particular? specific?

令人混淆的單字釋疑又來了，今天遇到的情境是想要寫一句類似"刪除特定序號的資料"，這邊要用particular或是specific？

先看一下牛津英英字典上對兩個字的解釋

specific

• detailed and exact (synonym precise)
• connected with one particular thing only (synonym particular 驚!!)

particular

• used to emphasize that you are referring to one individual person, thing or type of thing and not others (synonym specific)
• greater than usual; special

單看字典還是無法理解，拜了google大神後，大致了解如下。

specific可以看成類似特定的概念，想法或觀點，而particular是指單一的物件，如果將special也放進來一起比較，可以用下面這張圖略作解釋，specific是令你講的東西更加明確，而particular就是那一點，專指很單一特定的物件。



回到最初的問題，"刪除特定序號的資料"這句我會寫成"delete the data of particular serial number"。


參考出處：https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-specific-and-particular
Specific -Clearly defined or identified or a precise detail.
Particular -An individual item, as contrasted with a universal quality.

參考出處：https://www.facebook.com/poor.english/posts/116070561746732
specific <---> general
"I understand the general idea, but could you be more specific?"
special <---> ordinary
"He gave me a really special gift for my birthday; he really understands what I like."
particular <---> any
"I chose to wear this particular shirt because it brings out the color of my eyes."