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写作指导

学术论文写作中常见的选词错误

时间:2023-09-16 21:23 所属分类:写作指导 点击次数:

  在英语为非母语人士撰写的学术论文中,用词错误比多数其他错误更为常见,仅次于文体风格错误。

  由于学术写作的主要目的是清晰表达信息,了解如何正确和有效使用词汇至关重要。

  人们在选择单词上所出现的很多问题源于英语含有许多听起来相似的同音异形异义词和看起来相似的同形同音异义词。

  另一方面,虽然有些单词听起来和看起来都不同,但是意义相似。另外,当英语为非母语的作者在写作时使用母语思考,并且试图将整个母语表达方式原封不动地翻译成英语时,也会大量出现不符合英文表达习惯的用词错误。

  此外,用词发生错误的原因有时只是拼写错误,这导致把正确的用词笔误写成另一个不相关的词。

  本文列举英语为非母语的学术论文作者常犯的典型用词错误,并提供如何避免这些错误的建议。

  目录

  1.发音相似但意思不同的词

  2.意思相近但内涵不同的词

  3.选词时的前缀或后缀错误

  4.翻译错误与用词搭配

  5.改变词意的拼写错误

  01发音相似但意思不同的词

  混淆具有不同含义的相似单词是选词时最常见的错误之一,甚至也会发生在英语是母语的作者身上。

  在英语口语中,有很多这种词,它们之间的发音区别并不明显,或者听起来就像是口误一样。然而,在撰写学术文章时,应当认真检查这类错误,确保读者能够清楚理解作者想要表达的意思。

  Affect vs. effect / affective vs. effective

  作为名词的“affect”用来描述强烈的感觉或情绪,而动词“affect”是影响的意思。相反,名词“effect”是指某事的结果,而动词“effect”意为导致某事发生或带来某种结果。简言之,如果某件事影响(affects)另一件事,它会导致某种后果(effect)。

  错误:Sleep deprivation clearly effected the patients’ overall well-being.

  正确:Sleep deprivation clearly affected the patients’ overall well-being.

  错误:The affect of exercise on depression is not clearly understood.

  正确:The effect of exercise on depression is not clearly understood.

  Then vs. than

  作为连词或介词的“than”用于比较,而“then”是副词,表示在那时或随后。

  错误:The effect of exercise on depression is less obvious then that of medication.

  正确:The effect of exercise on depression is less obvious than that of medication.

  正确:Patients were debriefed, and then asked to fill in a questionnaire.

  Principal vs. principle

  作为形容词的“principal”表示主要的或最重要的,而作为名词则表示学校校长。“principle”是指原理、定理、定律或系统的基础。

  错误:Our approach is based on the scientific principals of behavioral analysis.

  正确:Our approach is based on the scientific principles of behavioral analysis.

  正确:The principal idea of our approach is that early socialization affects behavior.

  Advice vs. advise

  “to advise”的意思是给予建议。“advice”和“advise”这两个词之间的主要区别是“advice”是名词,而“advise”则是动词。这两个词含义相同,只是词性不同,在使用时需要注意保持语法正确。

  错误:Patients should be adviced against smoking after cancer treatment

  正确:Patients should be advised against smoking after cancer treatment.

  正确:Our advice to patients after cancer treatment is to stop smoking.

  Accept vs. except

  这两个词在发言上听起来几乎相同,但是具有截然不同的意思。“accept”表示同意或接受,而作为动词或介词形式的“except”表示不包括的意思。

  错误:Subjects were called back after 2 weeks, accept for those who had dropped out.

  正确:Subjects were called back after 2 weeks, except for those who had dropped out.

  正确:Smoking is widely accepted as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

  Alternate vs. alternative

  “alternative”是指额外的或不同的选择,而动词“alternate”及其形容词形式“alternating” 是指在选项、状态或行动之间来回切换的行为。

  错误:TMS has emerged as an alternate treatment option for anxiety.

  正确:TMS has emerged as an alternative treatment option for anxiety.

  正确:We explored the role of alternate care sites in responsiveness to COVID-19.

  Adapt vs. adopt

  “adopt”是指采用某种东西并使之变成自己的,而“adapt”是指改变现有想法或方法以适合某种需要。由于这两个词在发言上很相似,因此经常看起来可以互换使用,而实则不然。所以,必须确保用词的意思表达准确。

  正确:Many recent studies have adopted a similar cross-sectional design.

  正确:We adapted the usual clinical design to better reflect patient characteristics.

  Access vs. assess

  “access”意为进入某地、接近或抓住某物,而“assess”意为评价、决定或判断。

  错误:The aim of this study was to access the clinical outcomes of the seton procedure.

  正确:The aim of this study was to assess the clinical outcomes of the seton procedure.

  正确:Author KA was granted access to patient data by the hospital ethics committee.

  02意思相近但内涵不同的词

  Infer vs. imply

  “imply”是指暗示某事,而不直接显示出来或说出来。“infer”是指基于明确的证据、自己的假设、数据或别人的暗示而得出结论。

  正确:These findings imply that neuropeptides play a role in feeding behavior.

  正确:Intuitive responders infer that everybody responds as they do.

