【英文轉折語】因為、由於只會用because of嗎?
文章編號:G4-010
because跟because of有什麼不一樣?as a result跟as a result of有什麼不一樣?because of跟due to真的通用嗎?
《G4-009【英文轉折語】因此、所以的英文轉折語怎麼使用?》學會了一些意思等同so的副詞或副詞片語,知道可以把它們當轉折語用,來承接出表達「結果」的英文句子。
那有沒有一些英文片語意思上等同於because, 可以用來說明「原因」呢?
有唷~本文就來徹底解析這類的「因為」的英文片語有哪些,讓我們在用英文表達因果關係的概念時更加得心應手!
因為、 由於轉折語總整理
首先,先把能表達「因為」、「由於」的片語都整理在下列表格中,共11個。這些片語之間的細膩差別也用中文說明出來。
because of =as a result of =thanks to + (多為正面原因, 除非是要表達反諷語氣)「多虧於...」 =on account of + (多為負面原因) =owing to (較正式) =by virtue of (正式) =as a consequence of (正式) =in consequence of (正式) =in the light of (偏俚語用法, 英式)(in light of 美式) =in view of (偏俚語用法)「考量到...」 =*due to (↑ 提醒:為何此處有個* ,留待後文說明) |
共通用法
這些片語都是介係詞結尾,所以後面都要接名詞類的東西,而不是接一個英文句子來說明原因。
換言之,這些片語後面要表達的原因,在文法處理上都要「名詞化」。
那什麼叫名詞類的東西,或是名詞化呢?就是要接名詞單字、名詞片語或名詞子句來表達 (何謂名詞子句?詳見G13系列的文章)。
而這些片語接上名詞類的東西後,可以放在句尾,也可以放在句首使用。但放在句首時,記得要加上逗點唷!我們用例句來觀察一下~
(後面接名詞單字,該名詞單字用底線標出)
E.g.1: We spent three hours waiting in the rain because of you!
「我們因為你,在雨中等了三小時!」
E.g.2: Due to injury, the team captain was forced to withdraw from the match.
「因為受傷,這隊的隊長被迫退出比賽。」
(後面接名詞片語,該名詞片語用底線標出)
E.g.1: We’ve reached our goal of $50,000(,) thanks to the generosity of the public. (+正面原因)
「多虧了大眾慷慨解囊,我們已經達成五萬元的目標了。」
E.g.2: He had to retire as a result of his ill health.
「他因為健康不佳,必須退休。」
E.g.3: Organizers were forced to cancel the event on account of the extremely hot weather. (+負面原因)
「主辦單位因為天氣太熱了,被迫取消活動。」
E.g.4: She became a British resident by virtue of her marriage.
「她因為婚姻關係變成英國居民。」
E.g.5: Profits have declined as a consequence of the recent drop in sales.
= Profits have declined in consequence of the recent drop in sales.
「因為最近銷售下滑,利潤下降。」
E.g.:6 In (the) light of recent incidents, we ask our customers to take particular care of their personal belongings.
「因為最近的事件,我們請求我們的顧客要特別小心他們的個人物品。」
(後面接名詞子句,該名詞子句用底線標出)
E.g.1: A rich young man refused to help his sick father owing to what his family did to him in the past.
「一個有錢的年輕人因為他家人過去對他做過的事,拒絕幫助他生病的父親。」
E.g.2: In view of what you’ve said, I think we should reconsider our proposed course of action.
「因為(考量到)你說的話,我想我們應該重新考慮我們提議的行動方案。
這些片語大抵上都能通用,但有沒有意思或使用上細微的差別呢?我們一起來討論一下~
討論點Q1: because跟because of中文意思都是「因為」,英文用法上不一樣嗎?
A: 不一樣唷~because是個從屬連接詞,後面是接一個副詞子句(何謂副詞子句?詳見G15系列的文章),而because of是個介係詞結尾的片語,後面要接名詞類的東西,特別是名詞單字跟片語。用例句來觀察一下
E.g.: He has a lot of friends because he has a positive attitude toward life.
= He has a lot of friends because of his positive attitude toward life.
「他朋友很多,因為他對人生的態度樂觀。」
觀察一下,because後面是不是接一個子句呢?該子句有自己的主詞he, 自己的動詞has。再看看because of後面是不是接個名詞片語his positive attitude toward life?
以此類推,請思考一下以下這句話如何用because of片語改寫?
