ail
ail — verb
1. to be the source of worry, pain, or trouble for a person, group, or organization
to be the source of worry, pain, or trouble for a person, group, or organization — most often used in the question 'what ails X?' when asking what is wrong, or to describe deep-seated problems hurting a company, country, or system.
What ails you, my child? You have not eaten for two days.
fixed question pattern: 'what ails [someone]?'
The new prime minister promised to fix the problems ailing the country's health system.
modern productive use: 'ailing + [system/institution]'
Rising costs and weak sales have ailed small bookshops across the city for years.
Reporters kept asking the coach what ailed his team after three losses in a row.
Nobody at the meeting could say exactly what ailed the project, but morale was low.
- comfort
to ease someone's distress rather than cause it
文法句型
what ails + [person/thing]?
用法筆記
Almost always literary or formal; in everyday speech, Taiwanese learners should use 'what's wrong with…' or 'what's the problem with…' instead. The participle 'ailing' is the most common modern form, used before nouns like economy, industry, company, patient, or relationship.
常見錯誤
2. to be in poor health over a long period, especially because of an illness that s
to be in poor health over a long period, especially because of an illness that slowly gets worse — by extension, also said of an organization or thing whose condition is steadily declining.
Grandfather had been ailing all winter, and the doctor visited the farm twice a week.
progressive 'be ailing' for chronic, slow illness
The ailing pop star canceled her tour and went home to rest.
attributive 'ailing + [person]' before a noun
Investors lost faith in the ailing airline after another quarter of heavy losses.
Mrs. Chen quit her teaching job to care for her ailing mother in Tainan.
After months of ailing in silence, the old poet finally agreed to see a specialist.
文法句型
[person] + be ailing
[person] + ail + (no object)
用法筆記
Rarely used as a finite verb in modern English ('he ails' sounds archaic). The participle form 'ailing' is alive and well — appears constantly in news writing about sick celebrities, weak companies, or troubled industries. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense focuses on the sufferer's state; sense 1 focuses on what is causing the trouble.