One Hour and a Half

How so you say ー時間半 in English?

Most Japanese translate it literally (直訳) as one hour and a half.

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     一時間      半

       ↓         ↓

❌ one hour and a half

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This is wrong. Not only wrong, it sounds very unnatural.

So how can we fix this common mistake?

Very simply. Instead of saying “one” say “an”.

An hour.

⭕️ AN hour and a half.

When you say it quickly, it sounds like “annower anna half”.

It took AN hour and a half.

It took me AN hour and a half to come here.

The movie lasted AN hour and a half.

Again, one hour and a half is WRONG ❌

AN hour and a half is correct ⭕️

Now, there are other ways to say “an hour and a half”.

It takes about 90 minutes.

It takes about one and a half hours.

Note the “s” at the end of hours.

So, It takes about one hour and a half is WRONG ❌ But the others are correct ⭕️

It takes about an hour and a half. 

It takes about 90 minutes.

It takes about one and a half hours.

The last one is important to remember as it can be used for other lengths of time. For example:

ONE and a half hourS

TWO and a half minuteS

THREE and a half dayS

FOUR and a half weekS

FIVE and a half monthS

SIX and a half yearS

Pee-Yoo!

❌ It is bad smell.
  → It smells bad.
       It stinks.

臭い

1 【いやなにおいの】bad-[nasty-]smelling, ｟話｠ smelly; 【むかつくように】stinking, foul

▸ 臭い液体
a bad-smelling [a nasty-smelling] liquid

▸ この肉は臭いにおいがする
This meat smells bad

▸ 彼は臭い息をしている
He has bad [stinking, foul, smelly] breath.【息がにおう】
His breath smells (bad) [〘婉曲的〙 
His breath has a rather strong smell].

▸ 臭い｟何のにおいだ｠
What stinks?

▸ ガス臭いぞ
I smell gas!

▸ その部屋はたばこ臭かった
The room smelled of tobacco.

❌ It is good taste.
  → It tastes good.
       It's yummy/delicious/lovely.

1st Grade

❌ He's in the first grade of high school.

アメリカでは普通, 6—3—3制、5—3—4制、または8—4制で, 6歳で小学校に入学する。6—3—3制の場合, the seventh gradeは日本の中学1年に, the tenth gradeは高校1年に当たる

1st grade         小一

2nd grade     小二

3rd grade     小三

4th grade     小四

5th grade     小五

6th grade     小六

7th grade     中一

8th grade     中二

9th grade     中三

10th grade    高一

11th grade     高二

12th grade    高三

⭕️ He's in the first year of high school.

⭕️ He's in the 10th grade of high school.

Or, . . .

⭕️ He's a high school freshman. (ただし、アメリカでは高校は４年制で、フレッシュマンは９年生に当たる)

Freshman

｟主に米｠(高校大学の)新入生, 1年生 (!高校生について用いるのは｟米｠; ｟男女共用｠fresher, first-year student; 

▸ a freshman in college ≒ a college freshman

大学1年生

▸ in one's freshman year at UCLA

UCLA1年生の時に.

Sophomore

｟米｠(4年制の大学高校の)2年生 (!the tenth gradeの高校生に相当; 日本の高校1年生と同じ年齢) 

Junior

｟米｠〖名詞の前で〗(大学高校で)最上級生の1年下の学年の(!4年制の学校なら3年生, 3年制なら2年生, 2年制なら1年生をさす

 ▸ I spent my junior year in Italy.

私は大学3年生の年をイタリアで過ごした.

Senior

｟米｠〖名詞の前で〗(大学の) 4年生の; (高校の)最高学年の; ｟英｠高学年の; 中等教育の

▸ the senior class

最高学年のクラス

▸ a senior prom

最上級生のダンスパーティ.

Lose Weight

For some reason or another, almost all Japanese translate yaseru (痩せる) as "lose my weight". This is not actually correct. I suspect that most Japanese were taught in junior high school that michi o mayou (道を迷う) was "lose my way" in English. (Actually, that's not the best way to say that either, but I'll discuss that later.) I think what is happening is that Japanese, having "lose my way" drilled into their heads in English class, just at "t" to the phrase and end up with "lose my weight". 

So, how should you say yaseru in English? Simple: lose weight. 

▸ 10キロやせる  

lose ten kilos.

Since I started running, I lost almost ten kilograms.

▸ 彼女は病気以来ずいぶんとやせた  

She has lost a lot of weight since her sickness.

Or,

She got a lot thinner after her sickness.

I lost a lot of weight--almost 10 kilos--since I started running.

▸ 私は甘いものは食べません. やせようと｟減量しようと｠思っていますから

 I don't eat sweets―I'm trying to lose weight.

I don't eat sweets―I'm trying to slim down.

 I don't eat sweets―I'm trying to reduce my weight. (Here "my" is okay.)

As for futoru (太る), we say "gain weight" or "put on weight".

▸ 3キロ太る

gain [put on] three kilos.

I gained five kilos when I stopped smoking.

I put on five kilos when I stopped smoking.

▸ 彼は年々太った

He got fatter every year.

He got heavier every year.

▸ 彼女は少し太ったね

She has gained a bit of weight.

She has put on a bit of weight.

▸ 彼は太りすぎているのでダイエット中です

He's on a diet because he is a little òverwéight [a little too heavy, ｟話｠ a bit on the heavy side, (恰幅（かっぷく）がいい) rather hèavy-sét]. (!a little, a bit, rather などを添えて表現をやわらげることが多い) 

▸ ウエストが太ってきた

My waist(line) is expanding.

As for michi o mayou (道を迷う), a better way to say this in English is "get lost".

The reason I'm late is that I got lost.

▸ 彼らは森の中で道に迷った

They got lost [were lost, lost their way] in the wood(s).

▸ 子犬が私たちの家に迷い込んできた

A puppy strayed into our house.

▸ 「道に迷っておられるようですが, どうなさいましたの」

“You look lost. Can I help you?”

「ええ, どのバスに乗ったらいいのかちょっと分からなくなってしまって」

“Yes, please. I've had a little mix-up (in) finding the right bus.”