「ask」の使い方

This mistake comes up all of the time.

✖  Someone asked to me a really good question.
◯ Someone asked me a really good question.

You should use an object directly after "ask".

It's different from "say":

I always say to everyone that "ask" doesn't need "to".

✖  You might ask to me why my finger is in the photo.
◯ You might ask me why my finger is in the photo.

That's because I'm not the greatest photographer. Maybe I was just too excited to see the flowers and know that this cold weather is now almost over. The forecast for next week says some days are going to get up to 20 degrees! 

タビオは英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I went into Tabio in Coredo the other day to get a pair of socks. It was during the clearance sale, and I was excited because I thought I might get a good deal on the socks that I wanted.

• clearance sale 〔商品の〕クリアランスセール、在庫一掃［処分・整理］セール、見切り売り

Unfortunately, there was this sign on the rack which held the socks that I wanted to buy.

✖ These are not at sale.
◯ These are not on sale.

We never say "at sale". You can say "for sale", meaning "available for purchase". Actually, it would have been really funny if the sign had said:

• These are not for sale. = We will not sell you these socks. You cannot buy them.
• for sale 売るために (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

At least they didn't make that mistake. However, their English sign makes no sense.

They wanted to say that even though it was the clearance sale, some items did not have a discount. That included the socks that I wanted to buy.

Tabio had a documentary on TV the other day in which they were bragging about how international they had become. They were boasting that the quality of their socks was being recognized around the world. If their English were better, maybe they would get even more recognition. They should be as careful about their English as they are about their socks!

ごめん！まだ生きてるよ！

I didn't die! This blog is not dead either! I've just been too busy. One of my good students just reminded me that my last blog post was in October of 2013! It's too long ago!

See, look! The calendar says "March" already. Where did all of those months go?

I'm going to write a proper blog post in a few days. Thanks for your patience!

大見出しでの冠詞の使い方

Someone asked me a great question today about an article that we studied. The title of the document was "Lingua Franca", and it started with a sentence from Wikipedia that read:

• English as a lingua franca (ELF) is the use of the English language "as a common means of communication for speakers of different first languages”.
• lingua franca〈イタリア語〉〔異なる言語を話す人同士の〕共通語、補助言語◆通例、通商を行うときに使われるもので、ピジン英語（pidgin English）などが含まれる。(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

The question was:

Why is there no article before Lingua Franca in the title? ... the first sentence has an article before "lingua franca".

• article《文法》冠詞 (definition from Eijiro on the Web) 

If you pay attention to headlines, you will notice that articles are almost always dropped. Here are some examples from today's news:

• Turkish, Lebanese hostages home after release deal ←Turkish and Lebanese hostages are home after a release deal.
• Strike could have long-term impact on unions ← The strike could have a long-term impact on unions.
• Car bomb, clashes kill over 30 near Syrian capital ←A car bomb and clashes have killed over 30 near the Syrian capital.

I was taught that there is a historical reason for that. Newspapers wanted to make the headline as big as possible so that the newspaper would sell well. If they removed the articles, they could make the headline shorter and thus bigger. Since native speakers could guess the articles from the context (especially since it is written and not spoken), it was thought to be OK.

Here's a good article on the other grammar points in headlines:

http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/02/18/the-grammar-of-newspaper-headlines/

Thanks for paying close attention!

「台風の影響で」は英語でどう言う？

We were talking about the consequences of the last typhoon the other day. Somebody told me about an event cancellation:

× It was cancelled by typhoon.

○ It was cancelled because of the typhoon.

The typhoon didn't cancel the event. The organizers cancelled it. The reason that they cancelled it was the typhoon.

There's a typhoon passing Japan right now, but I don't think that anything in Tokyo is going to be cancelled. It seems that we will luckily avoid this one.

During the last typhoon, I was scheduled to be in the recording studio, and I almost cancelled the recording because of the typhoon. As it turned out, there was hardly any rain in Tokyo, and we went ahead with the recording session.

• go ahead with 〔計画・仕事などを〕進める、推進する、強行する (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Of course, Kyoto wasn't so lucky. I hope there won't be much damage because of this typhoon. If you're in it's path, take care!

