although不能與but連用僅僅是因?yàn)榱?xí)慣嗎

■湖南  馬庚華

大家知道，英語不能將漢語“雖然……但是……”直譯成 although / though…but，為什么呢？許多書都認(rèn)為：這是英語的習(xí)慣用法。僅僅是因?yàn)榱?xí)慣用法嗎？

這得從英語的句子類型說起。英語中的 although / though 為從屬連詞，用于引導(dǎo)讓步狀語從句；而but(但是)為并列連詞，用以連接兩個(gè)句子使之成為并列句。假若在同一句中既用了從屬連詞 although / though，又用了并列連詞 but，便使得句子一半像復(fù)合句，一半像并列句，從而導(dǎo)致句子句型混亂。正確的做法是，任意去掉 although / though 和 but 中的一個(gè)，使之要么成為復(fù)合句，要么成為并列句。如：

▲雖然他參加這次競(jìng)賽只不過是鬧著玩兒而已，但贏得了頭獎(jiǎng)。

誤：Although he had only entered the contest for fun, but he won first prize.

正：Although he had only entered the contest for fun, he won first prize.

正：He had only entered the contest for fun, but he won first prize.

▲雖然她沒提到我的名字，但我明白她的話是為我好。

誤：Although she didn’t mention me by name, but I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.

正：Although she didn’t mention me by name, I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.

正：She didn’t mention me by name, but I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.

但是，我們是不是可以說although 永遠(yuǎn)不能與but連用呢？那也不一定。

◎請(qǐng)看一例：

But I didn’t know that then, although I learned it later. 但我當(dāng)時(shí)的確不知道此事，盡管后來我還是知道了。

此句既用了并列連詞 but，又用了從屬連詞 although，但它并未造成錯(cuò)誤，原因是此句與上面所討論的情形有所不同，即此句 but 用于 although 之前，but 在此僅起到與上文轉(zhuǎn)折的作用，but 后的 I didn’t know that then, although I learned it later 仍為一個(gè)復(fù)合句。

◎請(qǐng)?jiān)倏匆焕��?/SPAN>

I tried doing the accounts, but although I knew some maths I found it very difficult. 我試著算這些賬，但盡管我懂點(diǎn)數(shù)學(xué)，仍感到很困難。

此句將 but 與 although 用在一起，但此句也沒有錯(cuò)誤。該句從總體來看，它是一個(gè)以并列連詞 but 連接的并列句，而在該并列句的后面一句又是一個(gè)包含讓步狀語從句 although I knew some maths 的復(fù)合句——這種句型就是所謂的并列復(fù)合句。此句也可改寫為：I tried doing the accounts, but I found it very difficult although I knew some maths.

至此，同學(xué)們應(yīng)該弄清了為什么不能說 although…but…，同時(shí)也明白了為什么可以說but although…。最后順便說一句，英語習(xí)慣上不能將漢語中的“因?yàn)椤�…所以……”直譯為 because…so…，其原因可參照以上解釋。