【英語論文の書き方】第39回　previous, preceding, earlierのちがい 論文翻訳・英文校正　研究者専門の翻訳会社　ワールド翻訳サービス

前回の第38回では
(1) 科学論文での副詞の正しい使い方
(2) 「誰かに同意する」という表現。
(3) over と more than、どちらが科学論文にはふさわしい？
を取り上げました。

今回の第39回では、以下3つのテーマを取り上げます。
 (1) Plurals of proper nouns such as geographical features
海・川など地理上の固有名詞を2つ以上並べるときについての注意点。

(2) Previous, preceding, earlier, and similar expressions
previous, preceding, earlierといった表現の違いを知っていますか？
同じように使っていた人は要注意です。

(3) Technology or technologies? When should we use the plural form?
technology と technologies。複数形にするのはどんなとき？

それではどうぞご覧ください！

In this review, first we explore a recent change in the way that plurals of proper nouns are written. We then look at the correct usage of expressions such as previous, preceding, earlier, and so on, then end with a few words on technology versus technologies.
 

Traditionally, the standard practice in English has been that when mentioning two or more geographical features (expressed as proper nouns) together, such as the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, we would write “the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.” Here, the actual names (Pacific and Atlantic) have an uppercase initial letter P and A, respectively, but the generic term that they share (oceans) has a lowercase letter o. In cases where the generic term is written before the actual names, however, the generic term is still capitalized. So we would traditionally write “Lakes Biwa and Kasumigaura” (not lakes), but “the Kumano and Tenryū rivers” (not Rivers), “Ibaraki and Kanagawa prefectures” (not Prefectures), and so on.
 
Notice that the word traditionally appears twice in the preceding paragraph. The reason is that the standard practice seems to have changed! In the latest (16th) edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, the style for writing plurals of proper nouns has been revised, and, as mentioned in Sections 8.52 and 8.55, the style that was used in earlier editions has been adopted again.
 
In this style, the generic term (oceans, rivers, etc.) should also be written with an uppercase initial letter, which, the manual says, “signals unambiguously that the generic term forms part of each proper noun.” Since The Chicago Manual of Style is generally considered to be the “Bible” of style manuals for English works produced in Japan, I recommend that this new style be adopted. Therefore, we would write the previously mentioned expressions as follows, with an uppercase initial letter in each case:

• “the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.”
• “the Kumano and Tenryū Rivers”
• “Ibaraki and Kanagawa Prefectures”
• “Lakes Biwa and Kasumigaura” (same as before)

 
This change in the standard practice specified by The Chicago Manual of Style is a good example of the ongoing evolution of the English language.

People often use the words previous and preceding interchangeably, as if they have the same meaning, but in fact there is a subtle distinction in their usage. Let’s look at an example in which you are writing a sentence in Section 4 of your paper, and you wish to refer to something that you have described in an earlier section.
 
If the section you are referring to is the one immediately before the present section (in other words, if you are writing a sentence in Section 4 that refers to Section 3), the correct expression to use is preceding. For example:

• “As described in the preceding section, . . .”

(Notice that the is used here, because there is only one preceding section.)
 
If, on the other hand, you are referring in a more general way to any of Sections 1, 2, or 3, you can choose from several expressions that are less specific, such as previous, earlier, and mentioned above, as follows:
 

• “As described in a previous section, . . .”
• “As described earlier, . . .”
• “As described above, . . .”

 
The best policy, of course, is always to be as specific as possible in your scientific writing, so it would usually be better to write “As described in Section 2” rather than “As described earlier” or “As described above.” However, sometimes those less specific expressions may be preferable, such as to avoid repetitiousness or when referring to more than one section.
 
Let me add a word of caution about the adverb previously. This particular expression has the nuance that you are referring to a previous study, not to a previous section, paragraph, etc. in the present paper. Therefore, it is best not to use the word previously when referring to a section, etc. in the present paper, and to use it only when referring to an earlier study (either by you or by other researchers); for example, “We have previously reported that. . . .”
 
