persuade
释义
To make someone agree to do something by giving them good reasons or appealing to them
说服，劝说（某人去做某事）
To cause someone to believe that something is true
使（某人）相信
词根拆分
词根派生per-（彻底）+ suade（来自 suādēre「劝告」，建立在 suāvis「甜」之上）。persuade 就是把某人*一路*说甜——不断把想法说得讨喜，直到他终于答应去做。per- 里的「彻底」正是为什么 persuade 暗示「说服成功」，而不只是「试图劝」。
词根 suad 还连着 4 个词使用指南
- persuade sb to do sth（最常见）：persuade her to stay，推动某个行动。
- persuade sb that...：persuade him that it's safe，推动某种信念。
- persuade sb of sth：persuade them of the need to act，较正式，偏信念。
- persuade vs convince：严谨用法里，convince 改变信念（convince sb that/of），persuade 改变行动（persuade sb to do）。现代英语常混用，但正式写作中尽量别用「convince sb to do」。
例句
- 1.
It took me an hour to persuade her to come to the party with us.
我花了一个小时才说服她跟我们一起去派对。
- 2.
No one could persuade him to change his mind once it was made up.
他一旦下定决心，谁也劝不动他改变主意。
- 3.
The evidence persuaded the jury that the suspect was innocent.
这些证据让陪审团相信嫌疑人是无辜的。
- 4.
She was finally persuaded of the plan's value after seeing the numbers.
看到数据后，她终于被说服，相信这个计划有价值。
易混词辨析
persuade vs convince — 两者都译作「说服/使相信」，但自然的着力点不同：convince 针对「认知」，让人相信某事为真（convince sb that/of）；persuade 针对「意愿」，推动某个行动（persuade sb to do）。结果是改变了信念 → convince；结果是改变了决定/行动 → persuade。
近义词对比
- persuade — 用讨喜的理由把人说动去行动
- convince — 使某人相信某事为真（针对信念）
- coax — 温和耐心地哄劝，常带讨好
- urge — 强烈而直接地催促去做
- induce — 促使某人行动，常靠提供诱因