日本でカタカナ語として普及しているものの中には、英語のネイティブスピーカーからは奇妙に感じるものも多々あります。
今回はそのいくつかiBEC Academy大阪の外国人講師が解説します。
例題を交えながらの解説なので、ぜひトライしてみてください。
*** Some Commonly Misused Words***
For the following sentences please put in the correct word by putting in “a” or “b”:
1. He is a ________ guy. He can speak three languages. He has two university degrees. He has a good job with a good salary.
a. smart b. slim
2. He is a ________ guy. There is not much fat on his body. His weight is not high. He goes jogging every morning.
a. smart b. slim
3. She is very __________. She is always smiling. She says many good things. She has a lot of energy. Everyone wants to talk to her.
a. high tension b. cheerful
4. It was a ___________ situation. On one side of the room the people were not smiling. They looked unhappy. On the other side people looked angry. One man started to talk loudly and point his finger at the others. His face was bright red.
a. high tension b. cheerful
5. Australia is a very _________ country.
a. big b. wide
6. The seats in this airplane are __________. I feel pretty comfortable.
a. big b. wide
7. She _______ to the company about the bad product.
a. claimed b. complained
8. The businessperson _________ her expenses for lunch dinner and her hotel and asked her company to pay her back.
a. claimed b. complained
Now let’s check the answers:
1. a
2. b
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. b
7. b
8. a
Explanation:
1 and 2: For native English speakers generally smart usually refers to intelligence—a smart person is intelligent. Smart does not really mean slim.
3 and 4: Generally tension is a bad thing—it means nervousness anger irritation. If a conversation is tense there is a lot of anger and frustration. If tensions are high between two countries they may go to war. On the other hand a cheerful person is usually pleasant and happy and says positive things.
5 and 6: In general native English speakers do not use the word “wide” for physical things or places very much. Seats in an airplane or theatre can be wide (or narrow). Long narrow things such as windows doors streets or rivers can be wide or narrow. You can say a “wide variety of things” or a “wide range of people”. However rooms homes and countries are usually big not wide.
7 and 8: Generally for native English speakers complain has a narrow meaning—someone is not satisfied with a product or service and they tell someone working at the business selling the product or service that they aren’t happy.
Claim has many meanings in English—however to report a bad product or service is not one of them. For example claim can be to ask for money from the government that we can legally get- “He claimed his unemployment benefits.” It can be to ask for money that we have a right to: “I put in a claim to my insurance company after my car was damaged in an accident” or “The worker claimed his travel expenses from his company.” Also it can mean to say something is true: “The scientists claimed to have found a new vaccine for that disease.” However when we have bad service we should complain not claim to the company.
