Japanese Discussion

[Dark_Kirby]

Wow! You guys are so brave... Japanese is very hard, as we all know.

As a fluent Japanese speaker (and a semi-fluent reader and writer), I found it interesting to see how you guys learn the language. Languages become harder to learn the older you are so yeah...

So how much do you guys know now?

[Wolf Ninja]

Wow! You guys are so brave... Japanese is very hard, as we all know.

As a fluent Japanese speaker (and a semi-fluent reader and writer), I found it interesting to see how you guys learn the language. Languages become harder to learn the older you are so yeah...

So how much do you guys know now?

Very little...

Question i kind of need answered, I need to know how to same, Village hidden in time, the word time itself (I think it's Do, or Tabi but the kanji and if that's right... no idea), the art of time stopping, art of time slowing, art of time speeding, art of viewing time (all I know about those is that they'll probably end in no jutsu but like I said before, i know very little) that's all I can think of right now, but I'll probably need to ask more before I'm finisihed with this fic...

[gsl83]

Wow! You guys are so brave... Japanese is very hard, as we all know.

As a fluent Japanese speaker (and a semi-fluent reader and writer), I found it interesting to see how you guys learn the language. Languages become harder to learn the older you are so yeah...

So how much do you guys know now?

Unfortunately I hardly have any time to learn Japanese so after half a year (omg, it's that long already) I still only know Kana, 80ish Kanji, not much more vocabulary and some random grammar basics. I'm not a child or a teen anymore, which makes learning another language harder as you already pointed out. I didn't think learning Japanese as a mid twen would be that much harder than learning English as an early teen, but it's a notable difference. Oh well... I'm not gonna give up. It's gonna take longer than expected (also due to my lack of free time) but I'll learn it.

[chibieskimo]

i am learning japanese and am doing pretty well for a beginner i think ;3
at least i can understand a lot when watching anime:) .. watashi wa chibieskimo desu.

[shye85]

Hye!

Just wondering. Whats the meaning of "kanji"? I dont mean the kanji writing one but what I mean is that, sometimes I noticed that they will say "ano kanji....". It seems to me like this "kanji" is the same with "kimochi". Am I right? I was just guessing though. smile-big

[Zillidan-leba]

guys can you tell me why on this link http://www.rfsd.k12.wi.us/high/hsfl/hiragana.html

that there 2 japanaese writings next to the letters?

[The Luiz]

How do you say "Art is a bang" in japanese?

[Shadow_Fenix]

Zillidan-leba - that's becouse "ki" is "ki" but "ki" with small "yo" is "kyo". Look at this picture again and find those Japanese letters. You'll se.

[ZE]

Can someone tell me how do you write trap and banana in japanese, I know they are pronounced in the same way that almost looks like it’s the same word.

[Hyaku]

i am learning japanese and am doing pretty well for a beginner i think ;3
at least i can understand a lot when watching anime:) .. watashi wa chibieskimo desu.

Romaji isn't Japanese.

[deadfishy00]

@hyaku
chibieskimo said they can understand, not write

@ZE
trap
トラップ
torapu

banana
バナナ
banana

@uchiha Luiz
art is a bang like what deidara says?
if so, its
芸術は爆発だ
geijutsu ha bakuhatsuda

@shye85
kanji is a chinese character
kanji, phonetically? can be heard as 漢字　or 感じ
which is kanji (chinese character) or kanji (feeling)

[sasukeuchiha913191]

im not too sure how to spell it, but i think Kasu=dang/damn

[Elyon]

You mean 'kuso', and it just means crap. Literally, excrement or dung.

Shimatta is the literal translation (one of the closest you can come) to "damn". And it isn't even really literal, it's just the expression equivalent to "Oh no!"

[Luckyday]

Can anyone one tell me how to use the word desu or when to use it?:oh

[Promethevs]

How do I say "How do you do", or "How is it going" in japanese?

[DancingDragonLady]

How do I say "How do you do", or "How is it going" in japanese?

"How do you do" (like in meeting someone for the first time) is "Hajimemashite."

I don't know how to say "how is it going" exactly but "How are you" (lit. are you healthy) is "O-genki desu ka" or less formal "genki desu ka"

:nod

[DancingDragonLady]

Can anyone one tell me how to use the word desu or when to use it?:oh

Desu is kinda hard to explain but it's basically a verb meaning something like "is" or "are." It also can just be added to make a sentence sound more complete is some cases.

I am Bob = Watashi wa Bob desu
Who are you? = Anata wa dare desu ka?

The negative form of that which is something like the verb "is not" or "am not" is dewa arimasen (or ja nai, dewa nai, and ja arimasen when used in informal settings) and it's used in the same way. And being a Japanese verb it has two more main forms but I'm not even positive what I'm telling you is exact so I'll see what the other people say. :nod

[Talz]

Very interesting. I couldn't read everything in this thread (to long O.o), but I was wondering, exactly how long would it take for someone to become fluent in Japanese if they had to learn it beginning to end? Also what would be the best way to go about learning it? I was chilling out in this book store today and spotted this set of cd's. Apparently that is the fastest possible way, or so they claim.

[The Luiz]

Can someone tell me how is "Art is a bang" in japanese ?

...

can't be that hard.

[gsl83]

Can someone tell me how is "Art is a bang" in japanese ?

...

can't be that hard.

[...]
@uchiha Luiz
art is a bang like what deidara says?
if so, its
芸術は爆発だ
geijutsu ha bakuhatsuda
[...]

lorem ipsum dolor ...

[Mateo Hyuuga]

how do you say "I can speak japanese"


cuz i've seen like 4 ways ppl say it like they don't use the verb to be able to/can, but others do, and others use "o" while others use "wo" or "ga"


SO PLEASE HELP!?

[RokinMan]

how do you say "I can speak japanese"


cuz i've seen like 4 ways ppl say it like they don't use the verb to be able to/can, but others do, and others use "o" while others use "wo" or "ga"


SO PLEASE HELP!?

日本語が話せる
nihongo ga hanaseru

日本語が話せます
nihongo ga hanasemasu

日本語を話せる
nihongo wo hanaseru (masu can be used here also)

Ok so, from what I understand, using ga is more like can you, while using wo is more like do you. as in can you do this/do you do this. the difference between o and wo is nothing. を　can be written in romanji as o or wo.


Putting the verb in the probability(could do so) form is pretty simple. If it's a る verb, like taberu (食べる）then to put it into the probability form is 食べられる (tabe rare ru - spaced it out to make it more readable)

If it's an う verb, like 飲む (nomu) then to put it into the probability form, is basically take the ending (in this case "mu") and change it to an e. thus, (nomeru)　飲める.

Once in this form, they all kinda follow the ru form of conjagation in the plain form (spelling on that?) where nomeru becomes nometa to be past tense

another example would be putting it in negative form to show how it relates to a ru verb as well

such as: My leg hurts so I couldn't walk to school.

僕の足が痛くて,学校に行けなかったんです
boku no ashi ga itakute, gakkou ni ikenakatta n desu

if i left something out for those who are fluent or know this, feel free to add w/e necessary.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

haha thnx! that actually helped!


mata ne

[RokinMan]

Why won't any one post ;_;

[Elyon]

Maybe you could help with this post
http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?p=8466050#post8466050

[Shirozaki]

Someone please translate? :sag
I'm sorry about the image (this is my warning XD). But I really want to know what they're saying. And sadly, I have no knowledge of Japanese. I leave the translation to you guys.. if you would be so kind to do so. :saghttp://anmitu.x0.com/hime/illust/image/1152936573_340x800.jpg

I warned you. :sag

[Production]

I`d like to give a tip to those just learning verbs.

If you use plain/dictionary form of verbs, you may just get slapped by whoever you`re talking to. If you`re a beginner learn the polite form of verbs.
Aka, dictionary form(the word you find the in the dictionary aka plain)of eat is　たべる taberu, to make the polite form of this verb (there are three groups of verbs mind you, you add stuff onto them its different for each set of verbs) take off the ru and you get たべます tabemasu.

[k-k-Kyle]

Just a quick question. I need to know the kanji and pronunciation for the word "Movement" thats all i need :).

If you were wondering why I am forming a parkour team, and I think a good name would be "Perfect Movement" and I know Perfect is "Kanzen." 完全

[RokinMan]

this be a half guess for me, so we'll have to wait for one of the members that know more about this to agree or disagree with me


Perfect (flawless) Movement:
完ぺきな動き
Kanpeki na ugoki

Perfect (ideal) Movement:
うってつけの動き
uttetsuke no ugoki

However, you said it was like a group. I believe there's a special term for movement of an organization, however, im not sure if it fits into this case.

Perfect (flawless) Movement:
完ぺきな運働
kanpeki na undou


Like I said, I'm not 100% certain on these, so if I were you, I'd wait for a member that's better at this to agree or disagree with me real fast

[ubernoob]

So, in exactly one month I leave for a month in Japan. I'm really excited to go. Anyone have any tips? I know a good amount of things like denying compliments, blowing your nose, lack of trashcans etc. Just anything I should keep in mind.

[aapl]

Japanese people don't expect foreigners to understand their intricate culture and customs. Just be yourself but don't be loud or do anything you think would be annoying or stupid.

[ubernoob]

Well I realize they don't expect it. That's why when I go I don't want to be the stupid foreigner that doesn't get it.

[RokinMan]

馬鹿な外人！！！
馬鹿な外人！！！
馬鹿な外人！！！

[deadfishy00]

just be polite

like in the subways, give your seat to an elder/women etc

[ubernoob]

lol being 6'3" id prolly scare her away before she took the seat >.<

[The Black Knight]

6'3"??? 0.0

Lol, I'm 17 and about 5'5"

[Bankai]

Can someone tell a good way to learn Japanese? (Besides going there) I have just gotten into anime and I would like to learn to speak a bit.

[Elyon]

http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?t=123545

[Yoshitsune]

lol being 6'3" id prolly scare her away before she took the seat >.<

If you go to Japan thinking "I'm a foreigner, I'm a foreigner", then you'll get nowhere fast. Just be yourself and don't try to act too creepy ;)

[RokinMan]

6'3"??? 0.0

Lol, I'm 17 and about 5'5"


hehe, wow

I'm 17 too, but im 6'3 like ubernoob

we'd be so out of place in japan ;)

[deadfishy00]

but so much easier to find you when we need you guys :p

[The Black Knight]

If you ever need to find me just turn your head down.


