engages

engage, hire

engage和hire都可表示“雇用”。它们的区别在于:

1.engage的宾语只能是人,而hire的宾语可以是物。例如:

We hire out vans by the day.我们的货车按日出租。

I've engaged him as my new assistant.我已聘他为我的新助手。

2.engage的对象一般有一技之长,而hire的对象则可以是“力工”等。例如:

He hires out as a house painter in the summer.他在夏天受雇当房屋油漆工。

He engaged a lawyer to argue his case in court.他请了一位律师来为他出庭辩护。

3.engage所指的雇用时限一般较长,而hire可指短期雇用。例如:

He hired himself to work in the fields for one summer.他曾受雇在田里干一个夏天的活。

He engaged a new secretary.他聘用了一名新秘书。

engage, contract, covenant, pledge, promise

这组词都有“允诺”的意思。它们的区别是：

promise指作出口头或书面的许诺,但仅指主观意愿,并不暗示一定能实现或有实现的基础; engage指在正式或重大场合用誓言、条约等许下有约束力的诺言或作出可以信赖的保证,尤指订婚; pledge指用行动或言语作出庄严的许诺或正式保证; covenant指订立双方或多方共同遵守的协议; contract指订立慎重并且通常有法律效力的合同或协议。例如:

Our son is engaged to a nice young girl.我们的儿子已跟一位漂亮的女孩订了婚。

I covenant to pay 5000 pounds a year to help rebuild the college.我立约保证每年将付5000英镑帮助重建学院。

They have pledged that any detail given to them will remain confidential.他们已保证,给他们提供的任何细节将予以保密。

Many councils are contracting out services such as rubbish collection to private companies as a way of cutting costs.许多市政会把垃圾收集这样的服务项目包给私人公司以减少费用。