
(この記事は、「札幌英会話ニュースレター #4」の英語訳です。) ‘We have the English menu.’ X 🙄 Translated into Japanese, this sign would read あの英語のメニュー一枚あります (ano eigo no menyuu ichimai arimasu, ‘Oh, you mean that English menu? We have one of those.’) First, we use the article ‘the’ when referring to a concrete noun (as if we were pointing to an object with one of our fingers) or to a specific noun that we have already mentioned in speech or in writing. Close equivalents to the word ‘the’ in Japanese include この, その, and あの (kono, sono, ano; this, that, that). Examples: Look at the sky! (空を見て!, sora o mite!) Bring me the file. (そのファイルを持ってきて, sono huairu o motte kite.) Can you see the moon? (お月様見える?, otukisama mieru?) Did you like the CD? (あのCDは気に入った?, ano CD ha ki ni itta?) I’m going to see the new manager tomorrow. (明日新しいマネージャーに会います, asita atarashi maneegyaa ni aimasu.) Next, in this sentence the word ‘menu’ in the singular refers only to a single menu. If you have more than just one English menu at your restaurant, then go ahead and use the plural form, ‘menus.’ ―> We have English menus! Used in everyday English conversations, this sentence would sound quite proper and…