"relation" and "relationship"

我回答過一模一樣的問題：

http://hk.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/?qid=7007011705380


兩者的分別，至少有以下幾點：


首先， Relation 可以指「親人或親戚」，如

John is a distant relation of my wife.

這句中的 Relation 不可用 Relationship 代替。


第二，指親人或愛侶之間的「關係」要用 Relationship 而非 Relation，如：

Peter has a bad relationship with his father.


第三， 說無關婚姻的性行為要用 Relationship 而非 Relation ，如

We’ve had a relationship for three years now, but we’ve never really discussed getting married.

http://www.bartleby.com/68/63/5063.html


第四， 有些詞語是一定要用 Relation 而非 Relationship ，如成語 In relation to 不可以改成 In relationship to ；Diplomatic relations 及 Race relations 亦如是。


你可以看一下 BBC 的 Learning English ，不過那裏解釋並不詳盡：
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv235.shtml

MEANING IS DIFFERENT : RELATION IS 關係 / RELATIONSHIP IS 友誼.