E.g.: I stayed home the whole day because it rained heavily. 「我整天待在家,因為雨下很大。」
「雨下很大」(it rained heavily) 這原因如何用英文名詞化呢?想想看....答案揭曉~
→ I stayed home the whole day because of the heavy rain.
再試一題讓自己更熟悉because跟because of用法的差別。請問下列這句話如何用because of這片語改寫呢?
E.g.: This employee was fired by his boss because he was lazy. 「這員工被他老闆炒魷魚了,因為他懶。」
「他懶」(he was lazy) 這原因如何用英文名詞化呢?想出來了嗎?答案揭曉~
→ This employee was fired by his boss because of his laziness. (就是把形容詞lazy轉成名詞laziness囉~)
有沒有發現如果使用because of 時,後面得用個名詞單字或片語來表達原因,但這名詞單字或片語要怎麼變出來呢?
大多時候需要靠背英文單字時所培養出來的詞類變化概念。(對於詞類變化有興趣者,詳見V0-007如何有效提升英文單字量?6招成功累積英文單字量中提升英文單字量方法三,其中有針對詞類變化要快速上手可以惡補的英文常見字尾變化)
補充閱讀:【因為 英文】because 跟 because of 的用法、差別! – 英文庫 (此文有更多because跟because of間的代換練習,有興趣者可以練習看看)
討論點Q2: as a result跟as a result of有什麼不一樣?
A:不但意思不一樣,用法也不一樣唷~as a result, 意思是「因此」,加個逗點之後,後面是接一個完整的英文句子表達結果。它的完整用法詳見《G4-009【英文轉折語】因此、所以的英文轉折語怎麼使用?》文章。而as a result of 意思是「因為」,後面直接接個名詞類的東西來表達原因。
用一個上面出現過的例句來展現一下這兩個片語用法差異,意思差異,以及可以互相通用之處~
His health was poor. As a result, he had to retire.
= His health was poor, and as a result, he had to retire.
= His health was poor; as a result, he had to retire.
「他健康不佳,因此必須退休。」
= He had to retire as a result of his poor health.
= As a result of his poor health, he had to retire.)
「他因為健康不佳,必須退休。」
補充閱讀:不再混淆(3): as a result vs. as a result of – 學英文
(此文中有更多as a result跟as a result of的代換練習,有興趣者可以挑戰看看)
討論點Q3: because of跟due to真的互通嗎?
A:看你要多嚴格講究自己使用的英文。口語上或放在句首使用becasue of跟due to時,兩者常被混用。但放在句尾時,嚴格來說是有差別的。
because of被歸類為副詞片語,當副詞用,所以它加上名詞類東西後,整個是用來修飾一個句子裡的動詞。
due to被歸類成形容詞片語,當形容詞用,所以會接在beV後面,當主詞補語(主詞補語是什麼?它是學五大句型時會觸及到的概念,詳見《G0-004五大句型:學好英文第一步 3分鐘搞懂英文五大句型》)
用例句來說明一下because of跟due to的差別
「這車禍會發生是因為他粗心。」
The car accident happened because of his carelessness. (because of his carelessness 這整個副詞片語用來修飾動詞happen。)
= The car accident was due to his carelessness. (due to his carelessness 這整個形容詞片語放在beV後面,當主詞補語用,修飾主詞the car accident。)
如果你問,那寫The car accident happened due to his carelessness.可以嗎?嚴格來說不可以,但口語上不排除會聽到這樣的句子。
補充閱讀:Because of 跟 Due to 正確用法是?差在哪?來搞懂「因為/由於」的英文用法!
最後,針對本文整個內容可以進行的補充閱讀:because of、due to 大不同!所有易混淆的「因為」英文一網打盡(此文中最後提到的for跟since的確也可以用來表達「因為」,但for屬於對等連接詞的一種,since用法屬於副詞子句的一環。日光英文會分別在G26跟G15系列再討論之)
因為、 由於轉折語練習
Exercises:請使用本文整理出來表達「因為」、「由於」的11個片語,自行寫出一個英文句子,歡迎點我作答。我們會盡快回覆並批改你的句子,幫助你更加活用這些轉折語唷~不害羞的就趕快來挑戰:)
because of =thanks to + (多為正面原因, 除非是要表達反諷語氣)「多虧於...」 =as a result of =on account of + (多為負面原因) =owing to (較正式) =as a consequence of (頗正式) =in consequence of (頗正式) =in the light of (偏俚語用法, 英式)(in light of 美式) =in view of (偏俚語用法)「考量到...」 =*due to |