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如何避免英語寫作中的常見錯誤（三） 精選

已有 1325 次閱讀 2016-3-9 09:34 |係統分類:論文交流|關鍵詞:SCI，寫作， LetPub

在這一係列的第三部分，我想講講複數單詞（尤其是拉丁複數詞），組成一個係列的單詞，以及 “分別”、“連續逗號“（也被稱為牛津逗號）的使用。與第一和第二部分中一樣，例子將用粗體表示。

中 文和日文（可能還有韓文和其他基於中文的語言）中，不會在複數單詞之後添加一個額外的“S”。作為編輯，每次我看到作者沒有在複數詞之後加“S”或 “ES”，我馬上就知道這些作者需要在其他方麵提升英文水平。其實很簡單。作者在寫作時應該記住需要考慮用到複數單詞，而且確保使用的是正確的複數形式。 這個例句就存在錯誤：Many author should remember to use the plural form of word. 也就是說，這應該使用“authors” 和 “words”。

但是，英文中常常有例外。一些單詞的複數形式不（或很少）需要一個額外的“s”。我們稱之為“集體名詞”。使用集體名詞時，一組事物被當作一個大的事物。最好的例子是“家具”這個詞。英語為母語的人可能會說a single piece of furniture or many pieces of furniture（單 個的家具或許多家具），但是卻不會使用“furnitures”這個詞，因為在一個房子裏的所有的家具被認為是一個集體，是一個事物。這裏有一些正確的單 數和複數形式的例子（集體名詞的單數和複數拚寫相同）：advice, content, evidence, infrastructure, research, seaweed, shrimp, slang, stuff。這些集體名詞，我們很少（甚至從來不）對它們添加一個額外的“s”如：advices, contents (有時會用), evidences, infrastructures, researches, seaweeds, shrimps, slangs, stuffs。

那些了解拉丁語的語言學家們，可能會告訴你為什麽要給那些來自於拉丁語的 英語單詞創造複數形式。我們在科學界堅持用拉丁語的原因很簡單。簡而言之，很久以前一群大多是歐洲人的科學家想選擇一門語言用於科學界，英國人想用英語， 法國人想用法語，德國人想用德語；最後他們唯一都讚同的一門語言是他們都沒有使用的拉丁語。當使用來自拉丁語的單詞時，以不同的方式結尾的單詞變成複數時 拚寫也不一樣。看一下這些類似的單數和複數單詞：apex and index; herbarium and medium; lamella and stoma; genus and species。它們的複數形式是相似的，有一定的規律，但並非完全一致：apices and indices; herbaria and media; lamellae and stomata; genera and species。當你看到一個看起來是來源於拉丁語的詞的時候，例如以-ex或-ium結尾的名詞，請記得查閱字典以獲取正確的拉丁形式。

最後，我想討論在一個係列中使用的單詞以及“respectively”這個詞。要列出一係列詞語可以采用兩種方式。在“and”這個單詞前的逗號叫做“係列逗號”或者“牛津逗號”，這兩個術語的意思是一樣的。下麵是這兩種方法：不使用係列逗號，我可以寫“dogs, cats and mice.” ；使用係列逗號，則是“dogs, cats, and mice.”。 盡管很多作家，包括英語為母語的人，不使用係列逗號，但是使用它卻是很重要的。為什麽呢？因為它可以避免意義混淆。

例如，看一下這些句子，第一個有係列逗號，第二個沒有：“The group met with two clowns, Bill, and Tom””和“The group met with two clowns, Bill and Tom.”在第一句中，小組會見了四個人，其中兩人是小醜。在第二個句子中，小組會見了兩人，兩人都是小醜，他們的名字是Bill和Tom。在科技寫作中，缺少係列逗號有時會改變你的句子的意思。

