snails
カタツムリ
解説 Definition
snails は snail（カタツムリ）の複数形です。殻を持ち、ゆっくり動く小さな生き物を複数指すときに使います。
Snails are small mollusks that move slowly on a muscular foot and usually have a coiled shell. The word is the regular plural form of snail and refers to two or more of these animals.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
snails は snail「カタツムリ」の規則的な複数形で、母音字の後に -s を加えます。発音は /sneɪlz/ で、語末の s は有声音 /z/ です。three snails、many snails、snails in the garden のように数・場所と組み合わせ、雨上がりに複数のカタツムリがゆっくり進む場面で覚えましょう。
Begin with the singular snail and add the regular plural ending -s: one snail, two snails. Because the final sound of snail is voiced, the ending is pronounced /z/, giving /sneɪlz/. Picture several small, shell-carrying animals moving slowly across a wet garden path after rain. Useful combinations include three snails, many snails, garden snails, and snails appeared near the flowers. The number or plural determiner confirms that more than one animal is meant, while the singular form is used after one or a.
例文
Snails moved slowly across the wet path.
カタツムリたちがぬれた小道をゆっくり進んでいました。
The children found three snails in the garden.
子どもたちは庭で3匹のカタツムリを見つけました。
After the rain, many snails appeared near the flowers.
雨の後、花の近くにたくさんのカタツムリが現れました。
snails の類義語・関連語
snails の語源・成り立ち Etymology
古英語 snæġl（カタツムリ）に由来し、ゲルマン祖語 *snagila-（這うもの）に遡る。語根 *snag- は「這う」を意味し、ゆっくり動く様子を表す。関連語に snake（蛇）、snag（引っかかり）がある。「のろのろ這う生き物」が原義。
Snails is the regular plural of snail, formed by adding -s. Snail descends from Old English snægl or snegl, the name of the slow-moving mollusk, and has relatives in other Germanic languages. Its deeper history is associated with ideas of creeping or crawling, although exact reconstructed connections should be treated cautiously. The modern spelling developed through Middle English, while the plural follows the ordinary English pattern.
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