Questions about the usage of "enjoy"

Question

Japanese people speaking English use "enjoy" quite frequently, and I believe that some of their uses are not really idiomatic or natural English (although they are grammatical). I've been asked by some people I teach for more specific information on this verb, but I've been here for long enough that it's a little hard for me make clear determinations on this.
The usage in questions is especially problematic, I think. It seems to me that "enjoy" in many cases requires the previous knowledge that the action was done. For instance, you do not ask someone "Did you enjoy watching the Olympics this summer?" if you don't know whether the person did watch or not. The future tense is similar "Will you enjoy watching the Olympics this weekend?" does not seem to me to be an idiomatic way to ask "Will you watch the Olympics this weekend?" with an emphasis that the activity is expected to be fun.

I have a similar doubt about "enjoy" used with "let's", as in "Let's enjoy singing songs tonight." I can't quite put my finger on why I think this sounds odd, though.
Do you think these observations are accurate?
Finally, consider this dialogue:
A: "What did you do last weekend?"
B: "I enjoyed baseball with my friends."
It seems unnatural to me is it any more natural if you change B's response to "I enjoyed playing baseball..."? It still sounds a bit strange to me.
(As a side note, a very common error from middle-school and high-school students is to use "enjoy" as an adjective for instance, "This weekend I went shopping with my friends. It (or "I") was very enjoy.")
-Chris

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Japanese people speaking English use "enjoy" quite frequently, and I believe that some of their uses are not really idiomatic ... did you do last weekend?" B: "I enjoyed baseball with my friends." It seems unnatural to me . . .[/nq]
This inquiry is a warning against preferring our
own intuitions over (a) usage as recorded in
dictionaries etc., (b) rules of usage as theorized in linguistics.
"Idiom" is relative to time and place: what is
idiomatic for New Yorkers in 1950 is not necessarily idiomatic for Londoners in 1900 or 2000: but the OED (although biased towards print rather than speech) offers an abundant record that includes idiomatic uses.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

Sure. But I think most often it's best for a teacher to give his pupils his own consistent idiom (if need be, pointing out other forms). My usage agrees with Chris's here; and I think his subtle points about some of his examples probably apply to other varieties of English, too.
"Will you enjoy baseball tomorrow?" as a general enquiry about what the other person's going to do this weekend is just wrong in my English, and I think it would be at least sloppy in other varieties, too. "Are you going to the baseball tomorrow?" would be right.

"Will you enjoy the baseball tomorrow?" is, on the other hand, a rather different question: if I asked it, it would mean I knew the other person was going to watch the match/game, but that I didn't know how they felt about it.
Mike.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]This inquiry is a warning against preferring our own intuitions over (a) usage as recorded in dictionaries etc., (b) rules of usage as theorized in linguistics.[/nq]
That's why I posted here rather than simply telling the students what sounded right to me.
-Chris

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Japanese people speaking English use "enjoy" quite frequently, and I believe that some of their uses are not really idiomatic ... to ask "Will you watch the Olympics this weekend?" with an emphasis that the activity is expected to be fun.[/nq]
Is the Japanese "Will you enjoy X-activity?" a question about future enjoyment (Will you enjoy?) or is it just a polite way of asking preferences (Would you like to X?)? Grammar could not tell us but context might.
[nq:1](As a side note, a very common error from middle-school and high-school students is to use "enjoy" as an adjective for instance, "This weekend I went shopping with my friends. It (or "I") was very enjoy.")[/nq]
French Canadians (most of them bilingual) first made the English noun fun into an adjective (That party was very fun) and then imported it into French (C'etait tres fonne.)

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"Will you enjoy baseball tomorrow?" as a general enquiry about what the other person's going to do this weekend is ... it would be at least sloppy in other varieties, too. "Are you going to the baseball tomorrow?" would be right.[/nq]
Eh? That sentence might possibly work with football in some dialects, I don't know, but 'the baseball', in this context, is un-American English to say the least.
I started to write un-American sans 'English', but Ray Wise would get me for implying AmE should be called American, as he well should.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"Will you enjoy baseball tomorrow?" as a general enquiry aboutwhat ... "Are you going to the baseball tomorrow?" would be right.[/nq]
[nq:1]Eh? That sentence might possibly work with football in somedialects, I don't know, but 'the baseball', in this context, is un-American English to say the least.[/nq]
Ah, sorry: hadn't thought about that, and wouldn't have got it right if I had thought about it. I was sticking to what I think is the variety of English Chris and I seem to use. We are allowed to talk about baseball, I hope; but I take the point.
I've mentioned before that teaching "phoney English" is a bad, and not uncommon, ELT error, and hence that teachers should usually teach their own variety (making important variants clear as appropriate).

