Japanese Language Questions? Ask Here.

kokuou wrote:

‚Ç‚¤‚© (douka) just by itself means, "how is it?"

It is more often seen, however, in sentences like the following:

s‚­‚©‚Ç‚¤‚©A‹³‚¦‚āB(Iku ka dou ka, oshiete)
"Tell me whether or not you are going?"

‚»‚ê‚́A”Þ‚Ì–{“–‚Ì‹CŽ‚¿‚©‚Ç‚¤‚©A¡‚Å‚à•ª‚©‚ç‚È‚¢B(Sore ha, kare no hontou no kimochi ka dou ka, ima demo wakaranai.)
"I don't know to this day whether or not that is how he truly feels (if that is his true feeling)."


So, it's more or less the equivalent of the phrase "whether or not" in English.

As for using ‚¾‚Æ (dato) at the end of sentences, this is a colloquial thing usually only used between friends you know really well.

Ending a sentence with ‚¾‚Æ means that the main verb has been truncated.
In other words, usually ‚¾‚Æ needs to be followed by a verb such as Œ¾‚Á‚½ (itta) or •·‚¢‚½ (kiita), or some other verb that implies speech.

Ex:

¡A‰½‚¾‚ƁHI(Ima nan da to?!) - missing Œ¾‚Á‚½ at the end
"What did you say just now?!"

”ޏ—‚às‚«‚½‚¢‚Ì‚¾‚ƁH(Kanojo mo ikitai no da to?) - missing Œ¾‚Á‚Ä‚¢‚½, etc. at the end
"(She/he/you/they) said that she wants to go too?"

HTH,

‘‰¤š

oooh.. so it can not be used in "dou ka, jitsu o hanasu na." and translated as "please don't say the truth" etc??
thanks a million, kokuou!! i think i know what it means, just gotta learn harder to understand it completely :victory:

Hi!! I would like to know the meaning of these words:
ayashii, onara, and otanoshimini,

also, I have another question but is not related to japanese but
since my native language is not english I don't quite get the
meaning of this phrase: "John has the hots"

Thanks in advance ^^

kanae wrote:Hi!! I would like to know the meaning of these words:
ayashii, onara, and otanoshimini,

Thanks in advance ^^

This information comes from the dictionary that you can find on the top right of this page >_<:

‰ö‚µ‚¢ [‚ ‚₵‚¢] ayashii (adj) suspicious/dubious/doubtful/(P)
‚¨‚È‚ç onara (n,vs) fart/(P)
Šy‚µ‚Ý‚É‚·‚é [‚½‚Ì‚µ‚Ý‚É‚·‚é] tanoshiminisuru (exp) to look forward to something

otanoshimini is not exactly like that in the dictionary of jdorama.com but it's:
‚¨Šy‚µ‚Ý‚É (expression) "please look forward to it"

kanae wrote:

...


also, I have another question but is not related to japanese but
since my native language is not english I don't quite get the
meaning of this phrase: "John has the hots"

Thanks in advance ^^

That means John likes someone, usually in a carnal sense. :mrgreen:

kurokage wrote:

oooh.. so it can not be used in "dou ka, jitsu o hanasu na." and translated as "please don't say the truth" etc??
thanks a million, kokuou!! i think i know what it means, just gotta learn harder to understand it completely :victory:

just as a sidenote: wether 'douka' could mean "please" in this context or not, the construction ˜b‚·‚È (hanasu na) is about the most rude way to tell somebody not to speak. So it would in no case translate with "please":

‚à‚¤Œ¾‚¤‚È (mou iu na) ~ speak no more!

but maybe a better translation would be:
"shut up!"

-> as it is not so friendly, it think doesn't match nicely with any form of "please", unless sarcastic.

supermidget wrote:

just as a sidenote: wether 'douka' could mean "please" in this context or not, the construction ˜b‚·‚È (hanasu na) is about the most rude way to tell somebody not to speak. So it would in no case translate with "please":

‚à‚¤Œ¾‚¤‚È (mou iu na) ~ speak no more!

but maybe a better translation would be:
"shut up!"

-> as it is not so friendly, it think doesn't match nicely with any form of "please", unless sarcastic.

Sorry for the confusion, kurokage.

Yes, just like supermidget explained, "douka" used at the beginning of the sentence means "please."
And, yeah, I wouldn't use "douka" with a phrase like ˜b‚·‚È, but that's not to say that it can't be used at all.

Thanks for clearing that up, supermidget :victory:

‘‰¤š

supermidget wrote:

Welcome to the forums :woot:

(ahochaude: bon voyage is french for litterally: 'good journey', said when people are going on a trip)

you could say itterasshai (itte irasshai) s‚Á‚Ä‚ç‚Á‚µ‚á‚¢@is‚Á‚Ä‚¢‚ç‚Á‚µ‚á‚¢j. Which is said after somebody says "itte kimasu", meaning "I'm going (and coming back after it). Itterasshai litterally means "please go (and come back)", but it's sometimes translated with "bon voyage" or "have a good trip".

