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?
- “What does he like?”
- “What is he like? ” OR “What’s he like?”
Let’s answer the questions.
- What does he like? He likes drinking coffee and speaking English!
- 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
- 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！
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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
英会話教室2013年12月10日English Mistakes #1: “Like”
