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“Picture”、“image”、“photo” 和 “graph”：这些 “图” 一样吗？

Episode 260722 / 22 Jul 2026

内容简介

手机拍的 “图”、画布上绘制的 “图”、以及数学公式在坐标系中对应的 “图”……这些不同类型的 “图”，在英语里的说法一样吗？又该如何区分使用 “picture”、“image”、“photo” 和 “graph” 呢？听节目，跟主持人步理和 Phil 一起辨析这四个表示 "图，图像” 的单词之间的区别。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。This is Question and Answer of the Week, where we answer your questions about English language, culture and life. I'm Buli. Phil's here to help me look at a graphical question.

Phil
That sounds interesting. Let's hear the question.

Question
我一直都分不清在英语里 “photo”、“picture”、“image” 和 “graph” 这几个词到底哪个是 “照片”、哪个是 “图像”，如果有比较清晰的区分方式，请问可以辨析一下吗？

Phil
It's a good question because these words can overlap, but some of them have got very specific meanings. Let's try and break it down.

Buli
没错。其实在日常生活中，这几个词被人们互换使用的情况确实不少。比如，“picture” 和 “image” 的含义就非常宽泛，可以指代各种各样的 “图像，影像，照片” 等等。不过，“photo” 和 “graph” 的用法就相对比较具体了。让我们先来听一段对话。

Phil
Oh, Buli, those pictures look great. What are they?

Buli
Oh, I was just looking through some photos from my holiday. I need to work out what to save. I can't fit that many image files on my phone.

Phil
You've got a load of graphs there, surely you don't need those.

Buli
I can't delete those! They are my 'cheat sheets' for next week's work presentation.

你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “你问我答” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在辨析四个和 “照片，图片” 有关的近义词 “picture”、“image”、“photo” 和 “graph”。

Phil
So, as Buli said, 'picture' and 'image' are more general. You can take a picture with a camera, but you can also paint one or draw one by hand.

Buli
You can even picture something in your mind. When we use it as verb, we are usually talking about something you imagine in your head.

正如我们之前提到的，单词 “picture” 可以用来表示各种各样的 “照片，图片，影像，图画” 等等。 “Picture” 还可以用作动词，意思是 “想象一个东西的样子”。

Phil
'Image' is also general but is a bit more formal and technical. It's something that you look at, and like picture, it can also be something that you imagine. I said that it's technical, we usually use 'image' to talk about digital files, so you can have 'image files' as opposed to 'video files' or 'music files', for example. And in a hospital, you might have an imaging department that takes x-rays or scans, for example.

Buli
Yes. And we can also talk about 'moving images' that you might see on a TV, phone or cinema screen.

虽然也能表示广义上的各种 “图像，影像，照片”，但单词 “image” 的含义和 “picture” 略有不同。通常来讲，人们会在更专业、技术性更强的场合用 “image” 来指代某张 “图” 或 “图像”。比如，去医院做检查时扫描仪记录的影像等等。此外，在描述手机、电脑等电子介质上存储的影像资料时，“image（图片）” 也经常和 “video（视频）” 相对应。

Phil
'Photo' is much more specific. Photos don't move, and you make them with a camera. Remember we do still also call photos 'pictures' or 'images'. Sometimes we call them 'still images' to emphasise the fact that they are not moving.

Buli
是的，“photo” 指的就是 “照片”，也就是 “用相机拍摄的、固定不动的图片”。

Phil
The last one that we are going to talk about is 'graph'. A graph is an image, but it's very different to a photo. It's a way of presenting data, usually numbers.

Buli
And they are not taken by a camera. 单词 “graph” 的意思是 “图表，图形”。它通常指的是那些 “用数字、文字、线条等元素来展示信息的图表”，所以其实和 “照片” 这个含义还是相去甚远的。

Phil, there are also different types of graphs, aren't there?

Phil
Yes. And we sometimes call them 'charts'. Line graphs, bar charts, pie charts... The line, bar, pie segments, or other images are all different formats to represent numbers to make them easier to understand.

Buli
Oh, that reminded me, I need to finish making my charts for the presentation after this!

最后让我们来复习一下。“Picture”、“image”、“photo” 和 “graph” 都是和 “图，图像” 这个含义有关的单词。其中，“picture” 和 “image” 都可以在广义上指代各种 “图像，图片，照片，影像” 等等。不过，“image” 通常用在更专业和技术性的场合，比如，医学影像等等。“Photo” 则特指 “用相机拍摄的图片”。“Graph” 指的则是 “用数字、文字和线条等元素绘制而成的图表、图形”，有时也可以被称为 “chart”，比如，“line graph（折线图）”、“pie chart（饼图）”、“bar chart（柱状图）” 等等。

Phil
Remember, if you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你还可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye!

Phil
Bye!

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