英文写作如何减少重复用词?这六大技巧让你的文章告别单调!

As they vie for the next billion consumers to come online, Alibaba is taking onAmazon, Google is matched against Baidu and Tencent can prove its mettle against Facebook.

对于“与……竞争”这一意思,作者在一句话里面用了take on / be matched against / prove its mettle against 这几种不同说法,实现了用词多样。

我们可以通过查同义词典来寻找同义词替换,也可以使用同义词网站,比如https://www.thesaurus.com

网站上可以查到很多替换说法,比如搜索'complain',可以找到同义表达fret / sound off / take exception to

需要注意的一点是,我们不能在同义词典中找到一个词就生硬搬进来,因为有可能会用词不当。为了保险起见,我们可以在词典中反查这些替换表达,学习其例句用法,确保单词使用符合语境

(2)词性变换

写作中可以利用英语中同一个意思可能有名词、形容词和副词等形式来增加单词变化。举个例子:

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular among young people. The main reason why it is so popular is better and wider access to the Internet.

这里出现了两个popular,我们可以用popularity来对其中一个进行替换:

Online shopping is growing in popularity among young people. The main reason why it is so popular is better and wider access to the Internet.

或者:

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular among young people. The main reason why it enjoys great popularity is better and wider access to the Internet.

(3)使用上义词和下义词

所谓的上义词是指对事物的概括性、抽象性说明,而下义词是事物的具体表现形式或更为具体的说明。举个例子,fish, horse, snake, cat这些单词的上义词是animal,而animal的下义词则是fish, horse, snake, cat这些具体的例子。在写作中我们可以灵活使用上下义词进行替换。

举个例子,在写关于人口老龄化的作文中,要表达“老年人”这个概念,除了可以说elderly people/older people/senior citizens,还可以使用“老年人”的下义词retired people/retirees/pensioners/the over 60s/people over 60 等等。

又比如在关于年轻人的话题中,我们可以用students/teenagers/adolescents 这些下义词来代替young people,在描述交通拥堵问题时可以用traffic problems这一上义词来代替traffic congestion/traffic jams,在描述手机时可以用上义词digital devices/gadgets来代替mobile phones这一具体概念。

(4)代词

使用代词不仅能使句子之间的连接更加紧密,还可以减少用词的重复度。举个例子:

Young children can be negatively affected by too much time spent on the computer every day. This is partly because sitting in front of a screen for too long can be damaging to both their eyes and physical posture, regardless of what they are using the computer for.

这里使用their来代替young children's, 使用they来代替young children

我们还可以使用代词one来代替重复的单词,比如:

Many graduates have to choose between working for a large company or a small company.

句子可以修改为:

Many graduates have to choose between working for a large company or a small one.

另外,还有几个词也能起到代词的效果,比如former/latter/counterpart,举两个例子:

(1) Belgian officials are discussing this with French officials.

(2) Children in the city can enjoy better educational opportunities than children in rural areas.

句子可以改为:

(1) Belgian officials are discussing this with their French counterparts.

(2) Children in the city can enjoy better educational opportunities than their rural counterparts.

又比如:

Of these two options, the former is less expensive, while the latter is less risky.

(5)省略

省略可以减少不必要的用词,使句子结构更加紧凑。句子中可以省略的部分包括名词、动词和形容词等。例如培根关于读书的名言:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

这里是省略了be动词,还原后是:

Some books are to be tasted, others (are) to be swallowed, and some few (are) to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others (are) to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

在比较句中省略手法也被大量使用,例如:

Some argue that modern children grow up to be more independent and mature than in the past.

句子省略了children,相当于:

Some argue that modern children grow up to be more independent and mature than (children) in the past.

(6)句式合并

有时候我们也可以通过合并短句来避免单词重复,举个例子:

Early in World War II, British workers broke a world record for building a bomber from scratch. This programme traces six of the workers. One of the workers was only 14 years old.

句子可以合并为:

Early in World War II, British workers broke a world record for building a bomber from scratch. This programme traces six of the workers, one of whom was only 14 years old.

在写作中我们可以综合以上几种方法减少重复用词,除此之外,多读外刊和原版书,积累地道英文中的多样化表达也是提高写作技巧的重要方法。

本文系授权发布,By 魏剑峰,From 英文悦读

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