not...because...的語意

because這個連接詞大家耳熟能詳，但是在閱讀或寫作時將not和because連用，若不加注意，可能會造成很大的誤解，請看下面例句：

[1] She didn't marry him because of his money.

[2] They didn't sack him because he was crazy, but because of his attitude.

[3] Raven didn't leave the party early because Carol was there.

[4] Raven didn't leave the party early, because Carol was there.

以上例句because前面都出現了not，比較[3]和[4]，這兩句的意思可說是天壤之別，[3]的意思是：Raven提早離開派對並不是因為Carol在場。

Raven didn't leave the party early because Carol was there.

= Raven left the party early, not because Carol was there, but for some other reason.

相較而言，[4]的意思卻是：Raven沒有提早離開，因為Carol在。

Raven didn't leave the party early, because Carol was there.

= Raven didn't leave the party early, and the reason he didn't was that Carol was there.

   (Raven沒有提早離開的原因是Carol在)

= Because Carol was there,  Raven didn't leave the party early.

同理，[1] She didn't marry him because of his money.應譯為"她嫁給他並不是因為他的錢"，[2]則譯為"他們不是因為他不理智而開除他，而是因為他的態度不佳"。

因此，not跟because連用，一個逗點可讓意思相差十萬八千里，學的時候真的要小心這種特別的用法。