English To Japanese Questions

:nut: :nut: :nut:


kinda. :bow:

krim wrote::nut: :nut: :nut:


kinda. :bow:

ashitemasu is one TENSE of the verb aishiteru...you know how verbs have present tense, past tense, etc.


ashitemasu is the present tense of the verb aisheteru...whereas ashitemashita is the past tense = i LOVED you


dunno if that helps.

Thanks. So we can talk and skip the conjugation. :confused: I guess it's simpler to learn that way, but is it an impolite form?

Tu_triky wrote:

and using ore to refer to yourself, no less? :mrgreen:

you gotta watch Ikekebukoro West Gate Park....they use those pronouns a lot!

Will do. :mrgreen:

kinda... it's been a while since i've had to deal with grammar

tabana wrote:Thanks. So we can talk and skip the conjugation. :confused: I guess it's simpler to learn that way, but is it an impolite form?

i dunno if it's technically considered impolite it's just not the "proper" way to speak...it's like speaking in shorthand, or colloquially, f you will.

you hear it all the time so i can't necessarily say it's impolite...but somebody more learned that myself might shed some more light on this whole thing...

put it this way...you won't be taught in class NOT to conjugate your verbs :mrgreen:

krim wrote:kinda... it's been a while since i've had to deal with grammar

dunno how else to explain, it.... :beaten:


i see, i see. your mind is more used to and thus geared to the scientific perhaps...i'm more a school of letters kind of guy.

:mrgreen:

Tu_triky wrote:

dunno how else to explain, it.... :beaten:


i see, i see. your mind is more used to and thus geared to the scientific perhaps...i'm more a school of letters kind of guy.

:mrgreen:

i got the basic idea. :hehe:

Thanks.

Skipping the conjugation makes you sound less foreigner. It's nice to know. :D

krim wrote:

i got the basic idea. :hehe:

great! that's cool....cuz i was :doh:

i tried to explain it in terms of english grammar but if you want to get really technical japanese don't technically call it an infinitive form but that would have been needlessly confusing in terms of explaining my answer to your question...

tabana wrote:Thanks.

Skipping the conjugation makes you sound less foreigner. It's nice to know. :D

yeah...even just thinking back now in beautiful life when kimura's character shuji tells tokiwa tokako's character, kyoko that he loves her

he says Aishiteru....there's another thread on this whole question i know...but i think even not conjugating the verb makes it less direct and more just understood. it's a little less in you face to say aishiteru as opposed to ashitemasu.

Tu_triky wrote:
ashitemasu is one TENSE of the verb aishiteru...you know how verbs have present tense, past tense, etc.


ashitemasu is the present tense of the verb aisheteru...whereas ashitemashita is the past tense = i LOVED you


dunno if that helps.

I'll make it easier. You say, "Ai rabu yuu". :hehe:

dochira wrote:
I'll make it easier. You say, "Ai rabu yuu". :hehe:

lol :hehe:

you sure know your japanese quite well, how many years did you study japanese?

qilver wrote:
you sure know your japanese quite well, how many years did you study japanese?

After 3 years in college, I don't know half of what I should...not to mention I forgot some things. Wasuremashita.

dochira wrote:
I'll make it easier. You say, "Ai rabu yuu". :hehe:

:mwahaha:

Is this the correct translation for the following question..

"Do you want to go to the park with me?"
"Œö‰€@‚Ɂ@s‚«‚Ü‚µ‚傤‚©H"

How would you translate this into Japanese?
"I can't go with you to the park because I have to read a book."

Tu_triky wrote:

aishiteru is the infinitive form of the verb (to love someone)

ashitemasu is the conjugated form of aishiteru

a lot of times in doramas you here ppl simply using the infinitive form for whatever reason

like this:

do you have bread?

"hai, aru yo"

instead of saying

"hai, arimasu yo"

aru is the infinitive form of the verb and arimasu is the conjugated verb

hope that makes sense.

Unfortunately, it's technically incorrect to speak of aru as un-conjugated (according to tense/person) and arimasu as conjugated. It's also not the case that either is the infinitive form.