Mike.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]French Canadians (most of them bilingual) first made the English noun fun into an adjective (That party was very fun) and then imported it into French (C'etait tres fonne.)[/nq]
Thanks for that: a nice little new fact. It doesn't stop some foreign speakers using "funny" as the adjective from "fun", though.

Mike.

Usenet · Answer

It is a very good topic to discuss. I have the same feeling. I grew up in east pacific area, currently, I live in U.S. I have been in U.S. for more than 10 years.
I notice that a lot of Asian like to use "enjoy", it is not just Japanese only.
I often debate English words or sentences with people. If it is a touching move, I would say "it is a touching story" or "My heart goes out to ?."
I would not say "I enjoy the move". But some of my friends will go like "so, you enjoy the move". I do enjoy seeing
The move. But I would not use the word "enjoy" to describe how I feel.

When Asian communicate with American, they intend to describe something or someone exaggeratedly
because they think that is American way.

Usenet · Answer

Isn't this half the fun of teaching ESL: we have to puzzle out the rules that govern things that we know but have never thought about.
[nq:1]The usage in questions is especially problematic, I think. It seems to me that "enjoy" in many cases requires the previous knowledge that the action was done.[/nq]
I agree with your analysis: we have to know that a thing was done (or will be done) before we can assess the pleasure it gave. Maybe you can conflate the two in making statements ("I went to the symphony last night. I enjoyed the concert very much." can become "I enjoyed very much the symphony concert last night.") But I think I agree with you that you can't do that with questions.
Or maybe it's more that while you can sometimes make the conflation in the first person singular, you pretty much can't in other persons. So I can say, "I plan to enjoy a trip to the mountains tomorrow,", but I can't say "Will you enjoy a trip to the mountains tomorrow?" If I say that, I am making an assumption about the things that give you pleasure.
That's why we can't say, "Let's enjoy singing some songs together." Maybe I can say that if I know that we all like the same songs, that we all enjoy singing, that we all like the sounds of each other's voices, that we're all in a mood for singing...but that seems like assuming a lot. (Maybe I can say, "Let's enjoy some chocolate" because that requires no assumptions; everyone likes chocolate.)

I also notice something else: I can much more readily say, "I plan to enjoy a baseball game tomorrow" than I can say "I plan to enjoy the baseball game tomorrow." The first statement is allowable because I am not referring to a specific game, so, if I generally like baseball I can assume that I will enjoy a game which is still somewhat in the abstract. But once I use a definite article, I am making a statement that is almost one of determination (Like "You will attend the party and you will have a good time.): No matter what happens, I am going to enjoy myself.
We really can't know in advance whether we are going to enjoy a particular game, book, glass of wine, or time with a person. That's something we can only evaluate either in the abstract, as a generality or as an expectation (I will go to the beach tomorrow. I expect to enjoy the experience.), or after the event.
So the problem with making a statement or question about "enjoyment" without separating it from the happening itself is that it usually makes too great an assumption.
Gary Williams
For instance, you do not ask someone "Did you

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Japanese people speaking English use "enjoy" quite frequently, and I believe that some of their uses are not really idiomatic ... can't quite put my finger on why I think this sounds odd, though. Do you think these observations are accurate?[/nq]
Yes. I think you're telling us that in Japan, "enjoy" is used to mean "engage in an activity," while in the US (at least), it means "to take pleasure in an activity."
Is this a False Friend problem, do you think? Is there a word in Japanese that means both "take pleasure in" and "engage in"?

The other thought I have is the old-fashioned angle. I think you know that in previous centuries, and maybe today in certain formal settings or even regional dialects, "enjoy" can mean something like "have, possess, experience." I'm sure I can find some in the literature of MasterTexts.com... Actually, I'm surprised by how many of the hits are the pleasure kind, British as well as US, but here are some that are neutral or negative:
he found more felicity in the retirement he seemed to be banished to there, than ever he found in the highest authority he enjoyed in the court of his
master the Czar Daniel Defoe
Each seraph daughter, too, enjoyed her share of his regards, and smiled upon him in return. Charles Dickens
On leaving him he repaired straight to his own room ... There he enjoyed at once the first consequence of their reunion. A place was too small for him
after it that had seemed large enough before.
Henry James
If he had fallen on the present times, and enjoyed the advantages of a Mechanic's Institute, he would certainly have taken to literature George Eliot

I wonder if this older meaning of "enjoy" persists in Asian English.
[nq:1]Finally, consider this dialogue: A: "What did you do last weekend?" B: "I enjoyed baseball with my friends." It seems ... as an adjective for instance, "This weekend I went shopping with my friends. It (or "I") was very enjoy.")[/nq]
I still think some sort false-friend is at work, like English speakers thinking that "assist" means the same thing in French.
Best wishes - Donna Richoux

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