寫作時如何進行詞彙選擇？

Selecting the right words is an essential part of communicating, whether you’re writing a wedding speech or a technical report. You need to choose words that are appropriate for your subject matter, that pitch your message at the right level for your audience, and words that most clearly convey what you are trying to say.

無論是寫婚禮致詞還是技術報告，選擇合適的詞都是溝通的重要組成部分。要選擇適合主題能夠把信息傳達給聽衆的詞和最能表達自己想法的詞語。

1. Choose everyday words

選擇日常單詞

It is true that English has a vast and varied vocabulary. However, we mostly communicate using only a fraction of those words. A mere 3,000 are enough to make up 75 percent of all communication. They are all standard, everyday words such as tall, eat, forget, and good. Those are the words that people are most used to. So, if you use them rather than more flowery words, your writing will be easier for people to read and process.

確實，英語有豐富多樣的詞彙。 但是，我們大多隻使用這些詞的一小部分進行交流。僅僅3000詞足以構成日常生活中75％的交流。他們都是標準的，日常的用語，如高、吃、忘、好。 這些是人們最常用的詞。 所以，如果你使用它們而不是更花哨的文字，你的寫作會更容易閱讀和處理。

2 Avoid clichés and buzzwords

避免陳詞濫調和流行詞

Clichés are phrases and words which are used so often and so vaguely that they lose their original impact. For example, ‘at the end of the day’, ‘mass exodus’, ‘in any way, shape, or form’words are words or phrases, often items of jargon, that are fashionable in certain contexts, and as a result tend to be overused and sound meaningless. For example, what does ‘a holistic approach’ really mean?

陳詞濫調是那些經常被使用的詞彙和短語，以至於他們失去了原有的影響。例如，‘at the end of the day’, ‘mass exodus’, ‘in any way, shape, or form’。流行語是在某些語境下流行的短語或者術語，這些詞往往被過度使用，聽起來毫無意義。例如，‘a holistic approach’到底是什麼意思呢？

Clichés and buzzwords can irritate readers and either distract them from your message or make them question its validity.

陳詞濫調或者流行語會激怒讀者或者讓他們誤會你的意思，或者讓他們質疑你所傳達的信息的有效性。

3 Choose appropriate formal, neutral, and words

選擇合適的，中性的，正式的詞彙

English is very rich in synonyms. But very often synonyms do not mean exactly the same thing. They are used in distinct styles of writing; some are more formal; some are slangy.

英語中有許多同義詞。但是，同義詞並不是指完全相同的詞。它們被用於不同的寫作風格，一些比較正式，一些則偏俚語使用。

For example, dozens of words express the idea ‘to steal’, but they are all different. Just to examine three of them: purloin is definitely formal, while steal is ‘neutral’, that is to say it is neither formal nor informal. But nick is definitely informal: you would be surprised to find it in a newspaper report of a crime!

例如，許多詞表達‘偷’的含義，但是它們都不一樣。我們來看一下其中的三個詞：purloin表達的含義是絕對正式的，steal表達的含義則偏中性，也就是說它可以是表達正式的含義也可以表達非正式的含義。但是nick這個詞表達的含義就是非正式的：如果在報紙中的犯罪報告中發現這個詞，你會很驚訝！

In straightforward informative writing, it is helpful to use only neutral words.

在簡單的寫作中，只使用中性詞是很狀態有幫助的。

4 There are many Englishes

多種形式的英語

English is a world language with several national varieties, such as Canadian English and Australian English. The two varieties which are most often contrasted are American and British. Apart from the well-known differences in spelling between them, for instance color / colour, center / centre, there are also differences in the use of words, some of which are not obvious.

英語是一個具有多種民族語言的世界語言，如加拿大英語和澳大利亞英語。最常對比的英語就是英式英語和美式英語。除卻在拼寫方面我們都知道的差異，如color / colour和center / centre，還有一些不明顯的差異，即單詞的使用也有一些差異。

To make sure that a particular meaning applies outside your own variety of English, it is advisable to check in a dictionary. Also, make sure your spellchecker is set to your variety of English.

爲確保某一特定意思在本族英語之外仍然適用，最好先查一下詞典。同時，要確保拼寫檢查器適應於各種英語。

5 Use inclusive vocabulary

使用包容性詞彙

It is important to respect groups in society such as people with disabilities, older people, ethnic minorities, and so forth. One way of doing this is to choose appropriate, non-stereotyping words. In particular, the words you use should be gender-inclusive and not suggest a masculine bias. There are several ways of doing this. For example, when referring to professions it is nowadays standard to avoid words that refer only to one sex, such as actress (use actor) or policeman (use police officer).

尊重殘疾人，老年人，少數民族等社會羣體是很重要的。可以選擇適當的，不刻板的詞語來達到這樣做的目的。 特別是，你使用的詞語應該是包容性的，而不僅代表了男性的偏見。 有幾種方法可以做到這一點。 例如，當談及職業時，避免使用僅涉及一種性別的詞語，例如actress（使用actor）或policeman（使用police officer）。

6 Enrich your vocabulary

豐富詞彙量

By widening your vocabulary you will have more words to choose from, which means you are more likely to know a word that most precisely conveys your message. Reading is an excellent way to learn new words. However, before you use them, be sure to check the meanings of any words that are new to you in a dictionary!

擴大詞彙量，你會有更多的詞彙可供選擇，這意味着你可能會找到一個最精確傳達信息的單詞。閱讀是一個學習新單詞的好辦法。然而，在使用新單詞之前，一定要查詞典確認新單詞的含義。