英文寫作如何“高大上”？先避免使用這18個單詞！

　　A perfectly constructed world is flat on the page if you use feeble,common words. When you’re finished constructing your perfectly balanced world,do your writing a favor and take another pass to weed out these 18 haggardwords.

　　Good

　　雖然是英文中使用頻率最高的形容詞之一，Good卻處處透露出作者敷衍的態(tài)度，為了證明你是真心叫“好”，請換一個詞吧，比如superb(華麗的，出神入化的)，或outstanding(杰出的，不同凡響的)都是不錯的選擇。當然，如果你能把“好”的方面說的更具體，動之以細節(jié)，曉之以事例，那真真是極好的!

　　High on any list of most used English words is “good.” While this wordmay appear to be the perfect adjective for nearly anything that is preciselywhat makes it so vague. Try getting more specific. If something’s going well,try “superb,” “outstanding” or “exceptional.”

　　New

　　New雖然表示“新”，卻用起來很—過—時。試試latest(最新的)，recent(最近)，也許會有不錯的效果~

　　Another of the common words in English is “new.” “New” is an adjectivethat doesn’t always set off alarm bells, so it can be easy to forget about.Give your writing more punch by ditching “new” and using something like“latest” or “recent” instead.

　　Long

　　New沒有“新意”，long也很難在讀者腦海中留下“長久”的記憶，因為你根本不知道long有多長，是像extend一樣“延續(xù)”，像lingering一樣“久久不去”，還是像endless一樣“無窮無盡”?

　　Much like “new,” “long” is spent, yet it doesn’t always register as suchwhile you’re writing. Instead of this cliché phrase, try describing exactly howlong it is: “extended,” “lingering” or “endless,” for example.

　　Old

　　同樣讓人無力的還有old，想要形容“古老”的小伙伴們不妨用ancient，而形容“衰老、衰落”，用decaying和decrepit也會讓讀者眼前一亮。

　　“Old” is certainly one of those common words that means more to readersif you’re specific about how old a subject is. Is it “ancient,” “fossilized,”“decaying” or “decrepit”?

　　Right

　　你以為用“right”就用對了么?它正是你形容“正確”的絆腳石。用exactly/preciselycorrect來肯定那些你認為完全正確的人吧，他們一定會更開心噠!

　　“Right” is also among the common words that tends to slip through ourwriter filters. If somebody is correct, you could also say “exact” or“precise.” Don’t let habit words like “right” dampen your writing.

　　Different

　　既然要說“與眾不同”，不妨拿出你的態(tài)度：到底是“詭異的”(odd)、“罕見的”(uncommon)，還是“帶有異國風(fēng)情的”(exotic)、“引人注目的”(striking)?

　　Here’s another adjective that falls a bit flat for readers, but can alsoeasily be improved by getting more specific. Saying something is “odd” or“uncommon” is very different than saying it is “exotic” or “striking.”

　　Small

　　說起“小”，除了用small到底，你還是有很多選擇滴。比如，只有顯微鏡才能看到的microscopic,“縮影”般的miniature，“迷你”的tiny，如果你還想讓自己的文章更生動，那就用cramped和compact來形容空間“狹窄、緊湊”。

　　“Small” is another adjective that is too generic for writing as good asyours. Use “microscopic,” “miniature” or “tiny” instead. Even using “cramped”or “compact” is more descriptive for your audience.

　　Large

　　換掉small之后，large…也就一并換了吧，“大量的”(substantial)，“無邊無際的”(immense)，“規(guī)模大的”(massive)，“巨大的”(enormous)，總有一款適合你!

　　Just like relying too much on “small,” we tend to describe large thingsas, well, “large.” Specificity is a big help with this one too: could yoursubject be “substantial,” “immense,” “enormous” or “massive”?

　　Next

　　寫作時總用next，就像講話時“然后”說不停一樣，都是召喚瞌睡蟲的利器，“接下來”(upcoming)，“隨后”(following)也能幫你順利進入下文。

　　Whenever we describe something coming “next,” we run the risk of losingour readers. Good options to make your reading more powerful include“upcoming,” “following” or “closer.”

