1. beautiful 表示“美”,可用于人或事物。用于人时,通常只用于形容女性或小孩,一般不用于男性。它表示的“美”主要指能“给感官以极大的快乐(giving great pleasure to the senses)”,它侧重从客观上表明一种接近理想状态的美,语气很强。如:

The mountains are beautiful in the summer. 在夏季,这些山很美丽。

A beautiful woman is very attractive to look at. 美丽的女人非常引人注目。

I will take advantage of my business trip to st1:place w:st="on">Paris to see the beautiful sights. 我要利用到巴黎出差的机会看一下美丽的景观。

The boys saw both large animals and beautiful birds in the zoo. 孩子们在动物园里既看到了大动物又看到了美丽的鸟。

2. pretty 主要表示“漂亮”“俊俏”“标致”等义,可用于人(主要是女性和小孩)或事物,语气比 beautiful 弱。它往往侧重从主观上评述某人或某物,含有“可爱”或“讨人喜欢”之意。如:

He sat next to a pretty girl. 他坐在一个漂亮姑娘旁边。

What a pretty garden! 多么漂亮的花园啊!

She has a pretty face. 她有一张秀丽的脸庞。

She looks very pretty in that hat. 她戴着那顶帽子真是漂亮极了。

The girl wore a pretty cotton dress. 那女孩穿着一条漂亮的布裙。

Of course I find pretty young women attractive—I’m only flesh and blood. 我当然会认为年轻的漂亮女人很有吸引力——毕竟我也是凡人。

She is not really beautiful, but she looks pretty when she smiles. 她其实长得并不美,但笑起来很好看。

3. good-looking 意为“好看的”,主要用于人(男人、女人或小孩),不常用于事物。如:

He’s good-looking, and he’s got brains. 他长得好看,而且有头脑。

Apart from his nose he’s quite good-looking. 他除了鼻子以外,哪儿都很好看。

She runs after every good-looking man she meets. 凡是漂亮的男子,她见一个追一个。

有时用于事物,但不多见。如:

He has a good-looking car (horse). 他有一辆(匹)好看的汽车(马)。

4. handsome 意为“英俊的”,主要用于男性,但有时也用于女性(一般只用于成年女性,不用于少女),意为“体态健美的”“端庄稳重的”。如:

The ugly frog became a handsome prince. 丑陋的青蛙变成了英俊的王子。

The cowboy was tall, dark and handsome. 那个牛仔又高又黑又英俊。

Each of the girls was charmed by the handsome young man. 每个女孩都被那位英俊的年轻人迷住了。

Do you describe her as beautiful or handsome? 你说她是美丽呢,还是五官端正呢?

有时可用于事物,但不多见。如:

It’s a handsome building. 那是栋漂亮的建筑。

beautiful、pretty、good-looking和handsome辨析