執筆者 Modern English | 2015年07月14日 | Words
“Can I hold the baby?” “He was holding a gun!” “Hold” has many meanings. It often means to have something in your hand(s) or arms, such as the baby or the gun above. With the gun, you could say, “He has a gun!” without...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年07月07日 | Words
“This is really good. Can I have seconds?” “Sure, there’s plenty!” When we say we want “seconds”, what we mean is a second helping of some kind of food. What if you have three helpings? The third helping doesn’t have a...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年06月30日 | Words
“I was born in the year 2000.” It can be easy to make mistakes with “born” because it’s actually the passive form of “bear”. If a woman bears a child, the child is born. The past tense is “bore”: “She bore...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年06月23日 | Words
“Did you eat the cake?” “Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t.” “Maybe” means it’s possible something is true or not true. It can be used when the thing is unlikely: “Maybe I’ll win the lottery.” It can be...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年06月16日 | Words
“In Japan, you have to slurp your noodles to show that you’re enjoying them.” Foreigners visiting Japan are often told that they must slurp their noodles, or suck them in noisily. This would be considered rude back home, but it makes sense when...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年06月09日 | Words
“My favorite pen is missing. Have you seen it?” “We can’t finish the puzzle. One of the pieces is missing.” “We went into the maze together, but when we got out, Steve was missing.” Although “missing” can mean...
