上半部分猛击这里 怎样写出靠谱的英文.docx

上半部分猛击这里 怎样写出靠谱的英文.docx

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上半部分猛击这里怎样写出靠谱的英文

上半部分猛击这里怎样写出靠谱的英文？

—英文写作圣经OnWritingWell精华摘选（上）

6. Bits&Pieces 细节才是王道

Thisisachapterofscrapsandmorsels—smalladmonitionsonmanypointsthatIhavecollectedunderone,astheysay,umbrella.

VERBS.

不到万不得已，不要用被动动词 

Useactiveverbsunlessthereisnocomfortablewaytogetaroundusingapassiveverb.Thedifferencebetweenanactiveverbstyleandapassive-verbstyle—inclarityandvigor—isthe

differencebetweenlifeanddeathforawriter.

"Joesawhim"isstrong."HewasseenbyJoe"isweak.Thefirstisshortandprecise;itleavesnodoubtaboutwhodidwhat.Thesecondisnecessarilylongerandithasaninsipidquality:

somethingwasdonebysomebodytosomeoneelse.It’salsoambiguous.HowoftenwasheseenbyJoe?

Once?

Everyday?

Onceaweek?

Astylethatconsistsofpassiveconstructionswillsapthereadersenergy.Nobodyeverquiteknowswhatisbeingperpetratedbywhomandonwhom.

用词要精确 

Verbsarethemostimportantofallyourtools.Theypushthesentenceforwardandgiveitmomentum.Activeverbspushhard;passiveverbstugfitfully.Activeverbsalsoenableustovisualizeanactivitybecausetheyrequireapronoun（"he"）,oranoun（"theboy"）,oraperson（"Mrs.Scott"）toputtheminmotion.Manyverbsalsocarryintheirimageryorintheirsoundasuggestionofwhattheymean:

glitter,dazzle,twirl,beguile,scatter,swagger,poke,pamper,vex.Probablynootherlanguagehassuchavastsupplyofverbssobrightwithcolor.Don'tchooseonethatisdullormerelyserviceable.Makeactiveverbsactivateyoursentences,andtrytoavoidthekindthatneedanappendedprepositiontocompletetheirwork.Don'tsetupabusinessthatyoucanstartorlaunch.Don'tsaythatthepresidentofthecompanysteppeddown.Didheresign?

Didheretire?

Didhegetfired?

Beprecise.Usepreciseverbs.

Ifyouwanttoseehowactiveverbsgivevitalitytothewrittenword,don'tjustgobacktoHemingwayorThurberorThoreau.IcommendtheKingJamesBibleandWilliamShakespeare.

ADVERBS

大多数副词是可以被省略的 

Mostadverbsareunnecessary.Youwillclutteryoursentenceandannoythereaderifyouchooseaverbthathasaspecificmeaningandthenaddanadverbthatcarriesthesamemeaning.Don'ttellusthattheradioblaredloudly;"blare"connotesloudness.Don'twritethatsomeoneclenchedhisteethtightly;there'snootherwaytoclenchteeth.Againandagainincarelesswriting,strongverbsareweakenedbyredundantadverbs.Soareadjectivesandotherpartsofspeech:

"effortlesslyeasy,""slightlyspartan,""totallyflabbergasted."Thebeautyof"flabbergasted"isthatitimpliesanastonishmentthatistotal;Ican'tpicturesomeonebeingpartlyflabbergasted.Ifanactionissoeasyastobeeffortless,use"effortless."Andwhatis"slightlyspartan"?

Perhapsamonk'scellwithwall-to-wallcarpeting.Don'tuseadverbsunlesstheydonecessarywork.Spareusthenewsthatthewinningathletegrinnedwidely.

ADJECTIVES

大多数形容词也是可以被省略的 

Mostadjectivesarealsounnecessary.Likeadverbs,theyaresprinkledintosentencesbywriterswhodon'tstoptothinkthattheconceptisalreadyinthenoun.Thiskindofproseislitteredwithprecipitouscliffsandlacyspiderwebs,orwithadjectivesdenotingthecolorofanobjectwhosecoloriswellknown:

yellowdaffodilsandbrownishdirt.Ifyouwanttomakeavaluejudgmentaboutdaffodils,chooseanadjectivelike"garish."Ifyou'reinapartofthecountrywherethedirtisred,feelfreetomentionthereddirt.Thoseadjectiveswoulddoajobthatthenounalonewouldn'tbedoing.

Mostwriterssowadjectivesalmostunconsciouslyintothesoiloftheirprosetomakeitmorelushandpretty,andthesentencesbecomelongerandlongerastheyfillupwithstatelyelmsandfriskykittensandhard-bittendetectivesandsleepylagoons.Thisisadjective-by-habit—ahabityoushouldgetridof.Noteveryoakhastobegnarled.Theadjectivethatexistssolelyasdecorationisaself-indulgenceforthewriterandaburdenforthereader.

Again,theruleissimple:

makeyouradjectivesdoworkthatneedstobedone."Helookedatthegrayskyandtheblackcloudsanddecidedtosailbacktotheharbor."Thedarknessoftheskyandthecloudsisthereasonforthedecision.Ifit'simportanttotellthereaderthatahousewasdraboragirlwasbeautiful,byallmeansuse"drab"and"beautiful."Theywillhavetheirproperpowerbecauseyouhavelearnedtouseadjectivessparsely.

LITTLEQUALIFIERS.

删掉那些让你的文章看上去不靠谱的口水词 

Pruneoutthesmallwordsthatqualifyhowyoufeelandhowyouthinkandwhatyousaw:

"abit,""alittle,""sortof,""kindof,""rather,""quite,""very,""too,""prettymuch,""inasense"anddozensmore.Theydiluteyourstyleandyourpersuasiveness.

