英語を話す100のヒント

英文法:名詞 + up や off は間違い!

 語注を手がかりに英文を読もう!

日本人が間違いやすい文法のミス。じっくり読んで正しい使い方を理解しておきましょう。本文中の×印は「正しくない」ことを表しています。

 

 

Students regularly ask me how they can level up [x] or skill up [x] their English. When they do so, I'm tempted to tell them that the first thing they should do is learn to distinguish between Japanese and English, or at least apply the grammar they know!

 

As you will be well aware, the creative use of xyz + up, and to a lesser extent xyz + off, is rampant in the Japanese language: career up, image up, score up, price off, book off, etc.,etc. While you can safely use such expressions in Japanese, you would be well advised not to use them in English: even though the intended meaning might be discernable from the context, most of them are grammatically impossible.　

 

 

Actually, the English language is also full of what are called phrasal verbs that include up or off: wake up, get up, give up, shut up, take off, let off, etc., etc. But the point you have to realize is that the first word of a phrasal verb is a verb and that the second is an adverb or, strictly speaking, an adverb particle. (There are also many examples where the second word is a preposition, but some grammarians classify these separately as prepositional verbs rather than phrasal verbs. I agree with them: the two forms should be kept distinct.) In most of the wasei-eigo examples you see around you, the first word is a noun, and it does not require a very advanced understanding of grammar to know that modifying a noun with an adverb is grammatically incorrect. Since most educated Japanese seem to have a reasonable knowledge of English grammar (better, in fact, than that of most native speakers of English), I can't help wondering why they make such elementary mistakes!　　

 

What students should ask me is how they can improve their English (skills) or raise the level of their English.

 

 

英文の語注と要旨

<語注>

be tempted to tell「～とどうしても言いたくなる」 rampant「はびこっている」 discernable「認識できる」 phrasal verb「句動詞」動詞+副詞(辞)adverb particle「副詞辞」 prepositional verb「前置詞付き動詞」動詞+前置詞(look for, run afterなど)

 

◆要旨◆

wake up, get up, give up, shut up, take offなど、upやoffなどの副詞(辞)を動詞につける「句動詞」は英語にたくさんあります。しかし、キャリアアップ、イメージアップ、スコアアップ、プライスオフなど名詞にupやoffなどの副詞をつける和製英語は、副詞が名詞を修飾しており、文法的にまちがいです。英語をレベルアップする方法を学生からよく質問されますが、How can I level up [x] / skill up [x] my English? は誤りです。How can I improve my English (skills) / raise the level of my English?と聞いてください。

 

Timothy Minton

1959年、ロンドン生まれ。キングズスクール・ウースター校、ケンブリッジ大学卒業。日本滞在は20年以上に及び、『ここがおかしい日本人の英文法Ⅰ-Ⅲ』（研究社出版）など著書多数。ケンブリッジ・オックスフォード協会東京支部名誉幹事。音楽、旅行、登山、ゴルフが趣味。