accommodation
accommodation — noun
1. rooms, flats, houses, hotels or other buildings where someone can sleep, live, o
rooms, flats, houses, hotels or other buildings where someone can sleep, live, or spend the night.
The university provides cheap accommodation for first-year students near the main campus.
accommodation for [people] + in/near [location]
Hotel accommodation in Tokyo gets very expensive during the cherry blossom season.
compound noun: hotel accommodation
Mei is looking for cheap accommodation close to her new office in Taipei.
There is a serious shortage of affordable accommodation in many big cities.
The trip costs 800 dollars, including flights, accommodation, and breakfast every morning.
文法句型
accommodation for [people]
accommodation in [place]
用法筆記
Uncountable in British English (do not say 'an accommodation' or 'accommodations' for places to live). American English often uses the plural 'accommodations' for hotel rooms or travel lodging.
常見錯誤
2. the seats, beds, or cabins offered to passengers on a long train, ship, or plane
the seats, beds, or cabins offered to passengers on a long train, ship, or plane journey.
The night train to Bangkok offers sleeping accommodation in private four-bed cabins.
compound: sleeping accommodation on a train
First-class accommodation on the cruise ship includes a balcony and a small sitting area.
first-class / second-class accommodation on [ship]
Gita booked second-class accommodation on the overnight ferry from Athens to Crete.
Passengers in economy accommodation may store one small bag under the seat in front.
文法句型
accommodation on [vehicle]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense always refers to space on a moving vehicle (train, ship, plane), not to buildings on land. Often appears with a class label (first-class, sleeping, economy).
3. a deal that two sides with different views work out so that each one gets part o
a deal that two sides with different views work out so that each one gets part of what they want, or the act of working out such a deal.
After three days of talks, the union and management finally reached an accommodation over weekend pay.
reach an accommodation over [issue]
Diplomats from both countries are searching for a peaceful accommodation on the border dispute.
accommodation on [issue]
The two political parties came to an accommodation that allowed the budget to pass.
Any lasting accommodation between the rival groups will need careful negotiation and mutual trust.
- compromise
more common in everyday speech; same idea of mutual concession
- settlement
stronger; suggests the dispute is fully closed
- agreement
broader; not necessarily after a disagreement
文法句型
accommodation between [parties]
reach an accommodation with [someone]
用法筆記
Frequently used with 'reach', 'come to', or 'work out'. Distinguish from sense 4: this sense is a negotiated deal between disagreeing parties; sense 4 is a one-sided adjustment for someone with special needs.
常見錯誤
4. a change to the way something is normally done, made to help someone whose situa
a change to the way something is normally done, made to help someone whose situation is different from most other people's.
The school made several accommodations for Lior, including extra time on tests and a quiet exam room.
make accommodations for [person]
Reasonable accommodations for disabled employees may include ramps, screen readers, or flexible hours.
fixed phrase: reasonable accommodations
The festival organisers offered prayer-time accommodations for Muslim staff during Ramadan.
Mr. Patel asked the airline for a dietary accommodation because of his severe nut allergy.
- adjustment
common in British workplace law: 'reasonable adjustments'
- concession
implies giving up something; less neutral than 'accommodation'
- allowance
informal; a relaxation of the usual rules
文法句型
accommodations for [person/group]
make accommodations
用法筆記
Almost always plural in this sense, especially in legal and HR contexts ('reasonable accommodations'). Subject is usually an institution (school, employer, airline) and the beneficiary is one person or a small group.
常見錯誤
5. the way the lens inside the eye changes thickness so that things at different di
the way the lens inside the eye changes thickness so that things at different distances look sharp.
As people grow older, the eye loses its power of accommodation and reading print becomes harder.
power of accommodation
Dr. Wen explained that accommodation lets the eye switch quickly from a near book to a distant window.
Children have a strong range of accommodation, which is why they can read text held very close.
Some eye diseases reduce accommodation and force patients to wear reading glasses much earlier.
- focusing
everyday word for the same process
- adaptation
broader; covers all eye changes, not just lens shape
用法筆記
Technical biology term. Subject of the verb 'lose' or 'reduce' in this sense is almost always 'the eye' or 'a patient'. Often appears in fixed phrases: 'power of accommodation', 'range of accommodation', 'loss of accommodation'.
6. in linguistics, when a speaker shifts their accent, vocabulary, or rhythm to sou
in linguistics, when a speaker shifts their accent, vocabulary, or rhythm to sound more like whoever they are chatting with.
Sociolinguists call this kind of accommodation 'convergence' — speakers move closer to each other's accent.
linguistic term: accommodation = convergence/divergence
Mei noticed her accent shifting through accommodation whenever she chatted with her Glasgow cousins.
Speech accommodation often happens without the speaker noticing it, especially in friendly conversations.
The professor argued that accommodation in the classroom helps teachers connect with students from different regions.
- convergence
more specific; moving toward another speaker's style
- style-shifting
everyday term for the same idea
- divergence
moving away from another speaker's style on purpose
用法筆記
Specialist sociolinguistics term, often paired with 'convergence' (moving toward) or 'divergence' (moving away). Distinguish from sense 7: this sense is the social behaviour of style-shifting, while sense 7 is a phonetic process inside individual words.
7. in phonetics, a small change to a speech sound caused by whichever sound sits ri
in phonetics, a small change to a speech sound caused by whichever sound sits right beside it inside a word.
Through accommodation, the 'n' in 'input' often shifts to an 'm' sound before the 'p'.
accommodation between adjacent consonants
Phoneticians study accommodation to explain why fast speech sounds different from careful speech.
Vowel accommodation makes the 'i' in 'sing' nasal because of the following 'ng' sound.
Many sound changes in the history of English began as everyday accommodation between neighbouring sounds.
- assimilation
the standard phonetics term; nearly the same idea
- coarticulation
broader; any overlap of two sounds in production
用法筆記
Highly specialist phonetics term. Distinguish from sense 6: sense 6 is about the speaker matching another person's style, while sense 7 happens inside a single word as one sound pulls a neighbouring sound closer to itself.