fear 可以作为名词跟动词,而afraid 是形容词,词性决定了其用法的不同. 比如： I am afraid that he won't come today. 恐怕他今天不会来了. afraid 表达的害怕不是真正意义上的恐惧,常常翻译成担心,当然也有害怕的成分,be afraid of就当害怕理解. The teacher is so strict that all the students are afraid of him. 这个老师很严格,所有的学生都怕他. fear 通常表示 恐惧,就是心里有被吓到的感觉. I fear snakes. 我怕蛇. I have a fear of snake. 前面那个fear做及物动词用,后面的做名词用. 也可以作为不及物动词,I fear of snakes. be afraid of 的口语化成分比较高,fear比较正式