...you tall people might need a magnifying glass.

[ubernoob]

hehe i'm not going with too much emphasis on my foreign-ness. Though the staring is gona be interesting enough. I like to think my accent is pretty good and I get along with people easily. I'm just making sure there arent any funky taboos that i don't already know.

[DancingDragonLady]

I'll probably have a problem with staring too. X_x I'm 14 and I'm 5'5" and then there's my hair. It almost touches my butt (i think it's around 2 to 3 feet) and It's blonde. Really light blonde. And it's natural that way. People are going to stare so much >.<

Speaking of being polite, is there any polite way to decline an offer of food? Like if someone tries to give me something but I really don't want it, what should I say? I have a feeling that's going to happen alot since I don't like seafood...

[The Black Knight]

to politely decline....just don't directly say no..

sometimes an "uhh....chotto....." suffices. As for staring and taboos, if you are in a rural area yeah, in the city, they see people like you everyday, nothing new to them, and they couldn't care less.

[Elyon]

Speaking of being polite, is there any polite way to decline an offer of food? Like if someone tries to give me something but I really don't want it, what should I say? I have a feeling that's going to happen alot since I don't like seafood...
Actually that's something very natural in Japan. Japanese people have a modesty social policy thing, everyone declines everything at least once, even if they really want it. Expect to be asked a few times before they decide you really don't want it.

Don't take compliments. I mean, take them, but deny them at all times. It's also part of japanese modesty. When someone gets a complement or gives one, it's always denied. Don't accept it or compliment yourself, it makes you seem conceited. It's very natural. Like, when someone says your mother looks beautiful, you just say "No, not at all", noone gets mad. Not even your mother...if she's japanese.

Don't blow your nose in public, it's disgusting anywhere really but the Japanese really hate it.

[RokinMan]

Actually that's something very natural in Japan. Japanese people have a modesty social policy thing, everyone declines everything at least once, even if they really want it. Expect to be asked a few times before they decide you really don't want it.

Don't take compliments. I mean, take them, but deny them at all times. It's also part of japanese modesty. When someone gets a complement or gives one, it's always denied. Don't accept it or compliment yourself, it makes you seem conceited. It's very natural. Like, when someone says your mother looks beautiful, you just say "No, not at all", noone gets mad. Not even your mother...if she's japanese.

Don't blow your nose in public, it's disgusting anywhere really but the Japanese really hate it.

little add on.

when it comes to asking stuff about you, as in how good are you at doing it, don't say jouzu.

like for the purposes of a very simple example of something I know everyone here can do, if someone asks if you can speak english, don't say jouzu. just say something like eigo ga tokui desu. tokui is more like i can do it, rather than im good at it.

((i would have put that in japanese text but i could get the thing to work for w/e reason))

[the great uchiha]

Itadakimas = time to eat

I heard that on Naruto so haha, I'm not even Japanese!

it's "itadakimasu"...

[narutosimpson]

I'll probably have a problem with staring too. X_x I'm 14 and I'm 5'5" and then there's my hair. It almost touches my butt (i think it's around 2 to 3 feet) and It's blonde. Really light blonde. And it's natural that way. People are going to stare so much >.<

Speaking of being polite, is there any polite way to decline an offer of food? Like if someone tries to give me something but I really don't want it, what should I say? I have a feeling that's going to happen alot since I don't like seafood...

Actually that's something very natural in Japan. Japanese people have a modesty social policy thing, everyone declines everything at least once, even if they really want it. Expect to be asked a few times before they decide you really don't want it.

Don't take compliments. I mean, take them, but deny them at all times. It's also part of japanese modesty. When someone gets a complement or gives one, it's always denied. Don't accept it or compliment yourself, it makes you seem conceited. It's very natural. Like, when someone says your mother looks beautiful, you just say "No, not at all", noone gets mad. Not even your mother...if she's japanese.

Don't blow your nose in public, it's disgusting anywhere really but the Japanese really hate it.

i'm sorry but i'm in disagreement here. You should never decline food you are offered by foreigners, even if you aren't a bit hungry (unless another bite will make u vomit). That's something that i've found to be percieved as extremely rude and unfriendly. There's also a notion that you are too good for the local food, even if it's not your intention.

[Elyon]

i'm sorry but i'm in disagreement here. You should never decline food you are offered by foreigners, even if you aren't a bit hungry (unless another bite will make u vomit). That's something that i've found to be percieved as extremely rude and unfriendly. There's also a notion that you are too good for the local food, even if it's not your intention.
It may seem rude but that's actually a natural part of Japanese society. Everyone is too modest to take something unless they're offered it a few times. It's ok to deny food, you'll just be offered it a few times. That's only in Japan though, I can't speak the same for every other foreign country,

[The Black Knight]

If you are staying with somoene and you deny their cooking it can be perceived as rude...

[DancingDragonLady]

Not too long ago I heard that same thing; that in Japan they are really modest and decline everything. That's good then...

Also, a quick translation favor if someone would help me...

How do you write with/without kanji (i don't care) "To be continued..."

If someone could help that would be great. :amuse

[The Black Knight]

つづく

10 char limit

[gsl83]

How do you type the づ ? I tried that before, but the only way I found to do it was drawing it with IME pad hand writing.　:(

[The Black Knight]

I typed the つ character, and then I press the ﾞ key.

Or if I feel like typing in romaji I type "du" (shorter version of "dzu")

[RokinMan]

続く kanji
つづく hiragana
tsuzuku - romanji

to be continued

[gsl83]

I typed the つ character, and then I press the ﾞ key.

Or if I feel like typing in romaji I type "du" (shorter version of "dzu")

Ah, thanks! :amuse
I think I pressed every key on my keyboard, but couldn't find the ﾞ key. Is it only for direct input?
The "du" worked good, though. Oh - And "dzu" didn't work.

[aapl]

On the theme of how one should behave whilst visiting Japan, there are some videos on youtube which show classic examples of how one should not behave in Japan;

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=thatsAussies

Just to be clear, I do not agree with the racist comments against people visiting Japan, made by people who have watched the videos.

[The Black Knight]

Ah, thanks! :amuse
I think I pressed every key on my keyboard, but couldn't find the ﾞ key. Is it only for direct input?
The "du" worked good, though. Oh - And "dzu" didn't work.


Ｉt's for the japanese keyboard layout. Just click the word "kana" on the language bar to set it to japanese layout. You can get keyboard stickers to place over the keys. The ゛ key is the same as the [ key on the US English layout.

[gsl83]

Ｉt's for the japanese keyboard layout. Just click the word "kana" on the language bar to set it to japanese layout. You can get keyboard stickers to place over the keys. The ゛ key is the same as the [ key on the US English layout.

Oh, I see. That would be ü on the German keyboard layout. づ smile-big
Thanks, again.

[Shuriken13]

I have a question about adjectives. I've noticed that most of the ones I've seen end in 'shii' Is there a rule about that?

[RokinMan]

mhm, what you're looking at is most likely an "i" adjective.

shii, is just a commonality, meaning you just happened to see a good amount of them. The real part is that they will generally end in "I"'s or "na"'s.

Using an adjective to describe a noun or something like that has a few rules. If its an I adjective, then just have the I in there and you're done.

i.e. Furui kyoukasho = old textbook

however with a na adjective, it's a bit different. looking at something like suteki (attractive) would be a good example. suteki alone, is a word. however, if you wish to describe something as attractive, then you just add the na in there and you're done.

i.e. Sutekina hito = attractive person

[makeoutparadise]

If you are staying with somoene and you deny their cooking it can be perceived as rude...

:huh if you go anywhere in the world and do that it will always be rude

also don't point the spout of the teapot at anyone

Drink the soup out of the bowl as if it were a cup don't use a spoon

Do not stick chopsticks into your food, especially not into rice. Only at funerals are chopsticks stuck into the rice that is put onto the altar.

Do not spear food with your chopsticks

When drinking alcoholic beverages, it is a Japanese custom to serve each other, rather than pouring the beverage into one's own glass. You are supposed to periodically check your friends' cups, and serve them more once their cups are getting empty. Likewise, if someone wants to serve you more alcohol, you should quickly empty your glass and hold it towards that person.

Do not start drinking until everybody at the table is served and the glasses are raised for a drinking salute, which usually is "kampai". Avoid using "chin chin"

[gsl83]

:huh if you go anywhere in the world and do that it will always be rude

Not everywhere in the world. I've learned that it's quite polite to deny something you get for free, like: (a little bit exaggerated) "Oh, thank you! I can't take that. That's really too much." Of course, when you already sit at the table and make up your mind once you see the food, it'd also be impolite over here. ^^

[Elyon]

Unless it's for dinner, you can always refuse everything in Japan. It's just thier modesty custom.

[Shuriken13]

what does hina mean?

[The Black Knight]

a type of doll

or a small bird

[Gatsu-Kun]

I have a question. Does the Japapense laguage have a completly different alphabet?

I'd say most people know but I don't

[Kingrazor]

I have a question. Does the Japapense laguage have a completly different alphabet?

I'd say most people know but I don'tThey have three alphabets (excluding romaji)

there's hiragana ひらがな
katakana カタカナ
and kanji 漢字

Hiragana is only used for Japanese words. Katakana is used for foreign words, or sometimes in advertisements. Kanji are the really complicated one's you see all over Japanese stuff, the pictures represent whole words or parts of words. While hiragana and katakana both represent sounds. Japanese doesn't, contrary to popular belief, have an alphabet that directly translates to English (in other words, the symbols aren't just the Japanese way to write letters like a,b,c, etc)

Anyway, hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted here.

[Izuminu]

Th-these links are very helpful...um... a-arigatou gozaimasu...Aisumimasen, I-I'm a newbie s-so, I really don't know much about this...

[Oneironaut]

Lately, I've noticed that some kanji make a lot more sense then others.

聖 - ひじり - Sacred, Holy
頂 - いただき - Summit / Receive

With 聖, the radicals 耳, 口, and 王 seem clear and logical: the ears and the mouth of the king (god, presumably). On the other hand, take a look at 頂, which has the radicals 丁 and 頁. Street and face? How is that related to summits or receiving things?

Also, why would anyone make one symbol mean two entirely different things? There must be forty kanji for "duty", but they have to economize "hear" and "ask" into one symbol?

