Hello, I am Mac.

[Mac]

Hello, I am Mac who left this forum a long time ago. I've come back to this forum again.

I apologize to people who have been hurt because of me, especially Elizabeth who helped me a lot to learn English. I have left this forum without saying anything. It would hurt her a lot. I'm sorry. I was a timid person. I am still timid, but I have become not as timid as before.

She said "Welcome back. You don't need to care about going back to the JREF. We don't feel bad about you. You don't need to worry to come back to this forum. I hope you make lots of wonderful memories. Take care." I am so happy she welcomed me to go back to this forum warmly. I really appreciate her kindness, so I decided to come back to this forum.

I also appreciate GoldCoinLover's kindness, he also helped me to come back to this forum. I wouldn't have been able to go back to this forum on my own without his help. Thank you so much, GoldCoinLover. You are such a nice friend.

I would like to post some English questions again and I hope people who understand both English and Japanese would help me to learn English again. Yoroshikuonegaishimasu. This is a nice place. I think this is the most helpful place to learn English for me.

Thank you for reading this.

P.S. I also thank the JREF administrators. My account wasn't deleted. I am still a samurai . Hehe. (^^; Arigato Gozaimasu-.

Mac

 

[lexico]

Helo, Mac. I am Lexico.

Welcome (back) to the forum. I joined the forum some time after you left temporarily, so we have never met. I am glad that you overcame your shyness to come back. Friends are nice to have, aren't they ? Enjoy your studies, Mac !

Please let me offer several language comments since you are interested in learning more about English.

It would hurt her a lot. I'm sorry.

You tried to express the past time by using "would" which also happens to express the mode of "possibility, uncertainty." In this case, the past time is not expressed properly. Although grammatically you could say, "That could have hurt her," that sounds awkward. Try using the subjunctive mood to express uncertainty of the past. "I apologize if that (my leaving without saying good bye) hurt her."

You don't need to care about going back to the JREF.

Although grammatically correct, this could mean something else. It sounds as if to say, "You do not need to bother to come back to the forum." To convey the meaning of encouragement, it would be better to use "worry about" instead of "care about" since "to care" can also mean to "to prefer, to bother oneself about, to go to the trouble of." It is interesting to see how one word can sometimes mean two different things, in this case, almost the exact opposite.

You don't need to worry to come back to this forum.

"to worry to (verb)" is not a natural pattern of modern, spoken English. It should be "to worry about (noun or verb+ing)." You can see the result becomes the same with the sentence discussed above.

she welcomed me to go back to

"she welcomed me back to" would convey the meaning. If you prefer to use the verb, it should be "come back" rather than "go back."

I am an English learner, so please correct my English strictly, if you find some mistakes.

You can also express the same idea by saying, "I am practicing my English, and would appreciate any comment to help me speak it better."

Your English is quite good, Mac. I might not have noticed you were learning the language unless you brought it up as your main purpose of using the forum.

 

[Nothingness]

Welcome back JREF, Mac!!!

 

[Mac]

Thank you so much for correcting my English readily, Lexico-san! You seem to be very good at English! Are you a native English speaker?

"too worry to (verb)" is not a natural pattern of modern, spoken English. It should be "to worry about (noun or verb+ing)." You can see the result becomes the same with the sentence discussed above.

I understand this very much. This is so good to know. "worry about ("noun" or verb+ing)" I think so, too. There was no example at all in my dictionary that says "worry about (to+verb)".
I will try to understand the others you told me later. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Nothingness-san. I am so happy.

 

[Ma Cherie]

Hi, Mac. And welcome to the forum. I can help you with English, I happen to be minoring in English.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Welcome (back) to the forum. I joined the forum some time after you left temporarily, so we have never met. I am glad that you overcame your shyness to come back. Friends are nice to have, aren't they ? Enjoy your studies, Mac !

Please let me offer several language comments since you are interested in learning more about English.
You tried to express the past time by using "would" which also happens to express the mode of "possibility, uncertainty." In this case, the past time is not expressed properly. Although grammatically you could say, "That could have hurt her," that sounds awkward. Try using the subjunctive mood to express uncertainty of the past. "I apologize if that (my leaving without saying good bye) hurt her."
Although grammatically correct, this could mean something else. It sounds as if to say, "You do not need to bother to come back to the forum." To convey the meaning of encouragement, it would be better to use "worry about" instead of "care about" since "to care" can also mean to "to prefer, to bother oneself about, to go to the trouble of." It is interesting to see how one word can sometimes mean two different things, in this case, almost the exact opposite."to worry to (verb)" is not a natural pattern of modern, spoken English. It should be "to worry about (noun or verb+ing)." You can see the result becomes the same with the sentence discussed above. "she welcomed me back to" would convey the meaning. If you prefer to use the verb, it should be "come back" rather than "go back."You can also express the same idea by saying, "I am practicing my English, and would appreciate any comment to help me speak it better."

Your English is quite good, Mac. I might not have noticed you were learning the language unless you brought it up as your main purpose of using the forum.

Lexico, elizabeth responded to mac in japanese. He had to translate it into english. That's why some of it could sound better.

 

[lexico]

Thank you so much for correcting my English readily, Lexico-san ! You seem to be very good at English ! Are you a native English speaker ?

You're welcome, Mac. To answer your question, no, I am not a native English speaker. I just happen to speak some by going to school in the US, and have been teaching English for the past five years in Korea. I have studied various areas of grammar for many years, and it has become almost second nature for me to comment on any piece of speech or writing if I have the chance. I shall be glad to give you further help if you want. By the way, I like your flying, super onigiri-man a lot. It's quite nice an avatar.

@gold Coin Lover: Thanks for letting me know. So it was this Mac you were talking about. You guys are wonderful students of languages, aren't you !

 

[den4]

welcome back, Mac. I don't know you, but as Lexico-sama will tell you, I know nothing, so that is ok. As long as you remember that I know nothing, we will be on good terms
What has happened in the past cannot be changed, and if the people involved are a forgiving lot, then don't hesitate to step forward onto the new path or road of your future. Timid is for people who know nothing....so don't be like me

 

[Mars Man]

Hi there Mac !! It's nice to meet you here, and I am glad that you did decide to join in again. When someone is learning a language, it is good to use it as much as possible. It looks like you are doing that; keep it up!!

Talk to you later !! mata ne!!

 

[Anchyyy]

Welcome back Mac!

 

[Mac]

Thank you so much, Ma Cherie-san, Mars Man-san and anchyyy-san! I appreciate your warm kindness. I am so happy!

I happen to be minoring in English.

minor in = ﾂ〜窶堙ｰ窶｢窶ｺﾂ静ｪﾂ攻窶ｰﾃ遺?禿壺?堙俄?露窶堙納/color]
happen to = 窶堋ｽ窶堙懌?堋ｽ窶堙慊〜窶堋ｷ窶堙ｩﾂ、窶ｰﾂｽ窶ｹC窶堙遺?堋ｭﾂ〜窶堋ｷ窶堙ｩ

窶堋ｽ窶堙懌?堋ｽ窶堙懌?ｰpﾅ津ｪ窶堙ｰ窶｢窶ｺﾂ静ｪﾂ攻窶ｰﾃ遺?禿壺?堙俄?露窶堙ｱ窶堙??堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。

==================================

on good terms = 窶吮?｡窶堙娯?氾??堋｢ﾅ?ﾃ披?｢ﾂｿ窶堙??堋?窶堙ｩﾂ、窶吮?｡窶堙娯?氾??堋｢ﾅ?ﾃ滅淡窶堙??堋?窶堙ｩ

What has happened in the past cannot be changed.

窶ｰﾃ溪?ｹﾅｽ窶堙俄?ｹN窶堋ｱ窶堙≫?堋ｽﾅｽ窶凪?堙債、窶｢ﾃ鞘?堋ｦ窶堙ｧ窶堙ｪ窶堙遺?堋｢ﾂ。

Timid is for people who know nothing....so don't be like me.

Ooo. (^^; If so, maybe I should have said "I am shy". I will try to be both not timid or shy. Hehe.

Thank you, everyone.

 

[Mycernius]

Hello and welcome back to the forum. I'm sure plenty of people are willing to help you with your English.

 

[smurf]

Welcome back mac

 

[Davey]

WELCOME BACK MAC... love your name btw... THE MAC

 

[Mac]

Thank you for welcoming me,
Mycernius-san, smurf-san and dutch baka-san. I am so happy.

I will keep learning English hard so that I can get lots of informations.

 

[Davey]

information is good for the brain... btw, your english looks fine to me

 

[Takakoo]

I'd say that I can easily understand your English, Mac, even though it's not grammatically perfect, although sometimes English grammar is so confusing even us who speak it as a first language get confused...

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Hi, Mac! Nice to meet you! Keep up your hard work!

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Welcome Back Mac !! Been A Long Time !!

Hi Mac, glad you are back; always good to get an old timer back to the Forum. There are still lots of nice people here to help you with your English.

Frank

 

[Mac]

Hi, Takakoo-san.

sometimes English grammar is so confusing even us who speak it as a first language

Really? Hehe... The sentences used the words "it, they, that, and so on" sometimes confuse me, because they are so simple and I don't understand what they mean and get confused.

Nice to meet you Mikawa-san! Yes, I will keep up.

Thank you, Frank-san. Hehe, "old-timer". I looked up the word in my dictionary. That's an interesting word. The meaning is a little difficult to me though...

 

[Elizabeth]

Thank you, Frank-san. Hehe, "old-timer". I looked up the word in my dictionary. That's an interesting word. The meaning is a little difficult to me though...

窶堋ｱ窶堙ｱ窶堙俄?堋ｿ窶堙ｭﾂ Macﾂー窶堋ｳ窶堙ｱﾂ！ Your English has become unbelievable--on the other hand, I feel like I've almost forgotten Japanese without someone like you around.

窶堋ｻ窶堙ｪ窶堙?、ﾅｽ窶樞?堙個静?窶督ｾ窶堙坂?堙ｭ窶堋ｩ窶堙ｨ窶堙俄?堋ｭ窶堋｢窶堋ｩ窶堙?ﾂ。ﾂ。ﾂ。窶堋ｪ窶堙ｱ窶堙寂?堙≫?堙??堋ｭ窶堋ｾ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢ﾂ。 ﾂ

ﾂ静?窶督ｾ窶堋ｷ窶堙ｩ窶堙娯?堋ｪ窶愿ｯ窶堋ｵ窶堋｢窶堙ｱ窶堙??堋ｷ窶堋ｪﾂ、窶ｰpﾅ津ｪ窶堋ｾ窶堙??ｪ窶敕岩?廬窶堙可「窶弋ﾅ耽窶廬窶堙遺?堋ｨ窶堋ｶ窶堙娯?堙ｦ窶堋､窶堙鞍耽ﾆ辰ﾆ致窶堙個人
ﾂ、窶彡ﾅｽﾃ俄?堋ｶ窶堙昶?堋ｽﾂ人ﾂ、窶佚固陳ｱ窶堙娯?伉ｽ窶堋｢ﾂ人ﾂ、ﾆ遅ﾆ耽ﾆ停?ｰﾆ停?慊」窶堙??堋｢窶堋､ﾋ?凪?督｡窶堙?ｽg窶堋､窶堙遺?堙ｧ
ﾂ「old timerﾂ、old hand, veteranﾂ」窶堙??堋｢窶堋､窶｢\ﾅ陳ｻ窶堙ｰﾅｽg窶堋､窶堙?ｽv窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。ﾂ
窶堋ｽ窶堙??堋ｦ窶堙寂?扼ﾅ?ﾃｱ窶堙ｨ窶堙??堙遺?堋ｭ窶堙??堙?ﾂ「窶佚固陳ｱ窶堙娯?伉ｽ窶堋ｭﾂ、ﾆ遅ﾆ耽ﾆ停?ｰﾆ停?慊」窶堙娯?堙ｦ窶堋､窶堙闇陳ｩ窶堋ｩ窶堋ｯ窶堙個人窶堙債「old timer窶堙遺?堙?」窶堙??堋｢窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。
窶堋ｻ窶堋､ﾅ陳ｩ窶堋ｦ窶堙ｩﾂ湘ｪﾂ坂?｡ﾂ「窶彡ﾅｽﾃ俄?堋ｶ窶堙昶?堋ｽ窶吮??窶扼窶冕ﾂ青ｫﾂ」窶堙ｰﾅ陳ｩ窶堙??堙?ﾂ「old-timerﾂ」窶堙?陳ｾ窶堋､ﾂ湘ｪﾂ坂?｡窶堋ｪ窶伉ｽ窶堋｢窶堙??堋ｷﾂ。

窶愿ｺ窶怒ﾅ津ｪ窶堙??堙?窶堋ｻ窶堋､窶堋｢窶堋､窶堙昶?堋ｽ窶堋｢窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堋ｾ窶堙ｫ窶堋､窶堙娯?堋ｩ窶堙按？

窶堙ｭ窶堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽ窶堙ｧﾂ、窶堙遺?堙ｩ窶堙冷?堋ｭﾅｽﾂｩ窶漏窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堙俄?凖ｹﾂ青ｳ窶堋ｵ窶堙??堋ｭ窶堋ｾ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢窶堙仰。 :sorry:

 

[Mac]

窶堋ｱ窶堙ｱ窶堙俄?堋ｿ窶堙債、Elizabeth窶堋ｳ窶堙ｱﾂ。窶堋ｨ窶ｹv窶堋ｵ窶堙披?堙ｨ窶堙??堋ｷﾂ。

You have posted a lot, you are now [ﾂ神窶罵] on this forum. 窶堋ｷ窶堋ｲ窶堋｢ﾂ。

old-timer = 窶ｰﾃｹﾅ津??廬ﾂ｛窶堋ｩ窶堋｢窶堋ｱ 窶堙??堋ｫﾂ｝窶堙按人ﾂ、ﾅ津η?ﾃｧﾂ｛窶堙凪?堙ｩ窶堋ｪ窶堋ｨﾂ｝ﾂ、ﾋ弖ﾂ人ﾂ｛窶堙ｫ窶堋､窶堋ｶ窶堙ｱﾂ｝ﾂ、ﾋ弖窶氾ｻ窶ｰﾃ?｛窶堙ｫ窶堋､窶堙ｪ窶堙ｱ窶堋ｩﾂ｝
ﾋ弖窶氾ｻ窶ｰﾃ?、窶ｰﾃｹﾅ津??廬窶堙按人ﾂ。I don't understand these meanings at all. It's so difficult to understand.
ﾅ津η?ﾃｧﾂ。I understand what this means a bit.
ﾋ弖ﾂ人ﾂ。I understand this meaning perfectly. (^^;

always good to get an old timer back to the Forum

Ooo, That's a difficult word. I thought that meant "It's good that people who used to visit this forum come back.[?]ﾂ（窶堋｢窶堙遺?堋ｭ窶堙遺?堙≫?堋ｽﾂ（窶楼窶堙俄?堋｢窶堋ｽﾂ）ﾂ人窶堋ｪ窶禿溪?堙≫?堙??藩 ??堙??氾??堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽﾂ。ﾂ）" I wonder if that doesn't mean so.[?]:?

Hmm, I need to look at my Japanese dictionary. Hehe...

======================[Correction]

ﾅｽ窶樞?堙個静?窶督ｾ窶堙坂?堙ｭ窶堋ｩ窶堙ｨ窶堙俄?堋ｭ窶堋｢窶堋ｩ窶堙?ﾂ。ﾂ。ﾂ。窶堋ｪ窶堙ｱ窶堙寂?堙≫?堙 窶堋ｭ窶堋ｾ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢ﾂ。

ﾅｽ窶樞?堙個静?窶督ｾ窶堙債、窶｢ﾂｪ窶堋ｩ窶堙ｨ窶堙俄?堋ｭ窶堋｢窶堋ｩ窶堙?窶堋ｵ窶堙ｪ窶堙遺?堋｢窶堋ｯ窶堙?、窶堋ｪ窶堙ｱ窶堙寂?堙≫?堙??堋ｭ窶堋ｾ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢ﾂ。

窶愿ｺ窶怒ﾅ津ｪ窶堙??堙?窶堋ｻ窶堋､窶堋｢窶堋､窶堙昶?堋ｽ窶堋｢窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堋ｾ窶堙ｫ窶堋､窶堙娯?堋ｩ窶堙按？

窶愿ｺ窶怒ﾅ津ｪ窶堙??堙?窶堋ｻ窶堙ｱ窶堙按（窶堋ｻ窶堋､窶堋｢窶堋､ﾂ）ﾅ?'窶堋ｶ窶堋ｩ窶堙按？

窶堙ｭ窶堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽ窶堙ｧﾂ、窶堙遺?堙ｩ窶堙冷?堋ｭﾅｽﾂｩ窶漏窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堙俄?凖ｹﾂ青ｳ窶堋ｵ窶堙??堋ｭ窶堋ｾ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢窶堙 ﾂ。

ﾂ出窶藩??堋ｽ窶堙ｧﾂ、窶堙遺?堙ｩ窶堙冷?堋ｭﾅｽﾂｩ窶漏窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堙俄?凖ｹﾂ青ｳ窶堋ｵ窶堙??堋ｭ窶堋ｾ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢ﾂ。
======================

 

[Elizabeth]

Ooo, That's a difficult word. I thought that meant "It's good that people who used to visit this forum come back.[?]ﾂ（窶堋｢窶堙遺?堋ｭ窶堙遺?堙≫?堋ｽﾂ（窶楼窶堙俄?堋｢窶堋ｽﾂ）ﾂ人窶堋ｪ窶禿溪?堙≫?堙??藩??堙??氾??堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽﾂ。ﾂ）" I wonder if that doesn't mean so.[?]:?

Hehe, maybe you need to be a certain age yourself to really understand.

窶ｰpﾅ津ｪ窶堙個『ﾅ津??堋ｫ窶氾??堋ｫﾅｽﾅｾ窶佚｣ﾂ」窶堙俄?堙や?堋｢窶堙?彙窶堋ｵ窶堙??堋｢窶堙ｩ窶堙??堋ｫ窶堙可、ﾂ「old timerﾂ」窶堙??堋｢窶堋､窶｢窶披?堙俄?堙ｦ窶堋ｭﾅｽg窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷ窶堙仰。

Ooo, That's a difficult word. I thought that meant "It's good that people who used to visit this forum come back.[?]ﾂ（窶堋｢窶堙遺?堋ｭ窶堙遺?堙≫?堋ｽﾂ（窶楼窶堙俄?堋｢窶堋ｽﾂ）ﾂ人窶堋ｪ窶禿溪?堙≫?堙??藩??堙??氾??堋ｩ窶堙≫?堋ｽﾂ。ﾂ）" I wonder if that doesn't mean so.[?]:?

In this case, I think Mac can be considered a wise young veteran here, but it has to refer to someone who hasn't been here for a period of time (over a year maybe?) and who made a strong impact at the time. Ahh now I'm getting everyone just as lost as you....

 

[Mac]

窶堋ｱ窶堙個湘ｪﾂ坂?｡ﾂ、Mac窶堙債、ﾅ陳ｫ窶堋ｭﾂ、ﾅｽﾃ｡窶堋｢Veteran窶堙??堋ｵ窶堙?考窶堋ｦ窶堙ｧ窶堙ｪ窶堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷ窶堋ｪﾂ、窶堋ｱ窶堋ｱ窶堙架?ｪﾅｽﾅｾﾅ?ﾃｺ窶堋｢窶堙遺?堋ｭﾂ、窶懌?毒ｽﾅｾ窶ｹﾂｭ窶氾坂?堙遺?ｰe窶ｹﾂｿ窶堙ｰ窶膿窶堋ｦ窶堋ｽﾂ人窶堙固ｽ窶凪?堙俄?卍才?凪?堙ｰﾅ津ｼ窶堋ｯ窶堙遺?堋ｯ窶堙ｪ窶堙寂?堙遺?堙ｨ窶堙懌?堋ｹ窶堙ｱﾂ。

"I'm getting everyone just as lost as you..." I can't translate this. (^^;; Could you translate this to Japanese, Elizabeth?

I got confused. (^^;; Hehe.....

 

[lexico]

Chomsky to the rescue !

I'm getting everyone just as lost as you...

Here "to get" means "to make," "lost" means "confused."
The deep structure has three parts.

1) "I am making you so confused."
2) "I am making everyone (else) so confused."
3) "The degree in which I am doing 2) is the same as I am doing 1)."

The coordinate conjunction "as (adjective or adverb) as" glues together 1) and 2).

"I am making everyone (else) confused just as much as I am making you confused."

(This is clumsier on the surface, but easier to string together without the switching around of the adjective and the first as; you can just put them in order A+B+C. In this case, the conjunction+2nd clause (sentence 1) actually) became a clausal adverb to follow the adjective "confused" instead of coming before it as below.)

(or in another way)

"I am making everyone (else) just as confused as I am making you confused."

(This is a more straight forward use of "as ~ as," but involves some switching words around by sticking in the first "as" in front of the "confused.")

After the removing of the reduncancy, this becomes,

"I am making everyone (else) confused just as much as [I am making] you [confused]."

(or in another way)

"I am making everyone (else) just as confused as [I am making] you [confused]."

I like the 1st explanation better; but the 2nd is closer to what Elizabeth said. I hope that makes sense.

edit: You are quite welcome, Mac !