The "plain" form (what exactly is "plain" is also matter of discussion, but in this case I mean the rentaikei, ending on -u), is a form which is used for

* present time
* future tense
* "habit"

ƒpƒ“‚ðH‚ׂé@pan wo taberu ~ "I eat bread" (present / habit)
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@"I will eat bread" (future)

Wikipedia wrote:In grammar, the infinitive is the form of a verb that has no inflection to indicate person, number, mood or tense.

It's in no sense infinitive, since it actually does imply tense. Japanese doesn't have an infinitive. Though some constructions could be arguably called "infinitives", they can often also be translated as finites.

For example:
H‚ׂ邱‚Ɓ@taberu koto
~ "the matter of eating", "the eating" can't be really called infinite but in this sentence:

H‚ׂ邱‚Æ‚ªD‚«‚Å‚·B@taberu koto ga suki desu
~ "I like to eat" it can be translated as infinitive.


The so called -masu form is exactly the same regarding time, but it's level of politeness is higher. There is nothing "lazy" or "colloquial" about not using the -masu form, it just implies that no specific politeness is required since the other is a good friend, or is of lower rank (boss speaks to personell).

In reply to Tabana (@sounding foreign); sounding foreign is probably what people do who always use the polite -masu form, even among friends. You also sound foreign (or rude) if you use the direct form towards teachers, bosses or anyone of higher rank. Knowing when to use which form will make your Japanese very convincing. I guess the most important (and maybe difficult) thing though is to be consistent. Using -masu one time and plain form the other time shows that you speak whatever comes to mind first, without paying attention to politeness. In any case, it's better to be too polite than too rude.


so: -masu or -u doesn't make the difference in tense. As for tenses, it's important to remember that Japanese tenses won't always correspond precisely with their english equivalents, as seen in above examples.

Present continues (to be +ing)

This usually becomes -te iru in Japanese. For example:
•×‹­‚µ‚Ä‚¢‚é@@benkyou shite iru
•×‹­‚µ‚Ä‚¢‚Ü‚·@benkyou shite imasu
~ "I am studying"

Note that -masu and -ru variants are often translated the same, since it's only about politeness here.

In many cases, English uses one tense to describe some situation, whereas Japanese uses another tense. For example:

I love you = present tense

If you'd translate this into Japanese using the "plain" form, which is used for present and future tense, Japanese will still usually interpret it as "future tense". So instead they use the ~present continues~:

ˆ¤‚µ‚Ä‚¢‚é@@ai shite iru
ˆ¤‚µ‚Ä‚¢‚Ü‚·@ai shite imasu
~ (litt: I am loving you) "I love [you]"

When you put this in past tense, meaning "I loved you", there is no need to use the -te iru form. So past tense is:

ˆ¤‚µ‚½@@@@ai shita
ˆ¤‚µ‚Ü‚µ‚½@ai shimashita
~ "I loved you"

If you use the other form, you would have to translate it as "I have been loving you" or "I had been loving you"

Note: what often happens is speech is that in -te iru or -te imasu forms like here, the i is dropped after -te. Thus it becomes:

ˆ¤‚µ‚Ä‚é@@ai shite ru
ˆ¤‚µ‚Ä‚Ü‚·@ai shite masu
~ "I love [you]"

In reference to other comments, when specifically mentioning "YOU", which is not necessary, it would become:

‚ ‚È‚½‚ðˆ¤‚µ‚Ä‚¢‚é@anata wo ai shite iru ~ "It is you that I like/love" ~ "I like/love you"


A more common way to express ones affection for another is actually this:

i‚ ‚È‚½‚ªjD‚«‚Å‚·@(anata ga) suki desu
or
iŒN‚ªjD‚«‚Å‚·@(kimi ga) suki desu
~ "I like [(you)]"

Ofcourse there are many common variations, but this is the most basic I guess. I hope I could take away some confusion, if you have any questions, please ask. Good luck ^^

kkdorama wrote:Hi all,

Would like to ask a question, hope someone here can help.

Thank you in advance.

How do you congratulate someone that just recieve a promotion?

is "‚µ‚傤‚µ‚ñ wo ‚¨‚ß‚Å‚Æ‚¤‚²‚´‚¢‚Ü‚·" correct ?

