although不能與but連用僅僅是因為習慣嗎

■湖南  馬庚華

大家知道，英語不能將漢語“雖然……但是……”直譯成 although / though…but，為什么呢？許多書都認為：這是英語的習慣用法。僅僅是因為習慣用法嗎？

這得從英語的句子類型說起。英語中的 although / though 為從屬連詞，用于引導讓步狀語從句；而but(但是)為并列連詞，用以連接兩個句子使之成為并列句。假若在同一句中既用了從屬連詞 although / though，又用了并列連詞 but，便使得句子一半像復合句，一半像并列句，從而導致句子句型混亂。正確的做法是，任意去掉 although / though 和 but 中的一個，使之要么成為復合句，要么成為并列句。如：

▲雖然他參加這次競賽只不過是鬧著玩兒而已，但贏得了頭獎。

誤：Although he had only entered the contest for fun, but he won first prize.

正：Although he had only entered the contest for fun, he won first prize.

正：He had only entered the contest for fun, but he won first prize.

▲雖然她沒提到我的名字，但我明白她的話是為我好。

誤：Although she didn’t mention me by name, but I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.

正：Although she didn’t mention me by name, I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.

正：She didn’t mention me by name, but I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.

但是，我們是不是可以說although 永遠不能與but連用呢？那也不一定。

◎請看一例：

But I didn’t know that then, although I learned it later. 但我當時的確不知道此事，盡管后來我還是知道了。

此句既用了并列連詞 but，又用了從屬連詞 although，但它并未造成錯誤，原因是此句與上面所討論的情形有所不同，即此句 but 用于 although 之前，but 在此僅起到與上文轉折的作用，but 后的 I didn’t know that then, although I learned it later 仍為一個復合句。

◎請再看一例：

I tried doing the accounts, but although I knew some maths I found it very difficult. 我試著算這些賬，但盡管我懂點數學，仍感到很困難。

此句將 but 與 although 用在一起，但此句也沒有錯誤。該句從總體來看，它是一個以并列連詞 but 連接的并列句，而在該并列句的后面一句又是一個包含讓步狀語從句 although I knew some maths 的復合句——這種句型就是所謂的并列復合句。此句也可改寫為：I tried doing the accounts, but I found it very difficult although I knew some maths.

至此，同學們應該弄清了為什么不能說 although…but…，同時也明白了為什么可以說but although…。最后順便說一句，英語習慣上不能將漢語中的“因為……所以……”直譯為 because…so…，其原因可參照以上解釋。