日暮里駅は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I was at Nippori Station the other day, and when I was walking through the station, I noticed this sign on the steps of one staircase.

× No Stair Sky Liner
○ These stairs are not for the Sky Liner.
○ Not the stairs for the Sky Liner.

• staircase【名】〔壁や手すりを含む〕階段 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Their phrase puts a noun next to another noun, in this case "stair" and "Sky Liner". When we use one noun in front of another noun, the first noun becomes an adjective to describe the second noun. In their mistake, it sounds like "stair" became an adjective to describe "Sky Liner", which makes no sense.

A correct way to use a noun in front of another noun is like this:

• I always put my computer in a foam case when I'm going to take it somewhere. Some people call this foam case a laptop sleeve.

Notice their other mistake, which is using "stair" instead of "stairs". For example:

× I went up the stair.
○ I went up the stairs.

However, if you use "stairs" as an adjective, drop the "s". That's the rule for using a noun as an adjective: only use singular nouns, even if the meaning is plural.

• A stair climber is a strange kind of exercise machine.

Some days I run up the stairs from the ground floor to the floor my apartment is on. That's good exercise! The next time you are going up a staircase, think about using one noun as an adjective to describe another.

「doubt」と「suspect」の違い

When I was in Sydney last month, I ate at this nice Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant:

http://www.motherchusvegetarian.com.au/

It's a chao shao bao, but instead of barbecued pork, it's a vegetarian version with textured soy protein. The spices they used were great, and it was steamed just right.

× You might doubt that it's meat, but it's not.
○ You might suspect that it's meat, but it's not.

Remember that "doubt" means "think not", but "suspect" means "think".

• doubt ～を疑う◆否定的に (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• suspect ～を疑わしく思う、～を本当ではないと思う、～を信用しない (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Both of them are usually used for bad things. For example, I wouldn't say:

× I suspect that the weather will comfortable tonight.
○ I think that the weather will comfortable tonight.

The owner is Mother Chu. I got to talk with her some over the few meals that I ate there, which was a real pleasure. She is in her early 90s, so she could speak Japanese as well. We had a conversation in Chinese and Japanese about what it used to be like in Taiwan and in Sydney, where she has lived for 30 years (I think that is what she said). She even sang an old Japanese song for me.

You might doubt that a woman in her 90s could still work in a restaurant, but Mother Chu was sitting at a table and spoke with many of the customers, though I suspect that she probably doesn't bus tables or do much work in the kitchen. I recommend stopping by her restaurant if you are ever in Sydney. I doubt you will be disappointed.