当别人在你的写作中发现语法错误时,可能会很尴尬,但不要烦恼,因为我们都会犯语法错误。常见的语法错误包括标点符号和语法错误以及错误的单词选择。语法错误常常使读者难以理解一篇文章,这就是为什么作家应该尽量避开它们。我们的目标是要有流畅、清晰、无错误的写作,所以我们将研究一些最常见的错误,以便你知道如何识别、修复和避免它们。英语中要避免的30个常见语法错误,总有一个你曾经犯过: 跟 to 和 too 的区别很像,your 和 you're 是同音异义词,这意味着它们的发音听起来是一样的,但有两种不同的含义。Your 是所有格代词。它表示某物属于一个单独的第二人称,而 you're 是 you are 的缩写形式:- You forgot your backpack at school yesterday.
- You’re expected to arrive no later than 6 p.m.
Who 是一个句子的主语,而 whom 是句子的宾语,例如:- Who will be hosting the party this weekend?
- To whom should I send the package?
Who's 是 who is 或 who has 的缩写形式,而 whose 是 who 的所有格形式,例如:- Who’s ready for the exam on Friday?
Affect 是一个动词,意思是 to cause an effect,而 effect 是一个名词,指的是结果,例如:- How will a heat wave affect your vacation plans?
- An increased budget will have a major effect on hiring.
记忆方法:affect 的首字母是 a(action),代表行动,所以它是动词。Who 指的是一个人,而 that 指的是无生命的物体。然而,在强调群体而不是其成员的情况下,that 也可以指代群体,例如:- My brother is the one who solved the mystery.
- I took a course that changed my perspective on climate change.
- We’re part of an organization that promotes native plant cultivation.
That 用于引入一个从句,为句子添加必要的信息,而 which 用于引入一个增加细节但对句子不重要的从句,例如:- One of my dogs, the one that ate a rock, needs to see a vet.
- My other dog, which is a terrier, also needs to see the vet.
I.e. 是 id est 的缩写,用于陈述,而 e.g. 是 exempli gratia 的缩写,用于举例;此外,这些缩写后面应该有一个逗号,例如:- I am a vegetarian, i.e., I don't eat meat.
- I love to eat vegetables, e.g., carrots, spinach, and arugula.
Then 指示什么时候会发生,而 than 用于比较人或事,例如:- First we’ll go over the homework; then we’ll watch the presentation.
- Our cousins are taller than us.
Each 指的是一组中的单个项目,而 every 则指的是整个组,例如:- Each of my children made me a Mother’s Day card.
- Every one of my coworkers is going to the dinner.
More than 表示所讨论的是事物的字面上的量,而 over 可以表示一个物体的物理位置或比喻量比同一句子中提到的另一个物体大,例如:- She owns more than ten jackets.
- We’re going to come in over our budget.
Less 用于描述抽象的或不可计数的项目数量,而 fewer 用于可计数的项目数量,例如:- The students had less time to work on the assignment today.
- If fewer people used disposable water bottles, there would be less plastic in landfills.
- 如果更少的人使用一次性水瓶,垃圾填埋场中的塑料就会更少。
Me 和I 都是第一人称单数代词,前者用作句子的主语,后者用作句子的宾语,例如:- It was almost midnight, so I didn’t stop to pick up my shoe.
- You want me to dance with you?
十三、A lot vs. allot vs. alotA lot 可以是代词,也可以是副词,意思是经常或大量,而 allot 是一个动词,意思是“分发”,alot 不是一个词,在写作中避免使用它。- There were a lot of jellyfish.
- We were allotted two notebooks and five pens each.
Farther 是指字面上的距离,而 further 的意思是更多,例如:- The island looked farther away than ever.
- We want no further communication with your company.
Like 用于进行比较,而 such as 用于提供具体的示例,例如:- The couch has black and white spots like a dalmatian.
- We have many pizza toppings, such as peppers, pineapple, and pepperoni.
- 我们有许多比萨饼配料,如辣椒、菠萝和意大利辣香肠。
一般来说,may 在现在时态中用于请求许可和表示可能发生的事情,而 might 与过去时一起使用,用来描述不太可能或没有发生的事情,例如:- May I bring a guest to the book signing?
- There might have been time for discussion, but the fire alarm went off.
Past 是指已经发生的事情,它可以是名词、形容词、介词或副词,而 passed 是一个动词,例如:- Our grandfather told us stories about the past.
- The SUV passed on our right.
十八、Based off vs. based on这是一个语言进化的例子,也许有一天, based off 会被认为是正确的。但目前,based on 被认为是正确的措辞。这两个短语都用来表示推动特定决定或结论的事实或情况,但是 based off of 是肯定错的。例如:- Based on the rain in the forecast, I decided not to water my garden today.
