このレストランは英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I was in Kunitachi the other day and noticed this sign. It says:

× 100% New Zealand Beef, The whole day with rice.
○ serving 100% New Zealand beef with rice, all day

The main problem here is the word order.

• word order 語順 (definition from Eijiro)

If you follow a noun with a prepositional phrase, it sometimes can sound like the prepositional phrase is describing the noun.

• prepositional phrase 前置詞句 (definition from Eijiro)

This restaurant's phrase is hard to understand. It sounds like there are days with rice and days without rice, which would mean:

• On days with rice, we serve 100 percent New Zealand beef all day.

That means they aren't serving the New Zealand beef on the days without rice. I'm pretty sure that isn't what they mean, but I didn't go in to check. I'm a vegetarian, so my interest in the restaurant doesn't go beyond the sign.

• one's interest doesn't go beyond [noun] ～にしか興味を示さない

The other thing to remember is that after the verb, a common order is to put time last, after manner and place, like:

• I'm in my classroom on the sixth floor right now. <- place = sixth floor; time = now

If I look out the window, I can see the water on the street and umbrellas in people's hands. The smartphone on my desk is kind of dirty. The fingerprints on the screen are mine, and I don't really know how to avoid smudging the screen like that. My stomach is growling in my belly on this typical Wednesday evening, so I'd better finish up this post and go eat some dinner.

「much」の使い方

OK, who keeps letting people put up nonsense English in Yaechika? I found this one:

× Much the Autumn
○ ???

This one is hard to guess. I wonder what they meant?

• Bountiful Autumn 
• bountiful【形】〔物が〕豊富｛ほうふ｝な; 〔人が〕気前｛きまえ｝の良い; 〔人が〕慈悲深い、恩寵｛おんちょう｝の豊かな (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• It's very much autumn now!
• It's much like autumn.
• Will you buy much this autumn?

Maybe they are making a pronunciation mistake!

Match the Autumn 秋に会う <- is this Japanese OK?

Don't say this though:

× I bought much at Yaechiku.
○ I bought a lot at Yaechiku.

Only use "much" for negative sentences and questions. In a positive sentence, you should use "lots" or "a lot".

I keep finding mistakes at Yaechika. I'm going to search at Kanda Station more. I feel like I might find a lot of mistakes there, too. Do you think I will have much success finding them there? I think it's going to be a bountiful autumn. Wish me luck!

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.

「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.

ブリヂストン美術館は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I often pass by the Bridgestone Museum of Art. It's near our school at Nihonbashi Station. Their current exhibition is called:

△ Why is it masterwork?
◯ Why is it a masterpiece?

●  masterpiece 【名】名作、最高傑作、絶品、名人芸  (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

The problem is a common one for students.

× I had a lot of works today.
◯ I had a lot of work today.

"Work" as we usually think about it, meaning going to the office and so on, is an uncountable noun. "Work" does have a countable version which is usually used for artistic creations like paintings.

Since the exhibition is talking about art, I think the countable version is more correct, though it's hard for me to say it's wrong. I can say, though, that "masterpiece" is much more common than "masterwork". That's the word I would suggest that you remember.

I studied painting in university, but I never produced a masterpiece. Doing so must be a lot of work. Now I need to get to work on something else, so until next time...

● get to work on （～に）着手する、（～を）始める、（～に）取り掛かる (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

「so」と「so that」の違い

I've been grateful for the live translation of much of the reporting on NHK about the earthquake, tsunami, and situation at the Fukushima Number 1 nuclear power plant.

However, it's interesting for me to hear the mistakes that the interpreters make. For example, one woman said:

× Some of the damage was too great so that they couldn't restore it.
◯ Some of the damage was too great, so they couldn't repair it.

See, even trained professionals make mistakes, so you shouldn't feel so bad about your own mistakes. However, you should practice so that you make fewer mistakes.

Remember that "so" is used when explaining a reason. "So that" means "in order to"; it tells the intended result of a particular action.

● so that ～できるように (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

I am writing this blog post so that you can understand the difference between "so" and "so that".

Someone in Singapore sent these two rabbit decorations in late January so that we could decorate our apartment for the lunar new year celebration. We don't usually display holiday decorations. However, we had them so we hung them. The celebration ended back in February, so we took them down. Every year has a different animal, so we can't reuse them next year. Could I declare next year a rabbit year again so that I can hang these cute rabbits on the wall again?

For more about "so", you can see the blog posts I wrote in July of 2009. I gathered all of the links in this post so that you could access them conveniently:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/so_22.html

Give your support to the crews at the Fukushima Number 1 power plant so that they can complete their dangerous work quickly and safely.

「tell、talk、speak、say」の違い (part 4)

I haven't said anything on this blog since the earthquake. Google says that this site has readers in Fukushima, Miyagi, and other places hit by the quake. I think I have only met one of you, but I want to say to all of you that we have been so concerned. I feel so sorry for the whole region. At first, I wanted to say that I hope our readers and their friends and families are OK. Then I thought that saying that would be strange. I want everyone to be OK. I want all of the suffering to end.

