【问】 She is very dear to me.

[原译]她对我很亲。(《英汉大词典》，上海译文出版社，1992，P.802)

She is dear to me.是指“她对我亲”，还是指“我喜欢她”、“我爱她”、“她对于我来说是很宝贵的(可爱的)”?

【答】 让我们先来引用一下EED对dear to的解释：If something is dear to you，you care verydeeply about it.

我们再来考察一些实例：

1. His sister was very dear to him. (Thorndike)

他很喜欢她妹妹。

2. Life is very dear to him. (LDCE)

生命对于他是很宝贵的。

3. Freedom is dearer to him than life.

自由对于他比生命更宝贵。

像strange to，familiar to这样的形容词与dear to具有相似的用法：

1. His name was familiar to me. (EED)

他的名字我是熟悉的。

2. He is strange to me.

我不认识他。

3. The town is strange to me. (Chambers)

我对这个城市很陌生。