Scottの英会話相談室

Posted by: usa. 
Hello, Scott.

I would like to ask for your help about the following expressions.

(1)What’s the matter?
(2)What’s wrong?
(3)What’s the matter with you?
(4)What’s wrong with you?

First, I’d like to know the difference between (1) and (2). Is there any clear (or subtle) difference between the two?

And I’ve once heard that (3) and (4) sound too strong to the person you are talking to sometimes. Would you give me some advice to use each expression properly, if possible?
 
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Posted by: Taki. 
Hello, Scott.
Please tell me if the following sentences are about the same meaning :
1.Did you prefer to watch a movie or read a book?
2.Would you rather watch a movie or read a book?
 
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Posted by: Fukuoka. 
Hi Scott.
I’d like to ask you one question.

How do you pronounce the sentence below?

“His wife’s an eye doctor.”

1) his wife’s [hiz waifs]
2) his wife’s [hiz waifz]

In short, I’d like to know which one is correct.

 
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Posted by: Toshio. 
Hi Scott,

In the lyrics we often encounter the word like “ev’ry one” like in the song “Where have all the flowerw gone” and a part of its lyric going like “Young girls have picked them ev’ry one” or “Gone to soldiers ev’ry one”.

Could you tell me what those mean?

Toshio

 
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Posted by: Toshio. 
Hi Scott, how are you doing?

Long time no see. I would like to ask you one question. Please take a look at following sentence.
“I never used to like golf before.”

Can you say simply “I didn’t like golf before.” instead?

Toshio
P.S.
By the way, there have been a lot of junk posts in this column of yours lately, I guess. Couldn’t you do something about it?
 
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Posted by: Toshio. 
Hi Scott, how are you doing?

I would like to ask you a question about the usage of “would”.

We often say “I would like to…”, “I wouldn’t dare tell…” or “I would hate to miss…”. I think that this usage of “would” like these is meant to reduce the emotion of the speaker. Is that right?

Toshio
 
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Posted by: usa. 
Hello, Scott.

How have you been? I haven’t taken part in this board for a long time again, though I visited here from time to time. I had been doing recruiting activities for about half a year and finally got a new job.

Today I have some questions about the following sentences.
Would you tell me if they make sense when you wanto to say “Summer vacation is drawing near.”?

(1)Summertime is near here.

(2)Summertime is near and near.
 
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Posted by: Toshio. 
Hi Scott, how are you doing? Are you enjoying the ski that you like best in this season?

I would like to ask you a question from an article appeared in the Asahi Shinbun website as follows:

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200903060068.html

(4th paragraph from the bottom)
Another worthwhile idea would be hiking the inheritance tax through a cut in the fixed-amount deduction of 50 million yen, coupled with a raise in the additional 10-million-yen deduction per heir. This step would redress an excessive income transfer from younger to older generations through pension and other public programs.

My question is:
Does the auther mean to say that the raise of inheritance tax through a cut should be planned in the additional 10-million-yen deduction per heir, too?

Toshio
 
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Posted by: Toshio. 
Hi Scott,

Please tell me if the following sentences are the same respectively:
1. I’ve got a month’s holiday.
I have a month’s holiday.
2. I got used to being alone.
I’ve got used to being alone.
I’m used to being alone.

Toshio
 
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Posted by: Toshio. 
Hi Scott, how are you doing? I’ve rather not been well with pancreatitis for which I had had to stay at a hospital for three weeks from the late November through the early December. I’m, however, rather fine now.

Well, I have some questions to ask you from an article appeared in the Japan Times, again, in the following link and the following sentences:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20081228×4.html

(in the 10th paragraph)
…but the whole was greater than the sum of its parts, and what the world saw was a severely traumatized superpower beginning — hopefully — to renew itself.

Does the “whole” refer to the fact that Mr. Barack Obama was finally elected as a next president of the U.S. despite of the dificult process (its parts) of hard and and sometimes ugly fighting for the presidency?

(in the 6th paragraph from the bottom)
Fittingly, a year rife with problems spawned conference after conference.

Why is “fittingly” put here? Is it because of the fact that lots of problems happened? Do the lots of problems fit for the lots of conferences?

Toshio
 
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Posted by: Dylan. 
It is the first time to write a message for you.

I am Dylan.(I am Japanese)
I have a request and write a letter. In the site that you run, somebody pretends to be me, and writes a slander article on your web site.

http://www.internetenglish.org/circledisplay.php?id=kinki
[サークル名 フージャーズ（アフターダーク） ]

He seems to be someone who participated in the English Speaking Society which I run once. what he wrote is groundlessness.

I am troubled very much due to that article.

Please delete the article immediately.

 
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