as well as 等於and 嗎?

起初學英文, 老師一定會說as well as 等於and. 而and又等於in addition to等等.

事實上, as well as 不完全等於and.

當我們用and時, and連接的兩個詞都是具同等重要性的:

I like playing basketball and playing tennis.

但若我們說:I like playing basketball as well as tennis, 其實重點是放在Playing basketball 上. 就如我們說:

I not only play basketball, but also play tennis.時, 重點放在play tennis 上.

而in addition to也跟as well as 相似, 在in addition to後的名詞, 是「降了格的」(R. Quirk語), 是「已知訊息」.

可是, 也要指出, 有時候as well as 真的解作and, 即是在as well as 前後的詞具同等地位.

那麼, 到底as well as 解and還是in addition to呢? 這要看句意和上下文了….

as well as 作為and的意思,我們稱之為對等連接詞.

as well as 作為in addition 等,我們稱之為準對等連接詞.

所以句子:He taught me as well as listened to me. 和He taught me as well as listening to me也對, 但意思上前者是指taught me 和listened to me是同樣重要的,而第二句暗示taught me比listening to me重要.