retain与remain、sustain与maintain区别

1、retain与remain的区别

这两个动词很容易混淆，都含 “留下”、“保留”的意思。
remain 是不及物动词，没有被动语态，或用作系动词，意为 “仍然是”。 retain 是及物动词。
The class started with forty students, but now only twenty-five remained. 这个班级开始有40个学生，但现在只留下25个学生。
After his house was burned down in the big fire, very little of his properties remained. 他的房子被大火烧毁后，没有什么财产留下来。
He said he just came to see my mother, but I remained dubious about his motive. 他说他是来看看我母亲，但我对来的动机仍有怀疑。
His condition remained the same. There has been no significant change ever since his admission. 他的病情仍然如此，入院以来没有明显的改变。No substance can retain moisture indefinitely when exposed to great heat; the majority will evaporate. 当受到高热时，没有物质能无限期保持湿度，大多数物质会蒸发。
Since the service is free, the SK communications do not retain financial information of its users in most cases. 由于该网站服务是免费的，SK通讯在大多情况下不留存用户的财务信息。
Short-term memories are retained only for a few minutes, not permanently stored in the brain. 短期记忆保留只有几分钟，不能永久储存在大脑。

2、sustain与maintain区别

这两个动词都含“维持”、“保持”的意思。
sustain 的原意是“支撑”，常引申出维持生命、生活、生长、发展等。 maintain 指维持或保持某种状态或水平。

Seeing the branches could hardly sustain the weight of the apples, the old man found some poles with which to support them. 看到树枝难以支撑苹果的重量，老人找来一些木杆将树支撑起来。
I’m afraid that these provisions cannot sustain us through the week. We’ll have to ask for assistance. 恐怕这些供给不能维持我们渡过这个星期，我们必须请求援助。
She has may bills to pay. It is hard for her to sustain a decent lifestyle on her slim salary. 她有好多账单要付，靠她微薄的薪水难以维持像样的生活方式。
He said that he was confident the company could sustain a relatively high growth rate of 8 percent. 他说他相信公司能够保持8%这一相对较高水平的增长率。

It is essential that our hospitals and schools should be maintained constantly reliable electricity supplies. 我们的医院和学校必须不断保持可靠的电力供应，这一点很重要。
Wages and salaries can hardly be maintained at the present level on account of the increasing competition among firms for trained workers. 由于公司之间对训练有素工人竞争越来越激烈，目前的工资水平很恐难以保持。