蒲郡駅北口前のコーヒーの美味しいカフェ 喫茶スロースです。焼きたて、挽きたて、淹れたての自家焙煎コーヒーをお楽しみ下さい。コーヒー豆の販売も行っております。

Hello! It’s Ben from Let’s Chat Cafe! This is the first post in a series “English Mistakes Japanese Make.” I hope you enjoy!

Mistake #1: Like

Many people answer these questions incorrectly. What is the difference?

1. “What does he like?”
2. “What is he like? ” OR “What’s he like?”

Let’s answer the questions.

1. What does he like? He likes drinking coffee and speaking English!
2. What is he like? He is tall, handsome, and charming!

More examples:

Shimizu-san: Did you like the beaches in Guam?

Ben: Yes, I liked the beaches in Guam very much!

Shimizu-san: What were they like?

Ben: They were very clean and white!

Explanation:

• General rule: Use the verb from the question in your answer. Example: (Do you drink coffee? Yes, I drink coffee. When do you drink coffee? I drink coffee every morning.)
• “Like” can be used as a preposition (前置詞), conjunction (共同), adjective (形容詞), adverb (副詞), noun (名詞), and verb (動詞). Confusing!
  • In #1, “like” is a verb (動詞) in the question, so it becomes the verb in the answer.
  • In #2, it is a preposition (前置詞). The verb of the question is “is,” so “is” is used in the answer!

この記事を書いた人

Ben Collinsコリンズさんの英会話教室 "Let’s Chat Café" 毎月第二第四日曜開催中！

Hi! I'm Ben. I'm from Troy, New York, USA.

I enjoy drinking coffee (of course!), eating, reading books, deep conversations, science and technology, and basketball.

I can speak some Japanese, so don't be shy to say "hello" when you see me around. Japanese or English is OK!

In 2007, I moved to Japan with my wife and family. Now, I have two children.

In 2011, I started teaching English at Hikari English (hikarienglish.com) and Let's Chat Cafe at Sloth (letschatcafe.com). I really enjoy listening and learning many things in my classes!

コリンズさんの英会話教室 Let’s Chat Caféの詳細はこちら

この投稿者の最近の記事

• 2013.12.10英会話教室English Mistakes #1: “Like”