I get the impression that after six hundred characters or so, the ancient chinese calligraphers started mixing radicals at random.

[gsl83]

Not entirely random. Kanji can be made up of one or more radicals. When there's only 1 Radical (Kanji=Radical) everything's clear. There's a meaning - or better: a general idea - and a reading. Yes, afaik Kanji only have one reading in Chinese.
When Kanji were created people got into trouble after a while, because there were so many of them and it was hard to create new ones, so they combined existing ones into new ones. At first they combined Kanji with similar meanings to form new ones.
木+木＝林 (tree+tree=woods)
木+木+木＝森 (tree+tree+tree=forest)
日+月＝明 (sun+moon=bright)
Later on new Kanji were created which contained a radical to convey the reading of the newly created Kanji. So those Kanji are composed of a part which determines the sound and one which conveys the meaning.
Meaning left (金 = metal) + Reading right (同 = DÔ) = 銅 (Copper / Read: DÔ)
The combinations R right + M left, R top + M bottom, M top + R bottom, R outside + M inside and M outside + R inside are also possible.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hey mina! genki desu ka?

[gsl83]

hai, genki desu! anata wa? Anata mo nihongo o benkyou shite imasu ka? これも分かりますか。

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hai, totemo genki desu yo!

watashi mo nihongo o benkyou shimasu. although i can';t read the japanese characters you typed

not because I dont know alot of japanese

(although that is half the reason)

but because my computer can't read/type japanese

all i see is boxes

and i've tried to cahnge that but i need the windows xp disc thing but i don thave it

so yea....

[Duckling]

and i've tried to cahnge that but i need the windows xp disc thing but i don thave it

I have the same problem. :(

~

Anyway, I have a question; what's da's purpose in the end of a sentence? Is it like yo? There to add some specific tone to a sentence? Or does it work like desu? It informs that something is?

Eh, clarification, please? :>

[Nihongaeri]

日+月＝明 (sun+moon=bright)Trivia time! The left radical of 明 in terms of its true origin actually isn't 日, but instead represents a window (through which moonlight enters, illuminating things)...

... of course if the pseudo-etymology of a character works better as a mnemonic I suppose there ain't nuttin' wrong with spreadin' it 'round.

[Sabaku no Sniper]

Radicals are often confusing and Intresting.
For me the study of the Kanji characters is really the best thing of the Nihongo no Sekai.

Like in the ai Kanji 愛. The Radical above means "tsune" that is 'claw', then comes the next radical, 'heaven', next to follow is "kokoro" heart. and the last one "Fuyu" 'Winter'.

Same as in Brightness, the radicals are deep even if they don't seem so.

Um... Gomen ne if I interrupted a conversation. Just a Japanese Language Freak.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

I have the same problem. :(

~

Anyway, I have a question; what's da's purpose in the end of a sentence? Is it like yo? There to add some specific tone to a sentence? Or does it work like desu? It informs that something is?

Eh, clarification, please? :>

um, well im not an expert but from what i know the yo I put at the end emphasises the sentence. It's often used when yelling something or when your trying to show excitement or some other strong emotion.

yeah...but remember I'm not fluent in japanese but I'm pretty dang *pardon my french* sure that's how the yo is used.

hoped that helped clarify

[Elyon]

'Da' is the informal version of 'desu'.

[+Shannaro]

Well, I'm certainly not very fluent in Japanese, though I do know some. :amuse Though I basically know odd sentences... eheh

Some phrases:

Kiss me = Kisu shite
I'm high = Button de masu :sweatdrop
My bum is swollen = Oshiri ga harete imasu
I have a toothache = Ha ga itai desu
Ouch! = Itai!
I need new contact lenses = Atarashi kontakutorenzu ga hitsuyo desu
I'm feeling drunk = Yoyomashita (To novices: it is pronounced Yoymashta)
You're a fantastic dancer = Odori ga sugoku umai desu ne
No way! = Ya da
Your Japanese is so good = Nihongo ga ojouzu desu ne
Is it in English? = Ego desu ka
Happy Birthday! = Tanjoubi omedetou
Good Luck/Let's do our best = Gambatte
Where can I change a nappy? = Omutsu wa doko de kaeraremasu ka
I'm deaf = Watashi wa choukakushougai ga arimasu
I should have never let you near me! = Anata ni tanomanakereba yokatta


Rejections: (XDDD)
You're a pain in the neck = Uzai
Piss off = Hottoyote (sometimes pronounced Hottoyte)
Fat chance = Masaka
Stop it! = Yamete!
Go away! = Atchi e ike!


A few random words:
Disease = Byouki
Earthquake = Jishin
Hurray! = Banzai!
Mosquito = Ka
MSG = Gurutaminsansouda :sweatdrop
Monk = Sou
Rabbit = Usagi
Sunrise = Hinode
Fun = Tanoshi

...

:rofl

[Duckling]

um, well im not an expert but from what i know the yo I put at the end emphasises the sentence. It's often used when yelling something or when your trying to show excitement or some other strong emotion.

yeah...but remember I'm not fluent in japanese but I'm pretty dang *pardon my french* sure that's how the yo is used.

hoped that helped clarify
Thanks, but, I know what "yo" does, I was asking about "da" ^^'

'Da' is the informal version of 'desu'.

Really? Thanks 8D! I thought it was used in places you could use desu, but wasn't sure at all... Thanks again.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Thanks, but, I know what "yo" does, I was asking about "da" ^^'



Really? Thanks 8D! I thought it was used in places you could use desu, but wasn't sure at all... Thanks again.

oh. hahah. well then. I guess i should re read messages before i post. ahhahah

[Penance]

Great stuff...

[gsl83]

Trivia time! The left radical of 明 in terms of its true origin actually isn't 日, but instead represents a window (through which moonlight enters, illuminating things)...

... of course if the pseudo-etymology of a character works better as a mnemonic I suppose there ain't nuttin' wrong with spreadin' it 'round.

Wow. In that case several sources of mine (at least 2 books and a pdf) are wrong. They even showed pictures of how the 日 evolved from the picture of a sun. Nihongaeri seems to be pretty reliable when it comes to Japanese language stuff, though... Confusing...

Radicals are often confusing and Intresting.
For me the study of the Kanji characters is really the best thing of the Nihongo no Sekai.

Like in the ai Kanji 愛. The Radical above means "tsune" that is 'claw', then comes the next radical, 'heaven', next to follow is "kokoro" heart. and the last one "Fuyu" 'Winter'.

Same as in Brightness, the radicals are deep even if they don't seem so.

Um... Gomen ne if I interrupted a conversation. Just a Japanese Language Freak.

It's "tsume".
I know the next one as "cover, crown" (mainly "cover"). The last radical is also listed as "fuyu" / "winter" by Rikaichan. 2 other independent sources list it as "to follow" or "to go slowly" though, which seems more likely to me, considering that the Kanji "fuyu" (冬) has 2 more strokes, which doesn't necessarily disqualify "fuyu" though, because there are other radicals (like 毋)　where the radical differs from the corresponding Kanji　(母).

[Mateo Hyuuga]

"HATE" wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka?

like could someone tell me how to say the verb to hate, and like the noun/idea HATE. like from itachi in naruto, " you lack hate"

[CajNatalie]

"HATE" wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka?

like could someone tell me how to say the verb to hate, and like the noun/idea HATE. like from itachi in naruto, " you lack hate"
I'm still not on an Intermediate level yet but, your sentance looks kind'a weird to me (apart from the iimasu typo, lol).
'What is with the thing you are hating in Japanese?'
Seems odd to me... but like I said I'm still not so high enough in level.
By the way on a random note... 'What is 'hate' in Japanese?' to me, would be...
'"HATE" wa nihongo de nani desu ka?'
...if that's what you were trying to say.

I do know however that (to) hate is kirau.
So the concept of hate I'm guessing would be kira?
*checks it*
Wait maybe not... it's nikumi, lol.
'Nikumi o juubun imasu inakereba.' <- (You are) without having enough hate.
I'm not entirely sure about that one though so to play safe I'm also suggesting...
'Nikumi o juubun arimasen.'
Which is a real simple kind of way of saying it.

Anyways I just like translated 'you're lacking enough hate', which I for some reason had in my head as I for some reason remember seeing that in the Itachi Sasuke scene (may be wrong though), lol... so eh... I'll translate 'you lack hate' or rather as far as I can say it 'you don't have hate' nice and simple...
'Nikumi ga arimasen.'

But still don't take everything I say as certain, lol.
I'm confident yes, but I also understand I barely know anything at the same time, so for your sake you should doubt me until someone else can say otherwise, lol - if that makes sense.:huh

Anyways, as for the -particular- phrase Itachi used to Sasuke, I never caught it as I was on the level of only knowing individual words back then.:P

P.S. I haven't used any 'you' in there at all, as it's kind of unusual to use pronouns in Japanese, but if you want I can put in the 'yous' for you.
Depends on what kind of 'you' you want though... there's like anata, kimi, omai, temae, kisame.
Which all depend on your style of speaking as to which you use, lol.
I myself am an anata person, and I use temae abbrasively.

[RokinMan]

I'm still not on an Intermediate level yet but, your sentance looks kind'a weird to me (apart from the iimasu typo, lol).
'What is with the thing you are hating in Japanese?'
Seems odd to me... but like I said I'm still not so high enough in level.
By the way on a random note... 'What is 'hate' in Japanese?' to me, would be...
'"HATE" wa nihongo de nani desu ka?'
...if that's what you were trying to say.

I do know however that (to) hate is kirau.
So the concept of hate I'm guessing would be kira?
*checks it*
Wait maybe not... it's nikumi, lol.
'Nikumi o juubun imasu inakereba.' <- (You are) without having enough hate.
I'm not entirely sure about that one though so to play safe I'm also suggesting...
'Nikumi o juubun arimasen.'
Which is a real simple kind of way of saying it.

Anyways I just like translated 'you're lacking enough hate', which I for some reason had in my head as I for some reason remember seeing that in the Itachi Sasuke scene (may be wrong though), lol... so eh... I'll translate 'you lack hate' or rather as far as I can say it 'you don't have hate' nice and simple...
'Nikumi ga arimasen.'

