● Back Numbers 013〜016
今回から二回にわたり、as far asとas long asの使い分けについて解説していただきます。この2つは辞書を引いても「〜する限り」程度の解説しかなく、しかも例文も紛らわしい場合が多いようです。実際の使い分けはどうなのでしょう。 |
No. 013 "as far as (I can remember)" vs. "as long as (I can remember)" (Part 1)
----限度と条件を使い分ける(その1) |
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These two expressions look very similar, so it is only natural that they are easily confused. Perhaps the easiest way is to first look at the basic meanings. "As far as" means "to that limit of distance, and no further". For example if the road we are travelling on is blocked, I might say to you: This is as far as we can go. If we are standing on the top of Mount Fuji, I can say: There is a carpet of cloud as far as the eye can see. "As long as" means "to the limit of that time, and no longer". Here are some example sentences: I will love you (for) as long as I live. With this meaning of "as long as", we can use "for", as shown by the brackets in these two sentences. These meanings are not that difficult. The difficulty arises in expressions such as those given as the title of this Column. In the next Column, I will show how: "as far as" is related to the concept of "limit" (限界) |
● Words & Phrases ●
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定、5月9日 |
前回に引き続いて、as far asとas long asの使い分け、特に「条件」と「限定」に関わる用法についてくわしく解説しています。 |
No. 014 "as far as (I can remember)" vs. "as long as (I can remember)" (Part 2)
----限度と条件を使い分ける(その2) |
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As I said in the previous Column, "as far as" is related to "limit"; "as long as" is related to "if". I will give some sentences to show this, and also give Japanese translations in order to make the point clear: As far as I know, he is Chinese. "As long as" has a rather emphatic or strong conditional meaning, very similar to "provided". As long as [Provided] you finish your homework, you can watch television. As an interesting extra point, notice that "as long as" can be ambiguous, as in: I will love you as long as you love me. This can have a conditional meaning (あなたが私を愛してくれるのなら、私はあなたを愛します). It can also mean "to the limit of time" (あなたが私を愛しているうちは、私はあなたを愛します) [see previous column]. If we want to make the second meaning clear, we have the choice of saying " ... for as long as you love me". |
● Words & Phrases ●
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定、5月16日 |
今回から二回にわたり、仮定的な文脈における"was"と"were"の使い分けについて解説して頂きます。すでにこのテーマについてはよくご存知の方もいらっしゃると思われますが、そこは、ひと味違う解説になっています。まずは基本事項の確認から... |
No. 015 "was" or "were"? (Part 1)
----事実と仮定(その1) |
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Conditional uses are a bit difficult for learners of English. It is certainly difficult to keep the "balance" between the clauses: If it rains, I will take an umbrella. These three patterns are the basic three patterns of conditional sentences. Then, as is well known, there are special uses with "were". In this Column, and the next one, I will discuss "were" vs. "was". Should we put "was" or "were" in the following blank space: A: They say that there was an earthquake yesterday. The answer is "was". But what about this sentence: If I ( ) a bird, I would fly to you. The answer, as everyone knows, is "were", although "was" is also correct in informal English. The earthquake situation is clearly about something that happened (or did not happen) in the past. The bird situation is not related to time in any way. It is a general statement. Some people (including those who write various kinds of exams) think that "if" is a kind of switch, which automatically switches on "were". This is not the case. I will continue this point in my next Column. |
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定、5月24日 |
「仮定法」を苦手とする英語学習者は少なくないと思います。一方、英語でも近年は、仮定法の後退とそれに伴うある程度の混乱があるようです。 |
No. 016 "was" or "were"? (Part 2)
----事実と仮定(その2) |
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The following sentence, which I found in a book, is about surveying the length of a meridian in France in 1797: If one side of one of these triangles were known, the lengths of all the others could be calculated. The story is about what people did and what they wanted to know more than two hundred years ago. It should be "was known". But let us imagine that you and I are at this very moment sitting down, trying to work out a geometry problem. In such a case, I can certainly say to you: If one side of one of these triangles were known, the lengths of all the others could be calculated. The "time" here is "non-time", or "imaginary time", or "wishing time". It is the same "time" as the "time" in, "If I were a bird, I would fly to you". But what happened, and what people wanted to happen, in France in 1797 is past time. Here is another example, which I found in very well-known British magazine, and have slightly rewritten to make it clearer: Leigh Hunt wrote as if he were walking with the reader, arm in arm. This is about how Hunt wrote more than 150 years ago. It should be "was walking". |
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定、5月30日 |