聞き慣れた単語の「challenge」ですが、多くの人が動詞と名詞の意味が違うことを知らず、間違った表現をしがちです。ブログを読んで使い方を理解し、レッスンなどの英語を話す場で「challenge」を使った文章に是非チャレンジしてください！
A mistake that English language learners often make is to misuse the word “challenge.” Let’s look at it in the context of running a race:
I’m going to challenge the race this weekend.
That sentence actually means you are going to argue with the race, not run it!
The meanings of the word “challenge” are outlined below, so read on to see the difference. It might be a challenge, but you can do it!
—
Challenge
Noun
- Something hard to do
“I’m going to run a marathon next week. It’ll be a challenge, but I think I can do it.” - A call to engage in a contest, fight, race, etc.
“My friend issued a challenge to anyone who wants to try beating him at a race. I’m not going to take him up on it because I don’t think I could win.”
Verb
- To question something/someone
“When the officials disqualified me from the race, I challenged their decision. I didn't trip the other runner—she ran into me!” - To issue a call to engage in a contest, etc.
“He challenged them to a race.”
Note: you can challenge yourself if you are going to test your abilities and do something you haven't done before.
So, now that you know the difference, can you say the original sentence correctly? There's more than one right way—you have a couple of options that get the point across just as well.
- I'm going to run the race this weekend. It'll be a challenge!
OR
- I'm challenging myself to run the race this weekend.
Another verb you can use is "try", as in, "I'm going to try running the race", "I'll try to run the race", or "I'll give the race a try." However, all three of those have very different nuances. Check back next week to see a blog post clearly outlining them for you.
Here's a challenge for you: Choose one of the options for "challenge" above and write a few more sentences to complete the story. If you'd like, you can submit it as homework or go over it with your next teacher.
