ground、land、earth和soil虽然都可以表示类似于“地面”的意思，但这四个词的用法有很大的区别。
1. ground意为“地、地面”，主要指大地表面（室外），可泛指各种地面（不论是沙地、泥地还是水泥地等）。也可用指土壤，场地，庭院等（特定用途的）场地。ground不用以指松土、散土：ground还可以作为不可数名词表示空旷的场地，也可以作为可数名词表示一些特殊用途的场地或者活动场地。
I sat on the ground to eat our picnic.
我坐在地上吃野餐。
The ground is covered with snow. 地面被雪覆盖了。
Coordinating airline traffic on the ground is as complicated as managing the traffic in the air.
协调地面的航空交通与管理空中交通一样复杂。
I found her lying on the ground.
我发现她躺在地上。
He lost his balance and fell to the ground.
他失去平衡摔倒在地上。
I found her lying on the ground.
我发现她躺在地上。
The ground was frozen hard and was impossible to dig.
土地冻实了，根本挖不动。
The best fishing grounds are around the islands.
最好的渔场是在岛屿周围。
Indian hunting grounds
印第安人的狩猎场
a football/recreation/sports, etc. ground
足球场、娱乐场地、运动场等
ancient burial grounds
古代墓地
The kids were playing on waste ground behind the school.
孩子们在学校后面的荒地上玩耍。
They drove across miles of rough, stony ground.
他们驶过数英里崎岖不平、多石的土地。
表示抽象的“领地”：（兴趣、知识或思想的）范围，领域
On her own ground she knows exactly what she’s doing.
她在自己熟悉的领域里对自己的行为有十足的把握。
He managed to cover a lot of ground in a short talk.
他在简短的谈话中涵盖了许多领域。
也作“领土”如：
We decided to meet on neutral ground.
我们决定在第三方领土上会晤。《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》
2. land指“陆地，土（大）地”。与海洋、河流相对，也可指“地皮、田地、耕地”，可耕种的田地或可开发建设的土地均可叫land。另外，它可以指“国士”、“国家”。land也在与海对比时使用。
In the distance the crew sighted land.
船员发现在远处有陆地。
It was good to be back on dry land again.
回到陆地上真好。
It isn’t clear whether the plane went down over land or sea.
不清楚飞机是坠毁在陆地上还是海里。
They fought both at sea and on land.
他们在海上和陆上都打过仗。
It is cheaper to drill for oil on land than at sea.
在陆地上钻探石油比在海上更经济。
agricultural/arable/industrial, etc. land
农业用地、可耕地、工业用地等
Some of the country’s richest grazing lands are in these valleys.
全国最肥沃的一些牧场位于这些峡谷中。
The land around here has never been cultivated.
这一带的土地从未开垦过。
The land is used by local people to graze their animals.
这块地当地人用来放牧。
This sort of land is no good for growing potatoes.
这种地不适合种马铃薯。
She longed to return to her native land.
她渴望回到她的祖国。