Regretful, regrettable (adjs.), regretfully, regrettably (advs.)

Regretful 意為「(某人對某事) (感到) 遺憾的,(感到) 惋惜的,懊悔的」,而 regrettable 意為「(某事) 令人遺憾的,令人懊悔的」(亦即某事引起或促使某人感到遺憾),如 We made a regretful decision that we could not offer him the job. (我們遺憾地決定,我們不能給他這份工作);It was a regrettable decision, but I’m quite sure it was the right decision. (那是一項令人遺憾的決定,但我十分確定那是正確的決定)。

這兩個字的副詞 regretfully (in a regretful way) 和 regrettably (it is regrettable that) 在意思和用法上也有類似的區別。它們除了用做句子副詞 (sentence adverbs) 外,也扮演其他副詞角色,如 This year’s profits are regrettably low. (今年獲利偏低,令人遺憾);She regretfully turned down their offer. (她遺憾地拒絕了他們的提議)。
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