But still don't take everything I say as certain, lol.
I'm confident yes, but I also understand I barely know anything at the same time, so for your sake you should doubt me until someone else can say otherwise, lol - if that makes sense.:huh

Anyways, as for the -particular- phrase Itachi used to Sasuke, I never caught it as I was on the level of only knowing individual words back then.:P

P.S. I haven't used any 'you' in there at all, as it's kind of unusual to use pronouns in Japanese, but if you want I can put in the 'yous' for you.
Depends on what kind of 'you' you want though... there's like anata, kimi, omai, temae, kisame.
Which all depend on your style of speaking as to which you use, lol.
I myself am an anata person, and I use temae abbrasively.

few things here

iimasu wasn't spelled wrong

he asked what hate meant in japanese.

also, '"HATE" wa nihongo de nani desu ka?' sounds wierd

it's not wrong, as it means what is hate in japanese

but to make it sound less, off, use nan instead of nani

also, pronouns are used in japanese a lot.

I, is a pronoun


kirai is (to) hate as well

as for the hate that Itachi used, ur on ur own for that. I don't know that version so I can't say anything

that and I don't even remember what he said anyways...

[CajNatalie]

few things here
iimasu wasn't spelled wrong
Oh, sorrehs, lol, so what's iimasu then? I just saw it and instantly thought it was imasu. Plus I didn't find iiru/iimasu when I tried looking it up anyways.
Or am I thinking on the totally wrong lines and it's not a verb?
Lol.

he asked what hate meant in japanese.
also, '"HATE" wa nihongo de nani desu ka?' sounds wierd
it's not wrong, as it means what is hate in japanese
but to make it sound less, off, use nan instead of nani
I was going to type 'nan', but I thought the dropping of the 'i' was only a pronunciational thing, and so to be safe I just typed nani... <_<

also, pronouns are used in japanese a lot.
I, is a pronoun
I was speaking relatively to English.
Japanese seldom uses pronouns other than if just referring to oneself, as people usually refer to eachother near-always by name and such, only switching to a pronoun on occasion, as they tend to be offensive if used too much or at the wrong times.
In english we use you/he/she/they to no end, so in relative terms I hold onto what I said, lol.

kirai is (to) hate as well
That's what I was going to use but I forgot, lol... on a lookup I found kirau, which sounded as close as I could get to what I hear on animes often, so I took it, lol.
Thankies for that.

[RokinMan]

Oh, sorrehs, lol, so what's iimasu then? I just saw it and instantly thought it was imasu. Plus I didn't find iiru/iimasu when I tried looking it up anyways.
Or am I thinking on the totally wrong lines and it's not a verb?
Lol.


Think of "to iimasu" as a phrase I guess ;)

adding to iimasu would be like, meaning

as in, kore wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka

you could switch desu ka/to iimasu ka

using desu would be like what is it
using to iimasu would be what does it mean

[CajNatalie]

Think of "to iimasu" as a phrase I guess ;)

adding to iimasu would be like, meaning

as in, kore wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka

you could switch desu ka/to iimasu ka

using desu would be like what is it
using to iimasu would be what does it mean
Ah now I get it, thanks for clearing it up for meh. ^_^b

[Mateo Hyuuga]

ooooooooooooooh. Ic. thnx CajNatalie and RokinMan. normally I would just quote the person im thanking but since there are two of you and you guys said alot it would be too long i think. and i was trying to say "how do you say "hate" in japanese. so I should have used desu ka and dropped the to iimasu ka and it would have meant "what is "hate" in japanese? ? okay. thanx. so you dont know forsure what like the noun/idea hate is. ic ic. and isn't there a verb that means "to lack" i think its um...kakeru or kaku?


arigatou gozaimasu!!

[The Av3nger]

OK. i need to have the translation of 2 things:

- 'I'll kill you'
- 'You are not even worth killing'

In japanese?

Thank you:)

[CajNatalie]

I'll kill you: Korasu
You are not even worth killing: Korasu wa kachi ja nai da

The second one I'm not fully sure of, but the first is easy.
Whenever you want to threaten killing someone in Japanese, you just say 'korasu'.

They're both in impolite form... since if you're gonna say those to someone you're obviously not going to be polite, lol. :P

[Mateo Hyuuga]

minasan konnichiwa! hey everyone! I just made myself a web site and i thought I'd invite you all to see you, and the reason im posting it in here is because its a site abut japan/japanese and stuff so yeah.

checkit out and signthe guestbook/leave a message.

www.freewebs.com/kaitonakamura

yup. and you guys should maybe make your own websites oh yeah haha

[The Luiz]

lil' help \o

How do you say Sun Eruption in japanese?

[ubernoob]

Hey guys watsup, been a while since ive posted. Im currently in Japan!!!! It's soooo much fun I'm loving it here. I got another two weeks. I'm staying in 京都産業大学の国際古流会館. (kyoto sangyo university's international house) Japan rocks atleast from this perspective. And i'll tell you now that speaking Japanese to Japanese ppl is a lot different from learning it in america or wherever. If you ever have the chance to go to Japan and use you're Japanese, DO IT.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Hey guys watsup, been a while since ive posted. Im currently in Japan!!!! It's soooo much fun I'm loving it here. I got another two weeks. I'm staying in 京都産業大学の国際古流会館. (kyoto sangyo university's international house) Japan rocks atleast from this perspective. And i'll tell you now that speaking Japanese to Japanese ppl is a lot different from learning it in america or wherever. If you ever have the chance to go to Japan and use you're Japanese, DO IT.


hey, so, ur in japan, lucky! I want to go to japan with my friend the summer after we finish highschool. I'm learning japanese and by the time I go I should be practically fluent (which is in like 3 years). And ur staying at a university? I'm jw, how much does it cost to stay there and all that stuff? cuz i've noticed that japan is pretty expensive to live in(even though im only going to stay there for about 3 months *the summer*)

so yeah. and um, if it isn't too much trouble, could you please tell me how to say 'I want food" ....its just that i know all the words and stuff but i need more practice w/ sentence structure and stuff. is it something like um "gohan o tai? or like um idk.. iru goes to itai? idk. its just confusing a lil for me. so yeah...


have fun in japan!!!

[ubernoob]

hehe yea it`s really expensive for land here. im actually doing an intensive japanese program for the month that im here. including the plane ticket food room and free tours and classes it came to about 5grand. School here is expensive, housing is expensive but im finding that food is pretty cheap. like you can go get really damn good food for like 700 yen. and i want food can be either one of these:

tabemono ga hoshii desu(literally: i want food)
tabetai desu(i want to eat)

[Hentai]

Hy @ all.
Can someone tell me what Ninpo means?

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hehe yea it`s really expensive for land here. im actually doing an intensive japanese program for the month that im here. including the plane ticket food room and free tours and classes it came to about 5grand. School here is expensive, housing is expensive but im finding that food is pretty cheap. like you can go get really damn good food for like 700 yen. and i want food can be either one of these:

tabemono ga hoshii desu(literally: i want food)
tabetai desu(i want to eat)

I thought food was "gohan" or is that just used for the actual meaning, rice? oh, that much money huh, wow. and the first one "tabemono ga hoshii desu" was the one i was looking for, cuz i already could say " i want to eat"

and um hey could u check out my website

and sign my guestbook

its

www.freewebs.com/kaitonakamura

[gsl83]

I thought food was "gohan" or is that just used for the actual meaning, rice? oh, that much money huh, wow. and the first one "tabemono ga hoshii desu" was the one i was looking for, cuz i already could say " i want to eat"

and um hey could u check out my website

and sign my guestbook

its

www.freewebs.com/kaitonakamura
tabemono = food
gohan = meal
asagohan = breakfast ("morning meal")

[Mateo Hyuuga]

tabemono = food
gohan = meal
asagohan = breakfast ("morning meal")

oh, that makes sense. but um, what about drinks/beverages?

drink is nomimono right? what is like a beverage? is it the same?

[RokinMan]

oh, that makes sense. but um, what about drinks/beverages?

drink is nomimono right? what is like a beverage? is it the same?

you're right, nomimono = drink/beverage

the thing with japanese, is that adding something like o/go can sometimes change the meaning

the whole idea of something like asagohan was based off of the idea of morning rice

gohan means meal however

just like sake means...sake, but osake, means drinks in general. drinks as in alcohol though, not something like soda or w/e.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh, thats interesting...ic. I get it. so.. yeah.....


um........Watashi no tomodachi wa nihongo o benkyou shitai..and Im leaving for a while and im leaving my laptop here, and he might be on here askingj a few questions or something yeah. so yeah. thnx for the help ppl!

arigatou gozaimashita

jaa ne!

[Kyuubisan727]

man, the weather chapter we're on is really killing me cuz Im not used to the weather forecasting in japan. We're supposed to do some charts to display weather patterns for 1 week through 1 month and its killing me. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Kyuubisan727]

i just got done learning nominalizers, so let me know if this is ok:

nihongo wo hanasu koto ga dekimasu ka

let me know if that works!

[The Black Knight]

@kyuubisan727

Yes, it works. You said "Can you speak Japanese."

With nomanlizers think of the clause before it as one big adjective. Koto means thing, like an abstract mental concept/notion.


Some simple grammar trivia:
You've done similar before with na adjectives. You know that NA is just a form of DA [desu]. It is what is called a Rentaikei. Rentaikei translates to "adjective form." Da/desu is what is called shuushikei, or "sentence ending form."
Modern Japanese verbs in their plain forms are both in their shuushikei and rentaikei. When you use a nominalizer, the verb is like an adjective and in it's rentaikei.

Other forms (kei = form)
Mizenkei - imperfective form (used for negative forms, passive, etc)
Ren'youkei - conjunctive form [masu stem] (used for masu form, te and ta forms*, and others)
Rentaikei - adjective form (self explanatory)
shuushikei - sentence ending form (self explanatory)
Izenkei - hypothetical form (used for ~ba form/ also nara is the izenkei of da)
Meireikei - command form (self explanatory)


Check out
nihongoresources.com
guidetojapanese.com

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hey mina! Konbanwa! or is it good morning now? idk. well like always im here for some help or something along those lines, wait, I lied, haha, Im not asking for help this time. lol. so.....

Ogenki desu ka?

Watashi wa totemo isogashii desu yo! Ima, Watashi wa netai. ichiji desu. Im soo tired, and yet, im not yet sleeping haha.

again i guess i lied, Im asking a question . haha sorry bout that. how do you say "and now"

would it be like "To Ima" or is it like something completely different like um something that would translate more into "and then" or something, idk. I guess when your really tired your body doesn't funciton that properly.lol... so yeah.


minasan konbanwa!

