If you have been learning English for a while, you are likely very familiar with the verb pay. It often refers to the act of exchanging money for an item or service, but not always! In a collocated phrase, the meaning of the word may shift slightly and cause some confusion.
如果你学了一段时间英语,你可能对动词pay很熟悉。它通常是指用金钱交换物品或服务的行为,但并不总是这样!在一个并置短语中,这个词的意思可能稍有变化,引起一些混乱。

But don’t fear! Here are common phrases with the word pay, explained with plenty of examples to make sure you don’t get confused.
但不要害怕!这里有一些常用的短语,用大量的例子来解释,以确保你不会感到困惑。

Collocations Having to Do with Exchanging Money for Something
与金钱有关的搭配

Gross pay
税前总额

When talking about salary or earnings, you often have to take taxes into account to get an accurate picture of how much money someone is earning. However, the money that you get directly from your employer (whether you have a traditional boss or are a freelancer) is usually your gross pay.
在谈论薪水或收入时,你常常必须考虑到税收,才能准确地了解一个人挣了多少钱。然而,你直接从雇主那里得到的钱(不管你是传统的老板还是自由职业者)通常是你的工资总额。

This is the money that you earn, before taxes have been taken out. The number for your gross pay is usually the number that is reported for surveys and official documents, including national censuses.
这是你在缴税前赚的钱。你的工资总额通常是为调查和官方文件(包括国家人口普查)报告的数字。

For people who do not make a lot of money, their gross pay and the money that they actually have to take care of their expenses is basically the same. If you make a lot more money, the gross pay is going to be far from representative, especially if you live in a country with high tax rates.
对于那些收入不高的人来说,他们的工资总额和他们实际需要支付的费用基本上是一样的。如果你赚更多的钱,总工资将远远没有代表性,特别是如果你生活在一个高税率的国家。

Examples
例子

When I heard his gross pay, I was shocked that he was earning so much before I remembered that he pays so much in taxes.
当我听到他的工资总额时,我震惊地发现,在我记起他交了这么多税之前,他已经挣了这么多钱。

Some tax exemptions allow you to deduct money that you earn from your gross pay, so you end up paying less in taxes.
一些免税允许你从你的工资总额中扣除你挣的钱,所以你最终少交了税。

Judging someone just by their gross pay is a terrible way to really understand the kind of lifestyle they live.
仅仅根据一个人的总收入来判断一个人是一种很糟糕的方式来真正了解他们的生活方式。

Pay a fine
交罚款

If you have broken a law that is not too dangerous, the police may ask you to pay a fine. This means that you have to pay a little bit of money to make up for the wrong thing that you did! This is usually an amount that is not small but is manageable for many people (such as $100 for parking in the wrong place).
如果你触犯了不太危险的法律,警察可能会要求你交罚款。这意味着你必须花一点钱来弥补你做的错事!这通常是一个不小的数额,但对许多人来说是可以管理的(例如,在错误的地方停车100美元)。

However, if you do a behavior that the government really does not want you to do, the fine may be very large! For example, in Taipei, if you eat while riding the subway, you can be fined up to $10,000.
但是,如果你做了一个政府真的不想你做的行为,罚款可能会非常大!例如,在台北,如果你在乘地铁时吃东西,你可能会被罚款1万美元。

Examples
例子

I can’t believe I have to pay this fine! I didn’t do anything wrong.
我真不敢相信我要付这么多罚款!我没有做错什么。

Can you believe you have to pay a fine of $2,000 for smoking in a school zone?
你能相信在学校区域吸烟要交2000美元的罚款吗?

For most things, there’s no way to get out of paying the fine.
在大多数情况下,没办法不交罚款。

Pay by cash/card/Apple Pay, etc.
现金/卡/苹果支付等方式支付。

When you want to buy something, there are many different ways that you can pay for it! Some of the most popular methods of payment include cash, credit card, debit card, and apps such as Apple Pay or even the Starbucks app. Regardless of the method that you use, you can say that you pay by that method.
当你想买东西的时候,有很多不同的方式你可以支付它!一些最流行的支付方式包括现金、信用卡、借记卡,以及苹果支付甚至星巴克应用等应用。不管你用哪种方法,你都可以说你是用这种方法付款的。

Examples
例子

Would you like to pay by cash or credit today?
你今天想用现金还是信用卡付款?

