high與tall的用法區別與比較

high 和 tall 都可表示“高”，但它們的用法有區別：

1. tall 表示某物或某人從頂部到底部的距離，其反義詞是 short (矮)；high 表示某物高出地面的距離，其反義詞是 low(低)。比如：父親比兒子 tall, 但若兒子站到椅子上，則說兒子比父親 high。又如：在一張桌子上放了幾個高腳玻璃杯，一個小孩拿不到，他可能會說：Those tall glasses are too high for me to reach. (那幾個高腳玻璃杯對我來說太高了，我拿不到)。

2. 指人的高度時一般用 tall。如：

You look tall beside her. 和她比起來，你顯得要高些。

She has a tall graceful form. 她有著高大優雅的外形。

He was tall and strong in person. 他長得又高又壯。

He is a very tall man, easy to spot in a crowd. 他是個非常高的人，在人群中容易認出來。

Middle-aged, tall and thin, he looked a typical farmer. 他是中年人，瘦高個兒，看起來是個典型的農民。

但是，若說出了人的具體高度，則也可用 high。如：

The man is six feet tall [high]. 這個人身高 6 英尺。

3. 表示細長之物(如樹、竹竿、桅桿、煙囪、塔、建筑物等)的高度時，用 high, tall 均可。如：

The wheat was as high as the breast. 麥子高與胸齊。

The garden’s got very high walls. 園子有很高的圍墻。

The house is so high and narrow as to resemble a tower. 這房子又高又窄，像一座塔。

He quickly climbed a tall tree. 他迅速爬到一棵大樹上。

The seed grew into a tall tree. 種子長成了一棵大樹。

There are few tall houses on the shore of the lake. 湖岸上沒什么高房子。

I was frightened to look down from the top of the tall building. 我不敢從高樓的頂部往下看。

They came to a little stream, whose banks (=and its banks) were lined with tall trees. 他們來到一條小溪旁，兩岸都是高高的樹子。

4. 表示抽象意義的高，一般只用 high。如：

He takes a pill to reduce his high blood pressure. 他吃了1片藥以降血壓。

Oranges have a high vitamin C content. 橙子的維生素C含量很高。

He demanded too high a price of me. 他向我索價太高。

The high cost prohibits the widespread use of the drug. 該藥昂貴而影響廣泛應用。

Money earns more in a high interest account. 錢放在高利息的賬戶里獲利多。

Only high officials had access to the president. 只有高級官員才可以接近總統。

One of the main attractions of the job is the high salary. 這份工作最吸引人的就是薪水高。

Unemployment among blacks was twice as high as that for white. 黑人的失業人數是白人的兩倍。

That playwright has a high place in the history of American literature. 那位劇作家在美國文學史上占有重要地位。

The minister said that there was corruption in high places in the government. 部長說政府部門某些高層人物中間產生了腐敗現象。

She balanced the attractions of a high salary against the prospect of working long hours. 她對高薪和長工時兩者的利弊作了權衡比較。