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过去几年来,我遇到许多非议英文为母语的作者常犯的一些语言错误,用字/词的错误可能会使读者感到困惑或是误导他们。 为了排除这些可能的困惑成为英语专家,我先前已经有一篇博文讨论过写作时容易搞混的词汇,这次延续这个主题,再继续讨论几个这样的词汇。
1. Number vs Amount
“amount”用于不可数名词,如钱、信息、时间等。
例句:We received an enormous amount of help from our university.
“number”用于可数名词,像是工作、样本、机器等。
例句:I had a small number of specimens left.
“number”和“amount”的使用是根据所形容的名词是否可数,因此彼此间并无法相互替代。
2. Hypothesis vs Theory
“hypothesis”是根据知识与经验所有的猜想,尚未经过测试或证明。
例句:His hypothesis was that giving his students less work would increase their test scores.
“theory”是已经被重复测试并有证据支持的科学思想。
例句:Scientists hold the theory of evolution in high regard.
一个增强这2个字差异的辨识方法是把“hypothesis”想成构建“theory”的第一步,因为任何的科学理论都是源自于有逻辑的猜想。
3. Discreet vs Discrete
“discreet”意指小心不要引起注意。
例句:Discreet observation of the patient enabled the doctors to draw vital conclusions.
“discrete”意指分开或差距。
例句:The organisms can be classified into discrete categories.
这2个字因为拼法接近所以经常被搞混,不过他们的字义大相径庭,使用时一定要注意。这种发音接近但字义与拼法不同的词称作“(homophones)”
4. Old vs Original
“old”是指属于过去的一段时间,现在一般已经不使用的,像是“一首老歌”或“旧衣服”
例句:Some old theories suggested that the earth was flat.
另一方面,“original”是指同类中的第一个或被复制的第一个版本,例如“the original statement”、“ the original work of art”。
例句:The team replicated the original research to confirm its validity.
以下几个范例可以帮助你辨识这2个字的不同:
避免使用:As we had stated in the old manuscript, each patient was administered the same dosage during the study period.
较好的用法:As we had stated in the original manuscript, each patient was administered the same dosage during the study period.
以上范例是在说一个已经修改的文件,因此“original”比“old”更为适合用来形容这个文件。
5. As a result vs Based on the results
“as a result”意由于,用于表达一事件是另一项事情的起因时。
例句:The results of the experiment were inconclusive. As a result, the research had to be repeated.
这个句子是指由于研究结果不够具有决定性,所以要再重做一次实验。
而“based on the results”和“the results revealed”是表示根据特定结果得到的
例句:Based on the results of the experiment, we concluded that bats are nocturnal creatures.
“as a result”、“ based on the results”或“the results revealed”各有不同的意思,因此无法替换使用。
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