執筆者 Modern English | 2014年09月30日 | Words
“Wow, I just barely passed the test. Next time I will study harder!” “Barely” means “almost not”. I passed the test, but if I had missed one more question I would have failed. “He survived, but when they found him he was barely alive.” “I barely ate anything at...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年09月16日 | Words
“How long will you be staying in Japan?” “Please stay here and wait. I’ll be back in five minutes.” “Use an umbrella to stay dry.” “Stay” means “remain the same”. While you stay in Japan, or stay inside the house, your location doesn’t change. Then when you leave...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年09月09日 | Words
Doctor: “What seems to be the problem?” Patient: “I’ve just been so tired lately.” “Lately” is an adverb that means “in recent times”, similar to “recently”. If you meet a friend you haven’t seen in a while, you can ask, “How have you been lately?” If you have been...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年09月02日 | Words
On a computer: “Error. Insufficient memory available.” At an airport: “Sorry, there are no seats available on that flight.” At a pet shelter: “This adorable dog is available for adoption!” Talking with friends: “I really like June, but she’s not available. She has a...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年08月26日 | Words
“I didn’t know the area very well yet, because I had just moved there the previous year.” “Previous” describes something that comes before the thing in question, in a sequence of things. It’s useful because we can’t say “last year” when talking about the past or...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年08月19日 | Words
“I visited the store where I used to work and went drinking with my former colleagues.” “Former” is used with things that someone or something used to be but no longer is. For example, if you give your cat to your friend, the cat is now your former pet. If you get...
