助動詞に過去動詞を付けないこと

Yesterday the weather forecast I saw didn't predict rain. It was a nasty shock when I looked out the window and saw heavy rain falling, especially since my helmet was hanging on my bicycle and filling up with water.

Today I was a bit wary when I looked at the sky and saw the clouds. I put my rain suit in my bag, but of course, since I brought it, it hasn't rained.

There's a weird basic English rule: don't use a past tense verb after an auxiliary verb.

• auxiliary verb《文法》助動詞｛じょどうし｝表現パターンauxiliary ［helping］ verb

Instead, use present perfect tense after an auxiliary verb to express the past.

× I should brought my rain suit yesterday, too.
○ I should have brought my rain suit yesterday, too.

× Maybe if I had brought my rain suit, it wouldn't rained.
○ Maybe if I had brought my rain suit, it wouldn't have rained.

I wonder if I can cause the typhoon to stay away by keeping my rain suit in bag for the rest of the week.

「aka」の意味

The name of this brand really puzzles me. I suppose that's OK, since it's a Japanese brand for Japanese consumers. Still, what is this, really?

• As Know As Pinky

I wonder if it was a mistake, originally. There is a common abbreviation in English -- "aka" -- which means "also known as". That would make sense, as in "This is a brand which is also known as Pinky."

• aka 【略】＝also known as～の別名でも知られる、別名～、別称～、またの名を、一名～という◆略語のakaは砕けた文では意味が広がってie（すなわち）のように用いられることもある。(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

It's an abbreviation, so read it as "A K A". It is often used with periods, like "a.k.a.", and we often use a.k.a. like this:

Nick, aka "Strange Animal", is one of the authors of this blog.

However, "as know as"... I'm lost with that one. "As" is a conjunction or a preposition, usually. That means it should be followed with a noun or a sentence. "Know" is a verb. Weird.

At least it's catchy. I always recognize it when I see it because it is such a strange name.

They have a whole string of brands, and even an English home page.

http://www.asknowas.com/english/about_us.html

With such an incomprehensible brand name, their website is strangely mostly free of English mistakes. Nice job! Good luck, "As Know As"! Thanks for making the English on your website correct!

「success」の使い方

I haven't put up any pictures of food I've cooked lately. One reason is that I haven't been cooking so much lately. I've been too busy.

I cooked these fried noodles the other day. Besides onions, carrots, and fried tofu, I used some spicy oil with sesame seeds. The noodles were just ordinary buckwheat noodles. You might want to ask me:

× Did you success?
○ Did you succeed?
○ Were they a success?
○ Were they successful?

Notice that "success" is a noun. The verb is "succeed", and the adjective is "successful".

• (definitions from Eijiro on the Web)
• success 成功（者）｛せいこう（しゃ）｝、合格｛ごうかく｝
• succeed【自動】成功｛せいこう｝する
• successful【形】〔結果｛けっか｝が〕上出来｛じょうでき｝な、上首尾｛じょうしゅび｝の、成功｛せいこう｝した

Yeah! These noodles were a big success, I thought. However, it could have been just because I was really hungry at the time.

One thing that I haven't been successful at is posting on this blog twice a week. Let's see if I have more success this week.

水関係言葉

I was pouring sweat this afternoon. I needed to go several places, and with the heat, my body's natural reaction was to drench my tshirt.

• pour sweat 全身｛ぜんしん｝に大汗｛おおあせ｝をかく、汗だくになる (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• drench 水浸｛みずびた｝しにする、びしょぬれにする (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

I changed out of my wet tshirt when I got back to the office.  I stuck my head in the sink and splashed it with cool water, then I felt much better.

• splash〔液体｛えきたい｝を〕散らす、飛ばす(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

This bottle of water wasn't enough to quench my thirst. I felt more satisfied after a bit more water and then a cup of coffee.

• quench thirst 渇きを癒やす(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

The soil for the plants wasn't moist at all, so I poured water in the pots. I wonder if they actually prefer the heat when we're out of the office to the cool air-conditioned air when we're in the office.

• moist【形】湿った、湿気｛しっけ｝のある、ぬれた、涙ぐんだ、じっとりしている(definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• pour～を注ぐ、液体｛えきたい｝をつぐ、光を放射｛ほうしゃ｝する、弾丸｛だんがん｝を浴びせる、殺到｛さっとう｝する(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

It will feel good to rinse off in the shower when I get home.

• rinse off ゆすぎ落とす、洗い流す(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

「the number of」と「a number of」の違い

We had an interesting discussion in class the other day. Somebody had said something like:

× The number of people was doing something.
○ A number of people were doing something.

The person brought up a good point, though.

"Isn't 'number' usually used with a singular noun?" he asked.

He was right that we often use "number" that way, but "number" has a number of meanings.

A number of [plural noun] [plural verb]. <- "number" means "several"
The number of [plural noun] [singular verb]. <- "number" means "quantity"

• the number of ～の数 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• a number of 多数の、たくさんの、多くの、いくつかの、いくらかの、複数の、若干の (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Since "a number" means "several", it's plural, so if you use it as the subject, you need to use a plural verb. "The number" means one quantity, so it should be followed by a singular verb.

A number of leaves on this plant are a bit strange, like this one. The number isn't so large, but I'm still a little worried about it. I don't have a green thumb, so I'm not so sure what to do about it.

• green thumb 園芸｛えんげい｝［植物栽培｛しょくぶつ さいばい｝］の才◆【語源】親指が緑色になるくらいに植物をいじっているところから。(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Do any of the gardners out there have any advice? I'm sure a number of you kind readers are better with plants than me.

「SHIRTS PLAZA」は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い＋「well」の使い方

I'm frequently in Yaechika (八重洲地下街), and as I walk down the hallways, the English there jumps out at me. I saw this sign:

× Shirts Plaza, well best selection shirt
○ Shirt Plaza, the best selection of shirts

It's kind of sad when a company's name, not just their slogan, has a grammar mistake.

• I think it's kind of sad. 何だか悲しいね。(example from Eijiro on the Web)

The reason is that when we use a noun as an adjective, we usually use the singular form, not the plural form. In this case, "shirt" is a noun. It's describing "plaza", which is a noun. That means that in this case, "shirts" acts like an adjective. That's why it should say "shirt" instead of "shirts".

The worst part of this sign is their slogan. "Well" is an adverb. Use it to describe verbs. For example:

• I can't write Japanese well. <- "well" describes "write", which is a verb

"Well" is very close in meaning to "good". The superlative form of "good" is "best".

• superlative adjective 最上級形容詞 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Basically, we never use "good" with "best", and we certainly don't use "well" with "best".

Please try to speak English well. By reading this blog, you are going to have the best English.