affirmative

Compared meaning: certain or confirming 'yes' (adjective).

比较义项：肯定的、确定的（形容词）。

• positive

  Positive expresses personal certainty or confidence about a fact, used with 'be positive that/about'; it does not describe someone else's answer as a 'yes'.

  positive表示说话人对某件事实的个人确信或把握，常用于“be positive that/about...”结构；它不用来把别人的回答描述为“是”。

  I'm positive I locked the door before we left the house.

  在我们离开家之前，我确信自己锁了门。

• affirmative 本词

  Affirmative describes an answer, vote, or response that means 'yes' or shows agreement; it is formal and used mainly for replies, not personal certainty.

  affirmative用来描述表示“是”或表示同意的回答、投票或答复，语气正式，主要用于回复场合，而不是表达个人的确信。

  The pilot replied 'affirmative' when asked to confirm the new heading.

  被要求确认新航向时，飞行员回答“肯定”。

Positive and affirmative both relate to certainty, but they apply differently. Positive expresses a person's own confidence about a fact, used with 'be positive that'. Affirmative describes an answer, vote, or response that means 'yes'; it is formal, used mainly for replies, not personal certainty.

这两个词都可译作“肯定的”，但positive强调说话人自己对某事的确信和把握，常用于“be positive that/about...”结构；affirmative强调对方给出的回答、投票或表态是“同意/是”，语气更正式，多用于回复场合。positive还有“积极乐观”、“（检测结果）阳性”等其他常见意思，这里不作比较。