今日主題 👉 semicolon 分號
Using a semicolon can be quite confusing and difficult for those who havent used them before. Used properly, however, they can provide more clarity and coherence to your essays while demonstrating a great level of grammatical skill and finesse. Lets look at the two most common ways of using semicolons to start - this will show you how to use the tool simply as well as clear up a few misconceptions of its usage.
對於以前沒有使用過分號的人來說，使用分號可能會讓人感到困惑和困難。然而，如果使用得當，它們可以讓你的文章更加清晰和連貫，同時展現出高水準的語法和技巧。讓我們看一下使用分號最常見的兩種方式 - 這將向您展示如何簡單地使用該工具，並澄清一些對其用法的誤解。
📝使用分號的第一種方式
The first way to use semicolons is to separate longer sentences with lots of detail into two separate, but interconnected sentences with similar ideas. This is helpful if you have a lot that you want to share but are not quite sure how to put it all into one sentence.
使用分號的第一種方式是把有很多細節的較長句子分成兩個獨立的，但有相似思想的相互的聯繫句子。如果你有很多想要分享的東西，但不知道如何用一句話表達出來，這是很有用的。
Example 1
☹ The weather was really nice today and while it may be suitable to go to the beach we decided that it might be even better to go for a hike.
☺ The weather was really nice today; while it was suitable for enjoying either the beach or mountains, we decided to go for a hike in the end.
第一個句子有個錯誤：應該使用分號 ( ; ) 而不是 and 來分隔兩個獨立的子句。這樣做可以使句子更清晰。
Example 2
☹ I like to study at the library during the weekdays but not during the weekends because there are a lot of people there on weekends and the noise is not suitable for studying.
☺ I enjoy studying at the library during weekdays; its not as suitable to go there on the weekends, however, since there are more people who may be noisy.
第一個句子有些錯誤，因為其中使用了 but 來連接兩個獨立子句。使用 but 表示兩個子句之間有相反的關係，但在這裡，兩個子句之間並沒有明顯的相反之處。另外，這個句子中若標點符號使用不當，可能會造成歧義。這裡建議使用分號來分開兩個獨立的子句，並使用副詞 however 來指出其中的轉折關係。
Example 3
☹ Playing video games is a common hobby now for people of all ages including those from younger generations and those from older generations and even if some people have not tried playing games before there are many tutorials on the Internet that can help any new player learn about the details and complex actions in every game so that they can enjoy the game faster.
☺ Playing video games is an increasingly common hobby for people of all generations nowadays; although there are some people who are not quite familiar with playing online games, there are many tutorials on the Internet that can help new players enjoy their games more quickly and learn about all the finer details in each game.
第一句中有很多子句，但是它們之間沒有使用正確的標點符號。
第二句是一個結構正確的句子，使用了正確的標點符號。它使用 “increasingly common” 這個詞組來表明視頻遊戲的普及程度正在增加。句子也指出有些人可能不熟悉網上遊戲，但強調了網上有很多教程可以幫助他們快速上手。最後，句子使用了 “enjoy their games more quickly” 的表達方式，這是一種更自然的英語表達方式。
📝使用分號的第二種方式
The second common way of using semicolons is to separate items in a list. Unlike using commas like in usual cases, semicolons are used when the individual items in the list are longer or more complex.
使用分號的第二種常見方式是分隔列表中的項目。與通常情況下使用逗號不同，當列表中的單個項目更長或更複雜時應使用分號。
Example 1
☹ We visited quite a few cities during our summer holiday this year, including Paris, France, Rome, Italy, Berlin, Germany, Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea.
☺ We visited quite a few cities during our summer holiday this year, including Paris, France; Rome, Italy; Berlin, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea.
第一個句子的錯誤在於只使用逗號將所有城市和國家的名字分開，這是不正確的。因為此句列舉的項目包含城市及該城市所在的國家（亦即列舉的項目較複雜），故應使用「分號」做區隔，而單個項目中才使用逗號。修改後的句子就如同第二句。
Example 2
☹ Although there were several choices we could have considered for dinner, we narrowed it down to eating barbecue at the park across from the river, shopping, strolling, and eating at the outdoor market, and, even though its quite chilly by the beach, driving down to the ocean to eat some fresh crabs.
☺ Although there were several choices we could have considered for dinner, we narrowed it down to a select few: eating barbecue at the park across from the river; shopping, strolling, and eating at the outdoor market; and - even though its quite chilly by the beach - driving down to the ocean to eat some fresh crabs.
第一個句子的錯誤在於列舉選擇時使用逗號來分隔各選項，但在第二個選項之後使用了 “and”，這是不正確的。另外，在描述要開車到海邊吃螃蟹時，使用了 “even though”，但此片語前後應加上破折號。 第二個句子將列舉的選擇使用分號分開，避免了使用逗號分隔造成的混淆。同時，在描述要開車到海邊吃螃蟹時，加上了破折號，更加清楚明確地表達了語意。
Example 3
☹ A groundbreaking project implementing new concepts of stem cell research was announced last week, with the aims of gathering a team of experienced, talented researchers of diverse backgrounds and testing viable theories created through theoretical discussions previously considered unimaginable, then visualizing, restructuring, creating, and customizing realistic models for further study.
☺ A groundbreaking project implementing new concepts of stem cell research was announced last week, with the aims of gathering a team of experienced, talented researchers of diverse backgrounds; testing viable theories created through theoretical discussions previously considered unimaginable; and visualizing, restructuring, creating, and customizing realistic models for further study.
第一個句子在描述這個研究項目時，使用了過長的句子，使得整個語句較難理解。同時，在列舉這個研究項目的目標時，使用了 “then” 作為連接詞，但是這個詞在此不適合。第二個句子將研究項目的目標使用分號分開，讓整個句子更加清晰易懂。同時，在列舉目標時使用了適當的連接詞，讓整個句子更加順暢。
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