英语可以说 between...or... 吗

问题描述

between…and…是个很常用的说法，例子也很多，如：

He felt something between laughter and anger. 他既觉得好笑，又感到气愤。

I’ll phone you between lunch and three o’clock. 我将在午餐后三点钟以前给你打电话。

His father gave him a choice between a recorder and a bicycle. 他父亲让他在录音机和自行车之间选一样。

但可以说 between…or… 吗？一般认为是不可以的，但有趣的是，偏偏就有这样一个句子，用的是between…or…：

She had to choose between giving up her job or hiring a nanny. 她得在放弃工作和雇保姆之间作出抉择。

老师答疑

张老师：

▲成立于1998年，以致力于帮助人们享受并有效使用英语为己任的美国Portico Books 明确指出：“Between” should be followed by a plural noun or pronoun, or by nouns and/or pronouns joined by “and”:

Nonstandard: The Super Bowl features a spectacular half-time show between the game. (“between” followed by a singular noun)

Standard: The Super Bowl features a spectacular show between the two halves of the game. (“between” followed by plural “halves”)

Standard: The Super Bowl features a spectacular show between the first half and the second half. (“between” followed by compound object joined by “and”)

Nonstandard: I couldn't decide between the shrimp or the steak.

Standard: I couldn't decide between the shrimp and the steak.（注意在这个否定句中依然如此。）

▲当然，尽管这样，依然可见一些不规范的用法（用or 代替and），有人认为这仅仅是个人风格问题，不过我的建议是最好不用or。

罗老师：

查询了手头所有的词典和资料，均没有看到between…or…的用法，和同事们也讨论了一番，大家都不认同。在网上倒是看到了您提供的句子以及类似的句子，但不足以为证。查询了BNC，也只是看到between or相连接，但是or均为独立使用，意思是“或者”的含义。所以，个人觉得您给的例句应该有误。希望其他老师参与讨论。