Professor Pedantic 教授的考究學問
TPS的編輯教授在此歡迎關於學術文章的所有詢問，當然，其實他並沒有足夠的時間給你。他擁有終身教職的教授身份，也是著名的學術巨作作者。即便如此，他仍大方地接受你們的詢問。將關於學術方面的詢問寫在下方，你將獲得教授的親自指導，陶冶對學術的探索與啟發。
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: I seem to lack “tense sense.” That’s how a classmate puts it. I can’t seem to get the tense right in many of my research paper sentences, switching back and forth between present and past tenses. Is there a rule to help me?
根據我同學的說法，我好像沒有什麼「時態知覺」，論文裡很多句子的時態都有問題，在現在和過去式之間擺盪著。有什麼規則可以幫幫我嗎？
“Tense sense.” Cute. I suppose your classmate says using periods and commas inconsistently is “punctuation fluctuation” and being pretentious in your word choices is “grammar glamour.” (If I continue much longer in this vein, I will be guilty of “cluster bluster.”) Yes, correct and consistent use of verb tense in sentences helps weld a paper into a whole document, whereas sloppily constructed sentences loosen the grip of a paper on a reader. The impact of shifting tenses often is so subtle that a reader can’t pin down the cause of the drift; however, it is sensed.
「時態知覺」，說得好。我猜你同學會用「標點動亂」來形容句點和逗點使用失當，用「字彙自戀」形容矯揉造作的用詞（再舉例下去，我就犯了「範例氾濫」的毛病了）。的確，正確的動詞時態能連接句子，打造完整的文章；句子結構如果鬆散，文章就無法吸引讀者。時態改變的影響很微妙，讀者可能說不出所以然，不過仍然感覺得出差別。
Generally, an introductory section of a paper uses the present tense to good advantage. The body of the work is often couched in the past tense in describing completed research and materials of generally established authority. The concluding segments of a paper often allude to future research on a subject, which can, of course, employ the future tense. While a writer is not locked into this pattern of tense usage, it is a functional application of tenses and, in the end, how writing functions is the critical difference between clear communication and fogginess.
一般來說，論文的前言會用現在式，強調文章的優點；而論文主體措辭多半用過去式，描述已經完成的研究與可信的資料；結論部分通常引申該主題未來的研究，因此便可以使用未來式。雖然這種用法並非硬性規定，但幾乎已經成了標準公式。何況，文章能清楚說明概念，或概念模糊不清，端視文法是否正確發揮功能。
No neat rules have been formulated to guide academic writers except to have clearly in mind both time and place. This is especially important if an attempt is made to tinker with timelines for dramatic effect. For example, it can gratify a writer and enlighten a reader when a particularly satisfying research moment is reported in a tense that transports the reader back to the exciting moment of discovery. You are there! Yet if the transition into and out of the present tense is not smooth and seamless, the reader is not excited; he is confused by the shifting perspective.
使用時態並無簡潔的規則可循，作者心中必須清楚了解時間和地點，特別是若想要改變時間順序，創造戲劇化的效果，這點觀念特別重要。舉例來說，若時態的改變，能帶領讀者回到研究發現那振奮人心的一刻，創造如親眼目睹的效果，不僅作者心滿意足，讀者也能受到啟發。但若改用現在式，轉換必須流暢自然，否則讀者非但不會受感動，反而會因為切入角度變動不定而困惑不已。
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: I seem to lack “tense sense.” That’s how a classmate puts it. I can’t seem to get the tense right in many of my research paper sentences, switching back and forth between present and past tenses. Is there a rule to help me?
根據我同學的說法，我好像沒有什麼「時態知覺」，論文裡很多句子的時態都有問題，在現在和過去式之間擺盪著。有什麼規則可以幫幫我嗎？
“Tense sense.” Cute. I suppose your classmate says using periods and commas inconsistently is “punctuation fluctuation” and being pretentious in your word choices is “grammar glamour.” (If I continue much longer in this vein, I will be guilty of “cluster bluster.”) Yes, correct and consistent use of verb tense in sentences helps weld a paper into a whole document, whereas sloppily constructed sentences loosen the grip of a paper on a reader. The impact of shifting tenses often is so subtle that a reader can’t pin down the cause of the drift; however, it is sensed.
「時態知覺」，說得好。我猜你同學會用「標點動亂」來形容句點和逗點使用失當，用「字彙自戀」形容矯揉造作的用詞（再舉例下去，我就犯了「範例氾濫」的毛病了）。的確，正確的動詞時態能連接句子，打造完整的文章；句子結構如果鬆散，文章就無法吸引讀者。時態改變的影響很微妙，讀者可能說不出所以然，不過仍然感覺得出差別。
Generally, an introductory section of a paper uses the present tense to good advantage. The body of the work is often couched in the past tense in describing completed research and materials of generally established authority. The concluding segments of a paper often allude to future research on a subject, which can, of course, employ the future tense. While a writer is not locked into this pattern of tense usage, it is a functional application of tenses and, in the end, how writing functions is the critical difference between clear communication and fogginess.
一般來說，論文的前言會用現在式，強調文章的優點；而論文主體措辭多半用過去式，描述已經完成的研究與可信的資料；結論部分通常引申該主題未來的研究，因此便可以使用未來式。雖然這種用法並非硬性規定，但幾乎已經成了標準公式。何況，文章能清楚說明概念，或概念模糊不清，端視文法是否正確發揮功能。
No neat rules have been formulated to guide academic writers except to have clearly in mind both time and place. This is especially important if an attempt is made to tinker with timelines for dramatic effect. For example, it can gratify a writer and enlighten a reader when a particularly satisfying research moment is reported in a tense that transports the reader back to the exciting moment of discovery. You are there! Yet if the transition into and out of the present tense is not smooth and seamless, the reader is not excited; he is confused by the shifting perspective.
使用時態並無簡潔的規則可循，作者心中必須清楚了解時間和地點，特別是若想要改變時間順序，創造戲劇化的效果，這點觀念特別重要。舉例來說，若時態的改變，能帶領讀者回到研究發現那振奮人心的一刻，創造如親眼目睹的效果，不僅作者心滿意足，讀者也能受到啟發。但若改用現在式，轉換必須流暢自然，否則讀者非但不會受感動，反而會因為切入角度變動不定而困惑不已。
Posted at 2012-01-02 16:56:58
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