old

/əʊld/ (bre, ipa) · /əʊld/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈōld for sense 9 usually ˈōl/ (ame, mw) · /oʊld/ (ame, ipa)

old — 形容詞

  • oldpositive
  • oldercomparative
  • oldestsuperlative

1. having lived for many years, or having been around for many years; the opposite

1.形容詞A1
釋義

年老的；舊的

活了或存在很多年的；不年輕、不新的

having lived for many years, or having been around for many years; the opposite of young or new.

例句

Roya's grandmother is ninety-two and still drives her old red car to the market.

Roya 的奶奶九十二歲，仍然開著她那台老舊的紅色汽車去市場。

modifying both a person and an object

The wooden bridge is too old to carry trucks across the river.

這座木橋太老舊，無法讓卡車駛過河。

predicative use after 'be'

同義詞
  • elderly

    polite term used only for people, suggesting older than middle-aged

  • aged

    formal; often used in writing about very old people or things

  • ancient

    much stronger; suggests extremely old, often historical

反義詞
  • young

    for people and animals

  • new

    for objects

用法筆記

Covers both people and things. For people, 'older' is often softer and more polite than 'old'; many speakers say 'an older woman' instead of 'an old woman' to avoid sounding rude.

常見錯誤

❌My father is old 60 years.
✅My father is 60 years old.
💡for stating an exact age, the number comes before 'years old' (see sense 3).
❌She is more old than her brother.
✅She is older than her brother.
💡use the comparative form 'older', not 'more old'.

2. not right for someone because the thing was made for people of a higher age grou

2.形容詞
釋義

對…太成熟

為較大年齡層設計、不適合此人的

not right for someone because the thing was made for people of a higher age group.

例句

That cartoon is too old for my four-year-old nephew; it has scary monsters.

那部卡通對我四歲的姪子來說太成人，裡面有恐怖的怪物。

pattern: too old for + person

Meera said the novel felt a bit old for her ten-year-old daughter.

Meera 說那本小說對她十歲的女兒來說有點太老成。

softened with 'a bit'

同義詞
  • advanced

    for material above someone's level

  • grown-up

    more informal; suggests adult content

反義詞
  • young

    as in 'too young for' the same audience

用法筆記

Almost always paired with 'too' or 'a bit', and with 'for + person'. Distinguish from sense 1: here the thing itself is not aged — it is simply pitched at an older audience.

常見錯誤

❌This book is old for him.
✅This book is too old for him.
💡without 'too' or 'a bit', readers will assume sense 1 (the book is aged).

3. of a stated age, or used in questions to ask the age of a person, animal, or thi

3.形容詞A1
釋義

…歲；幾歲

用來描述或詢問年齡

of a stated age, or used in questions to ask the age of a person, animal, or thing.

例句

Caleb, how old is the brown puppy your sister just adopted?

Caleb，你的小狗幾歲了？

question pattern: How old + be?

Tuan turned six years old last Tuesday and blew out every candle himself.

Tuan 上週二剛滿六歲。

number + years old

同義詞
  • aged

    more formal; 'a man aged sixty'

  • of age

    fixed phrase, often legal: 'when she came of age'

文法句型

number + years old

How old + be + subject?

用法筆記

The pattern is fixed: 'number + years/months/weeks + old' (never 'old + years'). For babies, use 'months' or 'weeks' old. Also used in compounds before nouns: 'a six-year-old boy' (with hyphens, no plural 's' on year).

常見錯誤

❌I am 25 years olds.
✅I am 25 years old.
💡'old' never takes a plural 's'.
❌She is a 8-years-old girl.
✅She is an 8-year-old girl.
💡in the compound form, drop the 's' on 'year'.

4. belonging to your own past — something you once used, owned, lived in, or had a

4.形容詞A2
釋義

以前的

屬於過去某段時期的，或已被取代的

belonging to your own past — something you once used, owned, lived in, or had a role in, and now no longer do, such as a former school, job, address, or pair of shoes you have replaced.

例句

Mauricio still keeps an old letter from his first piano teacher in his desk drawer.

Mauricio 仍把他第一位鋼琴老師寫的舊信留在書桌抽屜裡。

before noun: 'old letter'

Anya bumped into an old classmate from primary school at the supermarket.

