spot, stain 詞義部分重合，作“玷汙、染汙、使有汙漬”解時，可以通用。如：Spilled coffee had stained the carpet. /The mud spotted the rug. 不過並非雷同，不能在所有場合、語境都通用。如香菸燻黃的牙齒/手指(teeth/fingers stained with nicotine)彩色玻璃 (stained glass)帶淚痕的臉/留下淚痕的信 （a tear-stained face/letter）不能換 spotted。與此正好相反，豹皮只能是spotted coat。有句諺語：本性難移，英語便是The leopard cannot change its/his spots.儘管stain / spot都有汙跡, 汙點的意思,但美華人只說coffee stain這就是搭配, 習慣用法。作名詞用時spot指"斑點;汙點;地點"，指"汙點"時其輪廓比stain清晰，常以單數形式出現。stain往往是一片"汙漬",多以複數形式出現.這兩個詞的引申義均指"不光彩的事,玷汙"，常用於修飾名譽,歷史記錄等，可通用作動詞時，stain常用來表示"(指液體或其他物質)改變……的顏色,玷汙(尤指難以清除)"，spot指"玷汙,弄髒"還可表示"(從)許多人或事物中找出，辨認出"。如：There isn"t a spot(or stain)on her reputation.她的名譽沒有半點瑕疵。She was cleaning a table spotted with ink.她正在清洗一張被墨水弄汙的桌子。He was spotted by police boarding a plane for Paris.他登上飛往巴黎的飛機時被警方認出。I get these coffee stains out of the carpet.我弄不掉地毯上的咖啡汙漬 。The blackberry juice stained their fingers red.黑莓汁把他們的手指染紅了。