1.dawn用作不及物动词,多与介词on／upon连用,基本意思是“天破晓,黎明”,引申可表示人“(在头脑中)开始出现,开始觉醒,明白过来,明确起来,清楚起来; 出现,呈现”等。
2.dawn偶尔也可用作系动词,接形容词或名词作表语,表示“发亮; 破晓”。

dawn on〔upon〕 (v.+prep.)
1.(白昼)来临于(某处); 给(某处)以光明 (of a day) begin in (a place); give a light to (darkness)
▲dawn on〔upon〕 sth
A grey day dawned upon the sleeping city.一个灰蒙蒙的白昼降临于这座沉睡的城市。
The ocean dawned on our view.海洋呈现在我们眼前。
A smile dawned on his face.他脸上露出了笑容。
A new era is dawning upon the world.世界正进入一个新时代。
2.逐渐(被人)知晓,明白 become gradually known by (sb)
▲dawn on〔upon〕 sb/sth
The fact has just dawned on me.我现在才明白这件事。
The truth may one day dawn upon you.你总有一天会明白真相。
At last it dawned on us.我们终于明白了。
The answer dawned on me when I wasn't thinking about the work.在我没考虑答案的时候,答案不知不觉地出来了。
▲It ～ed on sb that/wh-clasue
It suddenly dawned on me that I'd caught the wrong train.我突然意识到我乘错了火车。
It dawned on me that the following day would be her birthday.我突然想起第二天是她的生日。
It dawned on me that I was lost.我渐渐明白,我迷路了。
It has slowly dawned upon us that he will not help.我们慢慢地明白过来他将不会来帮忙。
It dawned on me where I had seen him before.我渐渐想起以前是在哪里见到过他。
It suddenly dawned upon me why he was so anxious to know when the accident took place.我突然意识到他为什么急于知道事故是何时发生的。

用作不及物动词
▲S+～(+A)
Day dawns in the east.东方破晓。
The morning dawned brightly.拂晓天气晴朗。
The day was just dawning.天刚亮。
Day will soon dawn.天很快就亮了。
The day was dawning when we set out.我们出发时天刚破晓。
They were waiting for the day to dawn.他们等待天明。
The space age dawned in the twentieth century.太空时代开始于二十世纪。
A new age dawned with the invention of the radio.随着无线电的发明,一个新时代开始了。
用作系动词
▲S+～+n.
Last Sunday dawned a perfect day.上星期日,一早就是个好天气。
▲S+～+adj.
The morning dawned fresh and clear after the storm at night.夜里暴风雨过后迎来空气清新的拂晓。
After the storm at night, the morning dawned clear and fine over the bay.经过一夜的暴风雨之后,海湾的早晨分外晴朗。
The next day dawned bright and sunny.第二天一大早阳光灿烂。

dawn, break
参见break条。

［同义词］ n. break of day, daybreak, first light, sunrise, beginning, birth, origin, start
［反义词］ n. dusk, nightfall, sunset, conclusion, end, finish
［词源］ ＜中古英语dawnen＜古英语adhina(破晓)

1.dawn的意思是“黎明; 拂晓; 天刚亮”,既可作可数名词又可作不可数名词,前面通常用介词at或before。
2.dawn引申可表示“开端; 萌芽”,总是用单数形式,常与定冠词the连用。

The dawns here in the mountains are very beautiful.这里山区的黎明是很美的。
Did you hear the cock crow at dawn?黎明时你听到鸡叫了吗?
At dawn we broke through the barbed wire entanglements under the city wall.拂晓我们突破了城墙的铁丝网。
They got across the bridge before dawn.他们于破晓前过了那座桥。
They work from dawn till dark.他们从天亮一直工作到天黑。
The war was ended and we looked forward to the dawn of much happier days.大战结束了,我们盼望着更加美好日子的来临。

dawn, twilight
这两个词都有“曙光”的意思。其区别在于:
1.dawn指太阳刚要或刚刚升起的“黎明,拂晓”时分; twilight指日出前的曙光。例如:
They stepped out into the twilight.他们走进曙光中。
2.twilight还可指“暮光”“黄昏”,而dawn不可。
3.用于比喻, dawn可指某个时期的“开端; 开始”; twilight则指“恐慌时代”“没落时代”。

黎明时分,客人们离去。
［误］  At the dawn the guests departed.
［正］  At dawn the guests departed.
一大早,他们便起床出发了。
［误］  At early dawn, they got up and set off.
［正］  At the early dawn, they got up and set off.
［析］  at dawn〔before dawn, from dawn〕 till dark等短语中不可加the,但在at the early dawn, with the dawn等短语中一定要加the。