I really try to pay by credit card whenever I can so that I can earn those reward points as often as possible.
我真的尽量用信用卡支付,这样我就能尽可能多地获得那些奖励积分。

The new methods of paying by phone feel weird when you try them for the first time, but they are actually extremely helpful when you get the hang of it!
当你第一次尝试电话支付的新方法时,感觉很奇怪,但当你掌握了它的窍门时,它们实际上是非常有用的!

Pay cash
付现金

The only payment type that you can use without a preposition is cash! You can pay cash for anything that you want, as long as it’s not online shopping. However, you can also pay with or pay by cash. All of these usages are correct.
不用介词就可以使用的付款方式只有现金!你可以用现金支付任何你想要的东西,只要不是网上购物。但是,您也可以用现金支付。所有这些用法都是正确的。

Examples
例子

If you pay cash for this tour, you can get a 3% discount off the list price.
如果你付现金参加这次旅行,你可以在价目表上打3%的折扣。

I really hate paying cash because I never have the right amount and then get a ton of change to carry around in my pocket.
我真的很讨厌付现金,因为我从来没有正确的数额,然后得到一吨零钱随身携带在我的口袋里。

Some people really benefit from the anonymity that comes from paying cash.
有些人真的受益于匿名支付现金。

Pay with cash/credit card/Apple Pay, etc.
用现金/信用卡/苹果支付等方式支付。

Anything that you can pay by, you can pay with. Usually this means that you are exchanging something, such as physical cash or your bank account or credit card number, for what you are buying. These phrases are interchangeable and do not represent any difference in meaning.
任何你能用的东西,你都可以用。通常这意味着你正在用实物现金、银行账户或信用卡号码等交换你要买的东西。这些短语是可互换的,不代表任何意义上的差异。

Examples
例子

The best thing to do when you are trying to get rid of your debt is just to pay with cash for everything.
当你试图摆脱债务时,最好的办法就是用现金支付所有的东西。

In countries that you might think of as developing or second-rate, the payment system is really advanced! Everyone is paying with their cell phone nowadays!
在你可能认为是发展中国家或二流国家,支付系统真的很先进!现在每个人都在用手机付款!

Paying with credit card is really convenient, but it’s a real hassle if you lose it.
用信用卡付账真的很方便,但如果你丢了信用卡就麻烦了。

Pay for something
支付

You can pay for the thing that you are getting in exchange for your money. Regardless of the method that you transferred money, you pay for something to buy it!
你可以用得到的东西来换取你的钱。不管你用什么方法转账,你都得花钱买东西!

Examples
例子

You don’t have to pay for dinner every time we meet up, you know!
你不必每次我们见面都付钱吃饭,你知道的!

Did you pay for that ice cream before you left the coffee shop?
你离开咖啡店前付了冰淇淋的钱吗?

If you ask your parents to pay for something, they may see it as an opportunity to hold more control and authority over you.
如果你要求你的父母为某事付出代价,他们可能会认为这是一个对你拥有更多控制权和权威的机会。

Pay someone back
还某人钱

If you owe someone money and you return it to them, you pay them back. This is usually used in the context of money (like a debt to the bank), but it can also apply to things like favors or acts of love.
如果你欠了别人钱还了他们,你就把钱还给他们。这通常用于金钱(比如欠银行的债),但也可以用于恩惠或爱的行为。

Examples
例子

I don’t think that I can ever pay my parents back for all that they have done while supporting me for the last 30 years!
我不认为我能偿还我父母在过去30年里支持我所做的一切!

Sue Ellen still has not paid me back for those Broadway tickets that she asked me to order for her online! I definitely do not want to lend her any more money until she does.
苏埃伦还没有还我那些百老汇的票,她让我为她网上订购!我绝对不想再借钱给她,直到她借钱为止。

If you have ever owed money to the bank, pay them back as fast as possible because they will continue to hound and annoy you until you do!
如果你曾经欠过银行的钱,请尽快还清,因为他们会继续骚扰你,直到你还清为止!