• in the path of the typhoon《be ～》台風の進路に当たる (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

「play、go、do」の正しい使い方

This is one mistake I often hear in class.

x "I often play snowboarding in winter."
o  I often go snowboarding in winter.

Now how about yoga?  Is it play yoga? Do yoga?  Or go yoga?
Here is an easy guide to help you remember and use them correctly:

Use play (play + ball sport noun) when:

• you are talking about a ball or ball-like sport.  
• (Ex.) I played soccer in my schooldays.  

• you are talking about a competitive game.
• (Ex.) Have you ever played poker online?
• (Ex.) I like playing scrabble, which is a kind of word game.

Use do (do + noun) when:

• you are talking about a sport which doesn't use a ball.
• (Ex.) My son does kendo on the weekends.
• (Ex.) I am interested in doing yoga.

• you are talking about a recreational activity.
• (Ex.) I do sudoku during my commute.
• (Ex.) My daughter is good at doing crossword puzzles.

Use go (go + verb+ing):

• with verb+ing
• (Ex.) I used to go bowling with my friends on Saturday nights.

• Another way to remember it is that you you have to go somewhere to do this activity.   
• (Ex.) John wants to go surfing this summer.

See you if you can complete the sentences below correctly.

1. Do you think ___________ poker online is dangerous? 
2. Have you ever ______________ aerobics? 
3. My friends are planning to __________ camping next summer. 
4. Do you ever ____________ crossword puzzles? 
5. In the summer I usually ____________ swimming in the morning. 
6. I wish I could __________ basketball like Michael Jordan. 

大洋ペーパーは英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

There's an office building that I frequently visit. The maintenance people there stock the restrooms with plenty of toilet paper. It's nice in case the person before you has used all of the previous roll, requiring you to open a new roll. I suppose it's easier for them, too, since they don't have to check the amount of toilet paper in the bathrooms so regularly.

Anyway, I was in need of a fresh roll the other day when I noticed the packaging. It says:

× R.T.P Soft Pearl, Recycle Toilet Paper, Pro Use
○ R.T.P. Soft Pearl, Recycled Toilet Paper, Industrial 

There are several mistakes here, but one of them is pretty funny, I thought. That's the "pro use" part. It sounds like the toilet paper is only for people who are professionals at using toilet paper.

"Yes, sir, I am a butt-wiping professional with 37 years of experience!"

• wipe someone's bottom with a piece of paper（人）のお尻を紙切れで拭く
• butt〈米話〉けつ、しり◆【同】buttocks (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

It seems unnatural to me, and at least I took it wrong the first time I read it. I think the more common expression is "professional use", which often means "for professional use only". That makes it sound like this toilet paper is dangerous.

"No, wait! Don't wipe your butt with that toilet paper! It's for professionals only. You might hurt yourself!"

"Industrial" is often used for things that are used in industrial or commercial environments. On top of that, it's an adjective, so it's easier to use in front of a noun.

The other thing that was funny was their imperative statement: "Recycle Toilet Paper". It sounds like they want me to recycle my toilet paper! Don't you think that's gross?

• imperative statement 命令ステートメント (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• gross 気持ち悪い、嫌な、ゾッとする、吐き気を催すような、いまいましい、ムカムカさせる、むかつく (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

They mean the toilet paper itself is made from recycled paper, which is nice.

Also be sure to catch the subtle mistake about periods. The extra period is necessary because it's an acronym for "something-starting-with-r", "Taiyo", and "Paper".

• acronym 頭字語 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

We teach English to professionals and non-professionals both, but we don't have industrial toilet paper in the restroom. It's just stuff from the drug store down the street. Still, I hope you will join us for a lesson soon!

羽田空港は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I was at Haneda Airport the other day, where I saw this sign. It says:

× We are turning off some of lights and temperature.
○ We are turning off some (of the) lights and setting the temperature higher.

The original sentence on the sign seems to use a compound object, meaning an object that has multiple parts which are connected by a conjunction. In this case, that's "some lights and temperature".

