網友 “閃電小子” 想知道 “despite、as、though、 although” 和 “while” 之間的區別。這五個詞都能用來表達 “雖然,盡管” 的意思,強調主句與從句對比鮮明,但它們的用法不同。聽節目,學習這五個詞的正確用法。
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(關于臺詞的備注: 請注意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。)
Neil
Hello, this is Question and Answer of the Week. I'm Neil.
Jiaying
And I'm Jiaying. Welcome! 本期節目要回答的問題來自網名是 “閃電小子” 的聽眾,問題是這樣的:
Question
您好,我是 BBC 英語教學的忠實粉絲,我想問一個問題:“despite、as、though、although” 和 “while” 這五個詞表示 “雖然,盡管” 時,有不同之處嗎?
Neil
This is a great question – because these words are all used in very similar ways, but there are differences and these differences are often quite small.
Jiaying
是的,這五個詞在用法上的區別不大,所以容易被混淆。
Neil
Yes, and the obvious one to start with is 'despite' – all the words we're looking at are used for introducing something contrasting or surprising. 'Despite' does this – but there is one really important thing to remember – what is it, Jiaying?
Jiaying
問得好!雖然介詞 “despite(盡管)” 和問題中的其它詞語一樣都可以用來引出 “對比鮮明或出人意料的情況”,但我們要記住一點:“despite” 后總是接名詞成分。
Neil
Yes, that's right – so let's look at these examples, which mean the same thing.
Examples
Despite the fact that it's raining, we're going out.
(盡管正在下雨,我們還是要出去。)
Despite the rain, we're going out.
(盡管下雨了,我們還是要出去。)
Jiaying
在上面的兩個例句中,單詞 “despite” 后面都接名詞成分。第一個例句中的 “despite” 后面接 “the fact”,第二個例句中的 “despite” 后面接 “the rain”,但兩句話的含義基本相同。另外要注意,在本期節目中給出的多數例句中,主從句的順序可以互換,語句仍正確,句意不變。
Neil
So, as you'll see, sometimes the word we choose has an impact on the structure of our sentences. We have to follow 'despite' with a noun, and if we want to use 'as' in this way, we have to use a special word order.
Jiaying
沒錯,在問題中的五個詞當中,我們即便是想要表達相同的含義,也要慎重地選詞,因為所選的詞語會對句子的結構產生影響。剛才我們說 “despite(盡管)” 后面必須接名詞成分。那么,如果想用 “as” 來表達 “盡管” 的意思,則應該用以下這兩個例句中的特殊詞序。
Examples
Raining as it is, we're going out.
(盡管正在下雨,我們還是要出去。)
Difficult as it is, we're going to succeed.
(盡管這件事情很難,但我們一定會成功。)
Jiaying
在上面的兩個例句中,“as” 引導的從句應以部分倒裝的形式出現。比如,第一句話 “Raining as it is” 中提前到 “as” 前的部分為 “raining”;第二句話中 “Difficult as it is” 中提前的部分為 “difficult”。
Neil
You might find this more often in literary language, or anywhere where someone is using language carefully and deliberately. It's not just 'as' that we can use in this way – 'though' can also work in this structure.
Jiaying
你可能更常在文學語言或較嚴謹的措辭中看到這類結構。除了單詞 “as” 以外, “though(盡管,雖然)” 同樣可以用于這類結構中。
Examples
Raining though it is, we're going out.
(盡管正在下雨,我們還是要出去。)
Late though it is, I'm not going home.
(盡管很晚了,但我還不打算回家。)
Jiaying
這是 “though” 表示 “雖然,盡管” 時的用法之一。“Though” 還有另一個用法,與 “although” 用法相同。聽兩個例句。
Examples
Although it's raining, we're going out.
(雖然正在下雨,但我們還是要出去。)
Though it's sunny, we're staying in.
(雖然天氣晴朗,但我們還是要待在家里。)
Neil
So, yes, 'though' and 'although' can be used in the same way – and here they are interchangeable with 'despite the fact that'. Note that 'though' is probably more common than 'although', especially in speech.
Jiaying
“Though” 和 “although” 都表示 “盡管,雖然”,在前面聽到的兩個例句中用法相同,而且分別都可以用 “despite the fact that” 來替換,句意不變。注意:“though” 可能比 “although” 更常用,尤其是在口語交流中。
它們兩者的區別是:要想強調句中所描述的條件并不充分,那么可以使用搭配 “even though”,但這里不能用 “although” 來替換 “though”。聽兩個例句。
Examples
Even though it's raining, we're going out.
(盡管正在下雨,但我們還是要出去。)
Even though my leg hurts, I'm still going to play.
(雖然我的腿疼,但我還是要參加比賽。)
Neil
Then, we've got 'while' – as long as we're not talking about time, it can also be used in the same way as 'although' or 'despite the fact that'.
Jiaying
最后來看 “while”。“While” 的一個常見用法是表示 “在…的時候,與…同時”,但 “while” 同樣也有 “盡管” 的意思,這個用法與 “although” 和 “despite the fact that” 的用法相同。聽兩個例句。
Examples
While it's raining, we're still going out.
(雖然正在下雨,但我們還是要出去。)
While I like your idea, I'm going to use mine.
(雖然我喜歡你的想法,但我還是會用我的想法。)
Jiaying
在第一個例句中,“still” 用來強調雖然 “while” 從句中描述的條件非常不充分,但主句中的事情仍會發生,主從句形成了鮮明的對比。還要注意的是:用 “while” 表達 “盡管” 的意思時,它要放在句首。
Neil
So, we've just had a look at the differences between 'despite', 'as', 'though', 'although' and 'while'.
Jiaying
希望我們的講解幫助大家理解了這五個詞在表示 “雖然,盡管” 時的區別。
如果你也在學習英語時遇到了疑問,歡迎你通過微博私信將問題發送給我們,我們的微博賬號是 “BBC英語教學”。
Neil
Or you can email us your question. Our email address is: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk
Bye!
Jiaying
Bye!