論文里哪些詞可以刪掉

本文首發於立文悉通微信公眾號（Transystom）

英文論文寫作貴在簡潔，讓我們看看有哪些詞可以刪掉。

1. basis

• The patients were examined on a daily basis.
• The patients were examined daily.
• Samples of blood were taken on a regular basis.
• Samples of blood were taken regularly.

2. case

• Atropine should be available in case a bradycardia occurs.
• Atropine should be available to correct any bradycardia.
• It is too early to judge if this is the case or not.
• It is too early to judge if this is so.

3. condition

• anaesthesia under civil war conditions
• anaesthesia during a civil war

在描述具體的「條件」或「情況」時，一般不用把condition寫出來；condition常用於指之前提到的情況，如：Patients were treated under these conditions.

4. essentially

• The abdominal pain is essentially colicky across the lower abdomen.
• There is colicky lower abdominal pain.

basically、essentially和fundamentally這類副詞在論文寫作時一般不用，即使要用，也多用 mainly或most commonly 之類。

5. grounds

• a heterogeneous group of tumours on epidemiological grounds
• an epidemiologically heterogeneous group of tumours
• The diagnosis of epididymo-orchitis is made on clinical grounds.
• The diagnosis of epididymo-orchitis is made clinically.

6. nature

• symptoms of a neurological nature
• neurological symptoms
• events of a more serious nature
• more serious events
• The serious nature of air accidents (air emboli) occurring during infusion
• The seriousness of air accidents (air emboli) occurring during infusion
• The hyperosmolar nature of the contrast medium may induce pulmonary oedema.
• The hyperosmolarity of the contrast medium may induce pulmonary oedema.

7. process

• Asphyxia is a low-frequency event in the birthing process in developed countries.
• Asphyxia during birth is uncommon in developed countries.
• The ageing process can make people increasingly vulnerable through erosion of their coping abilities.
• As people age, they are more vulnerable because they cope less well.

8. type

• various types of cytokines
• various cytokines

9. very

• 在論文寫作中盡量避免使用very。

10. abolish、eliminate、fatal、prevent和vital前的副詞要謹慎使用

1）

• It is absolutely vital for the survival of patients.
• It is vital for the survival of patients.

absolutely vital這一表達不妥，因為vital已經是necessary或very important的意思了，不需要進一步強調了。

2）

• The response was partially abolished in these patients.
• The response was reduced in these patients.
• Any leak across the piston is entirely eliminated.
• Any leak across the piston is eliminated.

abolish、eliminate、prevent這些詞本身就含有「全部」、「完全」的意思 ，前面一般不加partially、totally和entirely這些程度副詞。

不過，sometimes abolished、abolished in some patients、usually eliminated、eliminated on some occasions這類表達是可行的。

3）

fatal前可以用表示頻率的副詞，如：rarely fatal、sometimes fatal或usually fatal。fatal前一般不用程度副詞，不過也並非完全不行，比如：Few of these diseases are absolutely fatal。

編譯自 Medical Writing: A Prescription for Clarity, Third Edition (Neville W. Goodman, Martin B. Edwards)