in Brazil next month.
那位記者被調派下個月到巴西採訪氣候高峰會。
After training, new officers are usually assigned to busy city precincts for their first year.
新警官受訓後，第一年通常會被派駐到繁忙的市區分局。
- recall
to officially order someone back from a posting
文法句型
assign + somebody + to + place/post
be assigned + to + place
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 gives someone a TASK or DUTY; this sense sends them to a LOCATION or POSITION. Almost always followed by 'to', and very often passive.
常見錯誤
3. to choose and set aside a specific time, day, or period during which a particula
安排時間
選定特定時段做某活動
to choose and set aside a specific time, day, or period during which a particular activity will happen.
The coach assigned Tuesday evening for extra practice before the regional finals.
教練安排星期二晚上加練，以準備區域決賽。
assign + day + for + activity
Our manager assigned thirty minutes to each candidate during the long interview day.
主管在這場漫長的面試日中，安排每位應徵者三十分鐘。
assign + duration + to + each item
The school has assigned the first week of June for end-of-year exams.
學校把六月的第一週安排為期末考試週。
The committee assigned Friday afternoon for the budget discussion at next week's meeting.
委員會把下週會議的星期五下午安排給預算討論。
文法句型
assign + a time/date + for + something
assign + a time/date + to + something
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: here the object is always a time slot or period, never a task or person. Often used in scheduling, study planning, or event organising contexts.
常見錯誤
4. to formally label a thing with a particular score, rating, value, or category —
評定；列為
給予事物某分數、等級或類別
to formally label a thing with a particular score, rating, value, or category — typical in grading, classification systems, and measurement.
The judges assigned each gymnastics routine a difficulty score from one to ten.
裁判給每套體操動作評定一到十分的難度分數。
assign + thing + score
Doctors assign a higher risk level to patients over seventy with diabetes.
醫師會把較高的風險等級評定給七十歲以上的糖尿病患者。
assign + value + to + group
The museum has assigned 'priceless' status to a small jade figure from the Tang dynasty.
博物館把一件唐代小玉雕列為「無價」等級。
Programmers often assign a default value to a variable before any user input arrives.
程式設計師通常會在使用者輸入之前，先賦予變數一個預設值。
文法句型
assign + a value/property + to + something
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 6: this sense puts a label, score, or category onto a thing; sense 6 names the cause of an event or behaviour. Object here is the thing receiving the label, never an event.
常見錯誤
5. in programming, to place a specific value into a named variable or memory locati
賦值
把數值存入程式變數中
in programming, to place a specific value into a named variable or memory location so the program can use it later.
The function assigns the user's age to the variable named 'years' before checking it.
這個函式在檢查之前，會把使用者的年齡賦值給名為「years」的變數。
assign + value + to + variable
In Python, you assign a string to a variable using a single equals sign.
在 Python 裡，你用一個等號就能把字串賦值給變數。
Make sure you assign a default value before the loop starts, or the program will crash.
請務必在迴圈開始前賦值預設值，否則程式會崩潰。
The script assigns each customer ID to a new row in the database table.
這個腳本會把每個顧客 ID 賦值到資料庫表中的新一列。
文法句型
assign + a value + to + a variable
用法筆記
Technical use only — found in programming tutorials, code comments, and software documentation. The 'to' phrase always names where the value goes (variable, memory address, register).
常見錯誤
6. to state, after thinking carefully, what you believe caused something to happen
歸因於
經思考後判定某事的原因
to state, after thinking carefully, what you believe caused something to happen or why someone behaved in a certain way.
Historians have assigned the empire's collapse to several decades of poor harvests and heavy taxes.
歷史學家把那個帝國的崩潰歸因於數十年的歉收與重稅。
assign + outcome + to + cause
The report assigned the rise in accidents to driver fatigue rather than mechanical failure.
報告把事故增加歸因於駕駛疲勞，而非機械故障。
Critics have assigned different motives to the painter's sudden move to Paris in 1889.
評論家把畫家一八八九年突然搬到巴黎一事歸因於不同的動機。
Investigators were careful not to assign blame before the fire inspection was complete.
調查員在火災勘驗完成前，謹慎地不歸咎任何人。
文法句型
assign + a reason/cause + to + something/somebody
用法筆記
Formal, mostly in academic, journalistic, or legal writing. Distinguish from sense 4: this names the WHY of an event; sense 4 names a property or value of a thing.
常見錯誤
7. in law, to formally hand over your money, property, or legal rights to another p
讓渡；轉讓
依法律程序把財產或權利轉給他人
in law, to formally hand over your money, property, or legal rights to another person or company through a signed document.
Mrs. Patel assigned her shop and its lease to her younger brother before moving to Canada.
派特爾太太搬到加拿大之前，把店面和租約讓渡給她的弟弟。
assign + property + to + person
The novelist assigned the film rights of her book to a small studio in Berlin.
那位小說家把書的電影改編權轉讓給柏林的一家小工作室。
assign + rights + to + company
Under the contract, the inventor assigns all patents to the company that funded her research.
依照合約，發明人把所有專利讓渡給資助她研究的公司。
Before he died, the old farmer assigned his land to a trust set up for his grandchildren.
那位老農夫過世前，把他的土地轉讓給為孫輩設立的信託。
- retain
to legally keep ownership rather than transferring it
文法句型
assign + property/rights + to + somebody
用法筆記
Strictly legal language — wills, contracts, intellectual-property documents. Distinguish from senses 1 and 2: this transfers OWNERSHIP, not a task or a posting. The receiver is called the 'assignee'.