[Iramusa-Marjo]

Sekai = world

Actually I know from FFVII:AC ;p

[Saber]

It sucks. I can't take Japanese class in my school. I would like that. I've learned many words from the anime. I'm sure I'll go to Japan some day. Maybe on a trip.

[janekshi]

hi dudes :) i have one request to translate into japanese these: "idiot" & "how troublesome" used in naruto. from what i was able to catch with my ear idiot in japanese starts with b, and the latter starts on b? :p thx for any clues

[KyodaixSensu]

hi dudes :) i have one request to translate into japanese these: "idiot" & "how troublesome" used in naruto. from what i was able to catch with my ear idiot in japanese starts with b, and the latter starts on b? :p thx for any clues

Idiot in japanese is Baka
Eh..For Troublesome it's Mendokuse, and Mendokusai is like, "It's troublesome" or "What a pain in the ass."
something like that xP

[janekshi]

ow ye that's what i meant (made a typo, the latter was supposed to start on m :P), thank you! :)

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Are.....hey mina-san!

konnichiwa!

genki desu ka?

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

here's a good site http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dattebayo&defid=1440000

[Z.:M:.Z]

Heres how you say ass.............ketsunoana

[Naruto no tomodachi]

Watashi wa takusan nihongo o hanasasemasu!

Hi folks, I'm off to write a fanfic...and I really do speak much Japanese...

[RokinMan]

which is why you wrote hanasasemasu...

[♥Body Buddy♥]

あなたはがあらじゃないですよ。私の先生はうまれつきの日本です。私は高校の三年生です。三年 間、高校で日 本語を勉強ています。

すごいなぁー！

私日本に住んでいたいからぁー。。。日本語を習したい。。。でも今私の日本語もう苦手ですよぉ ー ^o^;;

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

それは日本に住むために涼しい

[Mateo Hyuuga]

grrr.....stupid boxes....dont have stupid cd's! grr.....

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

cool i'm not the only one

[Oneironaut]

Japanese Language Suport (http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/browsers.html) should fix your problems, at least for displaying the characters.

If you really want to learn Japanese, either get the CD, download the language packs online [requires validation, which nine times out of ten fails for no adequate reason], or switch to Mac or LInux, which both support Eastern writing systems without having you jump through hoops.

[RokinMan]

well, the thing here is that mac sucks

that and unless you're retarded or something, you don't have to jump through hoops to get eastern languages on your system

but then again, i a few people from my family are computer techs, so i guess it might just be me that sees it as easy.

the only thing that would be a problem is that half the people who want the lang pack, lost the CD months ago. once you get it, it's pretty simple from there.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

okay...could someone please help me with something? I'm trying to forum long sentences and Im like 95% sure I'm doing it wrongso could someone please correct me and maybe explain a lil.

Okay, I'm trying to say
"Today is sunday. Its 12:30. I'm listenin to The Used's music. I want to play tennis but I can't because my friend cole is playing tennis in holland."

Kyou wa nichiyoubi desu. Nijujihan desu. Waashi wa 'The used' no kyoku o kikimasu. Waashi wa tenisu shitai demo dekimsen kara watashi no kourusan wa Holland no naka tenisu shite imasu.

Is that close???

arigatou in advance?!

[ramenx3]

You are REALLY close, in my opinion. I could understand the first two sentences very well. In the last two sentences, though, I have to ask why you used 'waashi'... is it a typo?

If I'm wrong, I'm sorry. I've only been living in Japan for 1/2 a year now, and I had to learn myself.

Gomen ne, yurusu-kudasai! >_<

[Mateo Hyuuga]

haha yeah. it was a typo. so yeah. but if that was spelled right was i right?

[ラブポップ♡]

Ah good, this thread helped a lot, thank you! :nod

Heres how you say ass.............ketsunoana

And that has already made my day. :)

[RokinMan]

haha yeah. it was a typo. so yeah. but if that was spelled right was i right?

Today is Sunday.
Kyou wa nichiyoubi desu. *correct*
今日は日曜日です。

It is 12:30.
Nijyuujihan desu. (It's 20'oclock and a half)
Jyuunijihan desu.
十二時半です。

I'm listening to the Used's music.
Watashi wa 'The used' no kyoku o kikimasu.
Watashi wa "The Used" no kyoku wo kiiteimasu.
私は"The Used"の曲を聞いています。
The first one was, I listen to the Used's music, not listening.


I want to play tennis but I can't because my friend cole is playing tennis in holland."
Watashi wa tenisu shitai demo dekimsen kara watashi no kourusan wa Holland no naka tenisu shite imasu.
Watashi wa tenisu wo shitai desuga watashi no kourusan wa Holland no naka de tenisu wo shite tenisu ga dekimasen.
私はテニスをしたいですが、私のこうるさんはホルランドの中でテニスをしてテニスができません 。

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Today is Sunday.
Kyou wa nichiyoubi desu. *correct*
今日は日曜日です。

It is 12:30.
Nijyuujihan desu. (It's 20'oclock and a half)
Jyuunijihan desu.
十二時半です。

I'm listening to the Used's music.
Watashi wa 'The used' no kyoku o kikimasu.
Watashi wa "The Used" no kyoku wo kiiteimasu.
私は"The Used"の曲を聞いています。
The first one was, I listen to the Used's music, not listening.


I want to play tennis but I can't because my friend cole is playing tennis in holland."
Watashi wa tenisu shitai demo dekimsen kara watashi no kourusan wa Holland no naka tenisu shite imasu.
Watashi wa tenisu wo shitai desuga watashi no kourusan wa Holland no naka de tenisu wo shite tenisu ga dekimasen.
私はテニスをしたいですが、私のこうるさんはホルランドの中でテニスをしてテニスができません 。

oh, haha thnx so muchsmile-big , but um, could u explain why kiku goes to kiiteimasu?, i get the te + imasu/iru but whats w/ the extra "i" and um yeah. haha im such a typo freak, yeah, i did the time wrong, and the tenis wo (or I always type o but w/e hahah) but could u explain the "de" and "ga dekimasen" is at the end? i mean, does that mean its the main verb ?

an dyeah.


oh yeah, thnx again for the help, and im sorry if im asking too many questions but I really im trying really hard to learn japanese. haha.

arigatou gozaimasu!
oh, ps, thnx for typing the kana for them but my computer doesnt show them and then i know ur just gonna say go to the one forum and fix it, well i tried, and have given up, no cd's, and even the one w/o a cd, my computer needed a cd! . hahah so yeah thnx newayz.

[xpeed]

Can someone tell me what this label says? I can make out most of it, but there are some Kanjis that I don't know.

http://luisdias.eu/Photo/Model/Paint_Remover_2.jpg

[RokinMan]

oh, haha thnx so muchsmile-big , but um, could u explain why kiku goes to kiiteimasu?, i get the te + imasu/iru but whats w/ the extra "i" and um yeah. haha im such a typo freak, yeah, i did the time wrong, and the tenis wo (or I always type o but w/e hahah) but could u explain the "de" and "ga dekimasen" is at the end? i mean, does that mean its the main verb ?

an dyeah.


oh yeah, thnx again for the help, and im sorry if im asking too many questions but I really im trying really hard to learn japanese. haha.

arigatou gozaimasu!
oh, ps, thnx for typing the kana for them but my computer doesnt show them and then i know ur just gonna say go to the one forum and fix it, well i tried, and have given up, no cd's, and even the one w/o a cd, my computer needed a cd! . hahah so yeah thnx newayz.

kiiteimasu

kikimasu becomes kiku when its in the dictionary form. to make it an ing ending, ku turns to ite. just like oyogimasu = oyogu = oyoidemasu.

de is used because it's the place that an action is happening. if you use ni, ga, then it's where something is, ni, de, is where something is happening

ga is used with dekimasen, because deimasu can only use ga. wo doesn't work with dekiru. but korareru, and just about everything else can use wo with it. suru is the only one that can't use wo when in that form.

[The Black Knight]

It's kiite iru because

for -te and -ta forms, godan verbs (-u verbs) undergo a contraction in modern japanese when conjugated.

Example.
Matsu -> Machi + te --(contracts)--> Matte

For ku contractions, the ku changes to i and you add te (or ta)
EXAMPLE

Kiku -> Kiki + te ----(contracts to)--> kiite

The voiced version of ku, gu under goes a similar contraction. Gu changes it i (just like ku) but the te becomes voiced to /de/, so the ending is ~ide

[Mateo Hyuuga]

kiiteimasu

kikimasu becomes kiku when its in the dictionary form. to make it an ing ending, ku turns to ite. just like oyogimasu = oyogu = oyoidemasu.

de is used because it's the place that an action is happening. if you use ni, ga, then it's where something is, ni, de, is where something is happening

ga is used with dekimasen, because deimasu can only use ga. wo doesn't work with dekiru. but korareru, and just about everything else can use wo with it. suru is the only one that can't use wo when in that form.

wow, thnx! but i always thought *even though i've been only learning for a few months* that you just get rid of the ending and add te. so its "ite"? gotcha! and yeah, i knew dekimsen uses ga, but um, why does it go at the end as opposed to another verb?

and thnx for explaining the ni,ga/ni,de thing. arigatou gozaimasu!


yeah. thnx again. haha

[RokinMan]

wow, thnx! but i always thought *even though i've been only learning for a few months* that you just get rid of the ending and add te. so its "ite"? gotcha! and yeah, i knew dekimsen uses ga, but um, why does it go at the end as opposed to another verb?

and thnx for explaining the ni,ga/ni,de thing. arigatou gozaimasu!


yeah. thnx again. haha

the reason why dekimasen is at the ending is cause of the cause and effect rule

without using kara, for because, you can use a specific reason, as a cause, and the next reason as the effect

in that form, verbs go into the te form

thus, i used shite, and the effect, you can't do it, dekimasen.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

the reason why dekimasen is at the ending is cause of the cause and effect rule

without using kara, for because, you can use a specific reason, as a cause, and the next reason as the effect

in that form, verbs go into the te form

thus, i used shite, and the effect, you can't do it, dekimasen.

oh, ic. well maybei should study up more on the te form haha. and thnx. the not using kara thing makes sense with cause and effect.

doumo arigatou!

thnx so much. I think im starting to get more of this japanese language thing. haha

oh and sShikuto thnx for the clarifaction!
WAIT! I JUST RE-read the thing. shouldn't it be "watashi no tomodachi wa Kourusan" to mean my friend cole? and another thing

I just noticed the "desuga" after tenisu wo shitai. what is that?

sorry, man, i ask alot of questions.

