関係代名詞の使い方, part 3

I've been talking about 関係代名詞. You can read the previous posts here, if you haven't already:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/no.html
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/part-2.html

The first thing to be sure about is the basic point. Think about these two sentences:

• I made these noodles on Sunday night.
• They're Chinese-style noodles with fake minced meat topping.

(definitions from 英辞郎 on the web, Edict, and me)

• 偽製 (にせい) (adj) fake; imitation;
• minced meat - ひき肉、ミンチ（した肉）
• fake minced meat - ひき肉擬き (?)

An easy way to start is from the pronoun "they".

• 代名詞 (n) (ling) pronoun; (P);

"They" means "these noodles". For a relative pronoun, in this case we can use "which" or "that".

• I made these noodles, which are Chinese-style noodles with fake minced meat topping, on Sunday night.

You could also say this:

• These noodles, which I made on Sunday night, are Chinese-style noodles with fake minced meat topping.

One of the most common mistakes I hear related to relative pronouns is repeating the noun. Don't do this:

• × These noodles, which I made these on Sunday night, are Chinese-style noodles with fake minced meat topping.

I used some vegetables. Those vegetables are spinach and cilantro. -> The vegetables which I used are spinach and cilantro.

• コリアンダー , シャンツァイ (zh:) パクチー (th: pak chi), 香菜 (n) coriander; cilantro; dhania; Chinese parsley (Coriandrum sativum);

The post which I write tomorrow will also be about relative pronouns.

• I will write a post tomorrow.
• It will also be about relative pronouns.

Of course, I'm always ready to answer any questions which you would like to ask. <- break this sentence into two parts. I'll show you the answer tomorrow.

スキンヘッド と言う言葉を使ってはならない。

One of my students told me that her boss was a スキンヘッド. What she actually meant was that her boss' head was shaved. Professional swimmers often shave their head.

A skinhead is someone who shaves their head and thinks that white people are the best race and are anti-immigrant. However students usually say "彼はスキンヘッドだ！" So next time, when you see someone with no hair on their head, don't say スキンヘッド unless they are dressed like the people in the image above.

関係代名詞の使い方, part 2

Sorry I missed a day! Here are the relative clauses in the story I wrote. If you haven't read it, go read it and then come back to this post.

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/no.html

These are the relative clauses:

• ... to eat at an Indian restaurant called Raj. -> an Indian restaurant which is called Raj
• It's a restaurant which I had eaten at before.
• ...and so was the food I ate on Saturday night. -> and so was the food that I ate on Saturday night
• One of the things which I had for the first time was nan with jam on it.
• I've eaten nan that had nuts and fruit in it before, but I don't remember where I had it.
• The waiter said the jam, which you can see is kind of reddish, was made from pineapple.
• ...but I prefer the dal served at this restaurant in Ebisu -> the dal which is served at this restaurant in Ebisu
• The chef there is a nice Sri Lankan vegetarian named Rohan. -> a nice Sri Lankan vegetarian who is named Rohan

We'll be talking about some rules for relative clauses soon!

ROY G BIV は何ですか？

Before you read any further, quick how many colors are there in a rainbow? 1, 2, 3,... give up? There are seven colors in a rainbow and pink isn't one of them. There are a few good mnemonics in English and ROY G BIV is a very useful one to remember the colors of a rainbow.

*mnemonic--簡略記憶記号
The pronunciation of this word is quite tricky. The "m" is silent, read this word starting with "n", as in "nemonic" (nĭ-mŏn'ĭk)

I've heard there are a lot of good mnemonics and puns in Japanese. The one I know is
"うぐいす鳴くよ平安京" Please tell us some of your favorite mnemonics and puns.

Can you figure out what the 7 colors are using ROY G BIV? Email us if you know.

Before I sign off, here are the answers for my blog post a few days ago.

FC Barcelona beat Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League finals.
I have been playing the lottery for years but I have never won a big prize.
Do you know who won the British Open last week?
If Ryo Ishikawa played Tiger Woods, who do you think would win?
If Ryo Ishikawa played Tiger Woods, do you think Ryo can beat Tiger?
I am very competitive (負けず嫌い), I play to win.

