「Tend」和「lean」這兩個英文單字都帶有「傾向」的意思，常常讓學習英文的同學們感到困惑。它們的區別主要在於所指的「傾向」類型不同。「Tend」通常指一種普遍的傾向或趨勢，暗示某種行為或事件發生的可能性較大；而「lean」則更側重於物理上的傾斜或比喻上的偏向某一方。

讓我們用一些例句來進一步說明：

• Tend: The weather tends to be rainy in this region. (這個地區的天氣往往下雨。) This sentence implies that it rains frequently in that region, but doesn't mean it always rains.

• Tend: She tends to be shy around strangers. (她往往在陌生人面前很害羞。) This describes a general characteristic of the person – shyness is her usual behavior around strangers, but not necessarily in every single instance.

• Lean: He leaned against the wall, exhausted. (他疲憊地倚靠在牆上。) This is a physical action, describing his posture.

• Lean: The company leans towards hiring young graduates. (這間公司傾向於聘用年輕畢業生。) Here, "lean" shows a preference or bias in the company's hiring practices.

• Lean: The tower leans dangerously to one side. (塔身危險地向一邊傾斜。) This again describes a physical leaning.

需要注意的是，「tend」可以指重複出現的行為或趨勢，而「lean」則更強調方向性的偏向，無論是物理上的還是比喻上的。 理解這兩個單字的細微差別，才能在寫作和口語表達中更精準地運用它們。

Happy learning!