商務英語高階寫作：不為標點煩惱

也許你已經學會了很多英文寫作技巧和文章型別，但你注意過寫作中標點符號的細節嗎?在英文寫作中各個標點符號怎麼使用，分別表達了怎樣的含義?本文給出了英語寫作技巧小提示。

I have recently received some enquiries from new clients asking me to help them with their writing skills in English.

最近，我收到一些客戶的詢問，請求我幫助他們解決英語寫作技巧的問題。

This gave me an idea of starting a new series entitled English Writing Skills. In this series I will explore the different techniques that are required to produce good writing both in academia and business. The areas I plan to cover will vary from developing arguments through the use of linkers, punctuation, spelling and correct register (formal versus informal).

這讓我有了開始一系列名為英語寫作技巧的主意。在這個系列中，我將提出不同的寫作技巧，能夠滿足學術和商業領域的寫作需求。這個系列我計劃通過連線詞、標點符號、拼寫和準確定位(正規和不正規比較)來覆蓋各種不同的論據。

If there are any aspects of writing that you’d like me to write about, please do let me know and I will happily add it to the series.

如果你想要我說明關於寫作的某些方面，請告訴我，我非常樂意將它加入到這個系列中。

In this first post of the series, I have decided to examine three punctuation symbols that are used in writing but are often confused and consequently ignored by many people –the dash (-), semicolon (;) and colon (:).

在這個系列的第一篇文章中，我決定剖析三個標點符號，它們是大家在寫作中會經常使用的，但也是經常感到困惑和經常忽略的符號----破折號(-),分號 (;) 和冒號 (:)

I found this extremely helpful and informative infographic prepared by Grammar Net. According to Grammar Net: “ Dashes, semicolons and colons are potent punctuation. They add clarity, call attention to sentence elements and improve the “flow,” but they also add drama and are destructive if over-used.

我發現一個由語法網準備的`一個非常有幫助、涵蓋了有用資訊的資訊圖。根據語法網定義：破折號、分號和冒號都是有效的標點符號。他們增加了句子成分的清晰度，吸引人注意並提高句子的連貫性，但是如果使用過度，也會增加句子的戲劇性，對句子造成破壞性。

This infographic provides a clear explanation of how to use these symbols. Let me know what you think. The infographic refers to period as a punctuation symbol. “Period” is American English. “Full Stop” is British English.

這張資訊圖對如何使用這些符號給出了一個清晰的闡述。讓我知道你是怎麼想的。資訊圖涉及到了作為標點符號的句號。“period”(句號)是美式英語的表達。“Full stop”(句號)是英式英語的表達