spadework
spadework — 名詞
1. the difficult and often tedious tasks that must be completed before a larger pro
前置作業
為主要工作所做的費力前期準備
the difficult and often tedious tasks that must be completed before a larger project or activity can properly begin
The team did the spadework of interviewing two hundred potential users before launching the app.
團隊在推出應用程式之前，先做了訪問兩百位潛在使用者的前置作業。
do the spadework of [gerund phrase]
Hyun did the spadework of gathering documents and checking facts before writing a single chapter.
Hyun 在動筆寫任何章節之前，先做了蒐集文件、比對事實的前置作業。
spadework of [gerund] — specifying the nature of the preparation
The legal spadework — filing motions, reviewing contracts, and meeting witnesses — took longer than the trial.
法律方面的前置作業——遞交聲請、審閱合約、會見證人——花的時間比庭審本身還久。
Anna did the administrative spadework so the team could focus on the presentation.
Anna 負責行政方面的前置作業，讓團隊能夠專心準備簡報。
Without the spadework done by the assistants, the professor could not have finished the book.
如果沒有助理們做好的前置作業，那位教授根本無法完成這本書。
- groundwork
Emphasises the foundational role of the preparation rather than its difficulty or tedium; more neutral in tone.
- legwork
Focuses on practical, often physical tasks such as travelling, visiting places, or making phone calls; less formal than spadework.
- preparation
A much broader and more neutral term; does not carry the connotation of arduousness that spadework does.
- preliminaries
Refers to the initial steps of a process without emphasising how hard or dull they are; often used in formal or procedural contexts.
文法句型
the + spadework + of + gerund
用法筆記
Uncountable noun. Almost always preceded by the definite article ('the spadework') or a possessive determiner ('their spadework'). The 'of + gerund' structure is the most common way to specify what the preparatory work involves.