narrate
Definitions
To tell or recount a story or a series of events.
讲述，叙述（故事或一系列事件）。
To provide spoken commentary or voice-over for a film, video, or audiobook.
为影片、视频或有声书配解说/旁白。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivednarr (tell) + -ate (verb suffix) = 'to do the telling.' It's the family's base verb. Its deep root is Latin gnārus 'knowing,' so to narrate is literally to make known — you transfer what you know into your listener by telling it. Today its most common use is the spoken kind: narrating a documentary or audiobook.
Root narr still carries 4 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.narrate a story讲述故事
- 2.narrate events叙述事件
- 3.narrate a documentary为纪录片配解说
- 4.narrated by由……解说
Example Sentences
- 1.
He narrated the entire journey in vivid, unforgettable detail.
- 2.
A famous actor narrates the nature documentary.
- 3.
The story is narrated by a child, which limits what we learn.
Easily Confused
narrate vs describe — Narrate is to tell a sequence of events over time (he narrated what happened that night). Describe is to give the details of how something looks or is, with no timeline (she described the room). Events unfolding → narrate; a static picture → describe.