2014年10月26日日曜日

the last - last

I am sorry that I have been lazy about writing my English blog. So I am writing one more post this month. It is short though...
Here is a question for you. How do you translate these?
  1. The last Saturday in October
  2. The last two people
  3. Last Saturday
  4. Last time
The answers are:
  1. 10 gatsu no saigo no doyobi
  2. saigo no futari
  3. senshu no doyobi, kono mae no doyobi
  4. zenkai, kono mae no toki
You can translate “last” two different ways, but the difference is simple when you compare them. “The last” (the antonym of “the first”) is “saigo no”; and “last” (the antonym of “next”) is “kono mae no”.
the last (saigo no) the first (saisho no)
last (kono mae no)  next (tsugi no)
When you confuse “saigo no” and “kono mae no”, it’s good to think of the antonym of the “last” that you’re using in English. 
However, both work on this English sentence:
When was the last time you went to an onsen?
saigo ni onsen ni itta no wa itsu des ka? 
kono mae onsen ni itta no wa itsu des ka? 


2 件のコメント:

  1. how would you say this is the last time?
    something like
    "This is the last time you can have my cookie you cookie-thief!"
    (final) time? haha
    hi nice to meet you.

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  2. hajimemashite, pacman2 san,
    This is the last time is "kore ga saigo des."
    So, "This is the last time you can have my cookie you cookie-thief!" would be "anata ga watashi no cookie o taberareru no wa kore ga saigo des yo, cookie dorobo!"
    A more natural way is "kore ga anata no saigo no cookie des yo." (This is your last cookie.)

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