The word “case” may refer to a few different things.
“case”这个词有几种不同的含义。
A case might be a thing that is used to carry or hold other things:
第一种意思是指装东西的容器,如:箱子、盒子。
【例句】
• I went to the store and bought a case of beer.
我到商店去买了一箱啤酒。
• Restaurants buy wine by the case.
餐厅成箱购买红酒。
• Rachel carries her guitar around in a guitar case.
蕾切尔把她的吉他装在吉他箱里带着。
 
This word is found in compound nouns:
可以用来组成复合名词。
【例句】
• A bookcase holds books.
书架用来装书。
• You use a staircase to move between floors of a building or a house.
你可以使用梯子在一幢大楼或者一幢房子里的楼层之间移动。
• A gun case holds guns.
枪套是用来装枪的。
• Charles carries a briefcase to work. (briefcase = a rectangular box used for carrying important paper and documents.)
查尔斯带着公文包去上班。(公文包:一种用来装重要文件和文档的矩形包。)
 
A case might also be a situation:
第二种意思是情况、案例、案件。
【例句】
• The detectives are dealing with a difficult case that involves a person’s homicide.
这些侦探正在处理一件有关谋杀的复杂案件。
• Tony has a case of the flu.
托尼得了流感。
• Martha is conducting a case study on diabetes in children.
玛莎正在做一个关于儿童糖尿病的案例研究。
 
The word “case” is used for letters:
第三种是指字母的大小写。
【例句】
• all of these words are in a lower case.
所有字母都小写。
• ALL OF THESE WORDS ARE IN AN UPPER CASE.
所有字母都大写。
• Proper nouns use an upper case.
专有名词要大写。
 
 
If the word “case” is used as a verb, it means that a person is looking for something or preparing to do something.
当“case”用作动词时,意为寻找某物,或为某事做准备。
【例句】
• Thieves cased the jewelry store for several days before robbing it. (case = to prepare for a theft 为盗窃做准备)
小偷在打劫珠宝店前做了几天的准备。
• Police are casing the neighborhood looking for clues to a murder.
警察正在为寻找谋杀案的线索而盘查街道。
 
Combine the preposition “in” with “case” to form “in case.” We use “in case” to describe preparations for possible activity:
和介词“in”组成短语“in case”,用来描述为可能的情况做准备,即“以防”。
【例句】
• People carry umbrellas in case it rains.
人们带伞以防下雨。
• In case of an emergency, it’s good to carry around a cell phone.
最好带上手机以防突发状况。

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