fault, defect
这两个词都有“缺点,缺陷”的意思。它们的区别是：
defect强调不影响全局,完美不足,而fault强调不十分严重,无伤大雅; 用于人时, defect多指人体器官上的缺陷,而fault多指道德行为的缺点; 用于物时, defect指易于察觉的缺陷, fault则指功能方面的缺陷。例如:
He has some defects in his eyesight.他的视力有缺陷。
I bought the cloth cheap because there is a small defect in it.这布我买得便宜,因为上面有个小疵点。
Snobbishness was his main fault.他的主要缺点是势利眼。
I don't mean to praise myself.I have my fault.我并不是要表扬自己,我也有我的过错。
His only fault is that he lacks ambition.他唯一缺点就是没有雄心壮志。
This accident is due to a fault in the electrical circuit.这次事故是由电路故障引起的。
There is a fault in the machine.这机器有毛病。
fault, error, flaw, mistake
这四个词都有“缺点,错误”的意思。它们的区别是：
1.fault, flaw主要指“毛病,缺点”; mistake, error主要指“错误”。
2.fault多指性格、心智状态、情绪、行为或习惯中的“缺点”。例如:
The dean demands perfection in others, but cannot see faults in himself.系主任要求别人完美无缺,却看不到自己的缺点。
3.error可指任何错误,也可指笔误,印刷上或计算上的错误。例如:
Please pardon any error that you may discover in my letter.请原谅在我的信中你发现的一些错误。
This book contains a lot of printer's errors.这本书有很多印刷错误。
4.mistake指判断或理解方面的错误,或是由于缺乏思考或疏忽而造成的错误。例如:
I used your ink by mistake.我用错了你的墨水。
He made some spelling mistakes in his test paper.在考试试卷中,他犯了拼写错误。
