NHK英会話タイムトライアル2025年度8月
【Croatia】Once Upon A Time In Croatia
時間の伝え方
It’s midnight in Turkey(Turkiye).
My phone rang in the middle of the night. ※真夜中：the middle of the night 深夜はmidnight
時差の伝え方
There is a seven-hour time difference between Japan and Croatia. ※時差：time difference
There is not a time difference between Croatia and Sweden.
The U.K. is one hour behind Croatia.
Japan is seven hours ahead
of Croatia.
Actually, would you call me in three hours? 「あいにくですが、・・・」
時差ぼけ関連の表現
Are you jet lagged? ※Do you have よりよく使う
I’m still jet lagged.
I’m not jet lagged at all.
Were you able to sleep on the plane? ※GPT欄参照
I was able to sleep a few hours. ※GPT欄参照
I adjusted my watch to local time.「時計を現地時間に合わせました」
But I haven’t adjusted myself to local time yet.
I took a long walk, and I finally adjusted to local time.
“Were you able to sleep on the plane?" で「on the plane」と「on the flight」の違い
on the plane は「飛行機の中」、during the flight は「飛行時間中」と、ニュアンスが少し違う。
比較
on the plane：物理的に飛行機にいる状態
Were you able to sleep on the plane? 「飛行機に乗って寝られた？」
during the flight：飛行便の時間中に何かした、という時間的な強調
Were you able to sleep during the flight?「フライト中に寝られた？」
“I was able to sleep a few hours." の文で時間の前に「for」がない
「able to」「can」「could」などの能力・可能を表す動詞の後では、期間を直接名詞句で置くことができる。
例
I was able to sleep a few hours.「数時間寝ることができた」
She can run ten miles. 「10マイル走れる」
for を入れても間違いではないが、自然さの観点から省略されることが多く、入れるとやや強調的になる。
過去の内容の表現
Our house was built in 1999.
This castle became a world heritage site in 1979.
Tokyo tower was completed in 1958. 「完成しました」
When was the last big earthquake in Croatia?
The last big earthquake was in 2020.
When was the last time you traveled to Europe?
For my last birthday, I traveled to the U.K.
For my next birthday, I will travel to South America.
backを使った過去の表現
It feels like we went back in time.
※タイムスリップする：go back in time
What were you doing back in 1990?「1990年当時は何をしていましたか」 ※～当時：back in ～
I wasn’t born in 1990 yet.
Back then, I was still a baby. ※当時：back then
Back then, I worked for a publishing company in London. ※出版社：publishing company GPT欄参照
That was a while ago. ※だいぶ前：a while ago long time agoよりは少し最近
A while ago, I traveled around Europe for a month.
“Back then, I worked for a publishing company in London." の文で進行形との違い
比較
I worked for a publishing company in London.
「過去のある期間、そこで働いていた」という 過去の事実・習慣・経歴・安定した状態を述べている。
過去の習慣や安定した状況を語るときに worked を使うのが自然。
例：
Back then, I lived
in London.
Back then, I worked for a bank.
I was working for a publishing company in London.
「その時点で働いている最中だった」という 動作の進行 を強調する。
通常は「ある特定の時点」を背景にするときに使う。
例
Back then, while I was working for a publishing company in London, I met my future wife.「当時ロンドンで出版社に勤めていたとき、未来の妻と出会った」
この場合、「働いていたこと自体」よりも、その時点での状況・進行を強調しているイメージ。
〇世紀の表現
That church was built in the 13th century.
This town was built around the 7th century.
I love 18th century literature. ※「～世紀の」の場合はtheは付かない（形容詞としての用法なので）
Samurai were active from around the 12th century. ※活躍する：active
There weren’t any Samurai after the 20th century.
Jenny was in collage studying music theory at the beginning of the 21st century.
Steve first came to Japan at the end of the 20th century.
That was around the end of the bubble era in Japan.
待たせた謝罪のやり取り
Sorry to keep you waiting.「お待たせしました」
I’m (terribly) sorry to have kept you waiting. ※完了形にすると謝罪の気持ちのニュアンスが増す
It’s no problem. ※It’sを足すとより丁寧になる
That took a while. 「時間が掛かりましたね」
How long have you been waiting?
There was a huge traffic jam.
How old の表現
How old is this wine?「このワインは何年物ですか」
How old is this statue?「これはいつ作られた銅像ですか」
It’s ninety years old.
This oil painting is about 100 years old.「この油絵は100年くらい前のものです」
人の説明
This is the picture of Shibusawa Eiichi.
He was a business pioneer.
He was active from the Meiji to the Showa period.
A picture of Tsuda Umeko is printed on the 5000-yen bill.
She was a famous educator in the Meiji period.
She studied education in the U.S. at the end of the 19th century.
時間に関する慣用表現
Everyone had a good time. ※冠詞についてGPT欄参照
It’s time for dinner. ※そろそろ：it’s time for
Almost everything in Japan is on time.
I killed time walking around this area. ※冠詞についてGPT欄参照
The old timers helped first timers during orientation. ※初心者：first timer ベテラン：old timer
It’s time to go already? Time flies.
“Everyone had a good time." の「time」には「a」が付いて、"I killed time ～." の「time」には「a」が付かないのはなぜ？
比較
Everyone had a good time.
ここでの time は「経験としての時間」や「楽しい時間のひととき」という意味で可算名詞なので「a」を付ける。
例:
We had a great time at the party.
She had a hard time learning English.
I killed time walking around this area.
ここでの time は「（具体的に意味のある）ひとまとまりの時間」ではなく、単に 「余った時間」」や「やることのない時間」 を指すので不可算名詞 として扱われ、「a」は不要。
例:
I spent some time reading.
He is wasting time.