Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher , we will answer a question from Gustavo in Brazil about using proper adjectives to describe someone.
你好！本周，在“请教老师”节目中，我们将回答巴西古斯塔沃提出的有关使用正确的形容词来描述某人的问题。
Hello, my name is Gustavo, from Brazil.
你好，我叫古斯塔沃，来自巴西。
I have been learning English with you for many years. Thank you for all of the stories!
我和你一起学习英语很多年了。谢谢你所有的故事！
I have a question. I want to say, "my Spanish teacher" meaning "my teacher from Spain". Then I realized that it could also mean "my teacher that teaches Spanish language classes.”
我有一个问题。我想说，“我的西班牙语老师”意思是“我来自西班牙的老师”。然后我意识到它也可能意味着“我的教授西班牙语课程的老师”。
So, which is it? Does it mean both
那么，是哪一个呢？是两个意思吗
Thank you very much for reading my message!
非常感谢您阅读我的留言！
Thanks for your question and for reading our website so often.
感谢您提出问题并经常阅读我们的网站。
In English, we have a limited number of adjectives to describe what language someone speaks or teaches, or where they are from. However, we can use proper adjectives and prepositions as well as other structures to help our understanding.
在英语中，我们只有有限数量的形容词来描述某人所说或所教的语言，或者他们来自哪里。然而，我们可以使用适当的形容词和介词以及其他结构来帮助我们理解。
Using proper adjectives
使用正确的形容词
Let us start with proper adjectives. Proper adjectives come from proper nouns, which are words or groups of words that name a specific person, place or thing. Proper nouns and adjectives begin with a capital letter, so they are easy to spot.
让我们从正确的形容词开始。专有形容词来自专有名词，专有名词是命名特定人、地点或事物的单词或词组。专有名词和形容词以大写字母开头，因此很容易识别。
Proper adjectives that describe a country of origin or language come from their proper nouns. These adjectives mean “of or relating to the country, its people, language or culture.”
描述原籍国或语言的专有形容词来自其专有名词。这些形容词的意思是“属于或与国家、人民、语言或文化有关的”。
“Spanish” means relating to Spain. So we can talk about “Spanish people” and “Spanish culture.” “Spanish” is also the proper adjective to describe the language of Spain.
“西班牙语”是指与西班牙有关。所以我们可以谈论“西班牙人”和“西班牙文化”。 “西班牙语”也是描述西班牙语言的恰当形容词。
Generally, when we talk about teaching or learning a language, we use the proper adjective of the language to describe the teacher or student. For example,
一般来说，当我们谈论教学或学习语言时，我们使用该语言的适当形容词来描述老师或学生。例如，
I teach English, but I am not from England; I am from the U.S.
我教英语，但我不是来自英国；我来自美国
In your question, the proper adjective of “Spanish” is modifying the noun “teacher.” Therefore, a “Spanish teacher” means someone who teaches the Spanish language.
在你的问题中，“西班牙语”的正确形容词是修饰名词“老师”。因此，“西班牙语老师”是指教授西班牙语的人。
Using “from”
使用“来自”
We can use the preposition “from” to describe where our language teachers are originally from.
我们可以用介词“from”来形容我们的语言老师来自哪里。
My Russian teacher is from the country of Georgia.
我的俄语老师来自格鲁吉亚。
Her French teacher is from Canada.
她的法语老师来自加拿大。
Using the preposition “from” makes the sentence clearer by providing more information.
使用介词“from”可以提供更多信息，使句子更清晰。
Next week, we will continue talking about proper adjectives and other ways to describe your teacher!
下周，我们将继续讨论正确的形容词和其他方式来描述你的老师！
Please let us know if these examples and explanations have helped you, Gustavo!
Gustavo，如果这些示例和解释对您有帮助，请告诉我们！
What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
您对美式英语有什么疑问？给我们发送电子邮件至learningenglish@voanews.com