十九、Compliment vs. complementCompliment 是对另一个人或事物的善意的赞扬,而 complement 意味着表示相辅相成、相配合,例如:- I liked Dara’s presentation, so I paid her a compliment.
- Dara’s background in UX design complements my front-end development experience.
- Dara的用户体验设计背景补充了我的前端开发经验。
二十、错位修饰语(Misplaced modifiers)错位修饰语是指与所修饰的名词相距太远的单词或短语。一个错误的修饰语会使一个句子使读者感到困惑。下面是一个带有错误修饰语的句子的例子,用粗体表示:- 困惑:My sister adopted another cat named Ghost.
- 正确:My sister adopted another cat and named her Ghost.
一个常见错误是不知道何时使用被动语态,何时避免被动语态。一些人可能没有充分利用这种结构,而另一些则倾向于过度使用它,这对于母语为母语的人来说,这两种情况听起来都不太自然。以下是用被动语态的常见情形:二十二、所有格名词(Possessive nouns)所有格名词是表示所有权的名词的变体,它们经常使用撇号。对于单数所有格名词,撇号在s之前,例如:Maryam’s notebook;复数所有格名词的撇号在s后面,例如:The students’ grades。对于以字母s结尾的单数所有格名词中的撇号和字母s的关系,不同的学派有不同的做法。有些人说撇号在结尾,没有加s,例如:That’s James’ car,而 Chicago Style 规定:当一个以s结尾的名字变成所有格时,你可以加一个撇号和一个s,例如:That’s James’s car。逗号是通用的标点符号,所以很容易用错。逗号用于在句子中创建短暂的停顿,例如分隔列表中的项目、区分独立句或强调同位语,例如:- I went to the store for butter, flour, and milk.
- I went to the store for butter flour and milk.
分号最常用于分隔句子中的独立句。当序列列表中的项目包含自己的标点符号时,它们也用于分隔这些项目,例如:- Amalia is taking twenty credits this semester; her goal is to graduate early.
- I need the weather statistics for the following cities: London, England; Paris, France; and Perth, Scotland.
- 我需要以下城市的天气统计数据:英国伦敦、法国巴黎以及苏格兰的珀斯。
二十五、标题大写(Title capitalization)尽管不同的样式指南可能有所不同,但标题大写的一般规则是:- 定冠词 the 是小写的,除非它们是标题的第一个或最后一个单词
- Remember to dot your i’s.
二十七、标点符号在括号中的位置(Punctuation’s place in parentheses) 当涉及到括号和其他标点符号时,有几个规则需要遵循:- 如果括号中的文本是一个完整的句子,并且与周围的句子是分开的,则句点位于括号内。
- 此外,一个可以单独作为一个完整句子的短语也可以包含在另一个完整的句子中。
- My house has blue trim. (My neighbor’s house has blue trim, too.)
- My house has blue trim (my neighbor’s house has blue trim, too).
- My house has blue trim (with white windows) and a green door.
问号和感叹号是规则的例外。当这两个符号是另一个句子中附带的括号段落的一部分时,无论是完整的句子还是片段,它们都会放在括号内,例如:- Dimo got lost on the way to his interview (but he wasn’t late so they never knew!).
因为括号文本通常与它前面的内容有关,所以它不应该跟在逗号后面。然而,在括号后面加一个逗号,没有空格是完全正常的,例如:- The party was too quiet, (the DJ canceled) so Gina brought out her guitar.
- The party was too quiet (the DJ canceled), so Gina brought out her guitar.
二十八、不完整的比较(Incomplete comparisons)当你在写作中进行比较时,你需要提到你所比较的两件事(或全部),例如:- My car is faster than my cousin’s car.
不完全比较是指没有提及被比较的一个或多个事物的比较,例如:二十九、Em dash vs. en dash vs. hyphen当其他类型的标点符号,如括号或逗号,不能完全捕捉到你需要的音调时,请使用 em dash,它的“Alt代码”快捷方式是Alt+0151。Em dash 具有快速、随意的含义,因此它们通常用于表示句子中的旁白或突然的语气变化,例如:- They are afraid of two things—spiders and senior prom.
En dash 比 hyphen 长,但比 em hyphen 短。它用于表示一个数字范围(如1981-1983),或在比较中取代 to 一词,它的“Alt代码”快捷方式是Alt+0150,例如:- We’re open Monday–Saturday.
Hyphen 将单词连接在一起,用于形成复合词(通常是复合形容词),如 once-in-a-lifetime 或 cyborg-related 等。它是标点符号横线族中最短的一个。要键入连字符,只需按键盘上的减号键。三十、主谓一致(Subject/verb agreement)在任何句子中,主语和动词都要保持在人称和数上的一致,主谓一致包括语法一致、意义一致和就近一致,例如:- My classmates hopes our teacher will be back soon.
- My classmates hope our teacher will be back soon.
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