You may also say "sayounara" (‚³‚悤‚È‚ç), but it's meaning is more like "farewell" as opposed to "itterasshai" where you're still expecting to see eachother back in a relatively short time.

Yeah, I would translate "bon voyage" as ‚¢‚Á‚Ä‚ç‚Á‚µ‚á‚¢ too if I was talking to a friend or close family member.

They do, although, have a word that translates almost directly to "bon voyage":

—Ç‚¢—·‚ðI [‚æ‚¢‚½‚Ñ‚ð] yoi tabi wo!

This is something you may hear from airport personnel or a travel agent or something (as it is pretty formal).

HTH,

‘‰¤š

supermidget wrote:

fayewolf wrote:

the sentence following that is@

‚ ‚½‚µ‚Ì‚Ç‚±‚ª‚@@just learned that ‚Ç‚±‚ªmeans somewhere, what is My somewhere???

No idea, I feel like there's something missing. Like it's cut off. Let's wait for kokuou

:beaten:

The final ‚Â in that sentence is probably small ‚Á, and this is done in Japanese to shorten the vowel in the previous kana, giving a sense that the speaker is surprised.

So, the previous sentence says:

ƒRƒMƒƒƒ‹

This is probably one of the characters calling another of them a 'Kogyaru', which can be an insult to a girl that doesn't consider herself one. Just in case, a 'kogyaru' is a girl who does one or more of the following: goes to a suntanning salon, puts on very, very gaudy make-up, wears strange clothes, writes Japanese with obscure characters when using cellphones or emails (¡“ú¤`¼V»ÚÆځRƒH¡“úA‚Ç‚±‚É‚¢‚­H), and the list goes on.

Then, the character being called a 'kogyaru' responds with the following:

‚ ‚½‚µ‚Ì‚Ç‚±‚ª‚Á

‚ ‚½‚µ‚Ì = my
‚Ç‚± = where
⻠= subject marker

As said in an above post, if you are talking about the ‚Ç‚± of a person or a thing, it usually is referring to what we say in English as "what part of" the object/person.

So, a literal translation would be:

"My where!?"

but, what this means in normal English is something along the lines of:

"What about me (is like a kogyaru?)" or "What part of me (is like a kogyaru)"

HTH,

‘‰¤š

I am just speechless.... kokuou- You are the BEST!!!

I could never thought of that at all!! I am not sure when i can start to understand these!! I just picked up a copy of Nana, and I'm can barely understand this... hopefully when my japanese lesson progress, I'll be able to understand more (have a jap tutor)....

Thanks so much everyone!!

kokuou wrote:
As said in an above post, if you are talking about the ‚Ç‚± of a person or a thing, it usually is referring to what we say in English as "what part of" the object/person.

So, a literal translation would be:

"My where!?"

but, what this means in normal English is something along the lines of:

"What about me (is like a kogyaru?)" or "What part of me (is like a kogyaru)"

HTH,

‘‰¤š

Wow ^_^ thanks for enlightening me :D It's like that other sentence ‚Ç‚±‚ª‚¢‚¯‚È‚¢‚́H we had before about the donburi... I'm starting to force the other meaning like "what part" into my brain, so I won't be puzzled the next time this kind of sentences appears :) Thanks again :) You're a great tutor :bow:

supermidget wrote:

just as a sidenote: wether 'douka' could mean "please" in this context or not, the construction ˜b‚·‚È (hanasu na) is about the most rude way to tell somebody not to speak. So it would in no case translate with "please":

‚à‚¤Œ¾‚¤‚È (mou iu na) ~ speak no more!

but maybe a better translation would be:
"shut up!"

-> as it is not so friendly, it think doesn't match nicely with any form of "please", unless sarcastic.

kokuou wrote:Sorry for the confusion, kurokage.

Yes, just like supermidget explained, "douka" used at the beginning of the sentence means "please."
And, yeah, I wouldn't use "douka" with a phrase like ˜b‚·‚È, but that's not to say that it can't be used at all.

Thanks for clearing that up, supermidget

ooooh.. i understand! i didn't know that "na" is a rude way to say "don't" :shocked: glad you guys explained it, now i know :mrgreen: kokuou, it's ok.. actually your explanation is really good.. it's just me that having problem understanding japanese grammar :bonk: heheheh.. thank you so much!![/quote]

kurokage wrote:ooooh.. i understand! i didn't know that "na" is a rude way to say "don't" glad you guys explained it, now i know kokuou, it's ok.. actually your explanation is really good.. it's just me that having problem understanding japanese grammar heheheh.. thank you so much!!

You're welcome :victory:

But, I can't take all the credit, supermidget was responsible for explaining the whole 'verb + ‚È' construction.

