● Back Numbers 025〜028
コラム021-022で感情に関わる形容詞がもつ特性について解説しましたが、今回はその例外について述べています。あわせて、それらの形容詞が持つ "〜ing" /"〜ed" の意味の対比についても注意して読んでみてください。 |
No. 025 "Interesting" or "interested"?
----"〜ing" と"〜ed" の使い分け |
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In Columns number 021 and 022, I wrote that some adjectives can refer to a situation or event, and to a person (a lonely road; a lonely girl). This is certainly not the case with the very large group of "〜ing" / "〜ed" adjectives connected to feelings, emotions, reactions, etc. The "〜ing" word tells us about the situation (including events, actions, things, people, etc) and the "〜ed" word tells us about our reaction to it: The film was boring. Therefore I was bored. I have listed below a list of these adjectives. Since this is a grammar point that is well-known and often studied, I have tried to make this list more interesting by adding many words that are probably new to a lot of readers. The words marked with an asterisk (*) are those that can easily be used in front of a noun: a confusing situation; a confused person, etc. There is no space to give example sentences, but all of the adjectives below can be used in the following kinds of sentences: The thing / situation / event / experience / scene / movie / book / speech / person was 〜ing, so I was 〜ed. CONFUSION NO INTEREST INTEREST MY HEART |
● Words & Phrases ●
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定8月1日 |
今回は曖昧に使い分けられているこれら2つの表現を取り上げました。どちらも「もし〜だとしても」と訳される場合が多いのですが、意味する状況はまったく異なっています。 |
No. 026 "even if" vs. "even though"
----even ifとeven thoughの使い分け |
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Although these too expressions look rather similar, the meanings are completely different. "Even if" is a strong "if", as used in conditional sentences: Even if I had the money, I would not lend it to you. "Even though" is a strong "although", as in the following sentences: Even though he had two weeks to prepare, he still did not pass the exam. Since "even if" is used in conditional sentences, it is about unreal situations, or situations which may, or may not occur. "Even though" is about real, actual situations. |
● Words & Phrases ●
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定8月8日 |
前回に引き続き、紛らわしい単語の使い分けを紹介します。今回は、containとincludeです。2つとも日本語に訳すと「〜を含む」になりますが、実際の用法はどうでしょうか。 |
No. 027 "contain" vs. "include"
----containとincludeの使い分け |
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The following is from an English language test: "Does this water ( ) salt?" "No, it's fresh water." Should we put "include" or "contain" in the blank space? Actually, the answer is "contain". We cannot use "include" in this sentence. In this Column, I want to study these two easily confused words. BASIC MEANING OF "CONTAIN" This book (= X) contains six chapters (= Y). BASIC MEANING OF "INCLUDE" The final price (= X) includes the service charge (=Y). In the following situations we can use either "contain" or "include", but with slightly different meanings: This book contains/includes an index. Meaning with "contain": There is an index inside this book. This complex contains/includes an exhibition area. Meaning with "contain": There is an exhibition area inside this complex. So, to get back to the example from the test, we say, "Does this water contain salt?" because the meaning is "Is there salt in(side) this water?" The meaning is not X "Is salt part of this water?" Water is H2O, and salt is NaCl, so salt cannot be part of water. |
● Words & Phrases ●
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定8月15日 |
日本人にとって、習得が難しいことがらのひとつに名詞の可算・不可算があります。今回から三回にわたり、「集合名詞」の概念と使用法についてくわしく解説して頂きます。 |
No. 028 Collective nouns (Part 1)
----集合名詞について深く知る(その1) |
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Collective nouns are those nouns which refer to number of people, animals, or things, when they are considered as one group A list of some common collective nouns that refer to groups of people follows below. As you can see, I have arranged this list into rough meaning groups: "GENERAL": a group (of people), a team (of athletes), a class (of students), a crowd (of onlookers), *a band (of musicians) "SOCIAL": a nation, a tribe (of Indians), a family (of geniuses), a government, a ministry「省」, a parliament, a senate「国会の上院」, the aristocracy「貴族階級」, *a gaggle of schoolgirls 「女子生徒の騒々しい一団」, a colony (of settlers) "OFFICIAL": a society, a club (of chess players), a union (of miners), a committee (of experts), a jury「陪審」, a panel (of experts)「専門家の委員たち」, *a board (of directors/governors)「重役会/理事会」 "BUSINESS": a company, a corporation, a firm (of accountants)「会計士たちの会社」, a staff (of women) "MILITARY": an army, a navy, *a platoon (of soldiers)「兵士の小隊」, *a squad (of soldiers/policemen)「兵士の分隊, *a regiment (of soldiers)「兵士の連隊」, *a troop (of soldiers)「兵士の一団」, *a crew (of sailors), *a posse (of lawmen)「警官などの一隊」, an enemy "PERFORMANCE": an audience (of music-lovers), *an orchestra (of musicians), *a cast (of actors)「出演俳優」, *a troupe of acrobats「曲芸師の一団/一座」 "CHURCH": the clergy「聖職者(全体)」, *a conclave (of cardinals)「枢機卿の法王選挙会」, *a choir (of singers), *a congregation (of worshippers) 「礼拝に集まった信者たち」 "BAD": a gang (of pickpockets)「スリの一団」, *a band of robbers「泥棒一団」, a mob (of protesters)「抗議する人たちの大衆」, a horde of nomads「遊牧民の群れ」, *a coven of witches「魔女の集会」, *a den of thieves 「盗賊の巣窟」 In Columns 029 and 030, I will discuss the grammar and usage of collective nouns, including the meanings of the asterisks and brackets in the above examples. |
● Words & Phrases ●
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(帝京大学教授 Christopher Barnard) |
次回掲載予定8月22日 |