博文
Respectively
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分别 (Respectively)
很多作者，无论其母语为英语或非英语，都经常会错误地使用“分别(Respectively)”一词。跟上述其他要点一样，“分别(Respectively)”的不当使用可导致文章出现歧义，读者倍感困惑。其实在行文时不使用这个词倒可能会更清晰一些，不过，如果在列举两条相对应的要点时，使用这个词的确也有助于节约篇幅。我们不妨来看下面这个句子：“The latencies to withdrawal from a painful stimulus in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively”。在这里，对照组小鼠的缩足反射潜伏期是3秒，而转基因小鼠则是2秒。如果我们描述的对象不是“withdrawal from a painful stimulus”，而是较短的词或词组(如，“average weights”)，就不必使用“respectively”；“Control mice weighed 20±3 g and transgenic mice weighed 17±2 g”要比“Control mice and transgenic mice weighed 20±3 g and 17±2 g, respectively”好，因为后者多了一个额外的词。请注意，“respectively”一词一次仅能用于提及两个相对应的列举要点，不能用于提及三个或三个以上的要点。因此，下面这个句子是不正确的，也无从理解：“The latencies to withdrawal from 5 g and 10 g painful stimuli in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively”。
• “The proportions of monocytes positive for CD163, CD7 and CD11a were 45%, 63% and 70%, respectively” (用了“respectively”一词后，读者就能清楚地理解这3个百分比指代的是按相同次序排列的3个标记物)
英文原文
Respectively
The word respectively is frequently misused by native and non-native English-speaking authors alike, and, as with the other elements described above, its misuse can lead to confusion and ambiguities. It is often clearer not to use this term at all, but it can be useful to economise on words where there are two corresponding lists. For example, it is quite useful in the sentence “The latencies to withdrawal from a painful stimulus in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively”, meaning that control mice withdrew after 3 s and transgenic mice withdrew after 2 s. If describing something much shorter than “The latencies to withdrawal from a painful stimulus”, for example average weights, respectively is not necessary; “Control mice weighed 20±3 g and transgenic mice weighed 17±2 g” is better than “Control mice and transgenic mice weighed 20±3 g and 17±2 g, respectively”, which contains one additional word. Note that “respectively” can only be used to refer to two corresponding lists at one time, and cannot be used to refer to more. Thus, the sentence “The latencies to withdrawal from 5 g and 10 g painful stimuli in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively” is incorrect and impossible to understand.
• “The proportions of monocytes positive for CD163, CD7 and CD11a were 45%, 63% and 70%, respectively” (the “respectively” makes clear that the three percentages refer to each of the three markers in the same order).
Dr Daniel McGowan
分子神经学博士
理文编辑学术总监
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-288924-477203.html
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