Word · Frequency #28866
petrel
海燕
relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land
- 1.
Any of various species of black, grey, or white seabirds in the order Procellariiformes.
In use
We watched a petrel glide over the waves.
Petrels spend most of their lives far out at sea.
A single petrel flew past the ship's mast.
a petrel
petrel 是可数名词，表示“一只海燕”时用 a petrel。
A petrel flew far from land.
一只海燕飞到了离陆地很远的地方。
petrels
petrel 的复数形式是 petrels。
Petrels are long-winged tube-nosed birds.
海燕是长翼的管鼻鸟。
Common mistakes
I saw petrel flying over the sea.I saw a petrel flying over the sea.
petrel 是可数名词单数，不能单独出现；单数可数名词前需要不定冠词 a/an。中文没有冠词，所以容易遗漏，这里要加 a。
A petrel bird flew over the waves.A petrel flew over the waves.
petrel 已经指一种鸟，再加 bird 是重复。中文里习惯说‘海燕鸟’，但英语中不需要添加类别词 bird，去掉后意思不变。
Petrel are seabirds.Petrels are seabirds.
petrel 是可数名词，表示多只鸟时要用复数 petrels。中文名词没有复数后缀，容易漏掉 -s；这里主语是复数，动词用 are，所以名词也要加 s。
Connections
Collocations
- storm petrel
- 风暴海燕
- A storm petrel skimmed over the waves.一只海燕掠过浪尖。
- Leach's petrel
- 白腰叉尾海燕
- Leach's petrels nest in burrows on remote islands.白腰叉尾海燕在偏远岛屿的洞穴中筑巢。
- giant petrel
- 巨海燕
- Giant petrels are the largest of the petrel family.巨海燕是海燕家族中体形最大的鸟。
- snow petrel
- 雪海燕
- The snow petrel breeds farther south than any other bird.雪海燕的繁殖地比任何其他鸟类都更靠南。
- Cape petrel
- 海角海燕
- Cape petrels often follow ships in search of food.海角海燕常跟随船只觅食。
Idioms & figurative uses
Learner notes
Memory Tip
记忆联想：petrel 中含 pet（宠物），把海燕想成大海的宠物，常在远海飞翔。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：birdwatching guides、marine biology texts、nature documentaries petrel 是中性偏正式的鸟类名称，通常多见于观鸟指南、海洋生物学科普或自然纪录片等书面或解说场合。
Pronunciation & Spelling
No common word rhymes exactly with /ˈpetrəl/. 'petal' and 'metal' look similar but are pronounced /ˈpɛtəl/ and /ˈmɛtəl/ (no /r/). 'kestrel' shares the -trel spelling but has /ˈkɛstrəl/ with /kɛs/ in the stressed syllable. 'scoundrel', 'squirrel' and 'laurel' end in -rel /rəl/ but have very different stressed vowels.
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.