関係代名詞の使い方

We'll talk about relative pronouns for a few days, I think.

• 関係代名詞 (かんけいだいめいし) (n) (ling) relative pronoun;

To start with, can you find all of the relative clauses in this story? Remember, some of them might be hidden.

• relative clause 関係詞節

I went to the 新丸ビル for dinner on Saturday night to eat at an Indian restaurant called Raj.

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a634257/

It's a restaurant which I had eaten at before. It was delicious before, and so was the food I ate on Saturday night.

One of the things which I had for the first time was nan with jam on it. I've eaten nan that had nuts and fruit in it before, but I don't remember where I had it.

Anyway, I recommend that nan. The waiter said the jam, which you can see is kind of reddish, was made from pineapple.

• reddish やや赤い、赤らんだ、赤みを帯びた、赤色調｛せきしょく ちょう｝の

The dal was nice, but I prefer the dal served at this restaurant in Ebisu:

http://cdet.jugem.jp/?eid=459

The chef there is a nice Sri Lankan vegetarian named Rohan. Chat with him in English if you get a chance.

Find the relative clauses above, and check back tomorrow for more!

Another difficult 条件文

We talked about conditional sentences a while ago.

• conditional sentence - 条件文

Here's a link to the last post in the series, for review:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/06/if-you-are-sure-something-will-happen.html

Here's a more advanced conditional sentence which doesn't seem to follow the rules we talked about before. First though, we talked about this simple conditional sentence before:

If __(condition), __(main clause, result)__.
If it rains, we'll get wet. <- the condition is "it rains", and the result is "we'll get wet"

Here's more about first conditional sentences:
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/06/if-i-dont-hang-this-laundry-tonight-it.html

If __(s)__ __(be+v+infinitive)__, __(main clause)__.
(desired situation) , (prerequisite)
前提条件 (ぜんていじょうけん) (n) precondition; prerequisite; (definition from Edict)
If we are to stay dry, we have to take our umbrellas. <- Taking our umbrellas is necessary for staying dry. If we are going to stay dry, we have to take our umbrellas. (also OK)

This looks like future in the "if" clause. However, in this case, "are to stay dry" or "are going to stay dry" basically means "want to stay dry". So, you could say this:

If we want to stay dry, we have to take our umbrellas.

There... it looks like a regular first conditional sentence.

I was early to class on Thursday. The classroom is on the 14th floor of a building at Shiba-Koen, and I was enjoying the view of Shiodome. Then I thought to myself, "if I am to have a smooth class, I had better start to prepare for the lesson." Before I did that, though, I took this picture.

There's still a lot to be done tonight. If I am to sleep before 3am, I should finish this post and get on to the next task. Enjoy your weekend!

win と beat の正しい使い方

I win him!!!

This is one mistake I hear all too frequently.
Beat and win are quite similar but yet they are very different.

You can win a match, a game, an award, a tournament, the lottery.

You can beat something (e.g. a computer system) or somebody (e.g. Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick at Wimbledon recently)

Try some yourself...

FC Barcelona _______ Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League finals.
I have been playing the lottery for years but I have never _______ a big prize.
Do you know who ________ the British Open last week?
If Ryo Ishikawa played Tiger Woods, who do you think would ______?
If Ryo Ishikawa played Tiger Woods, do you think Ryo can _____ Tiger?
I am very competitive (負けず嫌い), I play to _______.

If you still aren't sure, please ask us in class.

「not only」の使い方

"Not only" is a tricky phrase.

not only A but also B - AだけでなくBも、AのみならずBも、AばかりでなくBも◆alsoは省略されることもある。(definition from 英辞郎 on the web)

You can read more about it at their website:

http://eow.alc.co.jp/not+only+but+also/UTF-8/

The tricky thing about using it is that the subject and the verb are reversed in the "not only" phrase, like this:

• It was hot today.
• It was humid, too.

