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(wú)論你在寫(xiě)婚禮致辭還是科技報(bào)告，選擇正確的詞對(duì)表達(dá)信息而言都十分重要。你需要選擇適用于主題的詞匯，向特定受眾清晰地表達(dá)你的想法。

1. Choose everyday words 選擇日常用詞

It is true that English has a vast and varied vocabulary. However, we mostly communicate using only a fraction of those words. 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.
英語(yǔ)的詞匯的確豐富多樣，但在交流時(shí)我們多數(shù)只用到一小部分。這些詞匯都是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的日常用詞，如：tall（高的），eat（吃），forget（忘記），good（好的）。這些都是人們最常用的詞。所以，如果你的文章少用華麗辭藻而多用日常用詞，對(duì)讀者而言便更曉暢明了。

2. Choose appropriate formal, neutral, and informal words 選擇恰當(dāng)?shù)恼接谜Z(yǔ)、中性詞、非正式用語(yǔ)

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.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!
英語(yǔ)中有很多近義詞，但近義詞并非意思完全一致。近義詞用于不同的寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格，有些正式，有些口語(yǔ)化。比如，很多詞都表達(dá)“偷”這一概念，但又都不盡相同。我們以其中三個(gè)詞為例：“purloin”一定是正式用語(yǔ)，而“steal”則是中性詞，既不是正式用語(yǔ)也不是非正式用語(yǔ)。然而，“nick”則一定是非正式用語(yǔ)。如果你在犯罪新聞報(bào)導(dǎo)上看到它，一定會(huì)驚訝萬(wàn)分。

3. Use inclusive vocabulary 使用包容性詞匯

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).
尊重社會(huì)不同群體很重要，特殊群體有殘障人士、老年人、少數(shù)民族群體等等。表達(dá)尊重的一種途徑就是使用恰當(dāng)?shù)摹⒎瞧缫曅缘恼Z(yǔ)言。尤為重要的是，你應(yīng)當(dāng)選擇不分性別的詞匯，而不能暗含對(duì)男性的偏袒。這樣做的方式有很多。舉個(gè)例子，如今提及到某種職業(yè)，較為規(guī)范的做法是避免使用只涉及某一性別的詞語(yǔ)，如用actor來(lái)替代actress，用police officer替代policeman。

4. Enrich your vocabulary 豐富詞匯量

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!
通過(guò)擴(kuò)大詞匯量，你有更多的詞匯可供選擇，這就意味著很有可能你可以找到一個(gè)能夠最精確表達(dá)你想法的詞語(yǔ)。閱讀是學(xué)習(xí)新單詞的最佳途徑。但是，在使用任何一個(gè)新單詞之前，請(qǐng)務(wù)必翻翻字典查詞意！

聲明：本雙語(yǔ)文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語(yǔ)原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容，轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個(gè)人觀點(diǎn)，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。