object and objective

翻「研究目的」時，看到英文裡的目的用object，印象中和常說的objective不一樣，於是我又查字典，在Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English上看到兩者的比較與定義：

ob‧ject

aim [singular] the purpose of a plan, action, or activity [↪ goal, aim]

object of

The object of the game is to improve children's math skills.

My object was to explain the decision simply.

The customer will benefit most, and that is the object of the exercise (=the purpose of what you are doing).

重要，打星號（呵）→ ! Do not use object to mean 'the thing you are working towards and hope to achieve'. Use objective: We have not yet achieved our objective (NOT our object).

ob‧jec‧tive [countable]

something that you are trying hard to achieve, especially in business or politics [= goal]

COLLOCATIONS
achieve/meet an objective; accomplish an objective (=achieve an objective); have an objective; set an objective (=decide what your objective is); main/primary/principal objective; clear/specific objective; career objectives; business objectives

所以object是由計畫與實行便產生的目的，在做一件事情的當兒或之前就存在了，可說是比較接近「意圖」，而objective 卻是要做完之後才曉得有沒有達到的目的。這樣來想，這兩種「目的」的差別，就豁然開朗了（雖然覺得Longman的語氣好像兇老師，但真的解釋得蠻清楚 的，讓我又學到一丁點兒東西了！）