praise、applaud、commend与compliment这些动词均有“赞扬、表扬、称赞”之意。
praise : 普通用词，指用语言或其它方式表示夸奖、赞扬。
- He should be praised for his honesty.
他应该因为诚实而获得表扬。 - My parents always praised me when I did well at school.
我在学校里表现好时父母总是夸奖我。 - He was highly praised for his research on heart disease.
他因在心脏病方面的研究而受到高度赞扬。
applaud : 指出色的表演或高尚的行为等得到同声赞许、大声叫好或热烈鼓掌。
- We applaud the family's decision to remain silent over the issue.
我们非常赞赏这一家人对此事保持沉默的决定。 - We applaud her decision.
我们称赞她的决定。
commend : 正式用词，指对具体功绩或成就等表示称赞或嘉奖。
- The judge commended her for/on her bravery.
法官称赞了她的勇敢。 - For a low-budget film, it has much to commend it (= it deserves praise).
作为一部低预算影片，它有不少值得称道之处。 - It says on the back cover of the book "highly commended".
书的封底上写着“隆重推荐”。
compliment : 侧重客气和礼貌，有时含恭维之意。
- I was just complimenting Robert on his wonderful food.
我刚才在夸罗伯特做的饭菜特棒。 - I must compliment you on your handling of a very difficult situation.
我必须表扬你对困难局面的处理。
