🎓 學習英文English version
significant 是甚麼意思？
significant
/sɪɡˈnɪfɪkənt/
＝ 重要的、顯著的、大到值得注意的
essay、報告和期刊論文的高頻字。日常解作「重要、明顯」；在研究中 statistically significant 有特定意思：結果不太可能是偶然出現的，不等於「很大」。
簡單解釋
significant 來自 sign（記號）：一件事「留下了記號」，大到值得別人注意，就是 significant。
它通常形容事物、變化、數字、影響：a significant increase、a significant role。形容「人很重要」一般不用它。
讀研究文章時要小心：statistically significant 是統計上「顯著」，表示差異不太可能是巧合，但差異本身可以很小。
significant 的 6 個意思
- significant, meaning important重要的、有重大意義的學術寫作
The Basic Law plays a significant role in Hong Kong.
《基本法》在香港擔當重要角色。
- significant, meaning large enough to notice（數量、變化）相當大的、明顯的常用
There was a significant increase in youth unemployment in 2023.
2023 年青年失業率明顯上升。
- statistically significant（研究）統計上顯著的研究
The difference between the two groups was statistically significant.
兩組之間的差異在統計上是顯著的。
- significantly顯著地、大幅地學術寫作
Screen time significantly affects sleep quality.
使用屏幕的時間對睡眠質素有顯著影響。
- significance重要性、意義學術寫作
Explain the historical significance of the 1967 riots.
解釋 1967 年暴動的歷史意義。
- a significant other另一半、伴侶（口語）日常
You can bring your significant other to the hall dinner.
宿舍晚宴可以帶另一半出席。
句式和用法
| 句式 | 例句 |
|---|---|
| a significant increase / decrease / drop in sth | The survey shows a significant drop in reading time among teenagers. 調查顯示青少年的閱讀時間明顯減少。 |
| play a significant role in sth | Social media plays a significant role in how students get news. 社交媒體在學生獲取新聞的方式上擔當重要角色。 |
| have a significant impact / effect on sth | Tutorial attendance had a significant effect on final grades. 導修課出席率對期末成績有顯著影響。 |
| significantly higher / lower than sth | Rents in Hong Kong are significantly higher than in Taipei. 香港的租金明顯比台北高。 |
| it is significant that… | It is significant that none of the interviewees mentioned cost. 值得注意的是，受訪者都沒有提到成本。 |
真實場景例句
🔬 讀期刊論文的結果部分
Kelvin: The paper says the result is significant. So the effect is huge?
論文說結果是 significant，即是影響很大？
Tutor: Not necessarily. Statistically significant means it is unlikely to be chance. Check the effect size too.
不一定。統計上顯著是指結果不太可能是偶然，你還要看效應量。
📝 DSE 公民科資料回應題
Source A shows a significant rise in the number of elderly people living alone, which puts pressure on community services.
資料 A 顯示獨居長者人數明顯上升，對社區服務構成壓力。
👥 小組報告分工
Mandy: Should we include the 2019 data?
我們要加入 2019 年的數據嗎？
Ivan: Yes, the change since then is too significant to ignore.
要，自那年起的變化太大，不能忽略。
常見錯誤
✗ This is a very significant important issue.
✓ This is a very significant issue. / This is a very important issue.
significant 和 important 意思重疊，二選一即可，不要疊在一起用。
✗ Mr Chan is a significant teacher in my life.
✓ Mr Chan has had a significant influence on my life.
形容人時，significant 通常形容人帶來的影響、角色或貢獻，而不是直接形容那個人。
✗ The price increased significant.
✓ The price increased significantly.
修飾動詞 increased 要用副詞 significantly。
✗ The result was significant, so the new teaching method is much better.
✓ The result was statistically significant, although the improvement was small.
研究中的 significant 只表示不太可能是偶然，不代表差異很大，寫報告時不要誇大。
改寫示範 ✨
一段 DSE 議論文段落：用 Dictionify 的 Polish 把整段改得自然又專業，刪去的字劃走，新加的字標示出來。
Nowadays, smartphone is very significant important to teenagers. Many survey shows that teenagers use phone more significant than before, it has a significance impact to their study.
Nowadays, smartphone is very Smartphones have become a significant important to teenagers. Many survey shows part of teenagers’ lives. Several surveys show that teenagers use phone now spend significantly more significant time on their phones than before, it and this has had a significance significant impact to on their study. studies.
- very significant important → a significant part of teenagers’ lives：刪去重複的 important，並說明「重要在哪裡」。
- use phone more significant → spend significantly more time：修飾 more 要用副詞 significantly。
- a significance impact to → a significant impact on：形容詞是 significant，名詞 significance 不能放在 impact 前；impact 配 on，不配 to。
近義和相反說法
| 說法 | 意思 | 分別 |
|---|---|---|
| important | 重要的 | 最普通的說法；significant 較學術，而且常帶「可量度、明顯」的意思。 |
| considerable | 相當大的 | 只強調數量或程度大，例如 a considerable amount of time，沒有「重要」的意思。 |
| substantial | 大量的、實質的 | 強調份量多、實在，常用於金錢、證據、改變。 |
| notable | 值得注意的 | 強調特別、值得一提，不一定很大。 |
相反：insignificant (微不足道的、不重要的)、negligible (小到可以忽略的)
小測驗
選一個答案，立即看結果。
哪一句是正確的？
答案：B。修飾動詞 rose 要用副詞 significantly。
一篇論文寫 "The difference was statistically significant." 最準確的理解是……
答案：A。statistically significant 只說明結果不太可能是巧合，差異可大可小。
哪一句最適合放在 essay 裡？
答案：C。significant 最自然的用法是形容影響、變化或角色，並配合 impact on。
常見問題
significant 和 important 有甚麼分別？
important 是一般的「重要」。significant 較學術，除了重要，還常帶「明顯、可以量度」的意思，例如 a significant increase。寫 essay 時兩者交替使用可以避免重複，但不要放在一起。
significantly 可以用來代替 very 嗎？
不完全可以。significantly 多修飾比較或變化，例如 significantly higher、significantly improved；不會說 significantly happy。一般形容詞前仍然用 very、extremely 等。
寫 lab report 時，可以隨便說結果 significant 嗎？
要小心。在科學報告中，significant 通常指統計上顯著，讀者會預期你做過統計檢定。如果只是看起來差別大，可以寫 a noticeable difference 或 a clear difference。
significant other 是甚麼意思？
是「另一半、伴侶」的意思，男女朋友或配偶都適用，語氣輕鬆中性，常見於邀請函或日常對話，學術寫作不會用。
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