decline to do sth
表示有礼貌地拒绝做某事，后接动词不定式，语气比 refuse 委婉。
She declined to answer any questions about the deal.
她拒绝回答任何关于这笔交易的问题。
拒绝；谢绝
declining — present participle of decline
下降；下跌；衰退；恶化；减弱；使减少；降低；使下垂；使弯下；偏离；背离；退避
To say no to something; to refuse or turn down.
向下移动,降落,掉落。
To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
变弱或变差。
To become weaker or worse.
使向下弯曲；降低；压下；使弯曲或落下。
To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
使减少或变小。
To cause to decrease or diminish.
转向或偏离；偏离；游离；退却。
To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
选择不做某事；拒绝,克制,避免。
To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
按格、数、性等变化词形。
To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.
列举(一个词)的所有不同变格形式；背诵其变格。
To recite all the different declined forms of (a word): to recite its declension.
从头到尾过一遍；像变格名词一样按顺序列举。
To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
一般现在时
He declines the offer.
他拒绝了提议。
一般过去时
She declined the invitation.
她婉拒了邀请。
现在完成时
They have declined the proposal.
他们已经拒绝了提案。
规则动词，过去式和过去分词加-ed
She declined the offer to join the committee.
她婉拒了加入委员会的提议。
用法提示：decline在这里表示‘婉言拒绝’，后接名词短语作宾语。
The company's profits have declined sharply this quarter.
该公司本季度利润急剧下降。
用法提示：decline在这里表示‘下降’，是不及物动词。
He declined to comment on the rumors.
他拒绝就谣言发表评论。
用法提示：decline在这里表示‘拒绝’，后接不定式短语。
表示有礼貌地拒绝做某事，后接动词不定式，语气比 refuse 委婉。
She declined to answer any questions about the deal.
她拒绝回答任何关于这笔交易的问题。
直接接名词作宾语，多用于谢绝邀请、提议或别人的好意。
He politely declined the invitation to the ceremony.
他礼貌地谢绝了参加典礼的邀请。
作不及物动词表示数量下降，by 后接下降幅度；若说降至某个水平，则用 decline to。
Company profits declined by 12 percent last year.
公司利润去年下降了12%。
grammar · medium
易错句子She declined answering the reporter's question.
正确表达She declined to answer the reporter's question.
decline 表示"拒绝"时后面只能接不定式 to do，不能接动名词 doing。此处意思是"拒绝回答"，所以用 declined to answer；declined answering 不符合 decline 的搭配规则。
grammar · medium
易错句子The number of visitors was declined sharply last year.
正确表达The number of visitors declined sharply last year.
decline 表示"下降、减少"时是不及物动词，主语自己在下降，不能构成被动语态。was declined 把 decline 误当成了及物动词；直接用 declined sharply 才正确。
grammar · medium
易错句子The unemployment rate declined down last year.
正确表达The unemployment rate declined last year.
decline 本身已含"向下、下降"的方向义，再加 down 属于语义重复。汉语的"下降、下跌"容易让学习者补出 down，但英语中 declined 后不能再加 down。
拒绝发表评论
The spokesperson declined to comment on the report.
发言人对该报道拒绝发表评论。
谢绝邀请
She declined the invitation to the wedding.
她谢绝了参加婚礼的邀请。
价值下降；贬值
The house has declined in value over the past year.
这栋房子的价值在过去一年里下跌了。
质量下降
The service has declined in quality since the staff changed.
自员工更换以来，服务质量有所下降。
急剧下降
Sales declined sharply after the price increase.
涨价后销售额急剧下降。
前缀；同前缀词：decrease（减少）、descend（下降）
词根；同根词：incline（倾斜）、recline（斜倚）
decline 常用于描述经济下滑或衰退，如经济指标下降。
decline 可描述健康状况变差，如身体机能衰退。
decline 常与 rate 搭配，表示比率、速率下降。
decline 可描述人口数量减少，如人口下降。
decline 与 trend 相关，指下降趋势或衰退趋势。
拒绝评论（常用于正式场合，表示不愿发表意见）
The spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
发言人拒绝对正在进行的调查发表评论。
拒绝回答（尤指行使沉默权或不想回应）
When asked about his whereabouts, the suspect declined to answer.
当被问及下落时，嫌疑人拒绝回答。
逐渐变成（更糟糕的状态）；陷入
The festive gathering declined into a bitter argument.
这场节日聚会最终变成了一场激烈的争吵。
我拒绝接受人类的末日。
In his 1950 Nobel Prize speech, William Faulkner declared, "I decline to accept the end of man."
威廉·福克纳在1950年诺贝尔奖获奖演说中宣告：“我拒绝接受人类的末日。”
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下降一半
The population of the town declined by half after the mine closed.
矿山关闭后，该镇的人口减少了一半。