写真で英語の文法と単語うを習う #6 - (ミニ）Plum blossom time

Welcome to the Make Sense blog. What we're going to do here is learn English vocab through photos, taken by myself in the beginning, or with submissions from you beautiful people out there.

I will explain the photo, then break down my explanation in English and Japanese. If you have any questions, please ask. I have also included the phonetics to help pronunciation.

Here we go....

This is a branch that broke off our plum tree during the winter. There was a lot of snow, or maybe Akiko just pruned it. I'm not sure.
Anyhow, the branch was put in water, and is now starting to bloom. The flowers are peeking out of their buds, and the branch is becoming prettier day by day.
It is lovely at this time of year. The snow is melting, the weather is getting warmer.
I have been walking more, and I can run on the road. Recently I have been running road more, and using the treadmill in the gym less. I am training for the Lake Toya Marathon which is on May 20th.
Another sign of the summer arriving is that Akiko has been planning the layout of the vegetable garden which I was talking about yesterday.

単語

branch(/brɑːn(t)ʃ/), noun: a part of a tree which grows out from the trunk or from a bough
日本語：枝
If you think of a company like a bank, you have the head office and the branch offices. The branch offices spread out over the city/country like a tree.

　
prune(/pruːn/), verb: cut away (a branch or stem) from a tree, shrub, etc.
 日本語：刈る, 切り落とす

peek(/piːk/), verb: protrude slightly so as to be just visible
 日本語：覗く

treadmill(/ˈtrɛdmɪl/) , noun: a device used for exercise, consisting of a continuous moving belt on which to walk or run.
 日本語： 踏み車
Work can be said to be like a treadmill, especially if the job is unexciting. Everyday, walking to stay in the same place, and never getting anywhere.

sign(/sʌɪn/), noun: an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else
日本語：兆候

layout (/ˈleɪaʊt/), noun:  the plan or design or arrangement of something laid out (on paper)

日本語：コリアンダー、 パクチー
 

文法 

進行形 - Continous form

If the verb has -ing on the end, it is probably in the continuous. It may be a gerund, but that is for another day. You have to look at the words around it to know. More on that later.

What the continuous does is indicate that a verb happens over a time. It can be right now 
(現在進行形), maybe not right at this moment, but around now (現在進行形), it may be talking about something that will be happening at a future time (未来 進行形), or something that was happening at a point in time in the past (過去進行形）.
Just remember, it has an -ing at the end, and it indicates ずっと at some point in time.
 From the text:

 Anyhow, the branch was put in water, and is now starting to bloom.
(The branch has started to bloom. It hasn't really bloomed completely, so it is still starting (ずっと)

The flowers are peeking out of their buds, and the branch is becoming prettier day by day.
The flowers started peeking out day or so ago. They aren't completely out, so they are still peeking. It's still a ずっと action.
Each day the branch is prettier. It started to become prettier a few days ago, but is still to reach 100% prettier, so it is still becoming （ずっと）prettier. 
 
 Akiko has been planning the layout of the vegetable garden.
Akiko has started to plan the layout of the vegetable garden. She isn't doing it right now, she's watching tv. But the planning action has started, and is not yet finished = ずっと = continous.

Pop over to the nice folk at English Language Centres for a more indepth explanation.