否則的話 - 古德明

2013年09月18日 - 蘋果

問：Failing which應用來接連一句的上下文，還是用來起句？讀文件，兩種用法都見過。

答：Which可以用來指「句子前文所述事情」，例如：He felt tired, which was not surprising（他感到疲倦，這並不奇怪）。有時，which還可以指「上一句所述事情」，例如：He felt tired. Which was not surprising：一般而言；代名詞which不用來起句，Which was not surprising會寫作That was not surprising。

不過，用which起句也不算錯。朗文英文用法指南Longman Guide to English Usage which條講得很清楚：Some writers use"which" to refer even to a preceding sentence.... This device seems legitimate, but it should not be allowed to become a mannerism（有些作者甚至用which來指上一句所述的事。這用法似無不當，但不應常用）。Longman Guide還局部徵引了Nation Review（Melbourne）的文字作例子：... can be overcome by basing these programs on need not race. Which is fine。

Failing which即「不是這樣的話」或「否則」，那which就是指「上文或上一句所述的事」，所以，以下兩個寫法都正確：I will try to get a capable assistant, failing which I will have to go it alone/ I will try to get a capable assistant. Failing which I will have to go it alone。第二個寫法較為少見，但不能算是錯誤。Which用來起句，多是因為前一句頗長，為方便閱讀，所以另起一句。