Equal pay
同工同酬

This is a term that is almost always used to refer to the pay gap (the difference in payment) for gender. In many countries, women earn a significantly less amount of money than men, even if they do the same work.
这是一个几乎总是用来指性别的工资差距(工资差距)。在许多国家,即使做同样的工作,妇女挣的钱也比男子少得多。

Men who work under women can make more money than their female bosses as well! When people earn the same amount of money for the same amount of work, this is known as equal pay. This phrase is well-used in areas such as politics nowadays.
在女人手下工作的男人也能比她们的女老板赚更多的钱!当人们为同样的工作挣同样的钱时,这就是所谓的同工同酬。这句话现在在政治等领域使用得很好。

Examples
例子

I can’t believe that it’s 2017 and women still don’t have equal pay!
我真不敢相信,现在是2017年,女人还没有同工同酬!

Sometimes employers don’t want you to talk about how much money you make with your coworkers because they know they aren’t giving you equal pay.
有时候雇主不想让你和同事谈论你赚了多少钱,因为他们知道他们没有给你同等的报酬。

Patty believes that equal pay is an important indicator of gender equality in any country or region.
帕蒂认为,在任何国家或地区,同工同酬都是两性平等的重要指标。

Take home pay
实得工资

The “opposite” of your gross pay is your take home pay. This is the money that you get to actually use, after you have paid your taxes. In many countries, the taxes that you have to pay depends heavily on the method with which you earned that money.
你的工资总额的“反面”是你的实得工资。这是你交完税后实际使用的钱。在许多国家,你必须缴纳的税款在很大程度上取决于你用什么方法挣到这些钱。

So, just because you and your closest friend both earned $100 doesn’t mean that the same amount of money will end up in your bank accounts. However, take home pay is a number that is much more useful in getting an idea of how much money a person earns.
所以,仅仅因为你和你最亲密的朋友都挣了100美元,并不意味着同样的钱最终会进入你的银行账户。然而,实得工资是一个数字,在了解一个人挣多少钱方面更有用。

Examples
例子

In countries where the gross pay and the take home pay are crazy different, you can infer that the tax rate is probably equally high.
在工资总额和实际工资相差悬殊的国家,你可以推断税率可能同样高。

It’s better to think of your income as your take home pay rather than your gross pay because the take home pay number can tell you much more about what your budget should look like.
最好把你的收入看作是你的实得工资,而不是你的总工资,因为实得工资数字可以告诉你更多关于你的预算应该是什么样子的。

Pay well
待遇好

If you are applying for a new job, you should check whether it pays well or not as part of your decision! A company or employer that pays well is one that gives you a good salary, or a good amount of money for the work that you are doing for them.
如果你正在申请一份新工作,你应该检查它的报酬是否好,作为你决定的一部分!薪水优厚的公司或雇主,就是给你一份好薪水,或是给你一大笔钱做你为他们做的工作的公司或雇主。

Private companies in industries such as law or pharmaceuticals are notorious for paying well, while organizations like nonprofits and government or public sector jobs are notorious for not doing so.
法律或制药等行业的私营公司因薪酬丰厚而臭名昭著,而非营利组织、政府或公共部门的工作岗位等组织则因不这样做而臭名昭著。

Paying well is almost always used to talk about your salary (fixed regardless of the amount of work that you do) or wage (depends on the number of hours you work or the output that you put out).
高薪几乎总是用来谈论你的薪水(无论你做多少工作都是固定不变的)或工资(取决于你工作的小时数或你的产出)。

I heard that Jason Hicks got that new job! I’ve heard that company he’s now working for pays really well.
我听说杰森·希克斯得到了那份新工作!我听说他现在供职的那家公司薪水很高。

The common understanding is that regardless of what you do, you can be paid well if you become an expert at a specific thing.
大家的共识是,无论你做什么,如果你成为某一特定领域的专家,你都可以得到丰厚的报酬。

If a company that you really want to work for, doesn’t pay well for whatever reason, don’t forget to consider things like flexibility and opportunities for advancement before discounting it outright, especially if you’re new to the workforce.
如果一个你真正想为之工作的公司,无论出于什么原因,薪酬都不高,不要忘记考虑灵活性和晋升机会,然后彻底打折,尤其是如果你是新员工的话。

