1. vt.应当给予　 have to pay; be in debt for; have to give
2. vt.感激　 be under an obligation to
3. vt.应把…归功于　 be indebted to as the source of

　～ a duty to sb　对某人负有义务
　～ an apology to　应该向…道歉
　～ ten dollars　欠十美元
　～ entirely　彻底地亏欠
　～ fatefully　注定要亏欠
　～ hopelessly　无望地亏欠
　～ partly　部分地亏欠
　～ spiritually　心灵上亏欠
　～ for　欠…的（钱）
　～ for car　欠买车的钱
　～ for house　欠买房子的钱
　～ to　是…的缘故，归于
　～ much to improvement of　在很大程度上是因为改进…的缘故
　～ one's success to hard work　把成功归于辛勤工作

　He paid me the ten dollars he owed me.　他已还了欠我的10美元。
　You still owe so much.　你还欠这么多债。
　Thank you for the magazine you bought for me. How much do I owe you?　谢谢您给我买来这本杂志，我该付您多少钱?
　You owe yourself a holiday.　你应该休息一天。
　You owe me an apology.　你得向我道歉。
　I owe you my best thanks.　我非常感谢你。
　She said to the Chinese doctor that she owed him everything.　她对中国医生说她非常感谢他。
　We owe our parents a lot.　我们深受父母之恩。
　I owe you no grudge.　我对你没有怨恨。
　I always owe that fellow ill will.　我总是对那家伙怀有恶感。
　Neither he nor Melanie owed me any explanation.　他和梅拉尼都没有必要对我作解释。

 ♣ owe for　(v.+prep.)
　欠买（某物的）钱　have a duty to repay money to sb for the cost of sth
　〔说明〕 owe for常不用于进行体。
　Do I still owe for the concert tickets?　我还欠着音乐会票钱吗?
　I still owe for my last batch of books.　最后一批书的钱我还没付。
　I owe for my board and lodging.　我欠着食宿费。
　I have paid for the bread and cheese, but the butter I still owe for.　我已经付了面包和奶酪的钱，但是还没有付黄油的钱。
　He still owes for the goods he had last month.　他仍然欠上个月买东西的账。
　Henry still owes the butcher for the meat.　亨利还欠着卖肉人买肉的钱。
　Don't let me forget that I owe you for the concert tickets.　可别让我忘了我还欠你音乐会票钱呢。
　I owe 30 dollars for the concert tickets.　我欠30美元的音乐会票钱。
　We still owe one hundred dollars for the car.　为这部车我们还欠着100美元。
 ♣ owe on　(v.+prep.)
　在…上欠债　have a duty to repay money on sth
　I still owe nearly a hundred pounds on that car.　我买了那辆汽车，大约还欠100英镑。
 ♣ owe to　(v.+prep.)
1. 欠…（某物） be in debt for (sb)
　He owes a lot of money to Mr. Smith.　他欠史密斯先生许多钱。
　He owes 50 yuan to his friend.　他欠朋友50元钱。
　The plant still owes $50,000 to the bank.　这家工厂仍欠银行5万美元。
　Twenty yuan is owed to him.　欠他20元钱。
2. 应该感谢；把…归功于 feel grateful to; attribute the success to
　〔说明〕 owe to作此解时不用于进行体。
　He gave me a lot of help. I owed much to him.　他给我许多帮助，我非常感激他。
　We owe to Newton the principle of gravitation.　万有引力原理的发现应归功于牛顿。
　The girl owed her life to the life guard who saved her from the sea.　多亏救生员把她从海里救了出来，这个女孩才幸免于难。
　He owes his success to hard work and patience.　他的成功全靠努力和耐心。
　He owes his success to good luck more than ability.　他的成功多半靠幸运，少半靠能力。
　She owes her beauty to artificial assistance.　她的美全靠打扮。
　He owes it to his doctor's care that he is quite well again.　他再次痊愈是靠医生的关怀。
　He owes his good health to plenty of exercise and a regular life.　他把他身体健康归功于充分锻炼和生活有规律。
　We owe it to society to make our country a better place.　把国家建设得更美好是我们对社会应尽的责任。
　I owe it to you that I finished my work in time.　多亏得你帮助，我才及时完成了工作。
　I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.　亏得你我才大难不死。
　We owe it to Marconi and Bell that we can now talk to the people on the other side of the world.　今天我们之所以能够和远在天涯海角的人通话，应归功于马可尼和贝尔。
　It was altogether owing it to himself that James won the prize.　詹姆斯获奖完全是靠自己的努力。

 ♣ owe...to, be due to
　二者的共同意思是“欠”。其区别是：
1. owe是动词；due是形容词。例如：
　She owes ten dollars to her sister.　她欠她姐姐10美元。
　Any money that is due to you will be paid before the end of this month.　欠你的钱将在这月底之前全部支付给你。
2. owe...to常译为“欠某人的债”，用于比喻可表示对“某人负有义务或名誉，功劳应归于…”；而due一般译为“应付给”，用以表示原因。例如：
　Our grateful thanks are due to the police department for their help in the making of this film.　我们由衷感谢警方在制作这部影片的过程中给予我们的帮助。
 ♣ owe...to, attribute...to
　这两短语的共同意思是“把…归因于…”。其区别是：
1. owe...to只用于主动句，且多含褒义；而attribute...to可用于主动句，也可用于被动句，且多用于贬义。例如：
　To whom do we owe the discovery of penicillin?　盘尼西林的发现该归功于谁?
　He attributes his success to hard work.　他把自己的成功归因于努力工作。
　Economists attributed the lack of progress to poor cooperation.　经济学家把缺乏进步归咎于合作不好。
2. owe...to的主语可以是物，也可以是人；attribute...to的主语只能是人。例如：
　The bank and its customer owe a large number of obligations to one another.　银行和主顾彼此都应负很多义务。
　She attributes her success to hard work and a bit of luck.　她认为她的成功是由于勤奋加上一点运气而得来的。
 ♣ 下面三个句子意思相同：
　

1. 由于他的努力，他通过了考试。
　［误］ Owe to his hard study, he passed the exam.
　［正］ Owing to his hard study, he passed the exam.
　［析］ owing to构成一个介词短语，在句中作状语，表示“原因”，和because of同义。
2. 他欠裁缝50镑。
　［误］ He owes ￡50 for his tailor.
　［正］ He owes ￡50 to his tailor.
　［正］ He owes his tailor ￡50.
　［析］ owe可以用作双宾语动词，也可以用owe sth to sb结构，表示“欠某人…”。

　［词源］　古英语agan （欠，应把…归于）