ネイティブに「今何時ですか？」って英語で時間を尋ねる場合、皆さんはどのように聞きますか？恐らく中学校では「What time is it?」と習った人が多いかと思います。しかし最近では「Do you have the time?」が正しい聞き方であると教わっている人もいるようです。そこで今回、アメリカ人は実際にどのように時間を聞くのか、ロス在住の7人のアメリカ人に聞いてみました。「What time is it?」なのか？「Do yu have the time?」なのか？それとも、他の言い方があるのか？

Q. 「今何時ですか？」はどう聞く？

Monique

「What time is it?」

William

「What time is it?” or “Do you have the time?」

Albert

「Excuse me. Do you know what time it is?」

Eddie

「Excuse me. Can you tell me what time it is?” or “Pardon me, do you have the time?」

Brad

「Excuse me. Do you have the time?」

Alyssa

「Excuse me. Do you know what time it is?」

Richard

「Do you have the time?」

 

Q. 「What time is it?」と「Do you have the time?」はどう使い分ける？

Monique

Well I would ask “What time is it?” because most people in the world these days have cell phones and they have the time on it. People still have watches and you can see if they have those so there’s no point in asking, “Do you have the time?” if you can already see that they have the time.

最近は殆どの人が携帯を持っているので、私は「What time is it?」と聞くね。腕時計をしている人もいるし、その場合、腕時計をしていることは見てわかることなので、わざわざ「Do you have the time?」って聞く必要はないと思う。

William

“Do you have the time?” I would say to someone if there’s no clock around. And “Do you have the time?” I think means “Is there something that you have that can tell me the time? Do you have a phone that has the time? Do you have a watch?” Or maybe we’re in your car or you’re by your car and you can check the car clock. I don’t know but I think “Do you have the time? Do you have something that could tell me the time?” Whereas “What time is it?” maybe we’re in a room like this and there’s a clock somewhere that would have the time. That’s how I would differentiate the two.

もし、周りに時計がなかったら「Do you have the time?」って聞くかな。「Do you have the time?」は「時間を示すものを持っていますか？」や「（時間を示す）携帯はありますか？」、「腕時計はありますか？」を意味するのだと思う。他にも車の中、または車の近くにいたりして、車の時計を確認できる場合もそうだね。確かじゃないけど「Do you have the time?」は、時計がない状況で「時間の分かるものを持っていますか？」と尋ねるのに対して、「What time is it?」は、時計のある部屋にいるなどの状況で時間を尋ねる場合に使うんじゃないかな。僕だったらそのように使い分けるかな。

Albert

I definitely don’t use “Do you have the time?” That’s just me personally. I know some people say it. I don’t know who or when or why. Maybe it’s a British English thing. Maybe it’s mm … depends on where you live. But otherwise, I think it’s more polite to just ask someone, “Do you know what time it is?” “Excuse me. What time is it?” like I think that’s totally fine to use as well.

あくまで個人的にはだけど、僕は「Do you have the time?」とは言わないね。そのような表現をする人がいるのは知っているけど、どんな人が、いつ、なぜ使うのかまでは分からない。イギリス英語かもしれないね。もしかしたら、住む場所にもよるのかもね。でも、僕としては「Do you know what time it is?」や「Excuse me, what time is it?」と聞いた方が丁寧だと思うし、それで全く問題ないと思うね。

Eddie

When I’m asking a stranger for the time, I judge them. If they seem like they’re in a very quick hurry, I’ll be very polite. “Excuse me. Do you have the time?” But if they seem more willing to talk, I might be more casual and go “Hey. Can you tell me what time it is?” and that sort of leads into other conversation. So I really judge it by the person that I’m asking and what the situation is.

私が他人に時間を尋ねるときは、相手をよく見るわね。相手が急いでいるようだったら、「Excuse me, do you have the time?」と丁寧な聞き方をするだろうけど、会話をしてくれそうな相手だったら「Hey, can you tell me what time it is?」とカジュアルに聞くと思う。そこから別の会話になることもあり得るでしょうしね。だから、私は聞く相手と状況によって使い分けているわね。

Brad

So if I was with my friends and someone I’m really close with and I’ll probably just nudge him and say “Hey. What time is it?” And then if I was at the mall by myself or if no one I knew was around, I would be more polite and say “Excuse me. Do you have the time?” or “Excuse me. Do you know what time it is?”

仲の良い友達だったら軽く肘で突っついて「Hey, what time is it?」と聞くだろうけど、1人でショッピングモールにいたり、周りに知っている人がいなかったら、「Excuse me, do you have the time?」や「Excuse me, do you know what time it is?」と丁寧に聞くかな。

Alyssa

So I feel that “Do you have the time?” is … it might be British English. And I also feel like it’s a little bit more formal and I feel that it would be a little weird if somebody said that to me. And I haven’t heard anybody that I know use that phrase. But maybe in movies.

私には「Do you have the time?」はイギリス英語っぽく感じるかな〜。ちょっとフォーマルな感じもするし、もし、私がそのように時間を聞かれたらちょっと違和感があるかも。今まで、私の周りでそのフレーズを使っている人を見たことがないからさ。あるとしたら映画くらいかな。

Richard

Well, I think if you asked … walked up to a stranger and you said “What time is it?” it’s a little bit too direct. And if you’re going to ask that you might want to say “Excuse me. What time is it?” But maybe they don’t know the time. So maybe they don’t have a watch. So I like to say, “Excuse me. Do you know what time it is?”

そうだね〜、他人に「What time is it?」と尋ねるのはちょっとストレート過ぎる気がするから、「Excuse me, what time is it?」と聞いた方がいいんじゃないかな。でも、相手も時間を知らなかったり、腕時計がないこともあるから、私は「Excuse me, do you know what time it is?」と尋ねるようにしているよ。