前两天有同学在微信上问了我一个问题：“送饭”能不能写成send meals?

句子的完整语境是：

The husband studied on an island far from his home. When his wife went a long way to send meals, the food always got cold.

从句子语境可以看到，妻子长途跋涉去给丈夫送饭，但是将“送饭”翻译成send meals是不准确的，这跟send的用法有关。

《韦氏高阶英语词典》对单词的解释是：

to cause (a letter, an e-mail, a package, etc.) to go or to be carried from one place or person to another

send跟我们理解的“送”其实还不太一样，它强调的是通过某种方式（比如邮寄、快递、他人携带等）使某物到达对方手中，但送的人不一定亲自到场。

比如：I sent the letter/package/check to her. 我把信/包裹/支票寄给了她。

句子实际上相当于：I mailed the letter/package/check to her.

如果写成send meals，则相当于是通过邮寄或他人配送的方式把饭菜送到对方的手上。比如你给朋友点了外卖，那么就可以说send meals to your friends

国外一些送餐网站用的标语就是send meals to friends and family

但上面语境是亲自送饭，用这个表达就不够准确了。要表达“亲自送饭”，应该说bring somebody meals或者take meals to somebody

比如BBC就有这么一个例句：

The men, one in his mid-60s and the other in his 80s, could not work and were confined to their cell for 23-and-a-half hours a day and relied on fellow inmates to bring them meals.

除了“送饭”，还有一个易错点“送小孩上学”，很多人翻译成了：send children to school

但send指的是“安排某人到某处”，比如让小孩自己走路去上学，或者让别人带小孩去上学，都可以说是send children to school

如果是指“亲自陪同小孩到学校”，那么应该用take或者walk，比如：

(1) I take my child to school every morning.

(2) I walk my child to school every morning.

国外一些学校还专门设立了一个日子，叫"Dads Take Your Child To School Day"，以此来鼓励父亲多去接送小孩。

同样的道理，“送某人到机场”应该说take somebody to the airport，而不能说send somebody to the airport

单词的逻辑还可以用到“送礼物”上。“送礼物”能不能用send，要根据语境来判断。
如果你是通过邮寄或者他人转交的方式送礼，那么确实可以说send gifts

比如：Companies often send gifts to clients during the holidays. 公司常在节假日给客户寄送礼物。

但如果是当面赠送礼物或者日常生活中的送礼行为，那么就不能用send，而要用give，比如：

We gave the teacher a gift after the concert. 音乐会后我们当面给老师送了礼物。
英语里面将“送礼者”称为gift-giver，“送礼行为”称为gift-giving，说明对于“送礼”，give这个词更加常见。

总结一下，send的核心含义是“使某物或某人从A点到B点”，并且动作发出者通常不亲自参与过程。只要理解了这一点，单词的搭配就不难理解。