[RokinMan]

oh, ic. well maybei should study up more on the te form haha. and thnx. the not using kara thing makes sense with cause and effect.

doumo arigatou!

thnx so much. I think im starting to get more of this japanese language thing. haha

oh and sShikuto thnx for the clarifaction!
WAIT! I JUST RE-read the thing. shouldn't it be "watashi no tomodachi wa Kourusan" to mean my friend cole? and another thing

I just noticed the "desuga" after tenisu wo shitai. what is that?

sorry, man, i ask alot of questions.

i just figured that kouru was like, some wierd way to say friend or something like that, which is why i put it in hiragana, instead of katakana. but if thats your friends name, then it should be watashi no tomodachi, kouransan, (then whatever the rest of the sentence was, i forgot)

and its desu ga because putting ga after the desu is the same thing as demo.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

i just figured that kouru was like, some wierd way to say friend or something like that, which is why i put it in hiragana, instead of katakana. but if thats your friends name, then it should be watashi no tomodachi, kouransan, (then whatever the rest of the sentence was, i forgot)

and its desu ga because putting ga after the desu is the same thing as demo.

oh . haha.lol. but yeah. weird name and all that. haha. oh, and i can't tell the difference between hiragana and katakana *only boxes , haha*. and really? add ga after desu makes it but? like demo? thats soo cool! haha
oh yeah

again.

arigatou gozaimasu!

hontou!

doumo arigatou!

[The Black Knight]

It goes at the end because the main verb action goes at the end of the sentence. The reason or cause is just like extra information and so it will come before the main verb.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

It goes at the end because the main verb action goes at the end of the sentence. The reason or cause is just like extra information and so it will come before the main verb.

then how do you determine whats the mainverb?

[RokinMan]

the same way you do in english

you said that you want to play tennis, but you cant cuz ur friends playing it in holland.

so what's the main point you're trying to get across, that you can't play tennis


i eat cake, eat is the only verb so its the main one

i eat cake while i sleep, eat is still the main verb, and sleep is additional information

[Mateo Hyuuga]

the same way you do in english

you said that you want to play tennis, but you cant cuz ur friends playing it in holland.

so what's the main point you're trying to get across, that you can't play tennis


i eat cake, eat is the only verb so its the main one

i eat cake while i sleep, eat is still the main verb, and sleep is additional information

oh, right. haha thnx. I haven't review that stuff in like for ever so thnx


arigatou!

[RokinMan]

Heres how you say ass.............ketsunoana

that's asshole....ketsu is ass

[DancingDragonLady]

Hey, guys! I just got back from Japan and my host family sent me a letter but I have no idea what it says. Could anyone help me out? I think I'm going to need someone really fluent to be able to read/understand this:

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y8/LoveToDraw/?action=view&current=Letter.png

If anyone could tell me or figure it out, I would love them forever O__O

PS: The first line is my name, "sofii evansu" (Sophie Evans) ...if that helps.

[Rastignac]

Hey, guys! I just got back from Japan and my host family sent me a letter but I have no idea what it says. Could anyone help me out? I think I'm going to need someone really fluent to be able to read/understand this:

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y8/LoveToDraw/?action=view&current=Letter.png

If anyone could tell me or figure it out, I would love them forever O__O

PS: The first line is my name, "sofii evansu" (Sophie Evans) ...if that helps.


I usually hate men writing in roman alphabet but in Japanese it's even worse....seriously how come practically all men (minus me :P ) have such crappy writing ? I really wonder !!

Anyway here's the translation of your letter:

Dear Sophie Evans,
thank you for all the fun we had, I will not forget your gentle smiling face.
I hope you'll continue to study the wonderful Japanese culture in the future.
I'm really looking forward to our next encounter.

[dontaskmetebayo]

um I think i know one or two things . .. first I have no Idea what most of you people are saying and second I think Shigata Ga Nai = It cannot be helped/oh well/Maybe ya don't say? no clue correct me if I'm wrong thats the way I've heard it used in animes, and read in books.

[Hentai]

Ähm,...long ago:
Hy @ all.
Can someone tell me what Ninpo means?
Please?

[gsl83]

Ähm,...long ago:

Please?

Closest match I could find in 3 dictionaries:
忍法 にんぽう {Budō} Technik {f} des Ninjutsu (Ninjutsu ist die japan. mittelalterliche Kunst der Geheimaufklärung).

忍法 にんぽう (ninpō) {Budō} Ninjutsu technique (Ninjutsu is the medieval japanese art of covert reconnaissance)

[Hentai]

Closest match I could find in 3 dictionaries:


忍法 にんぽう (ninpō) {Budō} Ninjutsu technique (Ninjutsu is the medieval japanese art of covert reconnaissance)

Danke!

Aber Ninpo muss doch auch ne wortwörtiche Bedeutung haben.

[gsl83]

Danke!

Aber Ninpo muss doch auch ne wortwörtiche Bedeutung haben.

Das erste Zeichen ist ne Abkürzung für "Ninja". Das zweite bedeutet in diesem Zusammenhang wohl "Methode".

The first character is an abbreviation of "ninja". The 2nd one most probably means "method" in this context.

[DancingDragonLady]

I usually hate men writing in roman alphabet but in Japanese it's even worse....seriously how come practically all men (minus me :P ) have such crappy writing ? I really wonder !!

Anyway here's the translation of your letter:

Dear Sophie Evans,
thank you for all the fun we had, I will not forget your gentle smiling face.
I hope you'll continue to study the wonderful Japanese culture in the future.
I'm really looking forward to our next encounter.


Holy crap! You are amazing! :amazed I love you forever now <3 Oh, and it was a girl who wrote that letter :nod

[Hentai]

Das erste Zeichen ist ne Abkürzung für "Ninja". Das zweite bedeutet in diesem Zusammenhang wohl "Methode".

The first character is an abbreviation of "ninja". The 2nd one most probably means "method" in this context.

Ok, danke.
Reputation kommt später.

[The_Manzlayer]

oniii-sann..please teach me japanese...onegaaaiii...^^

how to write kanji...??

[DancingDragonLady]

I know all I seem to be doing is asking for translations but you guys are the most active people I can find and you are really helpful too. :3 So I have another favor for someone. I need to translate this into Japanese: (it's a thank-you letter to my host family)


Dear the Takagi family,
Thanks so much for being such a great host family. Staying in Japan with you guys was so much fun. I really hope to come back sometime. My whole family and I appreciate the gifts you got us. And I really appreciate the letter you sent. I'll never forget all the fun I had. Thanks once again.
Sincerely, Sophie Evans :amuse


That might be kinda challenging but I hope someone can help me. :)

[The Black Knight]

sorry, I can't help. I'm leaving to catch a flight in a few minutes.
Go to guidetojapanese.org/forum/ in the about Japanese section. it's active...should fine some fast help there too.

[Avenger2112]

can someone tell me how to say "I really wanna shoot you right now." I wanna say that to people next time i go play paintball :laugh

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

I really want to shoot you right now 私は実際に今撃ちたいと思う

[Mateo Hyuuga]

I really want to shoot you right now 私は実際に今撃ちたいと思う

hey, um, could u possibly put that in romaji cuz I was also wondering how to say that, so um yeah?!

and yeah, i know, my signature has japanese in it, but I put that on my home computer

[The_Manzlayer]

watashi wa manzlayer des.....
Omae o korosu!...lol....

just kidding everyone...^^v

[Mateo Hyuuga]

haha nice. lol

watashi wa mateo desu
yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

I really want to shoot you right now
私は実際に今撃ちたいと思う。watashi ha jissai ni ima uchi tai to omou. If this isn't right well then someone else can find the right translation.
I really want to shoot something after this frustrating search.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

I really want to shoot you right now
私は実際に今撃ちたいと思う。watashi ha jissai ni ima uchi tai to omou. If this isn't right well then someone else can find the right translation.
I really want to shoot something after this frustrating search.

oh, ic, thnx!

doumo arigatou gozaimasu!

[gsl83]

Can anyone tell me the correct reading of 中 in ダウンロード中 and アクセス中? :huh

[luna_Jang]

excuse me
what does 　どうぞよるしく　mean in English?
thank you very much

[春野 サクラ]

^are you sure its どうぞよるしく? i think its どうぞよろしく.. douzo yoroshiku..means nice to meet you..

:)

[luna_Jang]

ahh~
thank you very much 春野　サクラ
long time no see~
acturelly I know it's meaning..
but I don't know how to translate it into english correctly~
you know my poor english...*sigh*

[春野 サクラ]

yeah.. long time no see.. i 4got to visit chinese thread >.<

your language is not that poor,.. i've seen worse,, believe it! :D

^^

[luna_Jang]

ありがとうございます　サクラ
どうぞよろしく～
以后还请多多关照呀~

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

I wish I could read Japanese. is it dificult to learn?

[Mateo Hyuuga]

you can't read it? I htought u could, cuz you posted the japanese for "I really want to show you right now"

oh, well i haven't learned completely, but so far its no tthat hard.

[RokinMan]

you can't read it? I htought u could, cuz you posted the japanese for "I really want to show you right now"

oh, well i haven't learned completely, but so far its no tthat hard.

she posted the translation because all she did was go to google or something like that

im not sure it's right or not, but to me it doesn't seem like its all that great on grammar or anything like that

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

i used babelfish for that. I could never read it. I know it's read from right to left, and I've seen it writen in vertical colums.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh ic. well um could someone tell me if this little phrase thing is right? I'm practicing righting hiragana and I also need to know if my phrase is right.

I would type it here in hiragana but thats only on my other computer

okay
I want to say "I'm going to call my friend now but I don't know if he is there"
I htink I did it wrong

but idk




okay its

"Ima wa watashi no tomodachi wo denwa suru ni iku demo soko ni iru wakanaba"

yeah. oh wait, I think I need something before wakanaba, is it ga or something idk.

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

well I hope someone with great knowledge of japanese will help you.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

well I hope someone with great knowledge of japanese will help you.



haha yeah, I hope so. arigatou

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

uhh yeah sure. heh heh

[gsl83]

i used babelfish for that. I could never read it. I know it's read from right to left, and I've seen it writen in vertical colums.

