2007-05-18

Waste vs Useless

Some of our students have confused the words "useless" and "waste."

The term 無駄 can be either "useless" or "waste" depending on how you use it.

Useless:
役に立たない; 無用な; 無益な: 無駄な

Notes and examples:
  • Useless is an adjective 形容詞.
  • it is useless to 〈do〉; it is useless...-ing ~して見ても意味がない[無駄なことだ, しかたない]
  • render...useless ~を使い物にならないように[役立たずに]する
  • ~ are useless there そこでは~は役に立たない
  • It is useless to them. かれらにとって, それは用をなさない.
  • With dead batteries, the flashlight was useless.
  • 役に立たない上司 useless boss
  • ぽんこつ車 useless car
  • 役にも立たない人生 a useless life
  • 気ばかり焦っても仕方ない useless to get so worked up
  • 役に立たない地図 a useless map
  • 無用な長物 a useless object
Waste:
浪費する, 空費する, 無駄にする[なる], 次第に消耗する[減少する]

Notes and examples:
  • waste can be used as a verb, noun, and adjective
  • cut waste 無駄を減らす
  • eliminate waste 無駄をなくす
  • avoid waste 無駄を省く
  • お金を無駄遣いしてはいけません。Don't waste your money.
  • それは時間の無駄だ。It is a waste of time.
  • 台所のごみ kitchen waste
  • 産業廃棄物 industrial waste

More examples:
  • The meeting was a waste of time. Everybody just argued and nothing was accomplished.
  • The meeting was useless. Everybody just argued and nothing was accomplished.
  • My professor's class was useless. He lectured on topics I already knew.
  • My professor's class was a waste of time. He lectured on topics I already knew.
  • The gift certificate was useless. It had expired last year!
  • The gift certificate was a waste. It had expired last year!
If you have any questions, please ask me in class! If you have any suggestions or can't come to class, send me an email!

Chip

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