月份加日期前面用on还是in_英文写作常见错误学习笔记 | 日期和时间

 

写在前面的话

在知乎中看到“英文学术论文写作，有什么好书可以推荐”话题中有人推荐了香港大学出版社Steve Hart写的《English Exposed》一书，从副标题“Common Mistakes Made by Chinese Speakers”可以看出书是针对中国人常犯的错误而写的，作者修改过大量论文后把常见的错误总结成一本小书。https://www.zhihu.com/question/35071142自己从阅读中也学到不少，想想给同事润色过不少论文都有点后怕。俗话说：好记性不如好笔头，现在的笔头都是各种笔记软件或电子版记录了。在边读边学习的过程中，翻译并摘录要点，作为学习的记录，也陆续分享一下。如有侵权，请告知删除。特别需要说的是：如果语法扎实的话，里面大多数错误是可以避免的。另外，语言是灵活的，英语语法或用法有的也存在分歧，如果碰到问题，建议多方查询。最后，在word文档里编辑好后，写作插件转换的格式字体和大小都比较乱，一一修改工作量实在大，就偷懒了。

日期和时间使用方面的错误

15.1日期的正确写法不涉及所有格的时候将日期写为没有撇号的形式越来越普遍。This style of clothing was typical in the 1970s.如果有所有格时通常的规则仍然适用。I will concentrate on 1970s’ fashion and the way the music scene influenced these designs.有些老师可能更倾向于将后一个例子重写而不使用所有格撇号。I will concentrate on the fashion of the 1970s and the way the music scene influenced these designs.当提到年份时避免使用定冠词。In the 2012, a number of protests took place in the town square. ✘当年份指代时间作用类似于形容词时，需要定冠词。They were present at the 2012 Health Education Conference.日期总是要写成数字而不是单词的形式。The technology was available in the nineteen eighties, but there was no way to apply it. ✘The technology was available in the 1980s, but there was no way to apply it. ✔ 15.2日期如何搭配介词日期与in和on使用时有一些一般原则。in与月份和年份搭配。This occurred in June.This occurred in June 2004.This occurred in 2009.The data was collected on March 2010. ✘The data was collected in March 2010. ✔on与特定的日期和一周中的日子搭配。This occurred on June 15th, 2004.This occurred on Tuesday.This occurred in 4th October. ✘This occurred on 4th October. ✔15.3提到日子时的时态使用多数情况下写作者会提及过去发生的研究或事件。当提供了过去的日期，时态应该反映这一点。In 2010 they are faced with a similar situation. ✘In 2010 they were faced with a similar situation. ✔同样，当提到未来的日期，时态也要匹配。The next conference took place in Beijing in 2019. ✘The next conference will take place in Beijing in 2019. ✔如果事件或研究论文与写作发生的年份是一样的(下例中的2016)，那么提到的时候现在完成时或一般过去时通常都是合适的。The situation was bound to escalate, and 2016 has seen renewed fighting in the region.In 2016 they began testing this device over small areas.★相关错误。recent years是一个比recent decades更好的词汇。考虑到工业和研究快速变化的特点，20或30年前就谈不上“最近”了。在用现在完成时写的句子中可以使用past few来搭配decades(十年)。As a key component of many economic activities, the demand for radio spectrum is rising in recent years. ✘As a key component of many economic activities, the demand for radio spectrum has been rising in recent years. ✔There was an increase in capability in the past few decades, and this has resulted in . . . ✘There has been an increase in capability in the past few decades, and this has resulted in . . . ✔ 15.4表达特定时间段的短语选择时间段的正确表达可能很混淆。下表给出了一些重点词汇的起始点。时间介词属于最难理解的词汇中的一些；幸运的是，某些时间介词可以定义并加以区分。当活动持续到某个特定的结束时刻时使用until。We will continue until there are no more outliers left.可以使用by对活动或场景设定时限。The effects should be known until 18:00. ✘The effects should be known by 18:00. ✔  (by18:00的意思是不晚于 18:00)另外一组时间介词是since和from。这两个词汇可以做如下区分： from可以用来指一个特定时间作为未来的起始点。Since 2018, this will be made compulsory for all workers. ✘From 2018, this will be made compulsory for all workers. ✔since可以用来指过去发生今天仍在持续的事件。From 1999, this has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs. ✘Since 1999, this has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs. ✔from可以用来指两个特定时间的第一个(与to或until搭配)。The session took place from 6:00 until 7:00.★ 相关错误。在less than和up to中做选择时辨识语境是很重要的。这两个词并不表达相同的时间段，因为确切地说up to six months可能是整6个月，而less than six months达不到6个月那么长。错误常常发生在当写作者期望暗示时间很长或过长时(也就是有否定意味时)；这时less than就不太合适。Given the alterations that have been identified, the finished model may even take less than two years to build. ✘Given the alterations that have been identified, the finished model may even take up to two years to build. ✔A crime of this severity will carry a sentence of less than 15 years. ✘A crime of this severity will carry a sentence of up to 15 years. ✔ 15.5如何构成修饰名词的形容词时间短语 当时间短语作为形容词修饰名词时，时间单位需要用单数而且词汇要用连词符。(参考9.2)This three years cycle was confirmed by the research group in 1967. ✘This three-year cycle was confirmed by the research group in 1967. ✔A twenty minutes break every three hours is now recommended for jobs of this nature. ✘A twenty-minute break every three hours is now recommended for jobs of this nature. ✔15.6today和nowadays的区别 写作者常不加区分地使用nowadays和today，但它们的用法不同。它们唯一具有类似目的的使用是如下面那样开始一个句子：Today/Nowadays, these areas are much more tightly controlled as a result of . . .在上面这个例子中，today不是指“今天(this day)”，而是具有“目前(at the current time)”的意思。写作者会犯给nowadays使用所有格时的错误。nowadays只能用作副词，不能像today那样具有所有格形式。 In nowaday’s market, it is important to take advantage of investment from these new online sources. ✘In today’s market, it is important to take advantage of investment from these new online sources. ✔要使用nowadays，句子就要重新描述。In the market nowadays . . .尽管如此，nowadays有可能在一些场合会被认为太不正式。词汇如today、current和contemporary更具有学术味。In the current market . . .