perpetrate

Compared meaning: to do something wrong or illegal (verb).

比较义项：犯罪，做坏事（动词）。

• commit

  Commit is the common, neutral verb for doing something wrong or illegal; it takes almost any offense as its object (commit a crime, a murder, fraud) and is used freely in both speech and writing.

  commit是日常、中性的动词，表示做错事或违法的事；几乎可以接任何罪行作宾语（犯罪、谋杀、诈骗等），口语和书面语中都常用。

  The young man was sentenced to five years after he admitted committing burglary.

  这名年轻人承认犯入室盗窃罪后被判处五年监禁。

• perpetrate 本词

  Perpetrate is more formal and mainly used in legal, journalistic or written contexts; it stresses that someone is the one responsible for carrying out a crime or harmful act, often in the passive voice.

  perpetrate更正式，主要用于法律、新闻或书面语境；强调某人是实施某项罪行或有害行为的责任人，常用于被动语态。

  Police say the attack was perpetrated by a group of armed men.

  警方称这起袭击是由一伙武装分子实施的。

Commit and perpetrate both mean to do something wrong or illegal. Commit is common and neutral, used with almost any offense, in speech and writing. Perpetrate is formal, mainly in legal or news writing, often in the passive voice. Not compared: commit meaning to promise.

这两个词在“犯罪，做坏事”这一意义上接近，但commit是常见、中性的用词，几乎可以搭配任何罪行；perpetrate更正式，多见于法律或新闻语境，且常用被动语态强调作案者。这里不比较commit的其他常见义项，如“承诺，投入”（如commit oneself to sth）。