執筆者 Modern English | 2014年12月06日 | Phrases
“I give up. This is impossible.” “No, don’t give up now! You’re so close!” You can give up on doing something when you decide it’s not worth it after all. You can also give up a bad habit, like smoking. “I used to smoke every day, but now I’ve given it up.” If a...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年11月29日 | Phrases
“Should I write with blue or black ink?” “Whichever you like.” “Whichever” is like “whatever” (“I’ll buy you whatever you want”), “wherever” (“Wherever you go I’ll follow”) or “whoever” (“Whoever told you that was wrong”). “Which ink should I use?” “Whichever. It...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年11月22日 | Phrases
“Try this new tea.” “Hmm. No, I don’t care for that at all.” By adding “for” to “I don’t care”, you change the meaning. To not care for something is to not like it or dislike it. For example, “I don’t care for action movies.” 「新しいお茶飲んでみて。」 「ふーん、いや、好きではない。」...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年11月15日 | Phrases
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” This is an abrupt way to tell someone to leave. The sarcastic advice only applies if the person is leaving, so even if they wanted to stay, you are already speaking as if they are leaving. You can also say this if someone...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年11月08日 | Phrases
“I was born on a Thursday.” “To be born” is the passive voice of the word “bear”. You could say something like, “My mother bore three children.” But it is not common to hear “bear” in the active voice. Usually we just say, “She had three children.” 「私は木曜日に産まれました。」 「To...