× Not only it was hot today, but it was also humid.
○ Not only was it hot today, but it was humid, too.

I got these neat tea bags from someone last week. Unlike a regular tea bag, they are like skinny pyramids.

One nice part of the design is the wire in the string. At the end of the string is tag that looks like a tea leaf. Because of the shape, you don't need to wrap the string around the handle. It won't fall into the cup by accident. Here's the company's website:

http://www.teaforte.com/

Not only do they look nice, the tea tasted really nice, too. Thanks!

「so」の使い方、復習

There have been a few posts about "so" recently. Here's the list of all of the posts.

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/so.html
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-about-so.html
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/even-more-about-so.html
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-that-so.html

Here's a story to review what you've learned.

In the early evening on Sunday, I was in Yurakucho to do some shopping and have dinner. I don't like the restaurants there so much, but I needed to do some shopping at Bic Camera.

When I got to the plaza between the station and マルイ(spelling???), I noticed again that 50 people or so had their cellphones raised to the sky.

I walked into the plaza so that I could see the sky in the direction they were pointing. Once again, there was a double rainbow! It was so beautiful!

"It can't be so," I thought, "twice in only a few months!"

Of course, everyone was so impressed that they couldn't help but take pictures. I did so, too. Still, compared to the real thing, this photo is just so-so.

"Is that so?"

Somehow my posts over the past week or so turned into a series about "so".

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/so.html
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-about-so.html
http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/even-more-about-so.html

There are at least these two things left to talk about.

First, "so" can be used like in the sentence above. It's used to show that a number is approximate.

近似 (きんじ) (n,vs) approximate; proximate;
近似値 (きんじち) (n) approximate; approximation;
○ He's about 50 or so.
○ A: How many people were there? B: 100 or so.

Don't use it like this:

× It was green or so.
○ It was kind of green.
× We were happy or so.
○ We were somewhat happy.

Tomorrow there's an eclipse. It's the longest one of the 21st century, according to the press.

• eclipse of the sun
  日食｛にっしょく｝

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8161578.stm

"Is that so?" you might ask.

Is that so? そうなんですか。／そうなの？◆言い方によっては「ふーん」という風な、あまり興味がない様子を表す。そんなものなのだろうか。◆【出典】『ナンパ天国ニッポン』（ひらがなタイムズ編）／株式会社ヤック

Yes, really!

work out のいろな使い方

One of my students was a little confused about the various meanings of work out so let's see if I can work it out.

Here is one common usage of the word
〔ジムなどで〕運動｛うんどう｝する、トレーニングする、汗を流す
Do you work out? : 規則的に運動していますか？
It's time to work out. : 〔フィットネス・センターで〕運動する時間です。


Here is another way
何とか解決｛かいけつ｝する、丸く収める、何とかなる、うまくいく、いい結果｛けっか｝が出る、良い結果｛けっか｝となる
Don't worry. Things will work out. : 心配ないって。何とかなるよ。
We'll work it out. ; I'm sure we can work it out. : どうにかなるよ。◆失敗したり、問題を抱えていたりして、落ち込んでいる相手を励ます表現。自分たちの問題としてとらえるときにはweを使う。

And last but not least,
苦労｛くろう｝してやり遂げる、苦心｛くしん｝して成就｛じょうじゅ｝する、成し遂げる、成功｛せいこう｝する、成立｛せいりつ｝させる、成り立つ、実現｛じつげん｝する、実施｛じっし｝する、〔期間｛きかん｝の最後｛さいご｝まで〕勤め上げる

〔問題｛もんだい｝・謎・パズル・暗号｛あんごう｝を〕苦労｛くろう｝して解く、解明｛かいめい｝する、解決｛かいけつ｝する、分析｛ぶんせき｝する
I am planning to work out a problem.
Details are being worked out. : 細部は現在詰めているところである。

Even more about "so"

There are so many things to say about "so". Here's another thing you should remember.

