natural

Compared meaning: not artificial or pretended (adjective).

比较义项：天然的，不做作的（形容词）。

• natural 本词

  The general, common word for 'not artificial'; used for foods, materials and other physical things, and also for a person's manner; neutral in register.

  常用、泛义的词，表示“非人工的”；既可指食物、材料等实物，也可指人的举止，语域中性。

  This juice is made from natural ingredients with no added sugar.

  这种果汁是用天然原料制成的，不含添加糖。

• unaffected

  More formal and literary; used almost only about a person's manner, style or performance, stressing the absence of pretense; not used for physical substances like food.

  更正式、书面化；几乎只用于描述人的举止、风格或表演，强调没有矫揉造作；不用于描述食物等实物。

  He gave an unaffected performance, completely free of Hollywood polish.

  他的表演真挚自然，完全没有好莱坞式的刻意雕琢。

Both words mean not artificial or fake. Natural is common and neutral, used for foods, materials, and also for a person's manner. Unaffected is more formal and literary, used almost only for a person's manner or style, stressing there is no pretense.

这两个词在“不做作、天然”这一义项上意思相近，但用法不同：natural 用法更广，既可形容食物、材料等实物，也可形容人的举止，语域中性；unaffected 更正式、偏书面，几乎只用来形容人的举止、风格或表演，强调真诚自然、没有矫揉造作。这里不比较 unaffected 的“未受影响的”义项（如 unaffected by weather）。

Compared meaning: having a quality from birth (adjective).

比较义项：天生具有（某种特质或能力）（形容词）。

• natural 本词

  Natural attaches directly to an inborn quality or talent (a natural talent, a natural ability) and is the more common, neutral choice; it can describe people, abilities or things in general.

  natural 可以直接修饰“天生的才能／能力”（a natural talent），是更常见、更中性的说法；它既可以形容人，也可以形容能力或事物本身。

  She has a natural talent for painting that no amount of lessons could teach.

  她天生就有绘画才能，这是再多的课程都教不出来的。

• born

  Born is used only in the fixed pattern 'a born + role noun' (a born leader, a born teacher), giving a stronger sense of destiny; it cannot modify abstract nouns like 'talent' or 'ability'.

  born 只用于“a born + 角色／职业名词”这种固定搭配（a born leader，“天生的领导者”），带有更强的“天生注定”意味；它不能修饰“才能、能力”这类抽象名词。

  He's a born leader, and people naturally follow him in any crisis.

  他是个天生的领导者，遇到危机时大家都自然愿意听从他的指挥。

Both words describe a quality someone has from birth. Natural attaches directly to a talent or ability, like 'a natural talent', and is the more common, neutral choice. Born appears only as 'a born' plus a role, like 'a born leader', suggesting destiny.

这两个词都能表示“天生具备某种特质或能力”，但用法不同：natural 可以直接修饰“才能、能力”这类抽象名词（a natural talent），是更常见、更中性的说法；born 只用于“a born + 职业／角色名词”这种固定搭配（a born leader），语气更强调“天生注定”，不能修饰抽象名词。注意：born 还有“出生的”这一字面义（如 born in a village），natural 还有“天然的、非人工的”这一义项（如 natural sweetener），这两个词的其他意义这里不作比较。