Actually, it's only read from right to left when it's written vertically. When it's written horizontally it's read from left to right.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hey gsl83! could u help me with my little sentence thing?

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

Actually, it's only read from right to left when it's written vertically. When it's written horizontally it's read from left to right.well I didn't know that. I acknowledge your superior knowledge.:nod
Thank you for correcting me.:amuse

[Bigshot]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question, but I'm looking to get a kanji tattoo, and I want to make sure I get the right characters, I've heard alot of horror stories about people getting a tattoo to learn later it isn't written in the right context, or is the wrong characters.

I'm thinking of getting either Courage: http://japanesekanji.nobody.jp/others/courage.htm

or Wisdom: http://japanesekanji.nobody.jp/others/wisdom.htm

and I want to make sure they are correct.

[gsl83]

hey gsl83! could u help me with my little sentence thing?

No, sorry. I'm a bloody beginner myself and that sentence is too complex for me.

There are a few things I find odd there, but since I'm not sure about those and wouldn't know how to put it correctly, I better stay quiet. :nod

[Kyuriko]

Bigshot. I'm not familiar with the second word, so maybe someone who is more seasoned than me can help with that, but the first one is indeed "courage" and it's read as yuuki in Japanese and yong qi in Chinese.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hey kyuriko! could you help me wiht my sentence thing I posted a while ago? and gsl83, I thought u were more advanced, ahha but w/e lol.

[Kyuriko]

I'm usually better with simpler sentences, but I could try to help out some, Hyuuga-han. :D

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh okay. arigatou!

[Rastignac]

oh ic. well um could someone tell me if this little phrase thing is right? I'm practicing righting hiragana and I also need to know if my phrase is right.

I would type it here in hiragana but thats only on my other computer

okay
I want to say "I'm going to call my friend now but I don't know if he is there"
I htink I did it wrong

but idk




okay its

"Ima wa watashi no tomodachi wo denwa suru ni iku demo soko ni iru wakanaba"

yeah. oh wait, I think I need something before wakanaba, is it ga or something idk.

Here's a correction of your sentence.

（私は）友達に電話をかけに行くしかし（彼が）家にいるかどうか知りません。
(watashi ha) tomodachi ni denwa wo kake ni iku shikashi (kare ga) uchi ni iru kadouka shirimasen.

The parts in brackets are not really necessary.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Here's a correction of your sentence.

（私は）友達に電話をかけに行くしかし（彼が）家にいるかどうか知りません。
(watashi ha) tomodachi ni denwa wo kake ni iku shikashi (kare ga) uchi ni iru kadouka shirimasen.

The parts in brackets are not really necessary.

oh, ic. thanks. arigatou gozaimasu! but um..coudl you please explain it and stuff? if that isn't too much trouble that is. I mean, I understand uchi ni iru for "he's there"*he's home* but alot of it I don't. I do understand I messed up the begging with the "watashi no tomodachi" cuz that has a dif. meaning to it and that wasn't what i was trying to say. so, coudl you explain it?...onegaishimasu?!?

[The Black Knight]

[verb ren'youkei] +ni iku

is more like a literal 'going' with a purpose of verb.

The "phrasal" verb "to be going to [verb -infinitive]" represents an action that will happen in the immediate future.


This doesn't translate directly so there are many possible ways to do this in Japanese. non-past verb, special structure of the volitional form, etc. each with different nuances and/or implications.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh, so there are more than just one way to say it. but um. could someone explain what "shikashi" means. also. what is kadouka shirimasen?

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question, but I'm looking to get a kanji tattoo, and I want to make sure I get the right characters, I've heard alot of horror stories about people getting a tattoo to learn later it isn't written in the right context, or is the wrong characters.

I'm thinking of getting either Courage: http://japanesekanji.nobody.jp/others/courage.htm

or Wisdom: http://japanesekanji.nobody.jp/others/wisdom.htm

and I want to make sure they are correct.

google them and see.

[xXThe_emo_ninjaXx]

Person 1: Konichiwa, o genki desu ka?
(Good afternoon, how are you?)
Person 2: Genki desu.
(that pretty much means good...ok...ect.)

Itachi: Wesel
Kakashi: Scare crow
Iruka: Dolphin
Sagoi: cool
Datte byo: Belive it! XP
(I'm not 100% on the spelling of the words, sorry....)

[Mateo Hyuuga]

konnichiwa! genki desu ka?

[gsl83]

Person 1: Konichiwa, o genki desu ka?
(Good afternoon, how are you?)
Person 2: Genki desu.
(that pretty much means good...ok...ect.)

Itachi: Wesel
Kakashi: Scare crow
Iruka: Dolphin
Sagoi: cool
Datte byo: Belive it! XP
(I'm not 100% on the spelling of the words, sorry....)

"Konnichiwa", "weasel", "scarecrow", "sugoi"/"sugei", "dattebayo" and "believe".

[Kyuriko]

Mateo. Ah, I see Shikuto got around to your sentence; I was having trouble with the second half of it myself, but it makes sense now. The phrase ka dou ka means something along the lines ofwhether or not (http://www.timwerx.net/language/jpverbs/lesson27.htm) (such as, "I'm not feeling well, so I don't know if [or whether or not] I will go to school tomorrow"). And there are so many different ways to say and yet, but, however, and so on, in Japanese -- shikashi is one of them. You might also see keredo, kedo, or dakedo instead of shikashi.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Mateo. Ah, I see Shikuto got around to your sentence; I was having trouble with the second half of it myself, but it makes sense now. The phrase ka dou ka means something along the lines ofwhether or not (http://www.timwerx.net/language/jpverbs/lesson27.htm) (such as, "I'm not feeling well, so I don't know if [or whether or not] I will go to school tomorrow"). And there are so many different ways to say and yet, but, however, and so on, in Japanese -- shikashi is one of them. You might also see keredo, kedo, or dakedo instead of shikashi.


yeah. oh, ic, that makes sense. thnx Kyuriko. but um, could u explain to me the "denwa wo kake ni iku" cuz im used to seeing "denwa wo suru" and now the verb "suru" is gone. explain?

oh, and I hope you feel better!!

[Kyuriko]

Mateo. I think that you can use denwa suru, but denwa wo kake is just another way to say, "to telephone" or, "to make a phone call".

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Kyuriko. oh, hontou desu ka? I never heard of that but that makes sense now. arigatou gozaimasu! so um...denwa suru is "to make a phonecall" and denwa wo kake is "to telephone" or do both have those meanings?

but again, Arigatou.

oh, and instead of "shirimasen" for "don't know" could I use "wakarimasen"?

[Kyuriko]

I think that both have those meanings, which is why Shikuto-han said that there were a number of ways you could have said the sentence, and likewise with wakarimasen versus shirimasen. Depending on how it's written, shirimasen and wakarimasen would mean the same thing because shirimasen is from the base shiru, not the irregular verb suru.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh, okay. thnx for explaining that. I forgot about that verb. shiru - to know. I thought it was some weird form of suru. which is y I didn't wanna use it cuz I didn't know how to use it and all that jazz. but again.

arigatou!

oh, im jw. how come you say "han" instead of "san" *the widely known way*

[Kyuriko]

I had to think about it myself because the two verbs have similar conjugations, but context will usually let you know. And han? It means the same as san, but it's from the dialects of the Kansai region of Japan, which I have recently started studying because I really love Kyoto and Osaka.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh, kansai dialect. thats what i originally thought. lol well im tired now.

oyasuminasai!!!!

oh, and could you maybe post some kansai stuff here tomorrow, cuz I think that would be fun to learn.

[Kyuriko]

Ohayō gozaimasu! Today we will learn a little bit about Japanese dialects, starting with one that you have probably already seen in anime and manga before - Kansai-ben.

The Kansai dialect (関西弁 - kansai-ben, with ben meaning dialect) is one of the many Japanese dialects that you will find often in Japanese animation. However, calling it the Kansai dialect might not be the right phrase to use because there are so many dialects within the Kansai region, but the phrase is often used to refer to the dialects of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. While some of the grammatical rules and conjugations are similar, there are also various differences throughout the region. For now, let's just start with the basics and learn the different forms of desu, since it's one of the first things we all learned when we started Japanese.

As we already know, desu means to be, and it doesn't have a different meaning in this dialect either - the only difference is that it's pronounced ya instead of desu, and it can even be used to replace the informal da. Let's try this with a few sentences, and then you can try it on your own. There are a few words in these sentences that have their own words in Kansai-ben, but for now let's just focus on ya and move into vocabulary later.

1. I am a sophomore.
a. 私は二年生や。 Watashi wa ninnensei ya.
2. My name is _____.
b. 私の名前は____や。 Watashi no namae wa ___ ya.
3. Isn't the weather nice?
　　c. いい天気やね？ Ii tenki ya ne?
4. The water is cold.
d. 水は寒いや。 Mizu wa samui ya.

And now it's your turn! The answers have been written in white, but please don't highlight them until after you've tried it yourself or you won't learn anything!

1. Naruto is very noisy.
a. ナルトはうるさいや。 Naruto wa urusai ya.
2. I am __ years old.
b. 私は__歳や。 Watashi wa __ sai ya.
3. Are you an engineer?
c. あなたは工学者やか？ Anata wa kougakusha ya ka?
4. I am (your nationality).
d. 私は（アメリカ人）や。 Watashi wa (Amerikajin [1] ya.

[1] This was merely used as an example in the answer key, so if it isn't your nationality please feel free to change it in your own answer.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

1. Naruto wa urusai ya. or it could be Naruto wa totemo urusai ya.

2. Watashi wa juurokusai ya.

3. Anata wa kougakusha ya ka?

4. Watashi wa amerikajin ya.

oh, and um, by the way, you made number 3 white, so yeah.

and thnx by the way, I had no idea about "ya"

arigatou gozaimasu!!!



more more more!?!?

[Kyuriko]

Whoops, thank you for pointing out the HTML error in my post. (o__o) All of your answers are correct, and it seems you have a good grasp on concept of desu, so just remember that it's ya when you're in Kansai. My next post will be about the other forms of desu, but for now let's relax and practice making our own sentences. (>w<)

[Mateo Hyuuga]

haha yeah. and okay. right now I'm reading all the pages on this japanese discussion form. I'm on page um 18 I think. I'm actually learning alot of stuff. haha. I just never had the patience to rad all of them. ahha. but its pretty annoying how alot of ppl only type in japanese, not in romaji, cuz my laptop can't read the characters..gr..i could just use a translator, but I dont want to.

newayz.

arigatou.