The problem is that you can't turn off the temperature. For temperature, you say:

• raise the temperature 温度を上げる
• lower the temperature 温度を下げる

You can say that you turn off an air conditioner, but that's not quite the same meaning.

The other mistake is the usage of "of". After "of", we often use a determiner.

• determiner《文法》限定詞 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

That means you need a word like "the", "those", "our". If you don't mean to specify, then you shouldn't use "of".

If Haneda wants to be an international airport, they need to get their English right. Some of the visitors to the airport might get a negative impression from these English mistakes. Some mistakes don't cause us to misunderstand, but all mistakes look bad. At any rate, mistakes are like noise, which you should avoid if you can.

I'm looking forward to being able to turn off the air conditioner, but I think that's several weeks away at least. Until then, I'm trying to lower the temperature in the classroom to something comfortable. I hope you will join us in a class sometime soon!

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.

前置詞の使い方、「retire」の使い方

In a conversation today, somebody said:

× After you retire your company, where will you live?
○ After you retire from your company, where will you live?

It's really tricky to know when a preposition is necessary in English. My suggestion is to memorize sets, like the one above:

• retire from [company]

It works the other way, too. Sometimes Japanese use a preposition when one isn't necessary.

× Have you asked to your friends where they want to retire?
○ Have you asked your friends where they want to retire?

I just visited Australia. It's a nice place, but I am not sure that I would retire there. Even if someone offered me a really cushy job there...

× I'd have to retire from my current job.
○ I'd have to quit my current job.

We usually only use "retire" when talking about someone who doesn't plan to work anymore, usually because of age.

The problem is that I really like my job and life in Tokyo! However, I did eat some nice food like these curries in Sydney. When I really do retire, I hope I can eat good food like this every day.

「already」の使い方, part 2

The other day I said I would tell you more about "already". Remember that "already" is an adverb. Dictionary.com gives two meanings:

• by this or that time; previously; prior to or at some specified or implied time: When we came in, we found they had already arrived.
• now; so soon; so early: Is it noon already?

Check the previous article and see which meaning of "already" is being used in each case.

I often use "already" when something is complete contrary to expectations.

• contrary to ～に反して・Contrary to my expectation, I couldn't win the first prize. : 期待に反して、私は優勝を逃しました。(definition and example from Eijiro on the Web)

I've already told you about the photo above. It's the airplane plant with a shoot that is bowed because of the weight of that new plant growing at the end of it.

I'm not sure what to do about the spider plant ("spider plant" is another name for "airplane plant"). It is growing so strongly that I'm running out of space. It's roots have already started coming out of the bottom of the pot!

Spring is over already? 「already」の使い方, part 1

I can't believe spring is over already. It seems like it was winter just a few days ago. I suppose that technically spring isn't over until the summer solstice, and that is just under one month away.

• summer solstice《the ～》夏至 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

However, it feels like spring is over. I'm already wearing shorts almost every day.

You can tell that I am behind because there haven't been any posts since April 9. I feel I just blinked my eyes, yet seven weeks have already passed.

I took this picture a few weeks ago, but that new plant at the end of the shoot is already too heavy for the shoot, so it's bowed down towards the floor now.

• shoot《植物》〔種子から発芽した〕、芽《植物》若枝、新芽　(definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• bowed【形】弓（bow）のように曲がった、頭を下げた　(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

More about the grammar of "already" in the next post.

Tokyo Milk Cheese Factoryは英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

This was a really delicious cake, something like steamed bread filled with a very thick custard. It might be a bit sweet for Japanese tastes, but for my American tongue it was great!

The funny thing, though, is the slogan under the picture:

× Your cheek might drop. ← wrong grammar 

× Your cheeks might drop. ← right grammar, wrong meaning

• cheeks 面, 頬 (definition from Weblio)

According to my kind students, this is a direct translation from Japanese. First, the grammar point. You have two cheeks, and in this case, we should probably refer to both by using the plural form.

In English, we don't say it this way, though. We associate cheeks rising with smiles. If you tell me that someone's cheeks dropped, I guess that they stopped smiling. Usually it means their mood has become serious and the fun has ended. That's exactly opposite of what this cake will do to you, though.

