有没有写过像下面这样的句子:& e- H& j4 r7 t; E4 H; T+ ]
“Due to growth in business, we now have the following career opportunities to offer to the right candidates.”$ d5 `# T' c6 ~; Y/ }$ J4 v
&“Due to expansion, we have a number of vacancies within our Singapore operation and are seeking to recruit technicians.”
6 X9 J+ k9 Z( i ^' a$ G& n! U 这两个常常可以见到的句子都很好,很清楚。我要谈谈的只是“due to”的位置问题。 l& k- |: o: d% {0 D: c
严格地说,“due to”不管是当“由于”或“应归于”解,都不放在句前,而要出现在句后,最好是在“Be”之后,如:2 ^( u- Y6 h0 ^ `
① The company's problems are due to bad management and staff shortage.
* ^2 c* b: [/ h9 R ② Some staff came late, due to traffic congestion.$ e' N1 y5 r& E6 Y3 V
如果要“由于”出现在句前也行,但要用“due to”的同义词“owing to, because of, on account of”,甚至“thanks to”。因此,文前的两句话和下面两句都最好改一改:
& n1 E+ s* Z" c4 N6 r8 i- j% J ③ Due to their outward appearance, American Chinese are still considered Chinese. (→ Because of)/ P/ z& }' d/ \+ g& H0 h, Z; c7 G: I
④ Due to the opening up of China's economy, many people have been going there to do business. (→On account of)
2 i8 D3 ^& M, ^1 o7 D 另一个本地常见的句式是:“The reason is because……”,如:
; S& X3 |% P; L6 C ⑤ Janet cannot speak Mandarin well. The reason is because she has not learned it properly.
. t7 k( D( F0 x# o! C 根据句子结构,上面这话的主句是“The reason is”,后面的分句应该是名词性的才适合当接系动词“is”的补足语(complement)。因此,最好把原因副词分句“because she has not learned it properly”改为名词分句(noun clause):# \: k0 g7 ~# i o3 n# G: q
The reason is that she has not learned it properly.
4 @) B) O1 l- _% T, | 不然就要调整句式如下:! j# d4 G9 a* U6 x8 w
⑥ Janet cannot speak Mandarin well because she has not learned it properly.2 V# ]1 @8 R! b! J8 Z
⑦ The reason why Janet cannot speak Mandarin well is that she has not learned it properly.0 R0 P1 L2 |' P, m* W5 x8 o
最后一个渐渐见到的句式和从属连词(Subordinating conjunction)“because”有关。+ `# s, H0 R2 d' t
习惯上,由“because”引发的原因副词分句(adverb clause of reason)要在主句之后出现,如上述第⑥句;又如:
' e7 g z/ Q1 z6 B, F ⑧ The students carried out demonstrations because the government was corrupted.
( d& ?; x/ o& ~/ `0 ?! A/ ~ 但是用美式英语者偶尔倒过来写:8 s* Y' O$ i6 n: h f* R! @: \
“Because the government was corrupted, the students carried out demonstrations.”
7 I5 P7 z# K* L* M3 w: }5 b" `5 P 一般上,这里的“because”可由“as, since, now that”取代,如下:
4 F9 x& W2 c. |' D9 \2 X$ D2 { ⑨ As the government was corrupted, the students carried out demonstrations.1 `* P" i7 L( n: e
⑩ Since Sam was the best candidate, he got the job.9 G3 u1 c. J; L
(11) Now that the business has grown, we have the following career opportunities to offer to suitable applicants. |