[Tatsuki]

いたい！ かんさいべんは難しいですね？
ouch. kansai-ben is difficult isn't it?
ボキャブラリは異なっています。
the vocab is different.

eg:

thank you
arigatou gozaimasu
maido ookini

how are you?
o genki desu ka? / genki?
moukarimakka?

i'm fine
genki desu
bochi bochi denna

well it's not to bad, but to speak poor kansai to an osakan is bad news xD

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hey, Tatsuki. could you post some more kansai stuff compared to um, the widely known * Im not sure of its real name, but its used in tokyo* dialect. And (thanks to you) it looks like alot of kansai is different. so.......more?

[Tatsuki]

Standard dialect or hyojun go.

sainara / sayounara

sou yanenn / sou desu

honmakaina / hontou ni

ohayo okaeri / okaeri

chau / chigau

sora / sore ha

suki ya / suki da

and so on...
kansaiben i think is fun to speak, but to americans i believe they call it the "down south speech"

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Wow. interesting. thanks Tatsuki. arigatou! or um, ookini! And now that you said that americans sometimes call it "down south speech" now I'm gonna. hahah.

Okay. could you maybe possibly have a convo with me for some practice?( in japanese of course) *but only romaji, my computer can't read japanese*

[Kyuriko]

Thanks for posting some of the vocabulary, Tatsuki-han. I know that some of the examples are akan for Kansai-ben, but I didn't want to confuse anyone too much so I focused on the little things at a time. XDD Of course, if your dialect is good I'm sure native speakers would be impressed to find a foreigner who speaks something other than standard Tokyo dialect. I would love it if we could try to bring some more Kansai-ben into this thread ~

[Mateo Hyuuga]

Yeah. like whenever someone doesn't know a word or verb we say it in both dialects. And I woud love to be one of those foreigners who speak more than the standard tokyo dialect, even though I'm more used to the standard, and thats the on I want to learn more *or first actually*, but kansai sounds pretty cool

[Tatsuki]

@kyuriko:
Yeh I understand, it can be confusing. I'm learning kansai as well, but I'm getting lazy with it. xD
Your profile, I could consider you my twin for three reasons lol.

@Mateo:
I think foreigners c/should learn more than just the standard, because it proves to the ignorant Japanese, that anyone can speak the language, especially the elderly ^ ^

I'll type in romaji just for you then, and of course.

[Kyuriko]

Tatsuki. Oh, that's all right, I have been somewhat lazy with my Japanese studies all summer - though not nearly as bad as my Chinese studies. German is the only thing I have really kept up with this summer (o__o) And twins? In what way? I'm curious.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

haha. thats weird. cuz I'm actually doing more japanese studying this summer. but then again, I've only been learning for half a year. so yeah.

[The Black Knight]

I thought "sou ya nenn" was more of "sou na n da"

I suck at kansaiben anyway. I'm probably wrong. I speak a similar dialect but it's still not kansai.

[Tatsuki]

^ You could be right. It was either sou desu, or that lol.
What dialect is that?

You can learn alot in half a year!

Kyuriko, I'm one day older than you, blasian, and have the same interests.
I've been lazy with Mandarin Chinese too >.>

[Kyuriko]

Whoa - that's really weird! I can't believe you're Blasian as well, that's really awesome. (>w<) And all the other things - what are the odds?

[The Black Knight]

sou na n da is not dialect....it's hyoujungo

"na n da" is just a contraction of "sou nano da"

[Mateo Hyuuga]

hey mina!

genki?

so............hm.....im jw, how do you say "bored" in nihongo.

cuz I'm bored alot of the time, and I've been wondering it for a while.


arigatou/ookini (in advance??)

[The Black Knight]

boredom is taikutu

[Mateo Hyuuga]

so um


boku wa taikutu desu

boku wa taikutu ya


or is tha tnot it? cuz I think I have to change it a lil

[Barinax]

Out of curiousity...

I don't have a clue about romanization, mainly because I can't distinct between English sounds that would come out as double vowels...

--

Would it work not to romanize things work for word, but...?

but you = bachu (I don't even knowhow to romanize but and you, by the way.)

[The Black Knight]

but and you are already romanize.....do you mean katakana-ize?

but would be written as "batto" in katakana and you would be "yuu"

Written in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet):
but you : bʌt yuː
バット・ユー(batto yuu): baʔtɔ yɯ̹̈ː

[Barinax]

Oh, I see...

So, would "bacchuu" work then? I don't know if it sounds smoother but is still accurate with the original word, or if its ok to not romanize word for word.

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

cute avi Shota-kun

[Barinax]

Erm, that's a little off-topic... but thanks.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

konbanwa! Boku wa totemo tsukareta yo. Kyou wa tenisu shimashita. And I haven't played tennis this whole summer, so im pretty sucky right now and I think I even got a blister. Could some please tell me how to say "I haven't played tennis this summer"???

I'm not sure if this is right but thats why I'm asking. is it...
Boku wa kono natsu ga asobukattakunai ????


Tasukete!?!?!

[Tatsuki]

"this summer, I didn't do anything"
is that what you're trying to say??
I'm bad with romaji o///o

[Mateo Hyuuga]

actually...I'm trying to say "I haven't played tennis this summer"

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

:oh :amuse

[Kyuriko]

I think it would probably be この夏は僕がテニスを遊びませんでした - kono natsu wa boku ga tennis wo asobimasen deshita. It's boku ga because boku is the indirect object, and ga marks the indirect object - that is, the person or thing performing the action.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh. so boku goes after and it uses ga because its the indirect object, not the direct main one *natsu*. And its asobimasen deshita. of course, what was I thinking, no really, I'm just weird. haha, I actually knew all this stuff. I guess Im just bad at putting it all together. hhaha. Arigatou Gozaimasu Kyuriko!!!!

and wow, I can't believe I actualy forgot to put "tennis" in the sentence. wow, im such a loser.hahah. Ookini!

[The Black Knight]

ga always marks subject. It is nominative and does not mark objects. and indirect object (receiver "for/to") would probably be marked by ni.

[Mateo Hyuuga]

so instead of ga its ni???

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

ahh big Japanese characters!

[Kyuriko]

Subject. Yes. I'm mixing up my own English grammar here (._.); It was ni for indirect objects and wo for direct objects, and wa was for - object? Maybe a little brief section or study on in-depth English grammar would help clear up wa vs. ga, to distinguish between subjects and objects - I could probably use it myself.

[Hinata_Hyuuga8]

hey does any one else besides me own Learn Japanese the Fast and Fun Way? It's a good book.

[The Black Knight]

Subject. Yes. I'm mixing up my own English grammar here (._.); It was ni for indirect objects and wo for direct objects, and wa was for - object? Maybe a little brief section or study on in-depth English grammar would help clear up wa vs. ga, to distinguish between subjects and objects - I could probably use it myself.

but see...that's the problem!! English and Japanese grammar don't correlate! If you try to understand Japanese by matching it to English grammar, or you try to speak by think in English first then translating, you are never truly learning (imho).

The particles don't directly correlate to what would be a direct object, indirect object, subject, etc. in English....sometimes, often times, it's a little different.

As for wa... it's called topic. Topics generally exist in all languages, but for languages like English they play a more passive, inactive role.

[Sho]

I think it would probably be この夏は僕がテニスを遊びませんでした - kono natsu wa boku ga tennis wo asobimasen deshita. It's boku ga because boku is the indirect object, and ga marks the indirect object - that is, the person or thing performing the action.

In this case it would be テニスをしませんでした。/tenisu wo shimasen deshita.

The particle を wouldn't be used with "asobu", since that's not how "asobu" is used. It means more like "play around" rather than "play (something)".

[Mateo Hyuuga]

In this case it would be テニスをしませんでした。/tenisu wo shimasen deshita.

The particle を wouldn't be used with "asobu", since that's not how "asobu" is used. It means more like "play around" rather than "play (something)".

oh, that makes sense. I forgot about that. Arigatou Gozaimashita!

[narutorendan21]

oh, that makes sense. I forgot about that. Arigatou Gozaimashita! where did u learn japanese

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh, me? haha . I learned *actually im still learning* from many places. like um, I listened to japanesepod101 on my ipod. It's a podcast that teaches you japanese for free. I've learned from a few ppl in japan I know. I bought a kanji book and practiced. idk. I learn from everyone. I'm self-taught if thats what u were asking. no classes. and i've only been learning for about 7 months. why? is it because I said "arigatou gozaimashita!" instead of "arigatou gozaimasu"? cuz if it is, I said "gozaimashita" because it is often said after someone does something for you so it represents the past and all that. haha. wbu??

[Tatsuki]

彼らがスペースに行くときさえ、絶対絶望はそれらを待っています。ちんぷんかんだ！！@_@

*cough

self-teaching is good =D it is always nice to have a helping hand also

[Mateo Hyuuga]

roumaji de onegaishimasu?!?

and yeah. and this forum does help me. Im reading all the other pages. haha. and Tatsuki, where did u learn japanese from?

[Tatsuki]

karera ga supe^su ni iku tokisae , zettai zetsubou hasorera wo matte imasu . chinpunkanda !!


Japanese had been taught by my mother. So as not to lose my mother tongue, I am determined to keep learning. Even though we are starting to use English more ^ ^

[Mateo Hyuuga]

oh, thats cool. your mom is japanese, right? haha, really? now ur starting to speak more english. nice. ha

[Brooke]

I just need to know how to say a couple things in japanese please.

Light Up

and

Spark

[Jesus Date]

I just need to know how to say a couple things in japanese please.

Light Up

and

Spark

Well I just started learning japanese so I'm probably wrong but I'm gonna give it a try ^^.

Light Up - akeru

Spark - hikari
As I said, I just started so someone who's japanese skills aren't as bad as mine should check these^^.

I also have a question. What should I learn first? Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji? I started with Kanji (trying to keep those few I learned :)) but I'm unsure of what to learn first.

[gsl83]

First the kana then the kanji. For a whole bunch of reasons. If you want to see quick success first you should start with katakana. Hiragana are a bit more useful for further learning, though. Start learning kanji again once you have mastered hiragana and katakana.