同樣，讓我們看看三種動物。我們將使用係列逗號來確保意義清楚，然後再介紹“respectively ”這個單詞。看看這一係列的單詞（你可能會注意到series和serial這兩個單詞是相關的，拚寫方式相似）：dogs, cats, and mice。我們現在有三組動物，而不是將“cats and mice”分為一個組，因為我們使用係列逗號來表明了這裏有三個組，而不是兩個組。他們吃什麽? Dogs, cats, and mice eat meat, mice, and grain, respectively. 使用respectively來連接兩組單詞。也就是，dogs eat meat, cats eat mice, and mice eat grain.在這最後這個例句中，我們不使用“respectively”這個詞，因為哪些動物吃哪些食物是非常清楚的。

也就是說，使用“respectively”連接兩個係列的單詞。這裏有一個例子，作者可以使用“respectively ”這個詞來節省空間。

The study site, a rock outcrop surrounded by forest, had a mean annual temperature of 13°C, a mean annual precipitation of 40%, and a mean annual wind speed of 2 m s₋₁.

在 這個例子中,我們使用了一個同位語(the study site = a rock outcrop surrounded by forest， 因此後麵的短語是一個同位語)。然而，你會發現“mean annual”被重複三次。我們可以通過使用”respectively“這個詞來縮短這一係列。

The study site, a rock outcrop surrounded by forest, had a mean annual temperature, precipitation, and humidity of 13°C, 40%, and 2 m s₋₁, respectively.

比較一下這兩個句子。哪一個更短？我們用“respectively”這個詞來保持句子簡短，使他們更容易理解。

最 後，我們想用一個錯誤的例子來總結一下。結一下。In this paragraph we will try to do everything wrong, mis-using the little things of capitalization, punctuation, and spacing, using simsun fonts with english, creating run-on sentences like this one that never seems to end, failing to use semicolons, using informal English, starting sentences with “And,” failing to use commas with appositives, failing to use numbers correctly, misplacing time units and really messing up by not using the serial comma.  You’ve just had your example of a run-on sentence the sentence before this one.  And the sentence before this sentence had an appositive that didn’t have a comma to set it off.  And the series of words didn’t use the serial or Oxford comma and this run-on sentence fails to use a semi-colon and uses the word “and” too often at least 4 times and is too long.  Today we have made numerous errors in this paragraph（so if you were an editor and you receive a document that looks like this one you will send it back to the author).如果你是一個編輯收到這樣的文章，肯定會直接發回給作者。

你還會對作者說，“找一個英語母語的人幫助你改寫英語吧！”或者，你可以通過注意我們之前討論的各種問題，來提高你的英語！

 

此短文由LetPub美國總公司的科學編輯撰寫，英文原文如下：

 

How to Avoid Common Errors with English:Part III

In the third part of this series I would like to discuss the use of plural words (especially Latin plural words), the use of words in a series (including use of the word “respectively” and the “serial comma” which is also known as the Oxford comma).  As we did in Parts I and II, bold text will indicate examples.

Chinese and Japanese (and probably Korean and other languages based on Chinese) do not use an added “S” to form plural words.  As an editor, when I see a writer failing to add an “S” or “ES” to plural words, I instantly know the authors need to work on improving their English in other ways.  My point is simple.  Authors should remember to think about plural words as they write and make sure to use the correct plural forms.  Here is a sentence that fails to do that: Many author should remember to use the plural form of word.  That is, this should talk about “authors” and “words.”

However, English is a language of exceptions.  Some plural forms of words never (or rarely) take an added “s.” We call these “collective nouns.”  With collective nouns, groups of things are considered to be one large thing.  The best example is the word “furniture.”  Native speakers might talk of a single piece of furniture or many pieces of furniture.  The word “furnitures” is never used because all the furniture in one house is thought of collectively, as one thing.  Here are some examples of correct singular and plural forms (both are spelled the same way for collective nouns): advice, content, evidence, infrastructure, research, seaweed, shrimp, slang, stuff.  For collective nouns, we rarely (or never) an added “s” with these nouns: advices, contents (sometimes is used), evidences, infrastructures, researches, seaweeds, shrimps, slangs, stuffs.

