英语语法：155 Addictive Versus Addicting

Grammar Girl here.

I'm on vacation this week, but before I left I updated one of the early episodes that I took down a few months ago. I hope you enjoy this new and improved version.

Today's topic is addictive² versus³ addicting⁴, and we'll get to use all kinds of big grammar words!

An unnamed caller asks:

My friends and I were having an argument the other day about whether TV watching was appropriate or not. And someone said it was addictive and another person said it was addicting, and then it broke off into whether the proper word was addictive or addicting. Could you please explain this whole thing for us?

Would you feel better if I told you that you and your friends aren't the only ones who are arguing about whether the right word is addictive or addicting? There is actually a raging debate, and there is even one unconfirmed account of a tobacco lobbyist trying to use the uncertainty⁵ to influence policy.

If you want to be safe, stick with "Television is addictive." Addictive is an adjective, meaning it describes the noun. Remember Schoolhouse Rock? "He was a scary bear. He was a hairy bear. And we described him with adjectives." Hairy, scary, and addictive are adjectives. Schoolhouse Rock was addictive TV.

Now, there are definitely people who argue that addicting isn't a word. They say that addict¹ is a noun, not a verb. However, I did the simple thing: I looked it up, and two out of four dictionaries included addicting—and for those of you who care, one listed it as a transitive verb (1) and the other listed it as a participle adjective (2). A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object. An example could be Amy was addicting Steve to Scrabble®. Steve is the direct object of the verb addicting—he's the receiver of the action.

Addicting is the participle adjective of the verb to addict, just as annoying is the participle adjective of the verb to annoy. I don't think anyone would say that you can't describe someone as annoying, and similarly it is OK to describe TV as addicting.

A quick tip is that you can generally tell whether a word ending with -ing is a verb or a participle adjective by testing whether you can add a modifier such as very in front of it. If you can't, then it is a verb; if you can, then it is a participle adjective. In the sentence Television is addicting, it would be fine to add very and say, “Television is very addicting,” so that means it is probably a participle adjective in this case.

So I hope it's clear that it is correct to say both that television is addictive and that television is addicting. Nevertheless, there seems to be a lot of confusion in the world—and a lot of strong opinions—about this topic, so if you have a blog and you want to avoid a flame war, my advice is to stick with addictive.

I have two other points.

First, some people think addictive should only be used to refer to negative things, so to them, referring to Scrabble as addictive would be wrong; but in everyday life it's common to hear positive things referred to as addictive (3).

Second, physicians who treat pain make an important distinction between patients who are addicted⁶ to drugs and patients who have a physical dependence⁷ on drugs. When people are physically⁸ dependent on drugs they get pain relief from taking the drugs and have withdrawal⁹ symptoms when they stop taking the drugs. People who are addicted to drugs exhibit behaviors such as hoarding¹⁰ drugs and taking drugs in ways they aren't prescribed or when they don't provide relief from pain (4). So it isn't correct to say people are addicted to drugs solely¹¹ because they experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking them.

That's all. Thanks for listening. You can find a complete transcript¹² of this podcast and my contact information in the Grammar Girl section at QuickAndDirtyTips.com.

 

1 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

2 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 addicting   

使沉溺（addict的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I love salt and vinegar chips. They are very addicting. 我爱盐和醋芯片。他们非常上瘾。
• Leave it to Britney to sing a juicy and addicting song. 布兰妮呈现了一首很刺激也很让人上瘾的歌曲！

5 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

6 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

7 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

8 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

9 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

10 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

11 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

12 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。