marginal、minor、negligible与minimal这些形容词均含“不重要的、次要的”之意。
marginal : 指处于边缘，幅度、范围小，故价值或重要性不大。
- The report suggests that there has only been a marginal improvement in women's pay over the past few years.
报告显示，过去几年女性的工资只有小幅增长。
minor : 多指与别的比较后显得不重要，或指较少、较小。
- It's only a minor problem.
那只是个小问题。 - There's been an increase in minor offences, such as traffic violations and petty theft.
轻微的违法活动有所增加，如违反交通规则、小偷小摸等。 - She suffered only minor injuries.
她只是受了点轻伤。
negligible : 指数量小，不重要，微不足道或可忽略不计。
- The difference between the two products is negligible.
两种产品之间的差异微乎其微。 - My knowledge of German is negligible.
我对德语只是略知一二。
minimal : 指最少、最低或最小。
- There were no injuries and damage to the building was minimal.
没有人受伤，对建筑物的损坏也极小。