Don'tsayyouwereabitconfusedandsortoftiredandalittledepressedandsomewhatannoyed.Beconfused.Betired.Bedepressed.Beannoyed.Don'thedgeyourprosewithlittletimidities.Goodwritingisleanandconfident.

Don'tsayyouweren'ttoohappybecausethehotelwasprettyexpensive.Sayyouweren'thappybecausethehotelwasexpensive.Don'ttellusyouwerequitefortunate.Howfortunateisthat?

Don'tdescribeaneventasratherspectacularorveryawesome.Wordslike"spectacular"and"awesome"don'tsubmittomeasurement."Very"isausefulwordtoachieveemphasis,butfarmoreoftenit'sclutter.There'snoneedtocallsomeoneverymethodical.Eitherheismethodicalorheisn't.

Thelargerpointisoneofauthority.Everylittlequalifierwhittlesawaysomefractionofthereader'strust.Readerswantawriterwhobelievesinhimselfandinwhatheissaying.Don'tdiminishthatbelief.Don'tbekindofbold.Bebold.

TheDash破折号的用法 

Thedashisusedintwoways.Oneistoamplifyorjustifyinthesecondpartofthesentenceathoughtyoustatedinthefirstpart."Wedecidedtokeepgoing—itwasonly100milesmoreandwecouldgetthereintimefordinner."Byitsveryshapethedashpushesthesentenceaheadandexplainswhytheydecidedtokeepgoing.Theotheruseinvolvestwodashes,whichsetapartaparentheticalthoughtwithinalongersentence."Shetoldmetogetinthecar—shehadbeenaftermeallsummertohaveahaircut—andwedrovesilentlyintotown."Anexplanatorydetailthatmightotherwisehaverequiredaseparatesentenceisdispatchedalongtheway.

MOODCHANGERS

谁说but不能用来开头了？

Manyofusweretaughtthatnosentenceshouldbeginwith"but."Ifthat'swhatyoulearned,unlearnit—there'snostrongerwordatthestart.Itannouncestotalcontrastwithwhathasgonebefore,andthereaderistherebyprimedforthechange.Ifyouneedrelieffromtoomanysentencesbeginningwith"but,"switchto"however."Itis,however,aweakerwordandneedscarefulplacement.Don'tstartasentencewith"however"—ithangstherelikeawetdishrag.Anddon'tendwith"however"—bythattimeithaslostitshoweverness.Putitasearlyasyoureasonablycan,asIdidthreesentencesago.Itsabruptnessthenbecomesavirtue.

CONTRACTIONS.

用I’ll会比Iwill显得更有爱 

Yourstylewillbewarmerandtruertoyourpersonalityifyouusecontractionslike"I'll"and"won't"and"can't"whentheyfitcomfortablyintowhatyou'rewriting."I'llbegladtoseethemiftheydon'tgetmad"islessstiffthan"Iwillbegladtoseethemiftheydonotgetmad."（Readthataloudandhearhowstilteditsounds.）There'snoruleagainstsuchinformality—trustyourearandyourinstincts.Ionlysuggestavoidingoneform—"I'd,""he'd,""we'd,"etc.—because"I'd"canmeanboth"Ihad"and"Iwould,"andreaderscangetwellintoasentencebeforelearningwhichmeaningitis.Oftenit'snottheonetheythoughtitwas.Also,don'tinventcontractions,like"could've."Theycheapenyourstyle.Stickwiththeonesyoucanfindinthedictionary.

THATANDWHICH.

能用that就不要用which

Anyonewhotriestoexplain"that"and"which"inlessthananhourisaskingfortrouble.Fowler,inhisModernEnglishUsage,takes25columnsoftype.I'mgoingfortwominutes,perhapstheworldrecord.Here（Ihope）ismuchofwhatyouneedtobearinmind:

Alwaysuse"that"unlessitmakesyourmeaningambiguous.Noticethatincarefullyeditedmagazines,suchasTheNewYorker,"that"isbyfarthepredominantusage.Imentionthisbecauseitisstillwidelybelieved—aresiduefromschoolandcollege—that"which"ismorecorrect,moreacceptable,moreliterary.It'snot.Inmostsituations,"that"iswhatyouwouldnaturallysayandthereforewhatyoushouldwrite.

Ifyoursentenceneedsacommatoachieveitsprecisemeaning,itprobablyneeds"which.""Which"servesaparticularidentifyingfunction,differentfrom"that."（A）"Taketheshoesthatareinthecloset."Thismeans:

taketheshoesthatareinthecloset,nottheonesunderthebed.（B）"Taketheshoes,whichareinthecloset."Onlyonepairofshoesisunderdiscussion;the"which"usagetellsyouwheretheyare.NotethatthecommaisnecessaryinB,butnotinA.

Ahighproportionof"which"usagesnarrowlydescribe,oridentify,orlocate,orexplain,orotherwisequalifythephrasethatprecededthecomma:

Thehouse,whichhasaredroof,

Thestore,whichiscalledBobsHardware,

TheRhine,whichisinGermany,

Themonsoon,whichisaseasonalwind,

Themoon,whichIsawfromtheporch,

That'sallI'mgoingtosaythatIthinkyouinitiallyneedtoknowtowritegoodnonfiction,whichisaformthatrequiresexactmarshalingofinformation.

CONCEPTNOUNS.

尽量少用抽象的概念词，因为里头没有“人” 

Nounsthatexpressaconceptarecommonlyusedinbadwritinginsteadofverbsthattellwhatsomebodydid.Herearethreetypicaldeadse