2016-11-26
妹妹在申请学校,她写的一篇文章中用了一个词,Based Off Of,让我觉得很奇怪。就说应该是Based On,妹妹说没问题的,她们经常这么说和这么用。当时就没太在意,今天再看他的作文,仍然觉得有点问题。就上网查了查:Based Off Versus Based On
- Lately, I've been hearing people say "based off" instead of "based on,"
and my research shows that the use is increasing rapidly. Since I’ve started teaching, one thing that has jumped out at me is how
many of my students, and also people I just hear in the halls, say
“based off” instead of “based on.” As in, I believe we’re all doomed based off what I saw last night instead of I believe we’re all doomed based on what I saw last night.
- I can’t tell you why people started using the wrong phrase. English
prepositions are often idiomatic, which means that there’s no logical
reason that we use one instead the other. When people ask why New
Yorkers say they stood on line when almost everyone else says they stood
in line, the only answer I have is that it’s a regionalism, and when people ask whether they should say they are in a restaurant or at a restaurant, all I can tell them is that either is fine.
I can tell you that the correct, Standard English phrase is based on, and when you compare the Google Book Ngram results for based off and based on, you reassuringly find that based on is still vastly more popular. Stick with saying your assumptions are based on what you saw last night, but don’t be surprised if you start hearing people use based off. It’s on the rise.
这还只是回答了Base On 和Base Off 的问题。两个回帖才真正回答Base Off Of 的问题:
- My students not only use "based off" all
the time, but it is usually extended into the even less logical or
grammatical monstrosity, "based off of." Yeesh.
- They actually say "based off of" more often now, adding another incorrect preposition.
另外的一个网站,也说Based Off Of仅限于口语用法,在其他场合,只能用Based On。
- You can build something off of a starting point, but you can’t base anything off of anything. Something is always based on something else.
- I checked in the Corpus of Contemporary American English and there are only 7 instances when based off of is used, limited to spoken style. On the other hand, based on occurs with very high frequency in all sorts of discourse, particularly academic but also spoken.
于是给妹妹说,时髦的不一定就是对的,我不管现在你们的同学们怎么说以及这个词将来你们如何用,但现在在大学申请作文中,你必须把这个词给改过来,使用传统认可的标准的语法。你不能冒因为审阅的老师认为你用错了英语语法而把你给拒绝了的风险。妹妹这才同意了。