國際上學術研究之間的交流仰仗著英語做為媒介，非英語國家的研究人員在使用英語來撰寫論文免不了需要花更多的精力和時間，但有些連母語為英語的人都會掉入的文法小陷阱，這些文法錯誤藏在細節中，時常連連文法檢查軟體也忽略，來看看以下你曾經犯過幾個錯誤而不自知！
- 形容詞與連字符號
– 一個形容詞來形容名詞，不需要連字符號。African Americans voted for Smith.
– 兩個形容詞來形容名詞，加上連字符號。African-American citizens voted for Smith.
- Affect 與Effect
– Affect 使用的頻率較高，永遠作為動詞來使用。
– Effect 幾乎都作為名詞。
– 例：X ─The book really effected me.
– O ─The book really affected me.
– 例：X ─The Greenhouse Affect is troubling.
– O ─The Greenhouse Effect is troubling.
– 例：X ─ The affect of failing the exam was that he had to re-take the class.
– O ─ The effect of failing the exam was that he had to re-take the class.
- Which 和 That
兩者都來形容非人的事物，that更進一步的限制了此事物的型態，而which用來描述但不一定限制。兩者之間在選擇使用上最大的差別是是否要強調此事物。
– 例：X ─ I only eat fish which are farm-raised.
– O ─ I only eat fish that are farm-raised. (限制)
– 例：X ─ I only eat pork that comes from pigs.
– O ─ I only eat pork, which comes from pigs. (描述)
– 但也可以根據文意在兩者間變化，“The car, which is being stolen, is mine.” OR “The car that is being stolen is mine.”
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如果你是個英語文法大師的話，那你肯定分的清楚以上三種文法情況，又或者這三個小陷阱讓你想到了其他常讓你感到困擾的文法難題？歡迎在下方留言來跟我們分享！