Shohei Otani made a common mistake.
❌ This is so special moment for me.
⭕️ This is such a special moment for me.
⭕️ This moment is so special for me.
⭕️ This is a very special moment for me.
⭕️ This moment is very special for me.
Relax Time
A very common mistake Japanese make when speaking English is to say “relax time”.
This is wrong! So, let’s fix the Broken English!
You, too, Doraemon???
Enjoy
How do you say something was 楽しい?
In America, we would say something like:
It was fun.
It was really fun.
There are slang ways to say this, too:
It was a blast.
It was a kick in the pants.
Beer and skittles. (イギリスのスラング)
More formal ways would be:
It was a pleasure.
I had a wonderful time.
Other ways to say something was fun.
I had a good time.
I had a great time.
I had the time of my life.
For some reason, Japanese usually say:
I very enjoyed.
This is, of course, not correct.
Enjoy is not an adjective (形容詞). It is a verb (動詞). What’s more it is a transitive verb (他動詞) which means it needs an object (目的語).
Enjoy
a. …を楽しむ, …で楽しく過ごす (!(1)受け身は｟まれ｠ . (2)日本語の「楽しむ」よりも意味の幅が広く, 趣味(の道具)･仕事･時間･人生･人(との交際)･料理など幅広い目的語を取りうる)
▸ enjoy books [a new job, one's pipe] 読書[新しい仕事, パイプでの一服]を楽しむ
▸ How did you enjoy your vacation? 休暇はどうでしたか(≒How was your vacation?)
▸ really [thoroughly] enjoy Tom's companyトムと一緒にとても楽しく過ごす
▸ enjoy one's time in Paris パリで楽しく過ごす
▸ enjoy tennis more [╳better] than baseball野球よりテニスが好きだ
▸ Enjoy your meal! どうぞお召し上がりください (!ウェイターが料理を運んできた時などに言う)
▸ The concert was wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it. コンサートはすばらしく, そのすべてを楽しむことができた.
Enjoy can also be a reflexive verb (再帰動詞、再帰代名詞を伴う動詞; enjoy oneselfのenjoyなど)
c. 〖～ oneself〗 【場所･パーティなどで】楽しむ, 楽しく過ごす, くつろぐ «at, in»
▸ Welcome, everyone. Enjoy (yourselves). ようこそ皆さん, 楽しんでください (!｟米･くだけて｠ ではoneselfが省略されることがある)
▸ Are you enjoying yourself? 楽しんでるかい, 調子はどうだい
▸ enjoy oneselfin the garden [bath] 庭で[風呂に入って]くつろぐ(╳enjoy in the garden [bath]としない).
In the photo above, it says エンジョイ！タイム. How would you translate that?
❌ enjoy time
⭕️ an enjoyable time
Or, a fun time, a great time, a wonderful time, etc.
How big?
Many times I have asked students “How big is your home?” to which they reply, “No, no, no. My home is very small!”
Clearly they didn’t understand the question.
The same thing happens when I ask a simple question like “How tall is your husband?” The student will reply, “No, he’s very short!!!”
Yes, how + adjective can mean なんと・いかに . . . but it’s not that common, つまりその使い方はそんなに使われてない
Look at your dictionary and you will see that the first definition of “how” is どういう方法[手段]で, どのようにして, どんなふうに
▸ How did he get [find] the money?
彼はどのようにしてそのお金を手に入れた[見つけた]のか(!｟話｠ では時に強意的にHow on earth [｟ぞんざいに｠ the hell, ｟まれ｠ ever] did ...? (いったいどのようにして…したのか)のような形で用いる; → hell 1 語法 )
▸ “How did you go to school?” “I went by bike.” 「通学はどうしていたのですか」
「自転車で通っていました」
▸ “How does Ann drive?” “Very carefully.” 「アンの車の運転ぶりはどうですか」
「非常に慎重ですね」
The second definition of how is どのくらい, どれほど. And this is what is being asked by:
How . . . is it?
- big
- old
- tall
- long
- heavy
- far
For example:
▸ How old is your uncle? おじさんは何歳ですか
▸ How long will she be staying here? 彼女はいつまでここにいるのだろうか
▸ How far is it from Washington to New York? ワシントンからニューヨークまで(距離は)どれくらいありますか
▸ How soon does the movie begin? あとどのくらいで映画は始まるかな
▸ How many visitors are you expecting to come?お客さんは何人くらいの予定でしょうか
▸ How much money do you need? お金はいくら必要ですか
▸ I don't know how long the street is. その通りの長さはわかりません.
So, when you are asked:
How big is your apartment/home?
Don’t say:
✖️ No, it’s small!!!
Say:
⭕️ It’s a 3 LDK.
⭕️ It’s 80 square meters.
Or, when you are asked:
How tall is your husband?
Don’t say:
✖️ No, he’s very short!!!
⭕️ He’s about average height.
⭕️ He’s 170 cm tall.
⭕️ He’s quite short.
And, when you are asked:
How old is your baby?
Say:
He’s 6 months old.
Blue Color
青色
❌ blue color
→ blue
→ the color blue
❗️blue color = 青色色
赤色
❌ red color
→ red
→ the color red
❗️red color = 赤色色
茶色
❌ brown color
→ brown
→ the color brown
❗️brown color = 茶色色
黄色
❌ yellow color
→ yellow
→ the color yellow
❗️yellow color = 黄色色