We do say "your jaw will drop". That means your mouth hangs open as a result of a surprise. If your jaw drops while you are eating, though, you are going to make a mess! Besides, who wants to see what's in your mouth?

• make someone's jaw drop〔驚嘆すべき事態などが〕（人）の口をあんぐり開けさせる、〔主語の事態に驚いて〕（人）は口をあんぐり開ける (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

They probably mean something like "your mouth will be in heaven", but that idiom might be overused (cliche).

• cliche【名】〈フランス語〉〔使い古された〕決まり文句、定型表現◆つづりのeにはアクサンテギュが付く。 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

It's going to take a real copywriter to come up with a good one, something like... no, everything I think of sounds like sexual innuendo. If I said those, your jaws might drop. Anyway, I hope Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory can do something about their slogan.

• sexual innuendo 性的なほのめかし (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

「人が亡くなる」を英語でどう言う？

I have to apologize for not posting in the past two weeks. My grandmother became very ill, so I returned to America to see her. She passed away while I was there.

• pass away - 亡くなる、死ぬ、死亡する、死去する、他界する、逝去する、逝く、この世を去る、永眠する、帰らぬ人となる、去る、終わる、廃れる、なくなる、自然に帰る (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Once I got back to Japan, I had really bad jet lag.

• jet lag ジェットラグ、時差ぼけ (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

I couldn't stay awake past midnight, even though that's my habit. Even yesterday, I was worthless by 11 pm.

Now I'm behind on my posts, so I'll try to catch up.

There are a lot of other ways to say it, depending on the situation, but "pass away" is definitely the most useful one for you.

Still, be careful about the correct use of the words related to the verb "die".

• die (v) 死ぬ
• dead (adj) 死んでいる
• death (n) 死

I often hear mistakes like:

× He dead in the war.
○ He died in the war.

I got these nice flowers from someone the other day. I'll enjoy them until they are close to death, but that's one of the problems with cut flowers: they always die. Anyway, like the cherry blossoms nearing the end now, maybe their transience makes them more beautiful.

• transience of nature 移ろいやすさ (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• transience【名】一時的であること、はかなさ、無常 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

「somebody」と「some people」の違い

Somebody (one person) asked me the other day what the difference is between "somebody" and "some people".  The difference is simple: "somebody" is singular, but "some people" is plural.

• singular 単数形、単数 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• plural 複数形、複数 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

I had to throw out some pants recently because they had become too big in the waist. They were falling off. Since moving from Taiwan over seven years ago, I've been riding a bicycle every day. I also haven't had access to the great vegetarian restaurants that they have in Taiwan, so I've been eating less. That means I've lost weight and fat over the years: 10 kg!

Some people might have thought I was already thin and be concerned, but actually I think I'm much healthier now. Somebody did tell me that they thought my face looked like a knife, though.

Some people might use a belt to make up the difference in the waist, but I didn't really want to do that. I wondered if somebody might want the pants (only one person could take the pair of pants), but the truth is those pants were 15 years old. I figured nobody would want them.

• make up the difference 差（額）を補う、必要な金額の残りを出す、差を穴埋めする (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Some people might wonder why I'm showing you a picture that is basically a photo down my pants. I think some people can understand the story better with a photo!

I know some people reading this blog might have questions, like the "somebody" who asked me this question. Please send your questions to me!

「almost」の使い方

It was funny the other day. We were talking about sports in class. Of course, the World Baseball Classic is going on right now, and a lot of people are crazy about it. Somebody told me:

× Almost people like baseball.
○ Almost all people like baseball.

This was so funny, because the incorrect sentence means:

• Those who are almost people like baseball. In other words, those who like baseball are not human. 野球が好きな人々は、ギリギリ人間しか居ない。← maybe somebody can fix my bad Japanese sentence. If you can, please let me know!

The problem is that "almost" is typically followed by an adjective, since it means "very nearly" or "all but" (according to the Random House Dictionary).