‘‰¤š

ooh yes of course.. you two always answered my questions so kindly.. i thank both of you, kokuou and supermidget.. so much! :dancing:

supermidget wrote:

Welcome to the forums :woot:

(ahochaude: bon voyage is french for litterally: 'good journey', said when people are going on a trip)

you could say itterasshai (itte irasshai) s‚Á‚Ä‚ç‚Á‚µ‚á‚¢@is‚Á‚Ä‚¢‚ç‚Á‚µ‚á‚¢j. Which is said after somebody says "itte kimasu", meaning "I'm going (and coming back after it). Itterasshai litterally means "please go (and come back)", but it's sometimes translated with "bon voyage" or "have a good trip".

You may also say "sayounara" (‚³‚悤‚È‚ç), but it's meaning is more like "farewell" as opposed to "itterasshai" where you're still expecting to see eachother back in a relatively short time.

thanks supermidget =D that helped loads. :dancing:

brokenlines wrote:

thanks supermidget =D that helped loads. :dancing:

you're welcome :victory:

well since the posts are stagnating a bit in the language forum... I'll ask a question:

How would one say "to stay" in Japanese? I can't find one in the dictionary that I'm sure of that it's the right one. For example:

Are you staying?
- I'm staying until 5.00

My dict gives stuff like Žc‚é (to remain), ‹Žc‚é (to stay behind).... I'm having a 1 week holiday so I can't ask my teachers :(

How would one say "to stay" in Japanese? I can't find one in the dictionary that I'm sure of that it's the right one. For example:
Are you staying?
- I'm staying until 5.00

How about this:

Q: Koko ni imasu ka? (&#12371;&#12371;&#12395;&#12356;&#12414;&#12377;&#12363;&#12290;)
A: Hai, goji made koko ni imasu. (&#12399;&#12356;&#12289;5 &#26178;&#12414;&#12391;&#12371;&#12371;&#12395;&#12356;&#12414;&#12377;&#12290;)

I hope I got it right...
I added "koko" (here) to make it sound natural.. :sweat:

ribi wrote:

How would one say "to stay" in Japanese? I can't find one in the dictionary that I'm sure of that it's the right one. For example:
Are you staying?
- I'm staying until 5.00

How about this:

Q: Koko ni imasu ka? (‚±‚±‚É‚¢‚Ü‚·‚©B)
A: Hai, goji made koko ni imasu. (‚Í‚¢A5 Žž‚Ü‚Å‚±‚±‚É‚¢‚Ü‚·B)

I hope I got it right...
I added "koko" (here) to make it sound natural.. :sweat:

sounds ok to me. :thumbsup:

kenjilina wrote:sounds ok to me. :thumbsup:

Thank you for your responses. In my opinion, the first sentence doesn't really make clear that you're asking for how long someone is staying somewhere. It just means "are you here?". Maybe I'm wrong, but for me it doesn't seem to have anything to do with a certain time-frame.

Though the second sentence serves it purpose, it's not what I was hoping for. On the other hand, maybe Japanese doesn't put the concept of "keeping to be" "persisting in being somewhere" (staying) in one verb. Thank you for thinking with me. I'm hoping for some more insights. ^_^

supermidget wrote:maybe Japanese doesn't put the concept of "keeping to be" "persisting in being somewhere" (staying) in one verb. Thank you for thinking with me. I'm hoping for some more insights. ^_^

Hey Supermidget, I don't know nearly as much Japanese as you, but I'm pretty sure I've heard the verb tomaru
(Ž~‚Ü‚é [‚Æ‚Ü‚é] /(v5r) (1) to remain/to abide/to stay (in the one place)/(2) to come to a halt/(3) to stop/(P)/)
used to mean "to stay", as in stopping at a place to stay and visit. At least, I think I've heard it used that way in a couple dramas.

loris wrote:Hey Supermidget, I don't know nearly as much Japanese as you, but I'm pretty sure I've heard the verb tomaru
(Ž~‚Ü‚é [‚Æ‚Ü‚é] /(v5r) (1) to remain/to abide/to stay (in the one place)/(2) to come to a halt/(3) to stop/(P)/)
used to mean "to stay", as in stopping at a place to stay and visit. At least, I think I've heard it used that way in a couple dramas.

Thank you for your insights :) Actually I concider myself still a beginner, since I'm only a second year student. I don't have so much experience in using Japanese in daily life so what I know is mainy "book-stuff". And never forget... since anyone can have questions, anyone can have answers right?

Anyhow, there's a bunch of verbs pronounced tomaru... I only know how to use Ž~‚Ü‚é (to come to a halt; to stop) and ”‘‚Ü‚é (to stay at; like residing, sleeping over). Besides them two, I found —¯‚Ü‚é in the dictionary before, translated as "to be fixed; to stay". But I've never come across it, so I'm afraid to use it.

I think your suggestion of ‚Æ‚Ü‚é (but maybe with different kanji) is a good one, though you said you heared it in the sense of "staying at a place (for hotel etc)", which it's a bit different from "staying" like *not leaving*. Did you ever hear it in that way?

‹°‚ê“ü‚è‚Ü‚· I'm shaking in fear (of your greatness)
Thank you :woot: