Japanese Language Questions? Ask Here.

Bedi wrote:


S‚æ‚肨‰÷‚â‚ݐ\‚µã‚°‚Ü‚· [kokoro yori okuyami moushiagemasu] (Meaning: Me deepest condolences).

If you just want to say, "My condolences," then perhaps ‚²D—l‚Å‚· (goshuushou sama desu)

Bedi,

Thank you so much for the translations! I was really stumped on what to say.

Really appreciate it!

I just started reading some books and trying to learn to speak Japanese, however, i'm a bit confused..

I know that "wa" after a word indicates the subject/topic of the sentence, but i also noticed that sometimes they use "wo"

does anybody know when i should use "wa" or "wo"?

thanks!

You should be asking this question in the existing thread: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.304.htm

Please read the Posting Guidelines before starting any new threads.

Merging.

Juris_7 wrote:I just started reading some books and trying to learn to speak Japanese, however, i'm a bit confused..

I know that "wa" after a word indicates the subject/topic of the sentence, but i also noticed that sometimes they use "wo"

does anybody know when i should use "wa" or "wo"?

thanks!

ahochaude explained it back on page 12 of this thread:

"GA" is pretty much the same type of particle as "HA" (wa).
You'd attach these 2 particles with the subject of conversation.
Ex. "Ore ga .............." "Ore ha............." "Kimi ga.................." "Kimi ha............" "Ore no kutsu GA chou boroboro da yo/Ore no kutsu HA chou boroboro da yo" (My shoes are so tattered.)
"O" (wo) is a function marker you'd attach before the verb. (There are some exceptions though which I'll explain a little later.)
Ex. "Tegami O kakimashita" (I wrote a letter) "Eiga O mimashita" (I saw a movie)
Basically "O" (wo) is an action particle.
Now the exception to this rule is "NI" or "HE" (same thing.)
You'd apply these 2 function markers to "Iku" (go) and "Kuru" (come). Literally these particles mean "to".
Ex. "Mise NI ikimashita" (I went to the shop) "Kare ga Hawaii ni kimashita" (He came to Hawaii)
This rule applies to the verbs "take" and "bring" as well. This is because the 2 verbs mentioned above have "Iku" and "Kuru" as a part of the word.
Take- Motteiku Bring-Mottekuru
The "Motte" comes from the verb "Motsu" (to have (in possession))
Mostu + Iku = to have in possession and go (Motteiku=Take)
Motsu + Kuru = to have in possessin and come (Mottekuru=Bring)
So you'd apply "NI" or "HE" when you use the words Take and Bring.
Hope this helps. (I'm not really good in explainations.)

Lot of good info in this thread, if you have time, you might want to read thru it.

gaijinmark wrote:ahochaude explained it back on page 12 of this thread:

SNIP

Holy crap! Has it been that long already?!

gaijinmark wrote:

Lot of good info in this thread, if you have time, you might want to read thru it.

Not to be rude, but if one wants to improve one's Japanese further than just knowing a few sentence, this information isn't good at all. Simply because it isn't correct.

In Japanese, it is very important to make a difference between Subject and Topic.
Topic in Japanese use Wa. Subjects use Ga.
Even though there are sentences where ga/wa are interchangable, doesn't mean they mean the same.

Also wo is not a function marker, it is an object marker. It marks the direct object in a sentence. Transitive sentence(sentences with an object)such as "I stopped the car" takes wo (kuruma wo tometa). Intransitive sentences(without an object) takes ga . Example: (The car stopped) / Kuruma ga tomatta.

Further ni and he are not the same. They can be interchangable in almost all cases where ni marks direction, but the meaning slightly differs.

Osaka ni ikimashita = I went to Osaka
Osaka he ikimashita = I went in the direction of Osaka (which is pretty much same as I went to Osaka)
These sentences he/ni can be interchangable without much nuances, however this is only when ni marks direction.


My best tip for people interested in learning Japanese, is not to swallow all information you get on forums like this, but get a textbook so you can at least grasp the basic grammar of Japanese, then it will be much easier to pick up information elsewhere, and judge whether it is correct or wrong.

Let's see, , , you used my quote, then criticized aho's post. I'm thoroughly confused. :headscratch:

I'm confused, too. :bleh:

Isn't "ga" used with "aru" or with questions?

gaijinmark wrote:Let's see, , , you used my quote, then criticized aho's post. I'm thoroughly confused. :headscratch:

Sorry, that was misqouting by me. I meant to refer to the whole post. Not just your comment.

Itazura ichiban wrote:I'm confused, too. :bleh:

Isn't "ga" used with "aru" or with questions?

The particle ga appears in many cases.
It can be used with aru. Wo cannot be used. Ni however is often used.
It is also normally used with adjectives like suki. Though wo can also be used in modern Japanese.
Ga also normally comes in front of potential verbs, though wo can be used. (Dekiru is an exception, it always takes ga).

Not sure what you mean by questions.
But ga is always used after questions words(the topic marker wa cannot be used)
Example: Dare ga yatta no? "dare wa yatta no" is wrong.
Wa as well cannot be used in subordinate clauses, only ga can be used.

NocturnalOcean wrote:
Not sure what you mean by questions.
But ga is always used after questions words(the topic marker wa cannot be used)

That's the basic answer I was seeking. But it opened a can of worms. Looks more complex than I thought. :doh:

Depending on where it's put, it can be a different word.

It can be used as "but", or "even though" emphasising contrast.
When used with verbs - it means "is doing".

ga aru refers to aru = —L‚é . This means to exists or be in a certain state.

kuruma ga aru = ŽÔ‚ª‚ ‚é@:: car is existing equiv. there is a car


kuruma ga aru ga = ŽÔ‚ª‚ ‚邪@:: car is existing but ... equiv. there is a car, however ...

So in this sentence the 2 "ga"s are completely different in meaning. It's best to think of them as completely different words that just sound the same.


This isn't everything - but I thought I'd add some input.

konbanwa..
i really interested in japanese language too..
i've been learn it for 4 month now..
it's so interesting to learn japanese..
everyone that want to learn japanese should be learn the hiragana and katakana font first...

How do you say "I love you" in Japanese?

brad12 wrote:How do you say "I love you" in Japanese?

You can say "kimi wo Ai shiteru or Ai shiteru" in Japanese.

THE BIG ONE.
Earthquake is AFAIK, "jishin", right?
Do Japanese refer to "the big one" as dai-jishin or o-jishin?

I asked my friend in Kobe, and she said, "Both are OK."

Thank you, I wasn't sure if one of them had an inappropriately positive connotation. :victory:

She gave a further explanation:

"‘å’nk@@‘å@+@’nk
’nk@is one of Š¿Œê@kango ( words from China ) and it is a rule to pronounce ‘å@dai when it comes before a kango.
According to this rule it is correct to pronounced ‘å’nk@daijishin.
But today ’nk@is regarded as Japanese ˜aŒê@wago and ‘å@is pronounced oo if it comes before wago.
Actually NHK uses oojishin as pronunciation of ‘å’nk.
My computer works on both pronunciations ‚¨‚¨‚¶‚µ‚ñ@and ‚¾‚¢‚¶‚µ‚ñ to change into ‘å’nk.

‘åkÐ@is pronounced daishinsai. Don't say ooshinsai."

gaijinmark wrote:She gave a further explanation:

"‘å’nk@@‘å@+@’nk
’nk@is one of Š¿Œê@kango ( words from China ) and it is a rule to pronounce ‘å@dai when it comes before a kango.
According to this rule it is correct to pronounced ‘å’nk@daijishin.
But today ’nk@is regarded as Japanese ˜aŒê@wago and ‘å@is pronounced oo if it comes before wago.
Actually NHK uses oojishin as pronunciation of ‘å’nk.
My computer works on both pronunciations ‚¨‚¨‚¶‚µ‚ñ@and ‚¾‚¢‚¶‚µ‚ñ to change into ‘å’nk.

‘åkÐ@is pronounced daishinsai. Don't say ooshinsai."

What about daibakayaro instead of oobakayaro?