VOA一分鐘英語：Regret doing 和 regret to do 區(qū)別是什么？

動詞 “regret” 表示 “對過去的行為或事情感到難過”，后面既可以接動詞 -ing，即 “regret doing”，也可以接不定式 “to do”，即 “regret to do”。搭配 “regret doing” 和 “regret to do” 的意思一樣嗎？想說 “后悔做了某事”，應該用哪一個？

Do we use 'regret' with an 'ing' verb or with 'to' plus infinitive? Watch this video to find out – you won't regret it.

'Regret' is a verb. It means 'to feel bad about a past action or situation'.

We often use it to talk about mistakes we have made and feel bad about. It can be followed by a noun: You'll regret that.

Most commonly, we use 'regret' plus 'ing':

I regret staying up so late last night. Now I'm tired.

'Regret' plus 'to' plus infinitive is only really used to make announcements of bad news. It's often found in formal letters, for example:

We regret to inform you that your job application has not been successful.

Well, I don't regret any of this and I hope you don't regret learning about 'regret'. See you.

用法總結

動詞 “regret” 的意思是 “后悔；遺憾”，用來表達對過去的行為或處境感到難過。

“Regret doing” 的意思是 “后悔做了某事”。
I regret buying that – it was expensive and doesn't work properly.
She regrets not studying for her exam. She failed.

“Regret to do” 的意思是 “遺憾地（通知，告訴）”，常用于正式場合中，用來對壞消息表示遺憾或惋惜。
We regret to inform you that there has been an accident.
We regret to inform you that the 21:25 flight to London has been cancelled.