大家知道，英語不能將漢語“雖然……但是……”直譯成although / though…but，為什么呢？許多書都認(rèn)為：這是英語的習(xí)慣用法。僅僅是因?yàn)榱?xí)慣用法嗎？這得從英語的句子類型說起。英語中的although / though 為從屬連詞，用于引導(dǎo)讓步狀語從句；而but(但是)為并列連詞，用以連接兩個(gè)句子使之成為并列句。假若在同一句中既用了從屬連詞although / though，又用了并列連詞but，便使得句子一半像復(fù)合句，一半像并列句，從而導(dǎo)致句子句型混亂。正確的做法是，任意去掉although / though 和but 中的一個(gè)，使之要么成為復(fù)合句，要么成為并列句。如：▲雖然他參加這次競賽只不過是鬧著玩兒而已，但贏得了頭獎(jiǎng)。誤：Although he had only entered the contest for fun, but he won first prize.正：Although he had only entered the contest for fun, he won first prize.正：He had only entered the contest for fun, but he won first prize.▲雖然她沒提到我的名字，但我明白她的話是為我好。誤：Although she didn’t mention me by name, but I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.正：Although she didn’t mention me by name, I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.正：She didn’t mention me by name, but I know her remarks were intended for my benefit.但是，我們是不是可以說although 永遠(yuǎn)不能與but連用呢？那也不一定。◎請看一例：But I didn’t know that then, although I learned it later. 但我當(dāng)時(shí)的確不知道此事，盡管后來我還是知道了。此句既用了并列連詞but，又用了從屬連詞although，但它并未造成錯(cuò)誤，原因是此句與上面所討論的情形有所不同，即此句but 用于although 之前，but 在此僅起到與上文轉(zhuǎn)折的作用，but 后的I didn’t know that then, although I learned it later 仍為一個(gè)復(fù)合句。