连词or可用于表示两个或多个选择,也可以表达同义或等效的意思。当作后者用时,or可视作also referred to as(也称为)、defined as(定义为)或in other words(换句话说)。分别举例如下:
例句一:Infrared spectroscopy or electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to follow the kinetics of radical decay.
此句属于or的第一种用法,即连接两种不同的技术—红外线光谱技术与电子顺磁共振光谱技术,此两种技术均可用于追踪自由基衰变的动态轨迹。
例句二:Reflectance difference spectroscopy or reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy is a powerful tool for characterizing the surfaces of crystalline materials.
例句二很容易被解读为,reflectance difference spectroscopy与reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy为两种不同的技术。然而,reflectance difference spectroscopy与reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy是同一种技术的两个惯用称呼,因此此处的or不同于例句一,实际上是also referred to as(也称为)的意思。为避免歧义,可采用逗号将or连接的第二个术语同主句其他部分分隔。
例句三:Reflectance difference spectroscopy, or reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy, is a powerful tool for characterizing the surfaces of crystalline materials.
您可能会认为逗号是没有必要的,因为有专业背景的读者知道这两个术语指的是同一技术。然而,使用逗号的表述方法,会有助于没有专业背景的读者掌握句意。若您不想用逗号分隔,您亦可以做如下的修改:
例句四:Reflectance difference spectroscopy, also referred to as reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy, is a powerful tool for characterizing the surfaces of crystalline materials.
以下是类似例句三中or用法的一些例句:
例句五:We used quasielastic, or dynamic, light-scattering spectroscopy to assess the sizes and polydispersities of the particles.
例句六:The dihydropteroate synthase gene is part of the folic acid synthesis gene, or fas gene, and encodes a trifunctional protein.
例句七:Binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP), or 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP-78), is highly induced in hypoxic tumors.
例句八:We studied the mutarotation, or change in optical rotation accompanying epimerization, of 8-ᴅ-galactopyranose in dilute aqueous buffer (pH 4.3) at 15°C.
涉及and连接的并列主语中出现介词短语时的错误
当用and连接两个主语,且其中第一个主语包含介词短语时,可能会导致句意歧义。以下是我最近编辑的一篇化学论文中的句子:
例句九:Data processing for reproduction of element maps and calculation of fluorescence counts was performed with the software package.
介词for后短语的出现会引起歧义。该软件执行了什么操作?是正如使用单数动词形式was所暗示的,仅仅是数据处理? 还是作者是指该软件应用于数据处理与计算?也就是说,作者的意思是:
Data processing... and calculation... were performed with the software package.
而不是:
Data processing for reproduction... and for calculation... was performed with the software package.
作者会觉得熟悉电脑程式,或元素图与荧光计数的读者,应该会一目了然句子传达的意思。但为什么不让句意更直接明了呢?若您想表达data processing是主语,则可以重复介词for,即采用并列的介词短语来修饰限制主语:
例句十:Data processing for reproduction of element maps and for calculation of fluorescence counts was performed with the software package.
若为双主语,只需要调整句中名词短语的顺序即可:
例句十一:Calculation of fluorescence counts and data processing for reproduction of element maps were performed with the software package.
若想进一步简化,也可以删除例句十一中主语短语中的介词of:
例句十二:Fluorescence count calculation and data processing for reproduction of element maps were performed with the software package.
有时候,将被动语态转变为主动语态也能收到不错的效果:
例句十三:We used the software package to process data for reproduction of element maps and to calculate fluorescence counts.
我们再来看另一个复杂的句子:
例句十四:Node I, the culms between node I and the rachis, the flag leaf blade, and the panicle were dried separately.
像我一样不熟悉植物解剖学的读者,可能会一时分辨不清,句中有四个并列主语(node I、culms、blade及panicle)还是只有两个(node I及culms)?若为两个并列主语(node I及culms),则可以借由介词between来阐释:
例句十五:Node I and the culms between node I and the rachis, between node I and the flag leaf blade, and between node I and the panicle were dried separately.
若为四个并列主语(node I、culms、blade及panicle),最简单的陈述办法是用分号来区隔:
例句十六:Node I; the culms between node I and the rachis; the flag leaf blade; and the panicle were dried separately.
亦可以通过将culms+介词短语的主语放在最后,以清楚说明四个并列主语结构:
例句十七:Node I, the flag leaf blade, the panicle, and the culms between node I and the rachis were dried separately.
校稿时,最好能做到以读者的立场来审视文稿,即抱持着怀疑态度,找出虽无语法错误但却可能会被误解的句子。