"So" plus "do" can be used as a substitute for a long verb phrase. This might give you trouble when you are reading. For example:

(definitions from 英辞郎 on the web and Edict)

• You're free to do so. ご自由にどうぞ。／勝手にどうぞ。◆「お勧めできない」という含みを持つことも多い。特に、誘いに対する答えとしては通例「あなたがやるのは勝手だが、私はやらない」というニュアンス
• Usually it's not possible to do so. 通常、そうすることは不可能だ。

Look at this one:

• Drinking water is very important for our health. Drinking enough water is especially important when the weather is humid and warm. 蒸し暑い (むしあつい) (adj) humid; sultry; (P);

That sentence is pretty long. You can use "so" to make it a little shorter:

• Drinking water is very important for our health. Doing so is especially important when the weather is humid and warm.

What do these sentences mean?

• I used to go back to my hometown every year for Christmas when I lived in the US. Last year I didn't do so. hometown - (生まれ）故郷｛こきょう｝、出身地
• I often eat dal with naan for lunch on weekdays. Today I did so. dal - レンズ豆のカレー
• When you feel you are catching a cold, I recommend cutting up a bunch of ginger, boiling it for 20 minutes, and then drinking the tea. I hope you'll do so next time you feel under the weather. 生姜 (しょうが) (n) ginger;

I think I didn't drink enough water today; I'll try to do so tomorrow. Make sure you do so, too. You are always welcome to ask me questions about what I write on the blog. I hope you'll do so.

More about "so"

A few days ago, I was talking about "so".

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/so.html

Here's another mistake that I should have pointed out:

× It was so hot day today.
○ It was so hot today.
○ It was such a hot day.

× Sooooooooooooooooooooo cute baby!!
○ Sooooooooooooooooooooo cute!!
○ Such a cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute baby!!

× I don't like so crowded trains.
○ I don't like such crowded trains.

The patterns you should notice are:

○ Such a _(adj)_ _(n)_!
○ So _(adj)_!

but never:

××× So _(adj)_ _(n)_!

This is an electronic drum. It's such a fun instrument to play, but I'm so busy that I don't get to play it as much as I'd like. I'm looking forward to Obon so that I can play it more.

Because you are reading this blog, I know you are so smart. Such a wise person as yourself will never make this mistake about "so" again, right?

Waterproof と water-resistant の違いは何ですか？

move over!-- どいて!

hit the market
商品化する、市場に出回る
It's a new version to hit the market next spring. :
これは来年の春、商品化するニューバージョンだ

seep in
浸透する、〔知識｛ちしき｝などが〕身に付く

Move over iphone, there are some cooler phones hitting the market. Have you seen the new cell phone that is equipped with a HD video camera? Or perhaps you have seen the cell phone that is partly solar powered. Another one that stands out in my mind is the water-resistant cell phone. Note it is water-resistant, not waterproof.

What is the difference between water resistant and waterproof? If something is water-resistant it can stop or repel water temporarily. It will prevent water from getting through but in heavy rains water will seep in.　　If something is waterproof, it won't let water through. It is tougher.

So my advice is... don't wash a water-resistant cell phone! It is only water-resistant, not waterproof.

「miss」と「mistake」の違いは何ですか?

We talked about making mistakes back on May 9.

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-always-make-this-mistake.html

Here are some other things you should be careful about when talking about your mistakes.

• うっかりミス = × careless miss ○ careless mistake
• スペルミス = × spell miss ○ spelling mistake
• 計算ミス = a miscalculation
• 私のミスです。It's my mistake.

Remember that the verb you should use with "mistake" is "make".

In English, "miss" has a few meanings, but maybe the most common meaning is a verb.

• 慕う (したう) (v5u,vt) to yearn for; to miss; to adore; to love dearly; (P); (but I've heard that you guys don't say this in Japanese)

However, we often say sentences like this in English:

• I miss the food in Taiwan. <- true!
• I don't miss the food in Texas. <- true!

Watch out for these mistakes!

I tried to take a picture of the smoke coming off a burning stick of incense, but I think it was a mistake to try taking such a photo with the poor camera in the iPhone. Maybe I had better stick to photos of the food I cook...

「so」の使い方

People are sometimes confused about using "so", so let's talk about it a bit.

Look at this one first:

× I was surprised so that I couldn't think anything.
○ I was so surprised that I couldn't think of anything.

Use "so" as an adverb in front of an adjective to emphasize it.

○ It was so hot today.

Use "that" at after the complete clause to talk about the result:

○ It was so hot today that I had to take a second shower in the middle of the day.

Even though "so" can be an adverb, you can't use it in front of a verb like this:

× I don't so like cats.
○ I don't like cats so much.

However, you can use it in front of a "be" verb or "do" to mean "also".

× I was very tired, also my coworker.
○ I was very tired, and so were my coworkers.
○ I felt it was hot today, and so did you, I bet.

"So-so" is something we use in conversations, but not to modify another adjective.

× It's so-so easy.
○ It's somewhat easy.

Use it like this:

A: How was the meal?
B: So-so.

Speaking of meals, here's what I made for dinner last night. At the supermarket a few days ago, tomatoes seemed cheap, so I bought a pack of them. Even though they were cheap, they were so delicious. I used most of them last night in this dish, which is chickpeas cooked with onions, tomato, cumin, lemon juice, red pepper, and black pepper.

I don't make a salad with lettuce so often, but somehow I felt it would be good with the chickpeas. For the salad, I made a dressing of vinegar, mustard, black pepper, and a pinch of salt. It was somewhat sour and didn't quite taste like I expected. The results were just so-so.

It was hot today, but I'm cooler now thanks to the AC. Hopefully so are you. Take care in the heat tomorrow!

Enjoying the sunset

I got home a bit earlier than usual last night. When I looked out the window, I saw this beautiful sunset. By the way, why does Japanese have so many words for "sunset"? Which one should I use?

• sunset

1. 夕日｛ゆうひ｝、入り日
2. 夕焼け（空）
3. 夕方｛ゆうがた｝、日暮れ｛ひぐれ｝、たそがれ
4. 末期｛まっき｝、晩年｛ばんねん｝
5. 斜陽｛しゃよう｝、衰退

At street level, I'm rarely aware of the setting sun, and I usually get home long after the sun has gone down.

• at street level 1階［地上｛ちじょう｝］部分｛ぶぶん｝では
• long after ～のずっと後に
• sun goes down 日が沈む［傾く］

As the sun set, I thought the colors were particularly nice, so I wanted to share it with all of you. While I don't care for the summer weather, I should take advantage of the extra daylight.

• sun sets 日が沈む
• I don't care for it. それは嫌です。／それはしません。
• take advantage of an opportunity
  機［チャンス］に乗じる、チャンスを利用｛りよう｝する

We're past the summer solstice, so the sun is setting later every day. Enjoy it while it lasts.

• summer solstice 《the ～》夏至
• Enjoy it while it lasts. 今のうちに楽しもう。◆じきに終わるイベントなどについて

It was a sticky day in the city today.

Sticky, wasn't it?
(definitions from 英辞郎 on the web)

• But it gets really sticky. ベトベトになるんだもん。
• muggy weather = sticky weather 蒸し暑い天気

I am not a big fan of the weather in Tokyo from June to September, but it's an improvement over Taiwan.

• not a big fan of
  《be ～》～が特に好きというわけではない

As much as I like Taiwan, the weather isn't so great. It's like this, but worse, from May to October.

At least it didn't really rain that much today. Someone told me that this year's rainy seaon will end a bit earlier than usual. Hearing that, I felt it's kind of a mixed bag.

• He has a mixed bag of teaching ideas.
  彼は教え方のアイデアが豊富です。

On one hand, it means that the rain would stop. That's good for riding the bicycle. On the other hand, it means that the temperature will go up. That's less than thrilling.

• (similar to) less-than-enthusiastic あまり乗り気でない

Do you have any tips on getting through the rest of the summer?

• What other tips do you have?
  他に何か忠告［助言・秘訣］はありますか？
• get through an ordeal
  厳しい試練｛しれん｝を乗り越える

Frustration with electronic devices

My mixer looks like a planter that hasn't been tended.

• tend a garden 庭の手入れをする

What's more, some of the cables have been going bad, and they need to be replaced.

• 腐る (くさる) (v5r) to rot; to go bad; to corrode; (P);

This past weekend, the left channel was cutting out.

• cut out〔自動｛じどう｝スイッチなどが〕切れる、〔機械｛きかい｝・エンジンなどが〕急に止まる、故障｛こしょう｝する

As a result, I replaced the speaker cables. I found that when I replaced the cables, a significant amount of noise was reduced as well. There was a hiss before that disappeared with the new cables.

• hiss noise 《電》ヒス雑音｛ざつおん｝The Dolby system encodes signal transmission to eliminate high frequency hiss noises.
• hiss of static〔空電｛くうでん｝などの〕シーッという雑音

Maybe an engineer in this blog's audience can explain the reason.

My friend in Amsterdam says it's hard to think of any electronic device which you own that is more than five years old.

• 器 (き) (suf) (1) device; instrument; (2) vessel; container;

I think that's right, cables included. The oldest thing I can think of that I still use are my headphones at the lab, which are exactly five years old now. Maybe that means they are overdue for failure.

• 期限切れ (きげんぎれ) (n,adj-no) expiration of a term; becoming overdue; <- is this the right translation?
  

I hope you don't have to make any costly replacements any time soon.

「taste」の正しい使い方

Here's some more about food. I often hear people use "taste" as a noun, like this.

× Tea is good taste.
× Tea has a good taste.

However, as a noun, "taste" usually has this meaning:

have good taste （～の）センスがある、（～の）趣味｛しゅみ｝が良い
She has good taste.

If you look in the dictionary, probably you will find that it says "taste" as a noun means 味, but it's really not so common, and I don't recommend it for you. If you are talking about the flavor of something (spelled "flavour" in British English), you should use "taste" as a verb.

• 味 (あじ) flavor; flavour

So, what the people above really want to say is:

○ Tea tastes good.
○ The flavor of tea is nice.

I really like the flavor of this spice. It tastes good to me, and reminds me of Taiwan. Some people don't like it because it contains anise.

• 八角 (はっかく) (n) (1) octagon; (2) star anise (spice);

I didn't used to like anise, either, but it grew on me.

grow on someone
〔～に対する不安｛ふあん｝・好意｛こうい｝・関心｛かんしん｝などが〕だんだん大きくなってくる、募ってくる
・Once you live in a place, it grows on you. : 住めば都。
・The idea grew on him. : 彼はその考えに取り付かれていた。
・I didn't like English at first, but it has grown on me. : 最初は英語が嫌いだったけど、だんだん好きになってきた。
(definition from 英辞郎 on the web)

I used a big spoonful of this in the soup I made last night. I also used in the tofu and chives dish that I made back on June 22. Those dishes tasted good, I think. If you have recommendations on ways to use spices to make tofu taste better or special, I'd like to hear them.

「menu」の正しい使い方

Sometimes I hear the word "menu" misused. Sometimes a menu is a document with many items on it. Those items include drinks, side dishes, main dishes, appetizers, desserts, soups, and other things.

menu メニュー、献立表｛こんだてひょう｝; 料理｛りょうり｝、食事

お菜 (おかず) (n) (1) (uk) accompaniment for rice dishes; side dish;
前菜 (ぜんさい) (n) relishes; hors d'oeuvres; smorgasbord; appetizer;

Other times, "menu" just means the list of dishes at a meal.
Watch out for mistakes like these:

× I would like to have this menu. <- strange... it sounds like you are ordering every item which is listed
○ I would like to have this item.
○ I would like to have this dish.

× What menu did you choose? <- strange... it sounds like the restaurant had different lists of dishes, maybe depending on the customer
〜 Which menu items did you choose? <- so-so
○ Which dishes did you choose? <- better

× There wasn't this menu last time I was here. <- strange...
○ The menu is different from last time. <- better, it means that several dishes have changed.
○ This item wasn't on the menu last time I was here. <- better, it means that there is one new item.

