职高重点英语词汇详解：ability

■表示“能力”“能够”，多为不可数名词；表示“才能”“才干”，多用复数形式。如：

He is a man of ability. 他是位有能力的人。

He was behind the others in ability. 他的能力不如别人。

He is a man of many abilities. 他是位多才多艺的人。

His success depends upon effort and ability. 他是否成功取决于他的努力和能力。

■表示有能力做某事或具有做某事的能力等，其后通常要接不定式。如：

He has the ability to speak English fluently. 他能流利地说英语。

We are not sure (certain) about his ability to do this. 我们不能肯定他有能力做此事。

The ability to be clearly heard is extremely important for newsreaders. 声音宏亮清晰对新闻广播员来说极为重要。

但在现代英语中，也可后接 of doing sth (不如接不定式普遍，建议初学者谨用)。如：

I admire his ability of doing the work quickly. 我羡慕他工作做得快。

■ability的反义词是inability，不是disability——inability表示没有能力或没有才能，而disability则指因先天缺陷或受伤变残而导致的无能。如(from www.yywords.com)：

Physical disability causes mental anguish. 生理伤残会引起心理苦闷。

His inability to speak French puts him at a disadvantage. 他不会说法语，这使他很吃亏。