【日本人がよく間違える英語】「Spend」には「Time（時間）」が必要

「How was your weekend?」

「I spent at home.」

「What are you doing at new year?」

「I’m going to spend with my family.」

これらの会話は、レッスン中によく耳にする答えです。

何を言おうとしているかは分かるのですが、ちょっとだけ何かが足りません。「時」です！

日本語では、動詞「過ごす」を使うとき、「時」に関する目的語を省略してもいいのですが、英語では省略できません。

例えば、

I spent last weekend at home.
(週末を家で過ごしました。

I’m spending new year with my family.
(新年を家族と過ごします。)

後の2つの文では、「last weekend」「new year」という「時」について話していると分かってもらえます。

英語では、時間に関連して話す場合、動詞の「spend」は常にこのように使われます。

この記事の初めに書いた2つの質問に対して、適切に答えるには、下記のように「weekend」や「new year」を代名詞に置き換えます。

How was your weekend?
(週末はいかがでしたか？)

I spent it at home.
(週末は家で過ごしました。)

What are you doing at new year?
(新年は何をしますか？)

I’m going to spend it with my family.
(新年は家族と過ごす予定です。)

時を表す語句の前に形容詞を置いて、その時がどんなふうだったか説明することもできます。

I spent a really nice time at John’s house last weekend.
(週末は、ジョンの家で本当に楽しく過ごしました。)

I spent a fantastic 2 weeks in France last year and I’d love to go again.
(去年はフランスで素晴らしい2週間を過ごしました。また行きたいです。)

Finally, please remember though that we don’t really use the verb quite as much as you do in Japanese though so try and mix it up a bit.

最後に、英語では日本語ほど「spend（過ごす）」という動詞は動詞をあまり使わないということを、覚えておいていただければと思います。

以下ように答えることができます。

How was your weekend?
(週末はどうだった？)

Not bad, just stayed at home.
(まあまあかな。家にいただけ。)

What are you doing at new year?
(お正月はどうするつもり？)

I’ll probably be with my family back in my hometown.
(多分、家族と里帰りするだろうね。)

以上、お役に立てば何よりです。

ジェイミー

[English version]

How was your weekend?

I spent at home.

What are you doing at new year?

I’m going to spend with my family.

These are answers that I hear a few times a day while teaching and while I understand what people are trying to tell me there is one small thing missing. Time!

In Japanese you can omit time when using the verb 過ごすbut in English you cannot.

For example…

I spent last weekend at home.

I’m spending new year with my family.

In these sentences the times last weekend and new year are understood. The verb spend is always used in this way when relating to time in English. A good way to answer the first 2 questions is to replace weekend and new year with a pronoun.

Like this…

How was your weekend?

I spent  it at home.

What are you doing at new year?

I’m going to spend it with my family.

You can also use an adjective in front of the time phrase to describe what the event was like.

I spent a really nice time at John’s house last weekend.

I spent a fantastic 2 weeks in France last year and I’d love to go again.

Finally, please remember though that we don’t really use the verb quite as much as you do in Japanese though so try and mix it up a bit.

These answers are perfectly okay….

How was your weekend?

Not bad, just stayed at home.

What are you doing at new year?

I’ll probably be with my family back in my hometown.

Hope that comes in handy.

Jaimie