英会話学習ブログ

英語をもっと楽しく、もっと自然に。

文法・会話・熟語・表現など、英語学習に役立つ情報をわかりやすく発信しています。

Well-spoken English is your ticket to the world—and beyond.

【会話で間違いやすい】"In The Case of" Vs. "With"

Which is better?

A. In the space shuttle's case, the vehicle lands like a plane.

B. In the case of the space shuttle, the vehicle lands like a plane.

Or, for a more easily understood example:

A. In flower's case, minerals, water and sunlight are essential.

B. In the case of flowers, minerals, water and sunlight are essential.

I hope you picked B. There is a lot of confusion about using "in my case." It starts when we try to talk about other things. We say: "In Science's case...." This is awkward. And it is especially awkward when we say "car's case" (a word ending in an 's').  We should't say "in car's case" for two reasons:

First, it should be "the car's," but we shouldn't put 's after 'car' to begin with. A car cannot own anything. It's not alive.  

Second, as we are speaking about a car specific to our example--such as in the case of ''our car'' or a car in our situation, it becomes "the car." So we say "in the case of the car"

Now that we have that cleared up, it is far easier to say: "with the car," which has the same conversational meaning as "in the case of the car." Similarly, we say, "with me," as in:

With me, I don't like carrying umbrellas.

Of course we can simply say, "I don't like carrying umbrellas." But of course, as you are a person and you can possess experiences, you can say:

In my case, I don't like umbrellas. This sounds technical, cold, clinical. Any time you use the word 'case', you sound like a clinician, a doctor, a scientist--a nerd if you are not one of those professionals or speaking in a professional situation.

So, I ask you once again:

A. In the Saturn Five rocket's case, the vehicle loses sections as they run out of Fuel.

B. In the case of the Saturn Five rocket, the vehicle loses sections as they run out of fuel.

I hope you picked B. And of course, we can say:

A. With the Saturn Five rocket, the vehicle loses sections as they run out of Fuel.

Now look at this:

My brother is always late; in the case of my sister, I can depend on her being on time.

We change the sentence to a less technical and more casual sounding expression:

My brother is always late  (We don't need to reference his case; we aim to speak simply in English); with my sister, I can depend on her being on time.

Any questions?

CA  

日本語訳

宇宙往還機や花を例に、「……の場合」と言うときの In X's case と In the case of X のどちらが自然かを考えます。筆者は B の In the case of ... を選びます。車なら「その車の場合」、人なら「私の場合」という言い方も登場します。

解答・解説の日本語訳

最初の例は「スペースシャトルの場合、機体は飛行機のように着陸する」。次は「花の場合、ミネラル、水、日光が不可欠」という例です。筆者はどちらも In the case of ... の形を選びます。「私の場合」をほかの物事にそのまま当てはめて In Science's case や In car's case と言うと不自然だ、という説明です。本文では「car's の前には the が必要」とも述べたうえで、In the case of the car を提案します。会話では With the car と言うほうがずっと簡潔だ、と筆者は考えています。「私の場合」も With me, I don't like carrying umbrellas. または単に I don't like carrying umbrellas. と言えます。In my case, I don't like umbrellas. は少し冷たく、医師や研究者が症例を論じるような響きがある、としています。最後にもう一度「サターン V ロケットの場合、燃料が切れた段を切り離す」を二通りで比べ、In the case of the Saturn Five rocket を選びますが、With the Saturn Five rocket とも言えます。さらに「兄はいつも遅れるが、妹は時間を守ると信頼できる」も In the case of my sister より with my sister のほうがくだけた自然な会話になると述べます。物に所有格を使えないという原文の説明は、英語全般の絶対的な規則としては扱わず編集確認事項にします。