经常遇到同学问我,在写作中,and和but(或yet)能不能直接放在句子开头?如:
1 Online shopping eliminates the need to commute.Andit offers consumers access to a wider variety of commodities.
网购消除了坐车来回的必要。并且网购使消费者可以选择更多种类的商品。
2 Air conditioning is a blessing to mankind.Butit comes at a huge environmental cost.
空调是人类的福利。但是空调对环境危害很大。
有些同学可能曾经听学校的老师说过,and和but不能放在句首。实际上这种说法是错误的。
and和but完全可以放在句首,不存在语法上的问题。
考试中不会因为这一点而扣分的。and/but属于连词,而连词的一个作用就是衔接前后两句话。也就是说,句A(,)and/but 句B或句A. And/But 句B都是可以的。 经常阅读外刊的同学,应该经常见到and/but放在句首的情况。这种用法在各大主流外刊中都有出现。
比如:
国外专业的英文写作用法指南The Chicago Manual of Style中的5.2 Beginning a sentence with a conjunction一条中就提到了but放在句首的用法:
有些国外学者认为,在非常正式的书面语中,比如学术杂志或报告中,不宜将and/but放在句首。因为这样会显得不够正式,语言不够得体。那么,如果想让文章更加正式一些,则可以将连词and/but/so替换为一些副词:
①and→besides/moreover/in addition/futhermore:
Online shopping eliminates the need to commute.Besides/Moreover/In addition/Furthermore,it offers consumers access to a wider variety of commodities.
②but/yet→however/nevertheless
Air conditioning is a blessing to mankind.However/Nevertheless,it comes at a huge environmental cost.
③so→therefore/thus
Solar power is cleaner and more readily available than fossil fuels.Therefore/Thus,it is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels.
这些副词放在句首,后面一般是要加逗号的。
而and/but/so这些连词放在句首,后面是不加逗号的,即使后面接的是状语,也不加逗号。
如:Solar power is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels.But like traditional energy, it also has drawbacks.(√) Solar power is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels.But, like traditional energy, it also has drawbacks.(X)