台灣學生從小學到 however = but——結果在 IELTS Writing 裡，超過一半的 Band 6.5 考生寫出這種句子：

❌ I was tired however I went to the party.

這不是 but。這是 run-on sentence（連寫句）。Grammar 自動扣。

為什麼是 Taiwanese 特有錯誤

中文「然而、不過、但是」可以直接接在逗號後：

我很累，然而我還是去了。

但英文的 however 不是連接詞（conjunction），是副詞（adverb）。副詞不能連兩個子句——就像 yesterday 或 surprisingly 不能連兩個子句一樣。

三種正確用法

| 用法 | 結構 | 範例 | |------|------|------| | 句首 | However, + 完整句 | However, I went anyway. | | 句中插入 | 子句 1 + . However, + 子句 2 | I was tired. However, I went. | | 句中插入 (分號) | 子句 1 ; however, 子句 2 | I was tired; however, I went. |

注意：用法 2 跟 3 都要有句號或分號在前面——不能只用逗號。

五個 ❌ vs ✅ 對比

| ❌ Wrong | ✅ Correct | |---------|-----------| | I was tired however I went. | I was tired. However, I went. | | However I went to the party. (缺逗號) | However, I went to the party. | | I studied hard, however I failed. | I studied hard; however, I failed. | | The weather was bad, however, we continued. (兩個逗號像插入語) | The weather was bad. However, we continued. | | However that I was tired, I went. | Although I was tired, I went. |

如果真的想用「but」的語感

用 although / even though / despite——這些是真的連接詞：

  • Although I was tired, I went to the party. ✓
  • Even though I was tired, I went. ✓
  • Despite being tired, I went. ✓
  • I went to the party despite being tired. ✓

Quick Drill — 挑出錯誤

以下 10 句，哪些是錯的？

  1. The food was delicious however it was expensive.
  2. However, the results were surprising.
  3. He studied hard. However, he failed the test.
  4. I like coffee, however, I cannot drink it at night.
  5. However I tried, I could not finish.
  6. She is intelligent; however, she is lazy.
  7. However he was tired, he continued.
  8. The plan sounds good. However it has risks.
  9. Prices rose however demand stayed strong.
  10. However beautiful the scenery was, we had to leave.

Answer Key

| # | 判斷 | 解釋 | |---|------|------| | 1 | ❌ | Run-on。改 delicious. However, it 或 delicious, but it | | 2 | ✅ | 句首 + 逗號，標準用法 | | 3 | ✅ | 句號切開，完美 | | 4 | ❌ | 用逗號連兩句是 comma splice。改分號或句號 | | 5 | ❌ | 缺逗號。改 However, I tried 但語意不通——這裡該用 However hard I tried 或 No matter how hard I tried | | 6 | ✅ | 分號 + however + 逗號，正式書寫標準 | | 7 | ❌ | However 不能當 although 用。改 Although he was tired | | 8 | ❌ | 第二句 However 後面缺逗號 | | 9 | ❌ | Run-on。改 rose. However, demand | | 10 | ✅ | 這是 however + 形容詞 的副詞用法（= no matter how beautiful），合法 |

記住這一條

如果 however 左邊有逗號右邊也有逗號——99% 是錯的。寫完檢查一下 Ctrl+F 搜 "however"，每個都看兩眼。

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