Talking about people in English:
英語で人々の事についての話:
When talking about someone famous or someone you know in Japanese
everyone uses the all-purpose “-さん” or “-様”.
有名な人か知り合いの事については日本語で話すの時、皆は「ーさん」か「―
様」を使います。
As in, “オバマさんがアメリカの新しい大統領になりました。”
例えば、「オバマさんがアメリカの新しい大統領になりました。」
Most Japanese tend to translate this directly into English and say:
ほとんどの日本人はこんな感じで言います:
“Mr. Obama became the new president of America.”
While there is nothing grammatically wrong here, there is a stylistic mistake.
文法的には間違ってないのですが、意味合いがちょっと違ってきます。
We usually use Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss only for people we directly know in a
formal setting (for customers, at work, older people, etc.).
通常、「Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss」は正式な場で、知り合いの人々に対してだけ使い
ます。(お客様、上司又は、年上の人等)
For example:
たとえば:
“Mrs. Johnson’s dog is really noisy.”
Mrs. Johnson is a person you and the person you are talking to knows, a neighbor.
あなたと一緒に話している人はMrs. Johnsonを知っています。(近所の人)
For famous people that you do not know directly, you should use their full names.
会った事等がない有名人にはフルネームを使います。
The example above would then be:
上の例えはこれになります:
“Barak Obama became the new president of America.”
Or, if they have one, you can use their official title, such as:
それか、肩書きがあればそれを使います:
“I really can’t wait until President Bush leaves office.”
You shouldn’t say:
こんな風には言わない方がいいです:
“Did you see that new commercial with Mr. Clooney in it?”
You should use his full name:
フルネームで使った方が良いです:
“Did you see that new commercial with George Clooney in it?”
If you are talking about your boss with your co-worker, you can say:
もし同僚と一緒に上司の事を話す場合には:
“Ms. Ishito won’t let me take a vacation until next summer!”
And, if you are talking directly to George Clooney, you would say:
そして、ジョージ・クルーニーと一緒に話す場合には:
“Excuse me, Mr. Clooney. Would you like to eat dinner with me?”
So, let’s summarize:
それでは、ポイントをまとめてみましょう。
Situation Use
————————– —————————————–
formal settings, Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss/Dr.
boss, customer, older people, formal title (e.g. President, Prime
Minister, etc.)
famous person (directly)
famous person (indirectly) Full name
formal title (e.g. President, Prime Minister, etc.)
This should make your English a little more natural when talking about
the recent U.S. election!
これで、最近のアメリカ大統領選挙について話す時には、もう少し自然に英語で
話す事ができます!
Enjoy!
-Paul]
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