区别辨析praise、applaud、commend与compliment

这些动词均有“赞扬、表扬、称赞”之意。

praise : 普通用词，指用语言或其它方式表示夸奖、赞扬。

• He should be praised for his honesty.
  他应该因为诚实而获得表扬。
• My parents always praised me when I did well at school.
  我在学校里表现好时父母总是夸奖我。
• He was highly praised for his research on heart disease.
  他因在心脏病方面的研究而受到高度赞扬。

applaud : 指出色的表演或高尚的行为等得到同声赞许、大声叫好或热烈鼓掌。

• We applaud the family's decision to remain silent over the issue.
  我们非常赞赏这一家人对此事保持沉默的决定。
• We applaud her decision.
  我们称赞她的决定。
• His efforts to improve the situation are to be applauded.
  他为改善状况所作的努力应该受到赞许。
• I applaud her for having the courage to refuse.
  我赞赏她敢于拒绝。

commend : 正式用词，指对具体功绩或成就等表示称赞或嘉奖。

• The judge commended her for/on her bravery.
  法官称赞了她的勇敢。
• For a low-budget film, it has much to commend it (= it deserves praise).
  作为一部低预算影片，它有不少值得称道之处。
• It says on the back cover of the book 'highly commended'.
  书的封底上写着“隆重推荐”。

compliment : 侧重客气和礼貌，有时含恭维之意。

• I was just complimenting Robert on his wonderful food.
  我刚才在夸罗伯特做的饭菜特棒。
• I must compliment you on your handling of a very difficult situation.
  我必须表扬你对困难局面的处理。