Pay handsomely
支付丰厚

From the literal side of this phrase, to pay handsomely means the same thing as to pay well. It means that you are compensated fairly (and often more than the average) for whatever it is that you are providing.
从字面上讲,支付得好和支付得好是一回事。这意味着无论你提供什么,你都能得到公平的补偿(而且往往比平均水平还高)。

However, paying handsomely is more often used to talk about buying or selling something rather than about salary from an employer. If you are selling something, like a valuable painting or a car to someone, that person pays you handsomely if they pay you more than what that thing is worth.
然而,高薪更常被用来谈论买或卖东西,而不是雇主的薪水。如果你卖东西,比如一幅名画或一辆汽车给某人,如果他付给你的钱超过了那东西的价值,他就会给你丰厚的报酬。

Examples
例子

My brother accidentally sold you that necklace, but it was my grandmother’s and has special meaning to me so I am willing to pay handsomely to get it back!
我哥哥不小心把那条项链卖给了你,但它是我祖母的,对我有特殊的意义,所以我愿意花很多钱把它买回来!

Just because you make unique pieces of art every day doesn’t mean that someone is always willing to pay handsomely for one of them.
仅仅因为你每天都制作独特的艺术品并不意味着总有人愿意为其中一件付出高昂的代价。

If you are able to position your product in the right way, people will be begging to pay you handsomely for it, regardless of the price.
如果你能以正确的方式定位你的产品,人们会乞求为它支付丰厚的报酬,而不管价格如何。

Ability to pay
支付能力

This collocation is a phrase commonly used in the business world to describe a target audience. Instead of trying to sell things to just anyone, most brands try to target a specific group of people who will be able to afford what they’re selling, and would happily spend money to get it.
这种搭配是商业界常用的一个短语,用来形容目标受众。大多数品牌不想把东西卖给任何人,而是试图把目标锁定在一个特定的群体,这个群体将能够负担得起他们所卖的东西,并且愿意花钱去买。

They never want to target a group that does not have the ability to pay unless they do not care whether they will earn any money or not.
他们永远不想瞄准一个没有支付能力的群体,除非他们不在乎自己是否能赚到钱。

Examples
例子

If your target audience does not have the ability to pay, you can bet that you are wasting your time creating your product.
如果你的目标受众没有支付能力,你可以打赌你是在浪费时间创造你的产品。

Even if the people you serve don’t have the ability to pay, you can still pursue that field if you can find other people to back you. This is the way that many nonprofits work.
即使你所服务的人没有支付能力,如果你能找到其他人支持你,你仍然可以继续从事这个领域。这是许多非营利组织的工作方式。

The biggest mistake that John made in his business was that he didn’t think to check whether the people he wanted to target had the ability to pay.
约翰在生意上犯的最大错误是,他不想检查他想找的人是否有支付能力。

Collocations Having to Do with Giving Something Metaphorically
搭配与隐喻性的给予有关

Pay someone a visit
拜访某人

If you go and meet someone, you pay someone a visit. While this can apply to most meetings, it often implies that you physically go to their location to see them – you do not agree to meet at a coffee shop or restaurant or another neutral place.
如果你去见某人,你就去拜访某人。虽然这可以适用于大多数会议,但它通常意味着你亲自去他们的所在地看他们——你不同意在咖啡店、餐厅或其他中立的地方见面。

“Their” territory can be broad, however, including places like their home, their room, their office, or their car. It just has to be a physical place that belongs to them.
“他们”的领域可以很广,但是,包括像他们的家,他们的房间,他们的办公室,或他们的车。它必须是一个属于他们的地方。

Examples
例子

I haven’t been back to my alma mater in a while so I’m thinking of going back to pay my old thesis mentor a visit!
我已经有一段时间没回母校了,所以我想回去拜访我的老论文导师!

Walter has been waiting for his old baseball teammates to pay him a visit, but they have all been very busy and unable to take time out of their schedule.
沃尔特一直在等他的老棒球队友来拜访他,但他们都很忙,无法抽出时间。

It’s almost always a pleasant surprise to see someone from your past come pay you a visit!
看到你过去的人来拜访你几乎总是一个惊喜!

