accident

accident — 名詞

1. an unwanted event, often involving cars, machines, or falls, where someone gets

1.名詞A2
釋義

意外事故

造成傷害或損失的突發事件

an unwanted event, often involving cars, machines, or falls, where someone gets hurt or something gets broken.

例句

Diego had a serious car accident on the highway last Friday.

馬可斯上週五在高速公路上發生了一場嚴重的車禍。

have + accident; in/on + location

Three workers were injured in an accident at the factory yesterday.

昨天工廠發生意外事故，三名工人受傷。

passive: be injured in an accident

同義詞
  • crash

    specifically a vehicle collision; more dramatic

  • mishap

    smaller accident with minor consequences; more formal

  • disaster

    much larger in scale, often affecting many people

文法句型

have an accident

in an accident

用法筆記

Frequently appears with verbs 'have', 'cause', 'witness' and the prepositions 'in' or 'on'. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense always involves harm or damage, while sense 2 is neutral about consequences.

常見錯誤

❌I made an accident yesterday.
✅I had an accident yesterday.
💡use 'have' (or 'cause'), not 'make', with this noun.
❌She was killed by a car accident.
✅She was killed in a car accident.
💡use the preposition 'in', not 'by'.

2. something that nobody planned, which happens just by luck or chance rather than

2.名詞B1
釋義

偶然；巧合

非刻意安排、碰巧發生的事

something that nobody planned, which happens just by luck or chance rather than on purpose.

例句

Yusuf found his old diary by accident while cleaning the attic.

尤瑟夫整理閣樓時，偶然找到了他的舊日記。

by accident = unintentionally

Meeting my future husband at the bus stop was a happy accident.

在公車站遇見我未來的丈夫，是個美麗的巧合。

a happy accident: positive chance event

同義詞
  • chance

    more abstract; often used as 'by chance'

  • coincidence

    stresses that two events happened together unexpectedly

  • fluke

    informal; suggests a lucky and surprising one-off

反義詞
  • design

    as in 'by design' — the deliberate opposite of 'by accident'

  • intention

    stresses the planning behind an action

文法句型

by accident

it is an accident that...

用法筆記

Most often appears in the fixed phrase 'by accident' (the opposite of 'on purpose'). Distinguish from sense 1: nothing harmful needs to happen here — the focus is on lack of plan, not on damage.

常見錯誤

❌I met him on accident.
✅I met him by accident.
💡the standard preposition is 'by', though 'on accident' is heard in casual American speech.
❌I found this book accident.
✅I found this book by accident.
💡never drop the preposition 'by'.