One final word of caution: We don’t normally use the word preceding when referring to a study or report. Therefore, even when you are referring to a study that you reported in a scientific paper immediately before the present paper, you should write “In our previous study,” not “In our preceding study.” 

Some authors tend to use the word technology like a mass (uncountable) noun, particularly in the main title of their paper, even when multiple technologies are being described in the paper. As an example, we might see a paper entitled “Newly Developed Image Processing Technology.” If the paper is reporting only a single technology, there is no problem. If, however, the paper is reporting two or more newly developed image processing technologies, or describing newly developed image processing technologies in a general sense, then the plural form, technologies, should be used.
 
Please take good care not to become fatigued during the hot summer months.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Bob Gavey
For World Translation Services, Inc.

第１回　if、in case、when の正しい使い分け：確実性の程度を英語で正しく表現する
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbunwriting-1/index.html
 
第2回 「装置」に対する英語表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun-equipment/index.html
 
第3回　助動詞のニュアンスを正しく理解する：「～することが出来た」「～することが出来なかった」の表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun3/index.html
 
第4回　「～を用いて」の表現：by と with の違い
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun-writing4/index.html
 
第5回　技術英文で使われる代名詞のitおよび指示代名詞thisとthatの違いとそれらの使用法
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun-daimeishi/index.html
 
第6回　原因・結果を表す動詞の正しい使い方：その1 原因→結果
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun6-kekka/index.html
 
第7回　原因・結果を表す動詞の使い方：その2 結果→原因
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun-kekka/index.html
 
第8回　受動態の多用と誤用に注意
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun-writing8/index.html
 
第9回　top-heavyな英文を避ける
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigoronbun-topheavy/index.html
 
第10回　名詞の修飾語を前から修飾する場合の表現法
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun10/index.html
 
第11回　受動態による効果的表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun11/index.html
 
第12回　同格を表す接続詞thatの使い方
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun12/index.html
 
第13回 「技術」を表す英語表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun13/index.html
 
第14回　「特別に」を表す英語表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun14/index.html
 
第15回　所有を示すアポストロフィー + s ( ’s) の使い方
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun15/index.html
 
第16回　「つまり」「言い換えれば」を表す表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun16/index.html
 
第17回　寸法や重量を表す表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun17/index.html
 
第18回　前置詞 of の使い方: Part 1
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun18/index.html
 
第19回　前置詞 of の使い方: Part 2
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun19/index.html
 
第20回　物体や物質を表す英語表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun20/index.html
 
第21回　句動詞表現より1語動詞での表現へ
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun21/index.html
 
第22回　不定詞と動名詞: Part 1
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun22/index.html
 
第23回　不定詞と動名詞の使い分け: Part 2
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun23/index.html

第24回　理由を表す表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun24/index.html

第25回　総称表現　（a, theの使い方を含む）
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun25/index.html
　
第26回　「研究開発」を表す英語表現
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun26/index.html

第27回　「0～１の数値は単数か複数か？」
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun27/index.html

第28回　「時制－現在形の動詞の使い方」
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun28/index.html

第29回 　then, however, therefore, for example など接続副詞の使い方
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun29/index.html

第30回　 まちがえやすいusing, based onの使い方－分詞構文
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun30/index.html

第31回　 比率や割合の表現（ratio, rate, proportion, percent, percentage）
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun31/index.html

第32回　英語論文の書き方　総集編
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun32/index.html

第33回　Quality Review Issue No. 23　report, show の時制について
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun33/index.html

第34回　Quality Review Issue No. 24　参考文献で日本語論文をどう記載すべきか
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun34/index.html

第35回　Quality Review Issue No. 25　略語を書き出すときによくある間違いとは？
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun35/index.html

第36回　Quality Review Issue No. 26　％と℃の前にスペースを入れるかどうか
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun36/index.html

第37回　Quality Review Issue No. 27　同じ種類の名詞が続くとき冠詞は付けるべき？！
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun37/index.html

第38回　Quality Review Issue No. 23  日本人が特に間違えやすい副詞の使い方
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun38/index.html