business
business — 名詞
- businesssingular
- businessesplural
1. the general activity of trading — that is, making, selling, or supplying product
商業；生意
買賣與提供商品或服務的活動
the general activity of trading — that is, making, selling, or supplying products and services in order to earn money.
Maya wants to study business at a university in Taipei next year.
Maya 想明年到台北的大學念商業。
uncountable: study business
Marcus has worked in the coffee business for nearly twenty years.
Marcus 在咖啡這一行做生意已經將近二十年。
in the [field] business
Our small bakery does most of its business with local schools and offices.
我們這家小麵包店大部分的生意都是和當地學校與辦公室往來。
do business with [customer]
Lina dreams of running her own clothing business one day.
Lina 夢想有一天能經營自己的服飾生意。
The new tax rules have made business much harder for small farmers.
新的稅制讓小農的生意變得更加艱難。
- go into business
- start in business
- the world of business
文法句型
in business
do business with
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense — never 'a business' or 'businesses' for the activity itself; that meaning is sense 2.
常見錯誤
2. one particular organisation — a firm, shop, or workshop, for example — whose pur
公司；商家
從事商業活動的特定企業或店家
one particular organisation — a firm, shop, or workshop, for example — whose purpose is to make or sell things, or to provide a paid service.
Carlos runs a small business that repairs old motorbikes near the harbour.
Carlos 在港口附近開了一家專門修理舊機車的小公司。
run a small business
The Watanabe family has owned this noodle business for four generations.
Watanabe 一家經營這家麵店生意已經四代了。
own a [type] business
After the flood, several local businesses had to close for good.
洪水過後，街上有好幾家商家被迫永久歇業。
plural: businesses
Lina set up an online business selling handmade soap from her kitchen.
Lina 在家裡的廚房開了一家賣手工皂的網路商店。
set up an online business
The bank lends money to small businesses that need to buy new equipment.
銀行借錢給需要購買新設備的小型企業。
- small business
- family business
- online business
- set up a business
- run a business
- company
near-equivalent; 'company' is more formal and is the standard word for a registered firm
- firm
often a professional partnership (law firm, accounting firm)
- enterprise
more formal; often suggests something newly set up or ambitious
文法句型
run a business
a small/family/online business
用法筆記
Countable — takes 'a/an' and a plural in '-es'. Distinguish from sense 1 by checking whether you can replace 'business' with 'company' (sense 2) or with 'trade'/'commercial activity' (sense 1).
常見錯誤
3. the paid work or job that someone does, especially when this work involves deali
公務；業務
工作上要處理的事務，常涉及出差
the paid work or job that someone does, especially when this work involves dealing with other people or travelling.
Dr. Tanaka is in Singapore on business until Friday evening.
Dr. Tanaka 因公務在新加坡，要待到星期五晚上。
on business (purpose of travel)
Lina insists on talking business at every family dinner, much to her brother's annoyance.
Lina 每次家庭聚餐都堅持要談公事，讓她哥哥很受不了。
talk business (= discuss work matters)
Marcus travels to Asia on business almost every month these days.
Marcus 最近幾乎每個月都要因公務到亞洲出差。
travel on business
Sarah wishes the boring business of filing tax forms could be someone else's job.
Sarah 真希望填寫報稅單這種無聊的業務可以交給別人去做。
the [adj] business of [V-ing]
- on business
- business trip
- business meeting
- business hours
文法句型
on business
what's your business?
用法筆記
Often appears in fixed phrases: 'on business' (purpose of a trip), 'business trip', 'business hours'. The traveller meaning is the most frequent realisation of this sense.
常見錯誤
4. how much a shop or company is selling, or how many customers it has — for exampl
營業額；客流
店家或公司的銷售量或顧客多寡
how much a shop or company is selling, or how many customers it has — for example whether sales are going up, down, or staying steady.
Business has been very slow at the restaurant since the highway opened.
自從高速公路開通以後，這家餐廳的生意就一直很冷清。
business is slow / good / bad
The bookshop lost a lot of business when a bigger store opened nearby.