× You can get any menu. <- strange... it sounds like there is a choice about which list you choose from...
○ You can get anything on the menu.

In this sentence, the double possessive is strange:

× Your today's menu looks good.
○ Your menu for today looks good.

Remember this sentence. It's a common one.

What's on the menu? <- you saw "on the menu" above; it's a common phrase.

• onthe menu《be ～》メニューにある［載っている］、計画｛けいかく｝［予定｛よてい｝］されている

My menu for this evening included this stir-fried zucchini with ginger and red peppers, root-vegetable soup with shredded tofu and egg noodles, and my favorite dark chocolate for dessert. I will have some almond tofu in a little bit, after finishing this post.
根菜 (こんさい) (n) root vegetable;

I hope you had a healthy and delicious dinner. What was your menu?

「wanna」と「want」の違いは何ですか?

You might have heard or seen the word "wanna" somewhere, like the Cyndi Lauper song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTtelwOgscM

Notice that the Youtube page says "Girls just wanna have fun!" but in the video it says "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".

So, usually "wanna" means "want to". It's basically incorrect, and you shouldn't really use it unless you are writing dialogue. However, even when we use it, we have to follow some basic grammar rules. Remember, if you use a singular third person noun, you have to add "s" to the verb. That means:

× What he wanna do in the future is...
○ What he wants to do in the future is...
× My friend wanna go to that restaurant.
○ My friend wants to go to that restaurant.

These are OK, though, as long as you are talking and not writing:
○ I wanna take a vacation! <- first person, so no "s" = I want to take a vacation.
○ They don't wanna see that. <- third person singular, so no "s" = They don't want to see that.
○ We wanna go home! <- again, no "s" is needed = We want to go home!

Now, I wanna eat this chocolate! It's 86 percent cacao -- my favorite! Have a good weekend!

I'm a happy vegetarian this evening.

Besides some nice conversations, maybe the best thing that happened today was trying a new, delicious, and cheap vegetarian meal.

I mentioned finding it back in June:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/06/if-you-are-sure-something-will-happen.html

At Shiodome City Center, there's a branch of this restaurant:

http://quina.jp/index.html

• branch - 支店

They have a vegan taco rice. It's typical Japanese rice covered with fake taco meat made from soybeans.

• ビーガン (n) vegan; 絶対菜食主義者 (ぜったいさいしょくしゅぎしゃ) (n) vegan;
  
• soybean 《植物》大豆｛だいず｝◆マメ科、一年草。タンパク質が多い。豆腐、みその原料。

They give you a bunch of shredded lettuce and almost a whole avocado to put on top.

• shredded lettuce みじん切りの［細く刻んだ］レタス

There's also salsa. She asked me if I wanted mild or hot. I had expected even the hot sauce to be mild, so I asked for hot. I was surprised when it actually was spicy! It was delicious. What a great dinner that was! On top of that, it was cheap: only 750 yen!

If you find a vegetarian dish in a restaurant you often go, please let me know. Back to English topics tomorrow...

Don't use "both" with a negative.

Today's post is short but important. You can't use "both" when it's connected a verb with "not". Using "not" is a negation.

negation 否定｛ひてい｝［否認｛ひにん｝・反論｛はんろん｝］の言葉｛ことば｝［考え・表現｛ひょうげん｝］◆【用法】可算名詞。
・There are too many negations in the sentence to be understood. : その文には否定表現

× I don't want both of them.
○ I don't want either of them.
× Both of them don't need it.
○ Neither of them need it.

Don't get confused with the difference between negation and a negative meaning (as in, "not good").

○ Neither of them are wrong. = They are both correct.
○ Both of them are wrong. = They are both incorrect.

Both of us, Johnny and I, are from the US. Neither of us drinks. We both have summer birthdays. You can ask both of us questions about English. If your question can't be answered by either of us, I bet there's no answer. Please ask!