one's forbears
复数形式 forbears 指多位祖先。
Many people know little about their forbears.
许多人对自己的祖先知之甚少。
祖先
forbears — plural of forbear
祖先
a person from whom you are descended
My forbear came to America in the 19th century.
我的祖先在19世纪来到美国。
用法提示：forbear作为名词，表示“祖先”。
The family history records the achievements of our forbears.
家族历史记录了我们祖先的成就。
用法提示：forbears是forbear的复数形式，指多位祖先。
He discovered a portrait of his forbear in the attic.
他在阁楼里发现了一幅他祖先的画像。
用法提示：forbear在此句中指一位祖先。
复数形式 forbears 指多位祖先。
Many people know little about their forbears.
许多人对自己的祖先知之甚少。
of 短语用来说明某人的祖先；单数可指一位祖先。
The portrait shows a forbear of the present king.
这幅画像画的是现任国王的一位祖先。
grammar · medium
易错句子My forbears will carry on the family name.
正确表达My descendants will carry on the family name.
forbear 是可数名词，指祖先，即比自己年长的上代；它不能指后代。将来延续家族姓氏的人是后代，因此应当用 descendants。这里属于把表示方向相反的词义混淆，应把 forbears 改为 descendants。
grammar · medium
易错句子All my forbear came from a small village in Fujian.
正确表达All my forbears came from a small village in Fujian.
forbear 是可数名词，复数形式为 forbears；限定词 all 后面接可数名词时，必须用复数形式，所以应把 forbear 改为 forbears，谓语 came 保持不变。
forebear 与 forbear 发音相同、都可指“祖先”，但 forebear 不会与动词 forbear（克制）同形，指祖先时用它可避免歧义；forbear 作名词时通常靠复数 forbears 或上下文判断。上下文可能被读成动词时，用 forebear 更清楚。
ancestor 可指人或动物的祖先，也可用于“共同祖先”等生物或比喻语境；forbear 只指人的祖先，常用于家族血统叙述。谈物种演化或非人祖先时用 ancestor，不用 forbear。
forefather 常指男性祖先，也可指家族、民族的开创者；forbear 是祖先的统称，不限定性别，也不强调开创者身份。明确指男性先辈或奠基者时用 forefather，泛称先辈时用 forbear。
fore-（在前）+ bear
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