附近開了一家更大的書店，這家小書店因此流失了不少客人。
lose business to a competitor
We really value your business and hope to see you again soon.
我們很重視您的惠顧，期待很快再見到您。
value your business (= your custom)
Tourists from Japan bring most of the business to Carlos's surf school.
Carlos 衝浪學校的客人大多來自日本的觀光客。
After the festival, business at the night market was the best in years.
夜市的生意在祭典結束後達到了好幾年來最好的狀況。
- lose business
- drum up business
- business is booming
- value your business
文法句型
lose business
business is good/bad/slow
用法筆記
Uncountable. Often the subject of 'is' + an evaluative adjective ('business is brisk/slow/booming'). 'Take your business elsewhere' means to spend your money at another shop.
常見錯誤
5. a particular event or situation, especially one that you find odd, unpleasant, o
事情；事件
通常令人覺得奇怪、麻煩或不愉快的情況
a particular event or situation, especially one that you find odd, unpleasant, or hard to deal with — used when giving an opinion about it.
This whole business with the missing keys is starting to worry me.
鑰匙不見的這整件事開始讓我有點擔心。
this whole business with...
Marcus called the divorce a sad business that nobody had wanted.
Marcus 把這場離婚形容成一件誰也不願見到的傷心事。
a [adj] business
Lina found packing up her grandmother's house a slow, painful business.
Lina 覺得整理外婆的房子是一件緩慢又痛苦的事情。
The mayor described the leaked emails as a very strange business indeed.
市長把那批外流的電子郵件形容成一件非常奇怪的事情。
- a strange business
- a sad business
- a messy business
- the whole business
文法句型
a strange/messy/serious business
用法筆記
Almost always singular with a determiner ('this/that/the/a + adjective + business'). Distinguish from sense 6 (something that concerns or belongs to a person): sense 5 labels a situation as a whole, while sense 6 talks about whose responsibility it is.
常見錯誤
6. the things, problems, or decisions that belong to one particular person and that
私事；本分
個人的事情或職責，旁人無權過問
the things, problems, or decisions that belong to one particular person and that other people have no right to ask about.
How much Lina earns is her own business, not the neighbours' gossip.
Lina 賺多少錢是她自己的事，不是鄰居拿來八卦的話題。
[possessive] own business
Aunt Rosa kept poking into Marcus's business until he finally lost his temper.
Aunt Rosa 一直插手 Marcus 的私事，他最後終於忍不住發了脾氣。
poke into someone's business
Carlos politely told the reporter that his health was no business of hers.
Carlos 客氣地告訴記者，他的健康狀況不關她的事。
no business of [pronoun]
Whether the children go to summer camp is really the parents' business.
孩子要不要去夏令營，其實是父母自己的事。
- my own business
- none of your business
- mind your own business
- no business of yours
文法句型
my/your/his/their business
no business of yours
用法筆記
Frequently used to push back against a question or criticism, often with 'own', 'no', or 'none of': 'my own business', 'no business of yours', 'none of your business'. Distinguish from sense 5 — here the focus is on rights and responsibility, not on labelling a situation.
常見錯誤
7. small physical actions that an actor performs on stage — for example, slowly pol
舞台動作
演員為塑造氣氛或角色而加入的細微動作
small physical actions that an actor performs on stage — for example, slowly polishing a glass or fumbling with a hat — to make a scene feel real or to show what a character is like.
The director gave the lead actor some funny business with a broken umbrella.
導演替男主角設計了一段拿著一把破傘的滑稽舞台動作。
[adj] business with a [prop]
Most of the comedy comes from the clown's silent business with a tiny chair.
大部分笑點來自那個小丑與一張小椅子之間默劇式的互動。
stage / comic business
Dr. Tanaka, our drama teacher, calls these tiny gestures 'stage business'.
我們的戲劇老師 Dr. Tanaka 把這些細微的動作稱為「舞台動作」。
stage business (technical term)
The young actress invented some lovely business while pouring her morning tea.
