幾個「除了」的辨析 / 老調重談

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再談「機制」的英文表達

之前說過,在論文中,「其機制可能是通過。。。」可以按以下方式表達:

Carvedilol can inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of LX-2 cells, possibly/probably by blocking the PDGF-BB/PDGFR-β/Akt signaling pathway.

也就是說不一定要把mechanism寫出來,詳見:再幫你填平幾個英文表達的坑

如果要把mechanism寫出來的話其實也可以按如下方式表達:

..., and the mechanism may be related to/due to the fact that carvedilol blocks the PDGF-BB/PDGFR-β/Aktsignaling pathway.

或者可以簡化一點,如下:

..., and the mechanism may be related to/due to its blocking of the PDGF-BB/PDGFR-β/Aktsignaling pathway.

這裡把代詞(its)用上了,指代前面的carvedilol。代詞在英文表達里很管用,詳見:巧用代詞避免重複

除了 – besides or except

中文:除了A組和B組外,其他各組用X治療

原譯:Besides groups A and B, other groups were treated with X

分析:如果用besides,意思就變成了:除A組和B組外,其他各組也用X治療,言下之意就是A組和B組用X治療,與原文意思不符。這裡應該用except,可以表達成:All patients except groups A and B were treated with X.

在英文中,besides、except和apart from這三個詞都是「除了」的意思,但意思不盡相同,甚至相反,英文釋義更能反映出區別。

besides的意思是as well、in addition to,besides後面接的名詞和句子中的其他名詞是同層級的並列關係,比如:

Besides the violin, he plays the piano and the flute。

except的意思是not including,因為是「排除」的意思,所以常常和all搭配,except後面接的名詞和句子中的其他名詞是部分和整體的關係,比如:

They were all tired except John.

That was a good essay except for a few spelling mistakes.

至於apart from,意思要視上下文而定,有時相當於besides,有時相當於except,比如:

Apart from the violin, he plays the piano and the flute.(這裡apart from相當於besides)

That was a good essay apart from a few spelling mistakes.(這裡apart from相當於except)

  • 有一點值得說明的是,在no、nobody和nothing等詞後面,使用這三個詞可以達到同樣的表達效果;這並不是說在這類詞後,besides和except的意思一樣了,只是因為no-這類詞的存在,使得無論使用哪個詞,最終的句意都是一樣的。
  • He has nothing besides/except/apart from money.

參考:Practical English Usage (by Michael Swan, published by Oxford University Press)

關於with/of的又一例

誤:perfusion of normal saline

正:perfusion with normal saline、perfusion of the lungs/brain/heart/liver、perfusion of the lungs/brain/heart/liver with normal saline

分析:perfuse的賓語一般是被灌注的對象,比如肺、腦等各種器官組織,所以perfusion of後面應該是肺、腦等各種器官組織。

因為是perfuse the lungs/brain/heart/liver with normal saline,所以perfusion和normal saline之間應該用with,而不是of。

相關內容請看:一句話講清楚該用of還是with


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