【英語論文の書き方】第44回　Reported about, Approach toの前置詞は必要か？ 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

第43回は
(1) Compared with vs. Compared to: A little help from Shakespeare
Compared with とCompared toの違いは？
(2) Some common expressions that are not so suitable for scientific writing
を取り上げました。

第44回の今回は
(1) Reported about? Approach to? Are the prepositions needed here?
Reported about, Approach toの前置詞は必要か？
一般的にはどちらもよくつかわれる表現ですが
論文でも問題ないでしょうか。・・・
 
(2) Tenses that can and cannot be used with the word recently
 “Recently”を使うときの時制は何が正解でしょう？
現在形や現在進行形の文をよく見かけますが…
 
(3) When to write numbers in words or as numerals
数を単語で書くか、あるいは数字で書くか。
数字の書き方について解説します。
また、Perの使い方についても少し触れています。

The majority of Japanese researchers and others writing in English as a second language will agree that the most difficult aspect of English is the usage of articles (a, an, and the), followed by the usage of prepositions (about, to, at, in, on, etc.). In this review, we again look at some problems with expressions containing prepositions, then examine the tenses used with the word recently, another area in which mistakes are often seen. We conclude this issue with some guidance about writing numbers in words or as numerals, as well as the correct usage of the word per.

The past-tense verb reported appears frequently in scientific papers. In everyday speech or writing, we often say things like “Many rumors have been reported about him” or “The students reported about their school trip.” In other words, it is quite common to use the preposition about with the word reported in a general, nonspecific way. (In these two examples, we don’t learn specifically what was reported.) In scientific writing, however, particularly when specifically describing the results of research reported by other researchers, we normally say reported X, not reported about X. If we say, for example, “Smith et al. reported the occurrence of X,” we are specifically stating “Smith et al. reported that X occurred.” On the other hand, if we say “Smith et al. reported about the occurrence of X,” we understand in a general sense that Smith et al. made a report on that subject, but we still don’t specifically know when or whether X actually occurred. Therefore, avoid using the expression reported about in scientific contexts.
 
Another common mistake is to use the preposition to with the word approach when it functions as a verb; for example, “The values approached to the boiling point.” Here, to is incorrect and should be deleted. However, to is used when approach functions as a noun (or a noun-type expression); for example, “We adopted a novel approach to the issue.” Here is another set of examples:
 

• “In order to identify the optimal solution, we approached the task in various ways.” (Approach is a verb here, so to should not be used with it.)
• “In order to identify the optimal solution, we adopted various approaches to the task.” (Approach is a noun here, so it is followed by to.)

 
Incidentally, while we are on the subject of prepositions, note the standard expressions on land, at sea, and in space. Here is an example incorporating all three of these expressions: “This vehicle can be used on land and at sea, but not in space.” Note also that none of these expressions contain an article.

We do not normally use the present tense or the present/past continuous tenses with the word recently. Looking at the present tense, an expression such as “X is recently seen” is incorrect in most cases. (Although you will find thousands of hits if you search for “is recently seen” on the Internet, most of the sentences concerned are grammatically incorrect.) Turning our attention to the present continuous and past continuous tenses, which are usually formed using the -ing form of the verb, the expressions “X is recently increasing” (present continuous tense) and “X was recently increasing” (past continuous tense) are also examples of incorrect expressions.
 
So which tenses can be used with the word recently? The answer is simple: we generally use either the past tense or various forms of the perfect tense. Here are some examples of the correct use of recently with the verb increase:
 

• X recently increased. (past tense)
• X has/have^* recently increased. (present perfect tense)
• X has/have^* recently been increasing. (present perfect continuous tense)
• X had recently increased [when Y occurred]. (past perfect tense)
• X had recently been increasing [when Y occurred]. (past perfect continuous tense)

[* Note: X has indicates that X is singular; X have indicates that X is plural. In the other examples, X can be either singular or plural.]
 
To summarize, the easiest way to remember the correct usage of the word recently is to use either the simple past tense, or any of the perfect-type tenses containing the words has, have, or had. If you keep this simple rule in mind, your expressions will generally be fine. 

Numbers from zero to nine are usually spelled out in full, unless they are used with an abbreviated unit of measure. Therefore, we would write nine minutes, but 9 min. (The numeral 9 is used if minutes is abbreviated as min.)
 
Usually, numbers from 10 onwards are written in numerals, not in words, up to 999,999. We would never write 3 hundred or 7 thousand (correct styles: 300 and 7,000, respectively). From the million level, a combination of numerals and words is used; for example, 1 million, 1.82 billion, etc. However, if there are three or more numerals following the decimal point in numbers of 1 million or higher, the number should be written out in full. Therefore, we would write 1.82 million (because there are only two numerals after the decimal point), but 1,821,000 (not 1.821 million, because that would result in three numerals after the decimal point).
 
A final word on the theme of numbers, concerning the word per. Since per already contains the nuance of “one,” it is never followed by a word such as a or one. For example, it would be incorrect to say “three samples per one container”; the correct style is simply “three samples per container.”
 
Until next time, please keep up the good work!
 
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. 22  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

第39回　Quality Review Issue No. 21  previous, preceding, earlierなどの表現のちがい
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun39/index.html

第40回　Quality Review Issue No. 20　using XX, by XXの表現の違い
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun40/index.html

第41回　Quality Review Issue No. 19　increase, rise, surgeなど動詞の選び方
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun41/index.html

第42回　Quality Review Issue No. 18　論文での受動態の使い方
​http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun42/index.html

第43回　Quality Review Issue No. 17　 Compared with とCompared toの違いは？
http://worldts.com/english-writing/eigo-ronbun43/index.html​