group、crowd、gang、band、mob、throng、masses与swarm这些名词均含“群、帮、伙”之意。
group : 普通用词,通常指有组织、有秩序的一群人,也可指无意汇集在一起的一群人。
- I'm meeting a group of friends for dinner tonight.
今晚我要与一帮朋友聚餐。 - The car was parked near a small group of trees.
汽车停在一片小树林附近。 - She showed me another group of pictures, this time of children playing.
她又给我看了另外一组照片,这次是孩子们玩耍的情景。
crowd : 常指无组织地乱哄哄地挤在一起的人群。
- A crowd of about 15,000 attended the concert.
大约有15000人出席了音乐会。 - She goes around with a friendly crowd.
她常和一群朋友结伴外出。 - "Who was there?" "Oh, the usual crowd."
“那儿都有谁?”“噢,还是往常那伙人。”
gang : 常指从事非法、暴力或敌对活动的帮派或团伙。有时呈中性,词义同group。
- Fights among rival gangs account for most murders in the city.
这座城市中,绝大多数凶杀案件都是敌对团伙之间的斗殴引起的。 - I've made friends at my new school, but I miss the old gang.
我在新学校交了新朋友,但是非常想念以前的伙伴们。
band : 多指一群有明确宗旨,为共同目的而结合在一起的人,常含贬义。
- The former president still has a small band of supporters.
前总统仍然有一小群支持者。
mob : 指无组织、乱七八糟凑合在一起的乌合之众,或指聚集在一起寻衅滋事的人群,多为暴徒。
- The angry mob outside the jail was/were ready to riot.
监狱外愤怒的暴民准备闹事。 - a lynch mob
行私刑的暴民 - 50 people were killed in three days of mob violence.
3天的暴乱中有50人丧生。 - The usual mob was/were hanging out at the bar.
酒吧里闲混的还是往常那伙人。
throng : 书面用词,意义接近crowd,侧重密集地挤在一起的一群,含挤在一起向前推进之意。
- A huge throng had gathered around the speaker.
演讲者周围聚集了一大群人。 - We pushed our way through the throng.
我们挤过人群。
masses : 指群众或人民大众。
- He was popular with the rich but failed to win the support of the masses.
他很受贵族阶层的欢迎,但没有赢得民众的支持。
swarm : 指人数众多,杂乱无章,不停移动的一群人。
- a swarm of bees/wasps/ants/locusts
一大群蜜蜂/黄蜂/蚂蚁/蝗虫 - The dead sheep was covered with swarms of flies.
这只死羊身上爬满了一群群的苍蝇。 - A swarm of/Swarms of photographers followed the star's car.
成群结队的记者跟在这位电影明星的车后。