Monday, October 22, 2012

I'm lost versus I lost.

Do you guys understand the difference in meaning between the two sentences? 

The other day one of my students said "I'm lost" during our lesson. This means "I don't know where I am" (迷っている) needless to say, I was kind of surprised!

What she meant to say was "I lost" this means you didn't win a game, you failed to win. (負けた)

Now you can see how a very small difference can lead to a big difference in meaning!

For example:

go out for a drink


This means lets go out for 1 or 2 drinks. We use this when we want to go out for a short time.

go out for drinkS


This means go out for MORE than 2 drinks. We use this when we want to go out for a long amount of time.

Helen: Would you like to go out for a drink after work?

Samantha: Sure, that sounds like fun. Let's go to happy hour at Popeye's.

Helen. Great idea!

Samantha: But I have to leave at 7pm.

Helen: No problem.

-----------------

Ben: Wanna go out for drinks tonight?

Dan: Sorry man, I gotta get home early.

Ben: Alright, how about going out for a drink?

Dan: Sure, I can grab a quick drink on my way home.

Have a good week,

Phil

No comments: