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For Life
2006.07.03(Review of 2000.09.21 edition)

It's hard for us to believe, but today marks the beginning of our 300th week of Berlitz WordMaster! We've enjoyed every week, every day - every word of it! Thank you so much for being a part of our rapidly growing family of readers!

This week we dig way back into the WordMaster archives to bring you some classic editions from our first year. We'll begin with Part 1 of a two-part series on the word ever!

Today's Lesson
(Do you/Did you) EVER ...?   ～（する／した）ことがありますか

Explanation

  • When ASKING questions in the simple present or simple past tense, we often use the word ever to mean “at any time”; for example, “Do you ever listen to jazz?” or “Was she ever really sick as a child?”

    We normally do NOT use ever when ANSWERING such questions. Instead, use the verb by itself or together with words such as “always”, “usually”, “often”, “sometimes”, “rarely”, or “never”.
  • 現在形や過去形の疑問文で、「一度でも」という意味を表す場合、よく ever を使います。例えば「あなたはジャズを聴くことがありますか」「彼女は子供のころに重い病気をしましたか」などです。

    ever がついた質問に答える際には、ever は使いません。答える際には、動詞に何もつけないか、頻度を表す always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never をつけます。

examples

  1. a: Does your husband ever give you flowers?
    b: Of course. He gives me flowers every year for my birthday.
  2. a: Do you ever drive to the office?
    b: No. I usually take the bus, or I sometimes walk when the weather is nice.
  3. a: Did you ever eat meat when you were living with your parents?
    b: No, we never did. We always ate vegetarian.

英会話レッスンIt's been a pleasure!