Well, in this English word series that started this time, I would like to improve my English skills and introduce English words with themes of “This kind of meaning that a well-known English word did not know” and “This word that natives often use” To go. Word skills are English. Let’s polish more and more!
1. spring
Speaking of spring, it ’s a word known as “spring”, but there are actually many other meanings. Let’s look at parts of speech in the order of nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Noun → Spring / Spring
Did you know that Spring means spring? Originally, the word “spring” comes from “a new thing is born”. Spring is the season when plants begin to sprout and new lives begin. It is an image that the spring is boiling and new water is boiling.
(Example) There is a spring in the forest.
(There is a spring in the forest)
The well-known word “hot spring” is also hot spring.
Verb → Appears suddenly
It is related to the etymology mentioned earlier, but it also means “new things are born” → “new things suddenly appear”.
(Example) Where has she spring from?
(Where did she come from?)
Adjective → Spring
Even in Japanese, you say “this bed has a spring”.
(Example) This bed has a spring mattress.
(This bed has a spring effect)
2. hard
Well-known meanings are hard and hard. First of all, I will introduce these example sentences.
hard
He picked a hard stone.
Work hard
I studied English so hard.
Strict
Winter in Hokkaido is hard.
Meaning not well known
Actually, there are some other meanings that native speakers often use, although they are not well known to Japanese people. The three are “(people) are severe”, “spicy”, and “poor”. I use it like this.
My boss is hard.
(My boss is strict) * “Strict” that is lower than strict
I ’m really hard today.
(It ’s really hard today)
My family is hard up.
(My family is poor) * Use with up
3. off
It’s familiar off in the form of a set with verbs such as turn off / turn on, but it actually has a lot of meaning!
Preposition → Leave / Go crazy
I ’m off.
This clock is off. (This clock is crazy)
I was off the subject, sorry.
Adjective → rotten or bad
The milk is off.
I ’m off today. (Today is not very good)
My voice is off. (Voice is bad → no voice)
4. someone/anyone
Next, I would like to compare the nuances of some and any with numbers 4 and 5. Let’s start with someone / anyone. For example
Can someone speak English? (Can someone speak English?)
Can anyone speak English? (Can anyone speak English?)
So which one is full? The answer is anyone. Basically, someone is a nuance of “someone” and anyone is “someone (because anyone is okay)”.
Other examples
Is someone there?
Is anyone there?
I understand already. Anyone feels more like an emergency or something like “Anyone is fine, is there anyone?”
5. something/anything
Next, let’s compare something with anything. Something and anything are the same as before. The nuance of what is something and what is anything (because it doesn’t matter). Let’s check the example sentences.
Is there something I can help you with?
Is there anything I can help you with?
Neither is wrong in terms of expression, but it feels kinder to use anything. Do you already know why? Yes, there is a feeling that anything is “can you help me (because anything is small)?”
Other example sentences
How about this?
Is there something fun around here? (Is there something fun around here?)
Is there anything fun around here? (Is there anything interesting around here?)
Something just asks if there is something interesting. Anything has the feeling that “Is there anything interesting?” → “I don’t think I can do anything”.
Conclusion
This time, we introduced these 5 English words. Even famous words that everyone knows can have different meanings when you change the part of speech. Also, because it is similar to No. 4 and No. 5, it tends to mix usage, and there are some words that are difficult to understand. If you re-examine words that you know well, you may find new discoveries.
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