下面两个句子的意思相同：
She was slow to react.
She was slow in reaction.
她反应迟钝。
下面两个句子的意思不同：
She was slow in learning English.
她学习英语很缓慢。
She was slow at learning English.
她不善于学习英语。
slow, slowly
这两个词都有“慢”的意思,都可用作副词。它们的区别是：
1.slow除可用作副词外,还可用作形容词或动词。例如:
He caught the slow train to Birmingham.他赶上去伯明翰的慢车。
2.slow侧重于表示状态,而slowly则表示动作的方式。例如:
She walked slow.
她行走缓慢。
She walked slowly.
她缓慢地走着。
3.slowly可用在多种场合,位置较灵活,既可放在谓语动词之前,也可放在谓语动词之后,有时甚至放在句首; slow只用在如go, run, speak, read, burn, drive等动词的后面或how引起的感叹句中。例如:
He walks slowly.他走得很慢。
Do speak slower!说慢一点行吗!
We slowly climbed over the mountain.我们慢慢爬过了山头。
We climbed slowly over the mountain.我们慢慢爬过了山头。
Slowly we climbed over the mountain.慢慢地我们爬过了山头。
4.slow常可用于引申义。例如:
Work became slow and he could earn only a few days' pay a month.活儿变轻闲了,他每月只能挣到几天的工资。
5.slow比slowly语气更强。
slow, delay, detain, retard, slacken
这组词都可表示“使某人〔事〕落后于”原计划的安排或通常的进展速度。它们之间的区别是:delay主要指因某事的干扰而妨碍按时完成或到达; detain主要指耽误时间,不能按时到达或离开,也可指不能完成想完成的事情; retard主要指减慢运动、进步速度; slow常与up或down连用,指降低进步的速度,强调主观的意图和目的性; slacken侧重某种松弛〔懈〕。例如:
I was detained late in the factory.厂里有事我无法脱身,很晚才离开。
Cold weather retards the growth of the crops.寒冷的天气妨碍作物的生长。
His bad leg slows him down a lot.他那条受伤的腿使他的速度大受影响。
Don't slacken your efforts when the job is only half done.工作只做到一半时可别松劲。
