bryce

I’ve found that “お勧めの********は？” is often translated as “What is your recommend ********”, which is incorrect.

As I always tell mydents, it’s important to understand what a word is (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.). So today, I want to point out..

動詞 – RECOMMEND


名詞 – RECOMMENDATION

Now we know this, we can apply the correct grammar. Here are some common examples for you.

• What do you recommend?
• What dish do you recommend?
• What is your recommended dish?  (受身系)
• Where do you recommend I visit in Kyoto?
• My father recommended the BLT sandwich.
• I can’t recommend her.  She’s too selfish.

Now, because RECOMMENDATION is a noun, our options are few.

• What is your recommendation?
• His recommendation is to invest money in cryptocurrency.
• My best recommendation for traveling in Kyoto is to rent some electrically-assisted bicycles.

Here is some easy English for you. A lot of my students tend to use “but” a little too much.

I studied really hard for a month, but I failed the test.

This is OK, but I feel that most Japanese might say something like

1ヶ月一生懸命勉強したのに、試験に落ちた！

..using a のに, not a けど.

So, an easy way to express のに in English is “even though“.

Even though ___A____ , ____B_____ .

or

___B____ even though ____A____ .

So,

• Even though I studied really hard for a month, I failed the test.
• My Japanese is not so good, even though I’ve been living in Japan for almost 14 years.
• Even though she promised she would come to the party, she never showed up.
• Even though he’s Japanese, Hiro hates sushi.
• I can never remember the word “断る”, even though I’ve studied it countless times.