¸i‚¨‚ß‚Å‚Æ‚¤i‚²‚´‚¢‚Ü‚·jI@shoushin omedetou (gozaimasu) ~ "Congratulations on your promotion"

When congratulating, you usually put the noun+omedetou (gozaimasu). In case of a verb, the -te (continuative) form is used. Examples:

ŽdŽ–‚ª‚¤‚Ü‚­‚¢‚Á‚Ä‚¨‚ß‚Å‚Æ‚¤@shigoto ga umaku itte omedetou ~ "Congratulations on the job going well" (from alc.co.jp)

‚ ‚¯‚Ü‚µ‚Ä‚¨‚ß‚Å‚Æ‚¤@akemashite omedetou ~ "Happy new year!"

‚¨’a¶“ú‚¨‚ß‚Å‚Æ‚¤@o-tanjoubi omedetou ~ "Happy birthday"

The particle ‚ð wo is not used here.

In the case of ‚ ‚肪‚Æ‚¤i‚²‚´‚¢‚Ü‚·j arigatou (gozaimasu) ~ "thank you" however, the particle ‚ð wo can actually be used after the noun.

‚¨˜b‚ð‚ ‚è‚ª‚Æ‚¤‚²‚´‚¢‚Ü‚µ‚½@o-hanashi wo arigatou gozaimashita ~ "Thank you for [having this] conversation"

maika_chan wrote:I know this guy who's in the same class as me. He likes to say words like 'iie' or 'dame' or 'yamatte' in an erotic sort of way. I would really like to throw some words back at him....something like 'you're a jerk' or 'you're an idiot'. How do you say those words in japanese? Any other suggestions?

I suppose you could say:

* ‚¤‚邳‚¢I@urusai! ~ (litt: [you are] noisy) "Shut up!"
* ƒoƒJ‚â‚낤I@@@baka yarou! ~ (it's much ruder than just baka) "Fucking idiot! ; Asshole!"
* ‚¢‚â‚炵‚¢‚â‚‚˂¥‚¨‘OI iyarashii yatsu nee, omae! ~ "You're one nasty bastard aren't you!"
* ‚à‚¤‰½‚àŒ¾‚¤‚ȁ@mou nani mo iu na ~ "Don't say anything anymore!"
* ‚â‚ß‚ëE‚â‚߂āI@yamero! / yamete! ~ "Stop it; Cut it out!" (first is ruder)


(since the verb is ‚â‚ß‚é yameru, yamatte is not possible)

Have fun insulting him ^_^ Is he Japanese or something? Will he understand what you tell him? Please post your results haha :beaten:

yessy wrote:I'm new here. I found that this forum is very useful to Japanese learners.
Especially this topic.

I've learnt Japanese for 2 years but so bad I still don't know much abt how they use it in many situation.

Some questions here.

1.How can you say - "Long time no see" ?
2.Does "O ba ke"@‚¨‚΂¯ mean Ghost? (I saw another word in page 17th...)
3.What exactly "Shibaraku"@‚µ‚΂炭 means? (I heard Japanese sometimes say this phrase)
4.The word "Need" in Japanese is "Irimasu" .
For example: "I need a book" - "Hon ga irimasu" –{‚ª—v‚è‚Ü‚·/ I need money - Okane ga irimasu.‚¨‹à‚ª—v‚è‚Ü‚·B But when I want to say "I need to learn English", can I use "Eigo o penkiosuru koto ga irimasu" ‰pŒê‚ð@•×‹­‚·‚邱‚Ɓ@‚ª@—v‚è‚Ü‚·?

Thanks so much.

Hi Yessy, welcome to the Forums :applaud:

Some have yet been answered, but I put them in for completeness' sake:

‚PD@‚¨‹v‚µ‚Ô‚è‚Å‚·@o-hisashiburi desu ~ "It's been a long time hasn't it"
@@@‹v‚µ‚Ô‚è@@@@@@hisashiburi ~ "Long time no see!" (among friends)


‚QD@‚¨‰»‚¯E‰»‚¯•¨@o-bake / bakemono ~ "Ghost"
@@@The number of pages depends on user settings, what word did you see? This kind of ghost is the one that haunts people and houses.

@@@i—Hj—ì@@@@@@(yuu)rei ~ "ghost; spirit" (I think this one is more like the soul or spirit of a dead person, not specifically evil/mean)


‚RD@‚µ‚΂炭@@@@@@shibaraku ~ "a while; a moment; a few moments"
@@@‚µ‚΂炭‚¨‘Ò‚¿‚­‚¾‚³‚¢@shibaraku o-machi kudasai ~ "Please wait a moment"


‚SD@—v‚è‚Ü‚·@@@@@irimasu ~ "[I/You] need" (only used for objects, things)
@@@‚¨‹à‚ª—v‚è‚Ü‚·@o-kane ga irimasu ~ "I need money"

@@@•K—v@@@@@@@@hitsuyou ~ "necessity"
@@@•¥‚¤•K—v‚ª‚ ‚è‚Ü‚·@@harau hitsuyou ga arimasu ~ (litt: There is a necessity to pay) "You need to pay" (eg: it's not free)

@@@‰pŒê‚ð•×‹­‚·‚é•K—v‚ª‚ ‚è‚Ü‚·@eigo wo benkyou suru hitsuyou ga arimasu (note spelling) ~ "[You/I] need to study English"

CHOCOLATE wrote:Is this the correct translation for the following question..

"Do you want to go to the park with me?"
"Œö‰€@‚Ɂ@s‚«‚Ü‚µ‚傤‚©H"

How would you translate this into Japanese?
"I can't go with you to the park because I have to read a book."

Well done - it's grammatically correct, and also conveys the right idea. If you'd want to be reallly precise though, it would litterally translate as:

Œö‰€‚ɍs‚«‚Ü‚µ‚傤‚©H@kouen ni ikimashou ka ~ "Shall [we] go to the park?"


A more litteral translation may be:

ˆê‚ÉŒö‰€‚ɍs‚«‚½‚­‚È‚¢i‚Å‚·‚©jH@issho ni kouen ni ikitakunai (desu ka)? ~ "Don't you want to go to the park together?" (you wouldn't say with me Ž„‚Æ in Japanese)


Another way of asking is:

iˆê‚ɁjŒö‰€‚ɍs‚«‚Ü‚¹‚ñ‚©H@(issho ni) kouen ni ikimasen ka? ~ "Won't you go to the park (together)?"


Another very polite way to invite:

Œö‰€‚ɍs‚Á‚½‚çA‚Ç‚¤‚Å‚·‚©H@kouen ni ittara, dou desu ka? ~ "What would you think about going to the park"


Either of these sentences is very common though the "pushyness" is different. The effort it would take the other to decline your offer might be somewhat in this order - but I'm not entirely sure on this part though!

1: ikimashou (ka)? ~ quite pushy (when the plan is almost already made)
2: ikitakunai (desu ka)? ~ a bit pushy (among friends)
3: ikimasen ka? ~ not very pushy (polite invitation)
4: ittara dou desu ka? ~ hardly pushy (asks for discussion of the idea)



"I can't go with you to the park because I have to read a book."

Here are some ways to answer:

\‚µ–ó‚ ‚è‚Ü‚¹‚ñ‚ªA“Ç‚Ü‚È‚«‚á‚È‚ç‚È‚¢–{‚ª‚ ‚é‚©‚çAs‚¯‚Ü‚¹‚ñB@moushiwake arimasen ga, yomanakya naranai hon ga aru kara, ikemasen. ~ "I'm so sorry, but there's a book that I have to read, so I can't go."

s‚«‚½‚¢‚ñ‚¾‚¯‚ǁA¡–{‚ð“Ç‚Ü‚È‚«‚á‚È‚ç‚È‚¢‚̂ŁAs‚¯‚Ü‚¹‚ñB@ikitai n da kedo, ima hon wo yomanakya naranai node, ikemasen. ~ "I'd like to go but I have to read a book now, so I can't go."


You don't have to repeat the "go to the park with you" part, if it was already made explicit in the question. I don't know so many ways to refuse, so if anyone knows some good patterns, please post!

Hope this was useful. Good luck!