Anya 在超市偶然遇到一位小學時的老同學。

former relationship

同義詞
  • former

    more formal; clearer when 'old' is ambiguous

  • previous

    neutral; emphasises order rather than age

  • ex-

    prefix for past relationships: 'ex-boss', 'ex-wife'

反義詞
  • current

    for present-time roles or items

  • new

    for the replacement

用法筆記

Subject is a person whose past the noun belonged to — typical objects are roles ('old boss', 'old teacher'), places ('old flat', 'old neighbourhood'), and personal possessions ('old jeans', 'old phone'). The marker for this sense is a possessive determiner ('my old', 'her old', 'our old') signalling that the speaker has since moved on from that thing.

常見錯誤

❌The flat is old; we moved last year.' (meaning previous)
✅Our old flat is in the city centre; we moved last year.
💡to mean 'former', put 'old' before the noun with a possessive.

5. used with the name of a language to mean its earliest recorded form, spoken many

5.形容詞
釋義

古…語

某語言最早期的歷史形式

used with the name of a language to mean its earliest recorded form, spoken many centuries ago.

例句

Zuri is studying Old English so she can read the original poem 'Beowulf'.

Zuri 正在學古英語，這樣她就能讀到《貝奧武夫》的原文。

Old + language name (capitalised)

The professor read a passage in Old Norse to the class.

教授對全班朗讀了一段古諾斯語。

同義詞
  • Ancient

    used with some languages: 'Ancient Greek' rather than 'Old Greek'

反義詞
  • Modern

    as in 'Modern English', 'Modern Greek'

用法筆記

Used as a fixed prefix to a language name and almost always written with a capital O: Old English, Old Norse, Old French. Refers to a historical stage roughly before AD 1200, depending on the language. Distinguish from sense 4: an 'old book' is just a book of any considerable age; an 'Old English' text is from a specific historical period.

常見錯誤

❌I have a very old English book from 1900.
✅I have a very old book in English from 1900.
💡'Old English' refers to a medieval language, not just an aged book.

6. describing a person or place you have known well over many years, usually with w

6.形容詞A2
釋義

認識很久的

認識或熟悉已久、帶有感情的

describing a person or place you have known well over many years, usually with warm or affectionate feelings.

例句

Adina met an old friend from university for lunch in the same café they used to visit.

Adina 和大學時代的老朋友在他們以前常去的同一間咖啡館共進午餐。

old friend collocation

Walking through her old neighbourhood, Élise recognised every shop and tree.

走在從小住的舊社區裡，Élise 認得每一家店和每一棵樹。

old + place noun

同義詞
  • long-standing

    more formal; works for friendships, agreements, traditions

  • lifelong

    stronger; lasting an entire life

  • longtime

    common in American English; written as one word

反義詞
  • new

    as in 'a new friend' — recently met

用法筆記

Always used directly before the noun. The age of the person is irrelevant — an 'old friend' can be twenty years old, as long as the friendship itself is long. To stress age instead, say 'an elderly friend' or 'a friend who is getting old'.

常見錯誤

❌My old friend is only 22, so people get confused.
✅My old friend is only 22
💡we've known each other since kindergarten.' — explain the long friendship to avoid confusion with sense 1.

7. placed before someone's name, or before a word like 'man' or 'chap', as a way of

7.形容詞
釋義

那個…

用於名字前表達親切或無奈，非真年老

placed before someone's name, or before a word like 'man' or 'chap', as a way of expressing friendly feelings or, occasionally, mild irritation toward them.

例句

Good old Liam — he always remembers everyone's birthday.

親愛的 Liam，他總是記得每個人的生日。

good old + name (warm)

Poor old Caleb missed the bus again and walked all the way home.

可憐的 Caleb 又錯過了公車，一路走回了家。

poor old + name (sympathetic)

同義詞
  • dear

    warmer, more old-fashioned: 'dear old Aunt May'

用法筆記

Highly informal and emotional, not literal — the person can be young. Almost always inside fixed frames: 'good old X', 'poor old X', 'silly old X', 'old chap', 'old boy'. 'Old chap' and 'old boy' are mainly British and now sound dated; safer for learners to recognise than to use.

常見錯誤

❌Hello, old Liam, how are you?
✅Hello, Liam, how are you?' OR 'Good old Liam, always smiling.
💡bare 'old + name' as a greeting sounds odd; use a fixed frame like 'good old' or 'poor old'.

old — 名詞