點擊進入影片會看到此句：「Elliot had a bowel infection most likely from birth complications relating to the placenta （胎盤）」。然而大部份的人應該會認為「不是 related to」才對嗎？這個亞洲的 YouTuber 講錯了吧？不不不，她是 native speaker….
人人熟知的 relate
國中時我們學到 relative = a member of your family = 親戚，親屬。例如 I don’t have many blood relatives.
高中時我們還學到 relate to = to understand and like or have sympathy for someone or something = 感同身受。例如 I can relate to your feelings. 而這個意思形容詞化就是 relatable = 可以理解的。例如 One of the reasons for her success is that the characters in her books are so relatable.
上大學後我們則會學到 relate = to show or make a connection between (two or more things) = 把 A 與 B 聯繫起來。例如 Few of the people who became sick related their symptoms to the food they’d eaten the day before. 這個概念到研究所時期尤為重要，因為所有的科學研究基本上就是在找到足夠的證據，把 A 與 B 聯繫起來。
很蝦的 relate 🙄
影片如果講的是 birth complications (which is) related to the placenta 意思就是說那個病「被找到有關係」與胎盤，聽起來很合理對吧？然而，請注意！講者真正想要講的並非因果關係，她其實只是想用 relate 這個蠻蝦的功能 = to be about (someone or something) = 關於。例如 the readings relate to the class discussions.
因為明明就可以直接寫 about 不寫，更常見的 dealing with 也不用，偏要搞個 relate 讓自己看起來很蝦趴。以下是 → word reference ← 網站舉的一個例子：
- The fall in house prices is related to a rise in interest rates.
- Anything relating to math always confuses me.
可以看到第一句 be related to 的意思是在描述因果關係，是科學常用語法。而第二句則是無 connection 就僅僅是指 math 旁邊的各種東西。例如數學老師與數學有關係，然而沒有因果關係，所以要使用 relate to