1. 两者都可表示“昂贵的”：expensive 通常指物美价高, 非购买者财力所能及；dear 主要指普通日用品因暂时的供应不足而造成的价格上涨。如：
It is expensive to stay in that hotel. 住那家旅馆很贵。
Living in the country is less expensive than in the city. 住在乡间比住在城里花钱少。
He gives expensive gifts to his family for Christmas. 他给家里人买昂贵的圣诞礼物。
Bananas are very dear this week. 这个星期香蕉很贵。
2. 两者虽然都表示“贵”，但主要用于说明具体的事物，而不用于说明 price，如“这外套太贵”译成英语不能是：The price of the coat is too expensive.
单词：dear的近义词、反义词、形近词辨析
ear/earring/earn/hear/bear/near/dear/wear/fear/year/tear
记忆：
1. ear [ iE] n. 耳朵, 听力, 穗 vi. 抽穗 The horse is deaf in the right ear. 那匹马右耳是聋的。
2. earring [5IEnIN] n. 耳环, 耳饰 I find it terrible for her to wear the big earrings.我觉得她戴上那付大耳环后非常糟糕。
3. earn [ E:n ] n. 赚得, 获得 The writer earns his bread by writing.作家以写作谋生。
4. earning [5E:nIN] n. 所赚的钱, 收入 He has a large monthly earning.他月收入可观。
5. hear [ hiE ] vt. 听到, 听说, 听取 I’ve never heard of such a thing.我从未听说过这样的事。
6. bear [ bZE ] n. 熊 v. 负担, 忍受 The ice can’t bear the bear so the bear fell into the water.冰承受不了熊的重量，熊掉进了水中。
7. near [ niE ] adj. 亲近的, 亲密的, 近 adv. 近, 不远 prep. 在...近旁, 近... There is a soft deer near the fierce bear.在凶猛的熊附近有一只温顺的鹿子。
8. dear [ diE ] adj. 昂贵的, 亲爱的 Oh dear! Her dear deer is really dear!噢，天！她心爱的鹿子真的很昂贵的。
9. wear [ wZE ] vt. 穿, 戴 wear out 磨损, 用旧 The shoes have been worn out. I will buy another pair.鞋子已穿破了。我要重新买一双。
10. fear [ fiE ] n. 恐怖, 害怕 He said he feared nothing in his life.他说在他的一生中没怕过什么。
11. year [ jE:, jiE ] n. 年, 年龄 Pines are green all the year round.松树一年四季都是绿的。
12. tear [ tiE ] n. 眼泪, 扯 [ tZE ] vi. 撕破 vt. 扯, 撕, 撕破 With tears down the face, she torn the letter into pieces.她流着泪把那封信撕成了碎片。
另类阅读：
Mary wears dear earrings she bought with her own earnings. Hearing the story, her mother can’t bear it and tries to tear them off her ears. Mary is filled with fear and burst into tears.
轻松一刻
HAROLD: Teacher, would you punish me for something I didn't do?
TEACHER: Of course not.
HAROLD: Good, because I didn't do my homework.
与单词：dear 相关的例句或者名人名言
"I love you so much," the father said to his dear son.
“我非常爱你”，父亲对他亲爱的儿子说。
表示价格贵的词还有 dear 、 costly ，区别如下：
dear 侧重指要价过高，或远高于公正、合理的价格，其反义词是 cheap 。
expensive 指物品的价格超过了它本身所值，或超过了购置者的支付能力。
costly 指物品价格高，通常是因物品稀少或珍贵所致。
例句： "They gad about Europe a lot , going to expensive restaurants and shows ."
他们下高级馆子，享受高级娱乐，可把欧洲逛了个够。
And the dear friends have to part?
是不是亲爱的朋友就得分离?
Thank you, dear boy.
谢谢你，朋友。
※A lamb is as dear to a poor man as an ox to the rich. 穷人的一只羔羊比富人的一头牛还要珍贵。
※Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barry more would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him. John Barry more, American actor, J. 死？我想说不，亲爱的伙计。巴瑞摹尔决不会允许这类传统的事情发生在他的身上。美国男演员 巴瑞摹尔 J
※Now I have finished with all earthly business, and high time too. Yes, yes, my dear child ,——now comes deathFranz Lehar Composer of the former empire of Austria-Hungary是时候了，我的尘缘已尽。是的，是的，我亲爱的孩子，死亡来临了。奥匈帝国作曲家 莱哈尔
※The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious. 赠予者的心意可使馈赠的东西增加价值而显得珍贵。