During the earthquake, I was sitting in Starbucks and trying to study Japanese. The building started to shake. I was watching the things hanging from the ceiling (in the photo above) begin to sway. The swaying got more and more violent.

× I can tell that I was afraid. <- see this post for more about "tell"
◯ I can say that I was afraid.

I cannot imagine how terrifying it must have been for those who were closer to the epicenter.

● epicenter 震源 しんげん 震源地 しんげんち 震央 しんおう (definition from jmdict)

"Say" is similar to "tell", except that it doesn't need a target. It just needs to be followed by content.

× After the earthquake, my parents and I said. <- no content!
◯ After the earthquake, my parents and I talked. <- casual
◯ After the earthquake, my parents and I spoke. <- a bit more formal

× They told that they were really worried.
◯ They told me that they were really worried.
◯ They said that they were really worried.

I'm also worried about the situation, especially with the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, but NHK says that engineers there are making progress with the help of fire fighters. I also frequently look at various websites where data on radiation monitoring has been posted. They say the radiation in Tokyo is just slightly higher than normal, so I don't feel so nervous.

I hope that in a couple of weeks I will be able to say that the worst part of the crisis has past. However, this being such a huge disaster, who can say when Japan will have recovered from it? I can only say that it will be a long time from now.

「tell、talk、speak、say」の違い (part 3)

These days I've had to take care of a lot of business. Notice how "speak" is used.

× As a result, I have had to talk Japanese a lot. <- don't use "talk" for a language
◯ As a result, I have had to speak Japanese a lot.

× I told a government officer yesterday. <- "tell" needs some content
△ I talked to a government officer yesterday. <- this is OK, but it's a little bit too light. My conversation was kind of serious.
◯ I spoke to a government officer yesterday. <- best

× I was filling out a form, and he spoke to me about some points to be careful about. <- "about" doesn't feel direct enough, and using "about" twice feels strange here
◯ I was filling out a form, and he told me some points to be careful about.

× Can you speak what this is a photo of? <- the action of speaking isn't important; the content is...
◯ Can you tell me what this is a photo of?

More in the next post...

「tell、talk、speak、say」の違い (part 2)

I was talking about the difference between these words in my last post. You might want to read it to catch up with this series.

We usually don't use a noun directly after "talk". Instead, we put a preposition after it.

◯ I talked with my friend yesterday. <- "with" feels more like a discussion

◯ I talked to my friend yesterday. <- "to" sounds like brief contact, or sometimes one-way contact

◯ We talked about the difference between English schools. <- use "about" to describe the content

When you want to emphasize the act of speech, don't use "talk". Use "speak" instead.

× I talked some Chinese yesterday.

◯ I spoke some Chinese yesterday.

When I got in the elevator two nights ago, a woman I didn't know started talking to me suddenly. I couldn't hear what she was saying at first because I was listening to music on my headphones. I could tell that she had been drinking (see the last post for more about "tell") because of the strong smell of alcohol. We talked about the snow that fell that morning, and then I told her "good night" when she got off the elevator on her floor.

I told you that I'd tell you what the photo in the last post was of. It's a lamp as seen between someone's fingers. This photo is of a meal I cooked last month, I think. I like to talk about what I cook, but this post is already too long. More in the next post.

「tell、talk、speak、say」の違い (part 1)

Sometimes people tell me that these words are confusing, so I want to talk about them over a few posts. However, first I want to tell you that I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post.

First, let me tell you about "tell". "Tell" has several meanings. The most common one uses a person as an object, like the "tell" in this sentence and the one above it, and then it is followed by some content that is told. The other day someone I know wrote:

× He told he's a college student. <- "he's a college student" is the content
◯ He told me that he's a college student. <- "tell" needs a person as an object

◯ He said that he's college student. <- or you can use "said" instead

Sometimes we use "tell" with an object like "story" or "joke" or another word that describes the content of what you are saying.

◯ I can't tell a lie; I've been working on an important secret project. I'll tell the story of my recent business later.

Another really common meaning for "tell" is to say that someone can understand something based on what you perceive.

● tell ~ apart ～を見分ける、～を区別する (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

● tell ~ from ～と…を識別する・How can you tell the flu from a cold? : インフルエンザと風邪は、どうやって見分けることができますか。 (definition and example from Eijiro on the Web)

Can you tell what that is a photo of? I'll tell you in the next post I make.

2010年ベスト検索キーワード

It was interesting to see what kind of searches people did with Google and Yahoo that brought people to our blog.

The third-most-popular search was for "look look like 違い". We have posts about this topic!

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2010/05/looklook-like.html

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/06/dont-make-these-simple-mistakes.html

The second-most-popular search was for "enjoy 使い方". We have written a post about this one, too!

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/09/enjoy.html

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2010/07/enjoypart-2.html

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/enjoying-sunset.html

The most popular search was "as to as for 違い". Here's the link to our post about that.

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2009/10/as-toas-for.html

Since these questions seem to be popular, we'll be writing more about them in 2011. Please let us know what other questions you have.

Most of my searches in 2010 were about programming computers, so I won't bore you with those pages. My searches lead me to articles like the one in the picture above.

We're looking forward to answering your questions in 2011!