A linguist who knows Latin could probably give you the reasoning behind creating plural forms of English words that are taken from Latin.  We are stuck with Latin in science for a simple reason.  In short, long ago a bunch of mostly European scientists wanted to choose a language for use in science.  The English wanted to use English, the French wanted to use French, the Germans wanted to use German; the only language they could agree on was one that none of them used, Latin.  When using words that come from Latin, different endings of plurals are spelled in different ways.  Look at the singular and plurals of these similar groups of words: apex and index; herbarium and medium; lamella and stoma; genus and species.  The plurals are similar, with some patterns, but are not completely consistent: apices and indices; herbaria and media; lamellae and stomata; genera and species.  When you see a word that appears to have come from Latin, such as nouns ending in -ex or -ium, remember to check a dictionary to get the correct Latin form.

Lastly, I’d like to discuss words in a series and the word “respectively.”  Two methods can be used to list words in a series.  The comma before the word “and” is called the “serial comma” or the “Oxford comma;” both terms mean the same thing.  Here are the two methods. Without the serial comma, I could write, “dogs, cats and mice.”  With the serial comma, this becomes “dogs, cats, and mice.”  While many writers, including native speakers, do not use the serial comma, it can be important to use it.  Why?  It can help you avoid confusion.  

For example, look at these sentences, one with the serial comma, the second without it: “The group met with two clowns, Bill, and Tom” and “The group met with two clowns, Bill and Tom.”  In the first sentence, the group met with four people and two of those people were clowns.  In the second sentence, the group met with two people who were both clowns, the clowns named Bill and Tom.  In scientific writing, the lack of a serial comma can sometimes change the meaning of your sentence.

Similarly, let’s look at three animals.  We will use the serial comma to make things perfectly clear and then introduce the word “respectively.”  Look at this series of words (you might note that the words series and serial are related and spelled in similar ways): dogs, cats, and mice.  We now have three groups of animals, and we are not grouping “cats and mice” as one group because we used the serial comma to make it clear we have three groups and not two.  What do they eat? Dogs, cats, and mice eat meat, mice, and grain, respectively.  When you use the word “respectively” you are connecting two groups of words.  That is, dogs eat meat, cats eat mice, and mice eat grain.  In this last example, we do not use the word “respectively” because it is very clear which animal is eating which food.

That is, use “respectively” to connect two series of words.  Here’s an example of a way that a writer can save space by using the word respectively.

The study site, a rock outcrop surrounded by forest, had a mean annual temperature of 13°C, a mean annual precipitation of 40%, and a mean annual wind speed of 2 m s₋₁.

In this example, we’ve included an appositive (the study site = a rock outcrop surrounded by forest, so the latter phrase is an appositive).  However, you will notice the words “mean annual” are repeated three times.  We can shorten this series of words by using the word “respectively.”

The study site, a rock outcrop surrounded by forest, had a mean annual temperature, precipitation, and humidity of 13°C, 40%, and 2 m s₋₁, respectively.

Compare the two sentences.  Which one is shorter?  We use the word “respectively” to keep our sentences short and make them easier to understand.

Lastly, we would like to conclude with a bad example.  In this paragraph we will try to do everything wrong, mis-using the little things of capitalization, punctuation, and spacing, using simsun fonts with english, creating run-on sentences like this one that never seems to end, failing to use semicolons, using informal English, starting sentences with “And,” failing to use commas with appositives, failing to use numbers correctly, misplacing time units and really messing up by not using the serial comma.  You’ve just had your example of a run-on sentence the sentence before this one.  And the sentence before this sentence had an appositive that didn’t have a comma to set it off.  And the series of words didn’t use the serial or Oxford comma and this run-on sentence fails to use a semi-colon and uses the word “and” too often at least 4 times and is too long.  Today we have made numerous errors in this paragraph（so if you were an editor and you receive a document that looks like this one you will send it back to the author).

You would tell that author, “Find a native speaker to help with your use of English.”  Or, you can concentrate on the things we’ve discussed and improve your use of English!

（此文由LetPub編輯原創，轉載請注明本文來自LetPub中文官網：www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_writing_53）

 

SCI論文英語潤色│同行資深專家修改│專業翻譯│格式排版整理 │聯係我們

 

 

本文引用地址：http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-1232242-961481.html  此文來自科學網LetPub編輯博客，轉載請注明出處。
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