那位年輕女演員在倒早茶時設計了一些很可愛的小動作。
- stage business
- comic business
- silent business
- funny business
- stage business
the full technical term; 'business' alone is shorthand among theatre people
- shtick
informal; a comic actor's signature bit of stage action
文法句型
stage business
comic business
用法筆記
Specialist theatre/film vocabulary; learners will more often meet the full phrase 'stage business'. Almost always uncountable and used with an adjective ('comic', 'silent', 'funny') or with a prop.
an impolite way of telling someone to stop asking about, or interfering in, things that do not belong to them.
管好你自己的事；別多管閒事
When Aunt Rosa asked about his salary again, Marcus told her to mind her own business.
Lina wishes the neighbours would mind their own business and stop watching her garden.
a sharp way of saying that someone has no right to know about something private.
不關你的事
Whether Carlos and his girlfriend will get married is none of your business.
How much the family paid for the house is really none of the reporter's business.
get down to business
idiomto stop chatting or wasting time and start the serious work that you came to do.
言歸正傳；著手辦正事
After the coffee and small talk, the team finally got down to business at ten.
Let's get down to business — we only have an hour to plan the festival.
mean business
idiomto be very serious about doing something, in a way that other people can clearly see.
認真的；玩真的
The new coach arrived with a whistle and a clipboard, and the players knew she meant business.
When Dr. Tanaka raised his voice, the whole class realised he meant business.
out of business
idiomno longer operating, usually because a company has run out of money or customers.
歇業；倒閉
Two of the small bookshops on our street went out of business last winter.
Without a steady supply of fish, the little restaurant would soon be out of business.
to do something that you have no right to do, or that is not your responsibility.
沒有資格做某事；不該做某事
A six-year-old has no business riding that big motorbike around the yard.
Carlos had no business reading his sister's diary, and he knew it.
business as usual
idioma way of saying that everyday work is going on normally, even though something difficult or unusual has happened.
一切如常；照常營業
Despite the small fire next door, it was business as usual at the bakery by Tuesday.
After the long strike ended, the airport quickly returned to business as usual.
any other business
idiomTopics discussed at the end of a meeting that were not on the official list.
其他事項
Before we finish, is there any other business to discuss?
The chair asked if anyone had any other business to raise.
be the business
idiomTo be excellent or of very high quality.
非常棒
That new restaurant is the business; you should try it.
Her performance last night was the business.
be in business
idiomTo have everything needed to start something immediately.
準備就緒
Once we get the permit, we'll be in business.
With this funding, the project is in business.
To consider a particular activity as a central part of what you do.
從事某事
We are in the business of helping students succeed.
The company is in the business of selling software.
business is business
idiomUsed to say that financial matters should not be influenced by personal feelings.
公事公辦
I know he's your friend, but business is business.
She refused the discount, saying business is business.
To continue doing your normal activities.
做自己的事
People went about their business despite the rain.
She went about her business as if nothing happened.
To have no right or reason to do something.
無權做某事
You have no business reading my private emails.
He had no business telling her what to do.
Very much, very fast, or very well.
非常地
She can sing like nobody's business.
He's been working like nobody's business to finish on time.
To not intend to do something that might be expected.
不打算做某事
I'm not in the business of lying to my clients.
We are not in the business of accepting bribes.
To actively seek customers or passengers.
招攬生意
Taxis ply for hire outside the train station.
Street vendors ply for trade in the market square.
同根字
- businesslike形容詞C1
- businessman名詞B1
- businesswoman名詞B1
- businessperson名詞B2
- busy形容詞A1
- busyness名詞C2
常見搭配
名詞搭配
- business meeting
- business trip
- business hours
- business card
- business plan
- business owner
- business partner
- business model
常用片語
- do business with
- go into business
- set up a business
- run a business
- lose business
- business as usual
介系詞搭配
- in business
- out of business
- on business
- into business
- for business