English Level: Easy and up
We all love food, but it’s always difficult to describe the food that we eat. A few days ago this happened to a student of Connect Eikaiwa (コネクト英会話). He had a difficult time explaining how Gyoza tastes. If you know what they taste like but you don’t know the words to describe them, what do you do? Do you not have enough vocabulary, again? Just think of the names of the ingredients you use to cook them with and I’ll show you how to change these nouns into adjectives. It’s going to be so easy.
Let’s take your favorite food. My sister’s and mine are lasagna. What are some of the ingredients that give a lot of flavor in this tasty Italian dish? Let’s make a list: garlic, beef, tomato sauce, pepper, cheese, rosemary.
Now let’s look at some of the rules.
Condition #1: For most words, just add a “y.”
- garlic ⇒ garlicy
- pepper ⇒ peppery
- beef ⇒ beefy
Condition #2: If the word ends with an “e”, remove it and replace it with a “y.”
- tomato sauce ⇒ tomato sauc
e+ y ⇒tomato-saucy - cheese ⇒ chees
e+ y ⇒ cheesy
Condition #3: If the word end in consonant- vowel- consonant, double the last letter and put “y.”
- nut ⇒ nut + t + y ⇒ nutty
- grit ⇒ grit + t + y ⇒ gritty
Condition #4: If the word ends with an “y”, add “-like.”
- rosemary ⇒ rosemary-like
We are ready to describe the Lasagna. Ready…….? It tastes garlicy, beefy, tomato-saucy, peppery, cheesy, and rosemary-like.
Now, you give it a try. Leave a comment with us at Connect Eikaiwa (コネクト英会話) in the section below and tell us what your favorite food tastes like.
