restrain 和 constrain 都含 “抑制”、“阻止”、“约束”的意思。

restrain

1）可以指用自身的控制力来克制自己的情绪或行为 (to stop yourself from feeling an emotion

or doing something that you would like to do) 也可指抑制他人的行为。

例句：

I was tempted to answer back, but I restrained myself.

我很想回嘴，但我克制住了自己。

He grinned, and then restrain himself, not wanting to upset Jack.

他咧嘴一笑，然后克制住自己，不想让杰克难过。

She couldn't restrain her anger at this insensible attitude of theirs.

对他们这种无动于衷的态度，她抑制不住心头的怒火。

The little boy was so curious that he could not restrain his curiosity to see what

was in the box.

这个小男孩很好奇了, 他抑制不住好奇心想看看箱子里是什么东西。

restrain oneself from (doing) something 抑制自我行为

例句：

She had to restrain herself from crying out in pain.

她不得不得忍住痛不叫出来。

The manager asks his employees to restrain themselves from playing games on

the web during work time.

经理要求他的员工克制自己，不要在工作的时候在网上玩游戏。

I could but just restrain myself from telling him the truth of the matter.

我只好忍着不把事情的真相告诉他。

restrain somebody from (doing) something 抑制他人行为

例句

The mother tried to restrain her children from making big noise in the public places.

这位母亲竭力抑制自己的孩子不在公共场所大声喧闹。

She could not restrain the children from running into the street.

她无法阻止小孩子们跑到街上去。

The security guards restrained the reporter from entering the office building.

保安人员阻止记者进入办公大楼。

2） 也可指抑制、阻止某事发展好增长过快 (to stop something that is growing or increasing

from becoming too large)，相当于 inhibit; keep …… under control。

例句：

The government has taken measures to restrain inflation.

政府已采取措施控制通货膨胀。

Increasing taxes may be an effective means to restrain the growth in car ownership.

增加税收可能是抑制汽车拥有率增长的有效手段。

Something should urgently be done to restrain the fast increase in the price of daily

necessities.

应该采取紧急措施抑制日常必需品的价格快速增长。

constrain 指强制性抑制或制止他人的行为，或限制某人某物的发展。(to force somebody to

do something or behave in a particular way）。

例句：

constrain something

There are a number of factors that constrain agricultural development.

有许多因素制约着农业的发展。

Poor soil has constrained the level of crop production.

贫瘠的土壤限制了作物的产量。

Would you profit by the authority you possess over her to constrain her will？

你会利用你对她的权威来约束她的意志吗?

To avoid possible troubles, the authors are careful to constrain their claims.

为了避免可能的麻烦，作者们小心地限制了他们的主张。

Research has been constrained by a lack of funds.

研究因缺乏资金而受到限制。

Women’s employment opportunities are often severely constrained by family

commitments.

妇女的就业机会往往受到家庭责任的严重限制。

constrain sb. from (doing) sth. 限制他人做某事。

He constrained his daughter from going out to date with boys during the night.

他限制他的女儿夜晚外词汇与男孩约会。

The policemen had difficulty in constraining the crowd from rushing onto the

football pitch.

警察难以制止人群冲进足球场地。

名词 restraint 与 constraint 后面都接介词 on。

The police exercised great restraint by not responding to the insulting remarks of

the protesters.

警察采取极大克制态度，对示威者的辱骂未作任何反应。

He showed admirable restraint, and refused to be provoked.

他表现出极大的克制，面对挑衅泰然处之。

Don’t you think it necessary for you to exercise some restraints on your behaviors?

难道你不认为你有必要对自己的行为加以约束吗?

Is there any constraint on the amount of legal aid that is allowed to be accessed?

对准予进入的法律援助的数额是否有限制？

Since the entry into the World Trade Organization, China has been reducing

constraints on imports.

自从加入世界贸易组织以来, 中国已经降低了进口限制。