English - Reported Speech (間接話法)

Reporting what others have said:

There are two ways to talk about something that someone told us.

1. We can quote of the person.

Cheryl said "I'm busy."

or

2. We can change the verb tense and change the pronoun (I becomes he/she)

Cheryl said she was busy.

*#2 is the most natural way to use reported speech. It's the way I use almost every time!

Here are some more examples.

Mark said "I only have $20."

Mark said he only had 20 dollars.

Kevin said "I'm not worried about it."

Kevin said he wasn't worried about it.

Philip said "I'm going to leave."

Philip said he was going to leave.

"The research team said they weren't happy with the results of the test."

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Irregular VERB Break - Broke - Broken

Break - Broke - Broken
折る/破壊する

From Weblio:

動詞の活用形：

breaking(現在分詞) broke(過去形) broken(過去分詞) breaks(三人称単数現在)

When you install a mirror you must be careful not to break it.

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Who broke the window? だれが窓を壊したのか.

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Greg has broken his arm twice.

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I've broken my watch again. また時計を壊してしまった.

There is VS There are

There is VS There are

The verb "To be" has many uses. One use is to show that something exists or doesn't exist. Today let's look at There is VS There are

We use There is with singular nouns (only 1 単数)
"There is a new shopping mall on Main street." *Shopping mall is a singular noun. (1 mall)

We use There are with plural nouns (more than 1 複数)
"There are many stores in the mall." *Stores is a plural noun. (many stores)

Singular examples:
"There is a nice hotel near the airport." 空港の近くに素敵なホテルがあります
"There's an big game on TV tonight!"
"There isn't a parking lot close to the stadium so I't's better take the bus."
We use There is... with uncountable nouns:
"There is some paper in the photocopier."

Plural examples:
"There are 4 students waiting in your office." あなたのオフィスで待っている4学生があります。
"There are many ways to solve this problem."
"There aren't many cafes near my office so I always bring coffee from home."

Asking questions ~

"Are there many people in your office?"
"Is there a cafeteria at your school?"

We use Is there...? with uncountable nouns:
"Is there any coffee left?"

*Make some example sentences talking about things around your office, school or neighborhood practicing there is and there are. Ask questions too!

Use - 2 meanings, 2 pronunciations - 使う and 用途

USE can be a verb or a noun and the pronunciation is slightly different.  Look at these examples:

The word 'USE' can be a verb (使う) ~ "May I use your telephone? I have to call my Mom." The verb form has a Z (zee) sound at the end. YOUZ


The word 'USE' can also be a noun (用途) ~ "Studying English is a great use of your time." The noun form has an S (ess) sound at the end. YOUS

Listen to the English audio below:

To For So

Learn how to use 'TO' 'FOR' and 'SO' in natural conversation.

CLICK the image!

CLICK the image for the presentation!

Go out for a drink ~ VS ~ Go drinking

Here is a natural English sentence: “Last night I went out for a drink with some friends.” The main point is spending time with friends, we had a drink together.

We don’t  say “Last night I went drinking with my friends.” It sounds too serious. The main point here sounds like drinking, your main mission is to drink alcohol! 危ない！

"I went out with some coworkers for a few drinks last night. 
We had a great time!"

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English study tip! Preparing English to tell your own story

変な趣味がありますか？英語で話しましょう！

• 語彙を増やします
• 新しい単語を覚えています

Do you do anything that's unusual? Do you have an odd hobby? Prepare to talk about these things in English! This is a great way increase your vocabulary and remember new words. It's also a great chance to talk about yourself with others! Let me explain what I mean with an example.

I gave blood! 献血やりました！

"On Wednesday I went to a Red Cross center to give blood. I used to give blood in Canada and now I want to give blood again in Japan."

At the blood donation center they use a lot of medical Japanese, so I had a lot of help! But after my visit I learned some new words and sentences that I can use to talk about my experience with others in Japanese! It was great! I learned new Japanese and it is very easy to remember because I can use it to talk about a real thing that happened to me!

Try to describe your own activity in English by finding a few new words and make some sentences you can use to tell others what you have done :)

Some translation sites ~ 翻訳ウエブページ

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