  Among vs. between

  许多以英语为母语以及英语不是母语的作者都会在使用“among”和“between”上出错。关于它们的用法,有两条规则。其中一条规则众所周知,但过于简单化。而另一条不太为人所知的规则解释了这两个词之间的区别。

  第一条规则是在比较两个元素时,应当使用“between”;而在比较两个以上元素时,应当使用“among”。虽然这条规则使得人们通常能够正确选词,但它可能会导致“过度校正”,导致语言表达出现尴尬的情况。因此,就出现了第二条规则,即只要所有元素都是独立且不同的,就都可以使用“between”,无论元素数量是否超过两个。例如,你可以在鸡蛋和麦片这两者之间做出选择(“between eggs and cereals”),也可以在鸡蛋、麦片和吐司三者之间选择(“between eggs, cereals, and toast”)。

  相比之下,“among”用指不那么明显区分开来的人或事物,而且他们或它们被视为一个群体而非单独或独立的元素时。例如,意大利和丹麦之间的谈判(“between Italy and Denmark”,这时强调的是两个不同国家之间的事情),欧盟成员国之间的谈判(“among the EU member states”,这时强调的是一个集团群体,而非两个或几个元素之间的关系)。另一个例子,“You share secrets between friends (from person to person) but you feel comfortable with or among your friends. ”这句话的意思是,你在朋友之间(强调人与人之间的关系)分享秘密;你和朋友在一起时或在朋友之间相处时感觉很舒服(不强调个体之间的关系)。

  正确:MoO3 showed the best performance among the investigated HDO catalysts.

  正确:There was no behavioral difference between the test and the control group.

  Amount vs. number

  这两个词具有相似的意思,但是它们的正确用法与英语中的可数名词和不可数名词的概念有关。“number”只能用于可数名词,而“amount”则可以用于不可数名词。

  错误:The number of literatures included in this meta-analysis is enormous.

  正确:The amount of literature included in this meta-analysis is enormous.

  正确:The number of earlier studies on this topic is low.

  03选词时的前缀或后缀错误

  在词根词(root word)的开头添加前缀或在结尾添加后缀,可以将形容词(例如happy)变成名词(happiness)或副词(happily),或变成意思相反的词(unhappy),或者影响动词的时态。

  前缀和后缀的问题在于,它们并不适用于每个单词,而且添加后也并不总能具有前述效果。

  因此,作者们需要确保不能擅自创建不存在的单词,也不要乱加错误的前缀或后缀导致语意发生错乱。

  错误:Changes were determinated using a computer-controlled spectrophotometer.

  正确:Changes were determined using a computer-controlled spectrophotometer.

  错误:Protein instableness is a common issue in protein pharmaceuticals.

  正确:Protein instability is a common issue in protein pharmaceuticals.

  错误:We assessed sources of diagnostic inaccurateness of cardiac markers.

  正确:We assessed sources of diagnostic inaccuracy of cardiac markers.

  04翻译错误与用词搭配

  英语是非母语的作者在英文写作时经常犯的一个错误是使用母语思考,然后把母语句子原封不动地逐字翻译成英语,并且还错误地以为这是很自然流畅的表达方式。

  这其实是他们违反英文表达习惯或造成语句尴尬的最常见原因之一。

  理解和纠正这类错误确实比理解两个相似动词之间的区别更加困难。

  但是,还是有一些方法可以使作者们避免这类错误。

  例如,可以使用谷歌学者(Google Scholar)或韦氏在线词典(Merriam-Webster online dictionary)检查措辞。可以对文稿进行自我编辑,利用Wordvice发布的学术论文常规表达方式指南和在论文的不同部分使用最佳动词的指南,这些都能够有效加强英文写作。在修改稿件的过程中,还需要特别注意介词的使用,这是英文写作中另一类常见错误。如果自己甚至不知道需要检查什么错误,下面的一系列示例展示了常见的误译和误用的表达方式。

  错误:Patients underwent dizziness and worsening symptoms.

  正确:Patients experienced dizziness and reported worsening symptoms.

  正确:Patients presented with dizziness and showed worsening symptoms over time.

  错误:Patients underwent a questionnaire after the experiment.

  正确:Patients filled in a questionnaire after the experiment.

  错误:Patients succeeded complete remission.

  正确:Patients achieved complete remission.

  错误:The difference between groups was obtained with one-way ANOVA.

  正确:The difference between groups was assessed with one-way ANOVA.

  在语法检查中,需要确保在表述“谁做了什么”时,句子的主语和动词在语意和语法上均匹配正确。

  错误:Patients performed liver biopsy.

  正确:Patients underwent liver biopsy.

  正确:Two experienced surgeons performed liver biopsy.

  另外,还需要注意人与事物之间的区别,因为某些动词只能与其中一种相配使用。

  错误:The study was not able to analyze age differences, due to its design.

  正确:We were not able to analyze age differences, due to the design of our study.

  错误:PET alone was not able to diagnose our patients.

  正确:We were not able to diagnose our patients using PET alone.

  05改变词意的拼写错误

  有些用词错误纯粹只是由于英语和其他语言在音位上的不同而引起的。

  例如,即使对于母语是英语的人,如果不能清楚地区分“r”和“l”,也可能会在不注意的情况下拼错单词。如果真的是拼写错误倒也罢了,因为拼写检查工具能够很容易查出来。

  但是,笔误有时会导致单词其实在拼写上是正确的,但却写成了另外一个不相关的单词。拼写检查器是查不出这种笔误的,只能依靠仔细校对才能避免。

  错误:Collect doses were determined by a series of tests.

  正确:Correct doses were determined by a series of tests.

  错误:We did not arrow participants to leave the room between sessions.

  正确:We did not allow participants to leave the room between sessions.