Pay someone a compliment
恭维某人

Another thing that you can pay to someone else is a compliment. If you tell someone something good about them, you are paying them a compliment. This phrase usually carries a very genuine connotation, so if you say that someone paid you a compliment, you mean that they said that good thing without any sarcasm or ill intention.
另一件事,你可以付给别人的是恭维。如果你告诉别人一些关于他们的好消息,你就是在恭维他们。这句话通常有一个非常真实的含义,所以如果你说有人向你致意,你的意思是他们说的好东西没有任何讽刺或恶意。

Examples
例子

Felicia always blushed bright red when she heard her friends pay her a compliment.
费利西亚听到朋友们恭维她时,总是脸红得通红。

A really great and underrated way to make someone more comfortable around you – especially a child – is to pay them a compliment for something they are doing.
要让身边的人——特别是孩子——更舒适,一个非常好的、被低估的方法是对他们正在做的事情给予赞美。

When you pay your compliments to a child, it’s far better for their future mental health to encourage the effort that they put into something rather than any natural ability that they seem to have.
当你赞美一个孩子时,鼓励他们努力投入到某件事情上,而不是鼓励他们看起来拥有的任何自然能力,对他们未来的心理健康来说都要好得多。

Pay their respects
表示敬意

When someone dies, you should pay your respects to them and their family so that they know you are thinking of them. In different cultures, the actions that make up paying your respects can differ greatly.
当有人去世时,你应该向他们和他们的家人表示敬意,这样他们就会知道你在想他们。在不同的文化中,表达敬意的行为会有很大的不同。

Sometimes, for example, you can just attend the person’s funeral and make sure to greet the family members. Other times, it may involve visiting that person’s grave at the cemetery, bringing flowers to a monument, or something else.
例如,有时你可以参加这个人的葬礼,并确保向家人致意。其他时候,可能会涉及到去墓地看那个人的坟墓,给纪念碑送花,或者其他什么。

Examples
例子

I try to pay my respects to all of my ancestors at least once a year.
我试着每年至少向我所有的祖先致敬一次。

Chinese culture has a special holiday set aside specifically for paying respects to your elders who have passed away.
中国文化有一个特别的节日,专门用来向去世的长辈致意。

Even if you don’t know the person very well, you should pay your respects to anyone who was a part of any community you are a part of.
即使你不太了解这个人,你也应该向你所属的任何社区的成员致意。

Pay the price
付出代价

If karma has come back to bite you and you are now suffering for any bad or evil actions that you have taken, you are paying the price. While paying the price of something does have a literal meaning, it is almost always used to describe someone paying a metaphorical price for someone’s evil actions, whether it be their own or someone or group that they hold very dear.
如果业力回来咬你,而你现在正在为你所做的任何恶行而受苦,那你就是在付出代价。虽然付出代价确实有字面意义,但它几乎总是用来形容为某人的邪恶行为付出隐喻性代价的人,无论是他们自己,还是他们非常珍视的某个人或群体。

This collocation is not to be confused with phrases like paying half price or paying a discounted price, both of which refer to the exchange of money for a product or service.
不要把这种搭配与支付半价或打折这样的短语混淆,这两个短语都是指用金钱交换产品或服务。

Examples
例子

One of the most famous examples of paying the price is in Christian lore, where Jesus is said to have paid the price for human sin.
其中一个最著名的例子是在基督教传说中,据说耶稣为人类的罪付出了代价。

He never took care of himself when he was young, so he is paying a dear price for that now.
他年轻时从不照顾自己,所以现在为此付出了高昂的代价。

Everyone regrets their actions when they are paying the price for them, but most people couldn’t care less if they were not being punished.
每个人在为自己付出代价时都会为自己的行为感到后悔,但大多数人不在乎自己是否受到惩罚。

Collocations with pay are numerous, and many of them have metaphorical meanings! Don’t get them confused with the exchange of money.
与薪酬的搭配数不胜数,而且很多都有隐喻意义!别把他们和换钱搞混了。