In BrE, the usual word for the mass of salt water that covers most of the earth's surface is the sea. In NAmE, the usual word is the ocean.在英式英语中,覆盖地球表面大部分地区的大片海水通常用 sea 表示。美式英语则通常用 ocean:◆A swimmer drowned in the sea/ocean this morning.今天早上一名游泳者在海里淹死了。
The names of particular areas of seas, however, are fixed.然而,特定的海洋名称用 sea 或 ocean 是固定的:◆the Mediterranean Sea地中海◆the Atlantic Ocean大西洋
Sea/ocean are also used if you go to the coast on holiday/vacation.到海滨度假亦可用 sea/ocean:◆We're spending a week by the sea/at the ocean in June.我们六月份要在海滨度假一个星期。In NAmE it is also common to say美式英语亦常说:◆We're going to the beach for vacation.我们要去海滨度假。