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Commonly Confused and Misused Words

常见易混易错单词

1不定冠词a/an 与定冠词the

• “a/an”: 用于可数或单数名词之前

例："A new species of Escherichia was identified.“

(other species also exist)

•“the”: 指目前或将来独一无二事物

例：" The organism responsible for the outbreak was Escherichia coli."

2affect/effect (and impact)

• “effect”作为名词时，表示“行为的结果”

• “affect ”作为动词时，意思为“影响”

BUT

• “effect” 作为动词时，意思为“引起变化”

• “affect” 作为名词时，意思为由于某人行为举止或语言引起的感受或情绪

• “impact” 只用于描述“一件事对另一件事”产生的冲击，不能作为“affect”使用

例：“Ingesting massive doses of ascorbic acid

may affect his recovery.”

(influence the recovery in some way)

例：“Ingesting massive doses of ascorbic acid

may effect his recovery.”

(produce/cause the recovery)

Luckily, the medicine did not adversely affect the patient. Many scientists believe that global warming is the effect of greenhouse-gas emissions.

3because/as/since

• “as” 表示时间，而不是因果关系

例：“As we were completing the paper,

new evidence came to light.”

• “because” 表示因果关系

例：“Five participants could not complete the follow up questionnaire because they had moved out of the target district.”

• “since” 表示时间关系

例："Since we completed the study, there have been 3 additional outbreaks."

4because of/due to

• “due to” = adjective + preposition, adjectival phrase meaning “attributable to” or “caused by” 归因于…

例："The problem was due to mechanical failure."

• “because of” = conjunction + preposition, adverbial phrase

meaning “as a result of” or “owing to” 因为／由于

例：“The problem occurred because of mechanical failure.”

5comparable/similar (and same)

• “comparable”: 可与…相比的, 类似的

例：“Because the methods are different, the statistics are not comparable.”

• “similar”: 相似

例："The mortality rates in Sweden and Chile are similar."

* “Same”  有时会与 “ similar” 混淆。 “Same”  指完全一样，或 “identical”，通常不用于科研结果的比较 ,  特别是两项不同研究的比较

6compose/comprise/constitute

• “compose”

*1) 构成，主动语态

例：“Fifty states compose the United States of America.”

* 2)  构成，被动语态

例：“The United States of America is composed of 50 states.”

• “comprise” 包括，包含

例：“The United States of America comprises 50 states.”

• “constitute”与“compose.” 意思相同

7currently/presently/at present (and "now")

• “currently” (preferred) and “at present” mean “now.” 现在

例：“There are currently no available studies on Han Chinese populations.”

• “presently” means “soon”, “shortly”, “in the near future.”不久的将来

例：“Presently, we will go to the Forbidden City.”

* 最好使用currently”或“at present”，“Now” 经常被错误使用

8demonstrate/exhibit/reveal/show

• “demonstrate” 演示

例：“The technician demonstrated how to operate the pH meter.”

• “exhibit” 展示

例："He exhibited the mineral specimens at the last congress."

* 不用于表示被动地体现某事物

× "The patient exhibited a rash" 

○ "The patient had a rash.”

• “reveal” 揭示／显示

例：“The X-ray revealed a tumor in the lower part of the stomach.”

• “show” 指示／表明

例：The results show that the GaN film is of the wurtzite structure and has the Ga-polarity.

*  “demonstrate”  的主语应该是生命体，像 “The data demonstrated that...” 这样的用法应当避免。

9significant vs. important/great/major/valuable

• “significant” 通常用于统计学意义达到一定数值的上限或下限

例：“The mean blood pressure was significantly lowered, with a P value of 0.05”

例：“The results of this research will be of great value to all nanotechnology researchers.”

* 如不单纯表示统计学意义，建议使用其它单词

10employ/utilize vs. use

• “use”: adequate in most cases to mean applying or drawing on for a purpose. “use”: 使用广泛，表示为达到某一目的采用的方法与事物

例：“An autorefractor was used to measure refractive error.”

• “employ”: can also mean to put a person to work or put an object to use. “employ”: 聘用某人或采用某物

例：“All of the subjects had been employed at the company since 1997 or earlier.”

* Tip: 在科学写作中，实在无必要使用 “utilize”