↩️ however、although、but、despite：表示「轉折」的詞怎麼選

「雖然⋯⋯但是⋯⋯」是寫作時最常用的轉折，英文卻有 but、although、however、despite 好幾種選擇，接的東西和標點都不同。這篇先看它們各自「接什麼」，再看怎麼選哦。

先看一張總表

用同一個意思，寫成四種：

It was raining, but we went out. — 下雨了，但是我們還是出門了。
Although it was raining, we went out. — 雖然下雨了，我們還是出門了。
It was raining. However, we went out. — 下雨了。然而我們還是出門了。
Despite the rain, we went out. — 儘管下雨，我們還是出門了。

although：後面接子句，不能再加 but

although 引導的是一個「讓步」的子句，通常放在句首時，子句後面加逗號。

Although he was tired, he kept working. — 雖然他很累，他還是繼續工作。

though 和 although 意思差不多，though 在日常對話裡更常見。even though 的語氣更強一點，強調「儘管這樣」：

Even though it was expensive, she bought it. — 即使很貴，她還是買了。

though 還有一個口語的用法：放在句尾，像「不過」的意思。

I like the movie. The ending was sad, though. — 我喜歡那部電影，不過結局很悲傷。

however：新的一句，用逗號隔開

however 是副詞，不是連接詞，所以它不能把兩個句子直接接在一起。常見的寫法是：前一句用句號結束，however 放在下一句的開頭，後面加逗號。

The hotel was cheap. However, it was very clean. — 這間飯店很便宜，不過非常乾淨。

如果想寫在同一行，要用分號：

The hotel was cheap; however, it was very clean.

但如果只用逗號連接（The hotel was cheap, however it was very clean），會變成兩個完整的句子被逗號硬接在一起，一般認為這是錯誤，要小心哦。

despite 和 in spite of：後面接名詞

despite 和 in spite of 是介系詞，後面不能接完整的子句，要接名詞或 -ing：

Despite the noise, I fell asleep. — 儘管很吵，我還是睡著了。
In spite of being tired, she finished the report. — 儘管很累，她還是完成了報告。

如果一定要在 despite 後面接子句，可以用 despite the fact that：

Despite the fact that it was late, they kept talking. — 儘管很晚了，他們還是繼續聊。

whereas 和 while：對比兩件事

如果是想對照兩件事，可以用 whereas 或 while，意思是「相對於⋯⋯」：

Tom likes tea, whereas Amy prefers coffee. — Tom 喜歡茶，而 Amy 比較喜歡咖啡。

whereas 比較偏書面。

怎麼選？

如果一時不知道怎麼選，可以先問自己：

1. 我後面要接的是完整的句子嗎？是的話，選 but、although、however 或 whereas。
2. 我想要放在同一個句子裡，還是分成兩句？同一句用 but 或 although，分成兩句用 however。
3. 後面只是一個名詞（或 -ing）嗎？那就用 despite 或 in spite of。

小測驗

1. ___ the rain, we had a good time. 儘管下雨，我們玩得很開心。（Despite／In spite of）
2. ___ he was ill, he went to work. 雖然他生病了，他還是去上班了。（Although）
3. I love coffee. ___, I can't drink it at night. 我愛喝咖啡，不過晚上不能喝。（However）

最後

我自己寫英文的時候，最常犯的錯就是 although 後面又接了個 but，因為中文的「雖然⋯⋯但是⋯⋯」實在太順了，哈哈。改的時候，我會先把 but 圈起來，看看能不能刪掉。

下面那顆「我學會了」按一下，讓我知道你學會了吧 (❛◡❛✿)