| 词组 | as well as |
| 释义 | as well as As well as is mentioned in usage books chiefly in regard to its effect on the number of the verb following two nouns or pronouns between which it appears. These discussions typically betray some uncertainty about whether as well as is a conjunction or a preposition, and not infrequently they depend on examples which have been made up and bear little resemblance to actual usage. We will try to make matters clearer with examples of actual use. We first take note of literal use, in which the phrase is used as the simple sum of its three words. Irmscher 1976 finds this literal use likely to be ambiguous by being con-fusable with the conjunction. A made-up example is presented to prove the point. Our real examples, however, are not ambiguous: • However, I endeavoured to calm my mind as well as I could —Henry Fielding, A Journey from This World to the Next, 1743 • If you will always remember to act as well as I act, you will never get in trouble —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 13 Jan. 1960 • Abercrombie-Smith's eyes went flinty. He knew when someone was taking the mickey as well as the next man —Desmond Bagley, Windfall, 1982 This use is far too common to be legislated out of existence in favor of some other use. As well as is also used as a preposition. In this function it is usually followed by a gerund: • ... they tell stories that become the myths of the tribe, as well as presenting characters that can serve as tribal heroes and villains —Malcolm Cowley, New Republic, 4 Oct. 1954 • ... makes use of a variety of papers as well as providing a better jacket —Times Literary Supp., 14 May 1970 • But Stevenson as well as being a romancer was an aesthete —J. I. M. Stewart, Eight Modem Writers, 1963 An ordinary noun is sometimes the object of the preposition: • As well as a new dress, Pam will be wearing another family present, a ... necklace, when she receives her guests —Jill Gray, The Age (Melbourne), 2 May 1975 Prepositional use of as well as is not as common as conjunctive use; indeed, the most common use of the phrase is as a conjunction. It joins nouns and noun phrases: • There were two filling stations at the intersection with Union Avenue, as well as an A & P, a fruit stand, a bakery, a barber shop, Zuccarelli's drugstore, and a diner —Russell Baker, Growing Up, 1982 • Words for him must become objects in themselves, as well as automatic signallers of meaning —Barzun 1985 • I have endorsed each of these measures, as well as the more difficult route of constitutional amendment —Ronald Reagan, Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation, 1984 It joins prepositional phrases: • ... as it may have appeared from Versailles, as well as from Paris —Times Literary Supp., 27 Aug. 1971 • ... caught fish for supper as well as for sport —Tom & Lucia Taylor, Center Mag., July-August 1971 • ... became king in name as well as in fact —Current Biography, May 1966 It joins verbs and verbal phrases: • ... who acted the role as well as sang it —Leighton Kerner, Village Voice, 28 Feb. 1968 • ... was directed as well as written by Valdez — Thomas Thompson, IV. Y. Times Mag., 11 Mar. 1979 • ... were responsible for building roads as well as running the courthouse —Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman, 1972 • ... has done much to cement our society together— as well as to make it more rigid —Edgar Z. Friedenberg, Change, May-June 1969 It joins adjectives: • ... legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical —Thomas Jefferson, The Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, Mil • ... the placing of the preposition before the relative, is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous — Lowth 1762 • ... looked quite good, as well as understandably happy —Elizabeth Drew, New Yorker, 3 Dec. 1984 • ... has become so firmly established, in written as well as spoken English —Howard 1984 It also joins pronouns. Several handbooks recommend that the pronoun following as well as be in the same case as the pronoun preceding. Our evidence is sparse, the modern English case system being what it is, but seems to indicate that the second pronoun does tend to match the case of the first. • You see I have a spirit, as well as yourself —Jane Austen, letter, 8 Feb. 1807 • ... and I want to see them again, as well as you — James Thurber, letter, 1 Aug. 1958 • ... headlines that hurt us as well as them —Len Morgan, Flying, March 1984 Sometimes as well as joins two words or phrases that are the subject of the same verb. While this is the function that gets most of the attention of the commentators, it is less frequent in our citations than the conjunctive functions just illustrated. In about two thirds of the instances in our files the first subject is plural, and the verb must likewise be plural. In the instances where the first subject is singular, usage is mixed. Descriptive grammarians from Poutsma 1904-26 and Jespersen 1909-49 to Quirk et al. 1985 all say that the singular verb is more common, but that the plural is used. Evans 1957 concurs. Ebbitt & Ebbitt 1982 and Janis 1984 also recognize mixed usage. The rest of the handbooks that we have seen insist on the singular verb. The root of this disagreement lies in the fact that as well as is what Quirk calls a quasi-coordinator: it is often felt to be adding something of a parenthetical nature. This characteristic is usually signaled by the use of commas—see the examples above. Ebbitt & Ebbitt observes that in general when a writer considers the as well as segment part of the subject (and hence uses a plural verb), he or she does not set it off with commas. This is a general, but not an iron-clad rule; Bernstein 1962 shows this example, complete with commas: • He, as well as the producer, Jack H. Silverman, are Broadway newcomers —N. Y. Times But more typical are these examples with plural verbs and no commas: • But the vocalism as well as the identity of the signs impose caution upon us —Cyrus H. Gordon, Antiquity, September 1957 • The enormous increase in college enrollments as well as the large amounts business now is investing in the continued education and training of all levels of employees attest to the pervasiveness of our race to gain new knowledge —Charles R. Bowen, in Automation, Education and Human Values, ed. W. W. Brickman & S. Lehrer, 1966 We find the singular verb with and without commas: • This theme, as well as the writer's art, makes the novel a work of art —John T. Metz, in Classroom Practices in Teaching English, 1968-1969 • ... and available evidence as well as past experience suggests that the Soviet will attempt to mobilize maximum diplomatic, political and military force — Gene Gregory, Atlas, October 1969 These examples will, we hope, dispel any notion that in the real world as well as is used in simple sentences like "John as well as Jane was late for dinner." Our advice to you is that if you join singular subjects with as well as, you should follow your instinctive feeling for the singular or plural verb, but it will help your readers if you omit the commas with the plural verb and insert them with the singular verb. If your instinct does not lead you to prefer one approach over the other and you do not want to rewrite (as with and), choose commas and a singular verb. That will offend no one. |
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