《英文寫作聖經》：英文寫作的基本原則(3)

 

規則： 盡量使用肯定句。

 

提出論點時語意要明確，避免使用平淡無力、模稜兩可的字詞。Not 應該只用在表達否定或對比修辭時，不要用來規避正面論述，例如：

（×） The Taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare’s works.

（○） The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive. Katharine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant.

《馴悍記》中的女性角色缺乏魅力，凱瑟琳不甚討喜，畢安卡更無足輕重。

（×） He did not think that studying Latin was much use.

（○） He thought the study of Latin useless.

他覺得研究拉丁文沒什麼用。

（×）He was not very often on time.

（○）He usually came late.

他常常遲到。

在第一個例子中，第一個句子不僅語意不明確，還帶給讀者負面的感受；修正後的版本能簡潔明確地猜測作者的意圖。

上述三個例子都說明了not 這個詞的弱點，不管在何種情況下，讀者讀到「A 不是B」時都不會滿意；他們想知道「A 是什麼」。因此請謹記在心，表達否定語意時，使用肯定句仍是個較好的選擇，例如：

not honest → dishonest  不誠實

not important → trifling  瑣碎的

did not remember → forgot  忘記

did not pay any attention to → ignored  忽略

did not have much confidence in → distrusted  不信任

將否定句和肯定句並置(對比修辭)通常強而有力：

Not charity, but simple jusetice.

這不是救濟，而是簡單的正義。

Not that I loved Caesar less, but Rome the more.

我愛凱撒，更愛羅馬。

除not之外的否定詞語氣通常也較強，例如：

The sun never sets upon the British flag.

大不列顛，日不落國。

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英文原文：

RULE11 Put statements in positive form.

Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language. Use the word not as a means of denial or in antithesis, never as a means of evasion.

（×）The Taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare’s works.

（○）The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive. Katharine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant.

（×）He did not think that studying Latin was much use.

（○）He thought the study of Latin useless.

（×）He was not very often on time.

（○）He usually came late.

The first example, before correction, is indefinite as well as negative. The corrected version, consequently, is simply a guess at the writer’s intention.

All three examples show the weakness inherent in the word not. Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is dissatisfied with being told only what is not; he wishes to be told what is. Hence, as a rule, it is better to express even a negative in positive form.

not honest → dishonest

not important → trifling

did not remember → forgot

did not pay any attention to → ignored

did not have much confidence in → distrusted

The antithesis of negative and positive is strong:

Not charity, but simple jusetice.

Not that I loved Caesar less, but Rome the more.

Negative words other than not are usually strong:

The sun never sets upon the British flag.

─ ─摘自:《英文寫作聖經《The Elements of Style》》野人出版提供@

責任編輯：黎薇