　　Young

　　年輕，既可以是“朝氣蓬勃”(youthful)，也能是“含苞待放”(budding)，當然，說不定其實是“幼稚天真”(naïve)，所以，只用一個young怎么夠?

　　Another case of being too generic is what makes “young” a problematicadjective. If you want your writing to be more captivating, try switching“young” out for “youthful,” “naive” or “budding.”

　　Never

　　用詞表太絕對，比如never就是一個容易被挑刺兒的詞。作為一個謹慎的作者，rarely, scarcely，occasionally都是表達極小概率的詞，可放心使用!

　　“Never” is also among common words to use sparingly. Not only is it acommon, stale descriptor, it’s also usually incorrect. For something to neverhappen, even one instance makes this word inaccurate. Try “rarely,” “scarcely”or “occasionally” instead.

　　Things

　　由于指代太寬泛，things的存在感簡直可以忽略不計。如果你真的很難說出TA具體的名稱，或是想說一類“東西”，換換belongings, property, tools總是好的。

　　“Things” is another repeat offender when it comes to worn out words.Another word where specificity is the key, try replacing “things” with“belongings,” “property” or “tools.”

　　All

　　作為又一個“走極端”的詞語，用all的作者大人，你確定過每一種情況了么?想要形容“多”，不妨試試copious!

　　Just like “never,” “all” is an encompassing, absolute term. Not only is“all” unoriginal, it’s not usually factual. Try using “copious” instead.

　　Feel

　　為什么我的文章如此感性?因為你用了太多feel，作為有智慧、有判斷力的理性青年，sense或者discern才更適合你~

　　“Feel” is also in the company of common English words. Try using“sense,” or “discern” instead. You can also move your sentence into a moreactive tense: “I feel hungry” could become “I’m famished,” for example.

　　Seem

　　對“It seems that…”情有獨鐘的小伙伴們，快醒醒吧!表達“看上去……”或是“給人留下……的印象”不只有這一種說法，shows signs of, comes across as都很不一樣呢~

　　“Seem” is bad habit word we are all guilty of using. Regardless of howwell you think your sentence is constructed, try switching “seem” out for“shows signs of.” “Comes across as” is another good option to give your writingmore power.

　　Almost

　　Almost也是一個常被讀者自動忽略的詞，想要更有趣?試試practically, nearly, vergingon!

　　Another easy adjective to let slip by, “almost” is a wasted opportunityto engage your readers. “Almost” is more interesting if you say “practically,”“nearly” or “verging on” instead.

　　Just

　　想要真正抓住讀者，只用just怎么夠，narrowly, simply,hardly才能顯示出你寫作的決心!

　　“Just making” it or “just barely” affording something isn’t verydescriptive. To truly grab a reader, we must do better. Try “narrowly,”“simply” or “hardly” to give your phrasing more weight.

　　Go

　　不只是形容詞和副詞，動詞用不好也能讓你的文章瞬間失去吸引力。Go就是一個糟糕的選擇，因為它的范圍太廣，根據(jù)具體情況，可以用chose(選擇), decide on(決定), ramble(漫步)來代替。

　　Last but not least, avoid using the common word “go” to describe yoursubject. “Go” is a word that lacks traction. Try using “chose,” “decide on” or“ramble” to truly grab your readers.

　　這么多的詞，有木有一種眼花繚亂的趕腳，那么就讓世紀君在最后為大家小結(jié)一下。這些應(yīng)該換掉的詞大致可以分為三類：一是含義太寬泛，說了和沒說一樣，比如small，large, long等，你可以用一些更具體、更生動的詞來代替他們;二是較為中性的形容詞，他們往往難以表達作者的態(tài)度，如different，young等，所以，請大膽的說出你的想法吧!三是極端的詞，比如all，never，如果沒有百分之百的把握，還是不要輕易使用為妙。