I talked about this common mistake back in 2009. You might like to reread that old blog post, too:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.jp/2009/04/almost-all-of-these-are-wrong.html

I cooked these enchiladas back in January. I was thinking about food in Texas, and this is one the dishes that I used to eat a lot when I lived there.

• enchilada《メキシコ料理》エンチラーダ◆肉を詰めたトウモロコシパン。トマトチリソースで。(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

There are Tex-Mex restaurants all over the state. I suppose almost all, if not all, towns in Texas have at least one Tex-Mex restaurant. I often ate a plate meal just like this quite often. The difference is that back in those days, I ate chicken enchiladas. Since I'm a vegetarian now, I had to think of an alternative. These enchiladas are filled with strips of fried tofu instead. It turned out pretty good. I'll probably cook them again the next time I think of the food in Texas.

I think I can answer almost all of your questions about English. If you have some, let me know. Even better, think about coming to a class!

「need」の使い方, part 3

I've got to be honest with you all. Sometimes we do use "need" with an object as the subject:

1. That device needs a new battery.
2. = The battery in that device needs replacing.
3. = I (or someone else) need(s) to replace the battery in that device.
4. = The battery in that device needs to be replaced.

This is where it gets a bit tricky, which is why I recommended that you use pattern 3 rather than the other two. I want to give you a safe pattern that you can use with less fear of making mistakes. You need reliable patterns so that you can speak with confidence. If you use pattern 3, you are less likely to make a strange sentence. Please use that one!

• reliable【形】 信頼［信用］できる、信頼性のある、頼り［当て］になる［できる］、頼りがいのある (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Pattern 4 is also a good choice. Notice that the passive is used in the infinitive, not with "need".

× The battery in that device is needed to replace.

One more passive way to say it is:

• Replacement of the battery in that device is needed. <- and="" formal="" i="" it...="" li="" never="" say="" sounds="" this="" would="">

I saw these flowers growing in a planter outside my building the other day. I think Tokyo needs more flowers like this. In other words, flowers like these are needed by people living in Tokyo. Such flowers need to be planted everywhere!

If your English needs work, please get in touch!

「need」の使い方, part 2

I was writing about "need" the other day. There are other ways to use "need". For example:

1. This cutting needs potting. 
2. = This cutting needs to be put into a pot.
3. = I need to put this cutting into a pot.

The pattern is:

• [noun] needs [verb+ing]

To be honest, I never use this pattern. It feels like something one of my grandmothers used to say. I'm more likely to use one of the other two patterns. Still, you should know about this pattern.

You couldn't use this pattern to say the sentence from the other day, though:

× Living in Tokyo doesn't need driving a car.

Getting back to my photo, the problem was that one stalk of our lucky bamboo was withering.

• wither【自動】〔植物が〕しぼむ、しおれる、枯れる (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

The top was still green, though. I thought it needed trimming, so I cut it off and trimmed the withered part off of the stalk, too. I put the cutting in a cup of water with fertilizer, but today I should probably put it in some soil. I need to do it soon so that it has the best chance for survival.

If your English needs improving, please let me know!

「need」の使い方

I was talking about getting around in Tokyo with someone the other day. That person told me:

× Living in Tokyo doesn't need a car.
○ Living in Tokyo doesn't require a car.
○ You don't need a car if you live in Tokyo.

If you check the dictionary, it says "need" means "require". I was thinking about why this seems unnatural to me. I'd say that to safely use "need", the subject should be a person, but that is not always the case. These are natural, though:

• I need a bit more sleep.
• Some of you need to speak English more often.

For matters and things, I'd suggest that you use "require".

• [matter] requires...
• Living in Tokyo doesn't require a car (of people who do so).

The picture above is some pressed tofu that I prepared in order to make five-spice tofu.

△ The recipe I have needs tofu that has had the water removed.
○ The recipe I have requires tofu that has had the water removed.

This tofu has that shape because I used a bowl filled with water to press it. The bowl wasn't as big as the tofu, so the edges didn't get pressed well. It's funny-looking, I thought.

If you need to improve your English, or if your work requires better English skills, I hope you will contact us about joining one of our classes!