Japanese Language Questions? Ask Here.

supermidget wrote:Thank you for your extensive reply Kokuou! ^^

Is there some way I can translate —]‚è‚É‚à more litterally? Since the eventual translation seems to depend heavily on the context... is it something like "even to the / this extend of excess"?

Not really.
It's kind of one of those expressions that really doesn't have a good English equivalent.
Ususally, it's translated as "so much ... (that)".

supermidget wrote:
For grammar in general, is there some site that has collected Japanese grammar and expressions in an systematic way? Like where I could have tried looking up "S”z‚ð‚©‚¯‚é"? I'm trying to collect these kind of expressions of noun + verb:

ŒhˆÓ‚ð•\‚·@u‚¯‚¢‚¢‚ð‚Ђ傤‚·‚év to show respect
‹Ù’£‚ð‰ð‚·@u‚«‚ñ‚¿‚傤‚ð‚Ù‚®‚·v to relief stress
ŽŽŒ±‚ðŽó‚¯‚é@u‚µ‚¯‚ñ‚ð‚¤‚¯‚év to take an exam

as such. Since these pairs are not often in dictionaries, I take them from what I hear/read... look it up and note them as a couple...

Hmm... I haven't run across a really good site, but if I do, I'll be sure to let you know.
Oh, a little note about ‹Ù’£‚ð‰ð‚· [‚«‚ñ‚¿‚傤‚ð‚Ù‚®‚·], it doesn't mean to relieve stress in the way we think about stress relief in English. It's more along the lines of "relieving anxiety" or "relieving nervousness" when you are nervous about some particular event. To "relieve stress," you say ƒXƒgƒŒƒX‚ð”­ŽU‚·‚é [‚·‚Æ‚ê‚·‚ð‚Í‚Á‚³‚ñ‚·‚é].

HTH,

‘‰¤š

hi minna... quick question :woot:

i was watching a HYD special (the trivia epi, i dunno if anyone saw it), but in one of the questions, she's talking about a scene that has left a "deep impact" on her... and then she says that there's a very "kyun" feeling to it... all she says is that its very "kyun."

i was wondering what that meant.. i couldnt find it online, and i was wondering if someone could help me.....

sorry if its kinda random and not very clear.. hopefully, maybe, someone will have some kind of idea? :sweat:

thanks :bow: :bow:

supermidget wrote:Hello!

I have two other questions...

1) I'm reading a news article about a murder on a man. Although I'm actually already sure of the meaning, does this mean the man was in his underwear:
‰º’…Žp‚Ì’j«

(in: ƒJƒoƒ“‚Ì’†‚ɂ͐g’·‚P‚V‚TƒZƒ“ƒ`‚­‚ç‚¢‚ŁA‚R‚OÎ‘OŒã‚̉º’…Žp‚Ì’j«‚̈â‘Ì‚ª“ü‚Á‚Ä‚¢‚Ä)

Sometimes I get confused about the way two words are joined by ‚Ì and it doesn't litterally mean "of" (like the "man of the underwear" doesn't work here).

Yup :beaten:

Basically, it's saying, "The body of a 175cm tall 30 year old man in his underwear was found in a bag."

supermidget wrote:
2) One time I asked about how to read numbers with decimals before... but I realize I don't know anything about math/calculation in Japanese. How does one pronounce:

... plus ... is ...
... minus ... is ...
... times ... is ...
... devided by ... is ...
... to the power of ... is ...
the root of ... is ...

and negative numbers:
minus ...

and stuff what do you call it? like:
2
3 = two third

Thank you! :victory:

I'll do them in the same order as you had them:

... ‚½‚· ... ‚Í ...
... ‚Ђ­ ... ‚Í ...
... ‚©‚¯‚é ... ‚Í ...
... ‚í‚é ... ‚Í ...

... ‚Ì ... æ‚Í ... (3‚Ì2æ‚Í6 = 3 to the power of 2 is 6)
... ‚Ì•½•ûª‚Í ... (16‚Ì•½•ûª‚Í4 = the square root of 16 is 4)

ƒ}ƒCƒiƒX ... (-2 is pronounced [ƒ}ƒCƒiƒX2])

HTH,

‘‰¤š

kokuou wrote:

I'll do them in the same order as you had them:

... ‚½‚· ... ‚Í ...
... ‚Ђ­ ... ‚Í ...
... ‚©‚¯‚é ... ‚Í ...
... ‚í‚é ... ‚Í ...

... ‚Ì ... æ‚Í ... (3‚Ì2æ‚Í6 = 3 to the power of 2 is 6)
... ‚Ì•½•ûª‚Í ... (16‚Ì•½•ûª‚Í4 = the square root of 16 is 4)

ƒ}ƒCƒiƒX ... (-2 is pronounced [ƒ}ƒCƒiƒX2])

HTH,

‘‰¤š

Thank you ^_^ You're such a good help! :dancing:

hoping that 3 to the power of 2 is still 9 in Japan :beaten:

supermidget wrote:
and stuff what do you call it? like:
2
3 = two third

Fractions :D

You would use •ª‚Ì (bu no) in between the denominator and the numerator. In your example, it would be (‚R•ª‚Ì‚Q) "san bu no ni". Literally it is saying "2 of 3 parts". I hope that's correct. :fingerscrossed:

dochira wrote:
Fractions :D

You would use •ª‚Ì (bu no) in between the denominator and the numerator. In your example, it would be (‚R•ª‚Ì‚Q) "san bu no ni". Literally it is saying "2 of 3 parts". I hope that's correct. :fingerscrossed:

That's going to be useful. Thanks. :woot:

supermidget wrote:

Thank you ^_^ You're such a good help! :dancing:

hoping that 3 to the power of 2 is still 9 in Japan :beaten:

Hehehe :sweat:

Yeah, that's why my major is linguistics and not math. Or anything that has to do with numbers. Ever.

Sorry, I missed the fraction thing.
Dochira hit it on the head with •ª‚Ì (bu no).
It's a hard thing at first for foreigners to grasp that you have to reverse the numbers. At least it took me a while. :beaten:

‘‰¤š

Oops. I didn't realize it was in reverse order. :ashamed:

Thank you for your replies ^^



I have another question - sorry for bothering you so much :beaten: Someone is asking me about wether it is cold in my country, so I want to say:

"It's cold but it is not so cold that there are problems in the way that there are in Japan."


Can I do it something like this?
¡AƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚ÍŠ¦‚¢‚¾‚¯‚ǁA“ú–{‚̂悤‚ȃgƒ‰ƒuƒ‹‚É‚È‚é‚Ù‚ÇŠ¦‚­‚È‚¢‚¾‚æB

especially I'm wondering about case marker after ‚悤, I only learned ‚悤 in combination with ‚É but that doesn't work here I think...

Also do I "need" ‚É‚È‚é? Or can I also write ƒgƒ‰ƒuƒ‹‚È‚Ù‚ÇŠ¦‚­‚È‚¢?

Thanks for helping me! :bow:

[edit]
Hahah, I think what I wrote in Japanese actually means:
It's not so cold that we have problems such as Japan. :beaten: :banghead:

Attempt two: ¡AƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚ÍŠ¦‚¢‚¾‚¯‚ǁA“ú–{‚É‚ ‚éƒgƒ‰ƒuƒ‹‚̂悤‚É‚È‚é‚Ù‚ÇŠ¦‚­‚È‚¢‚¾‚æB??

[/edit]

supermidget wrote:Thank you for your replies ^^



I have another question - sorry for bothering you so much :beaten: Someone is asking me about wether it is cold in my country, so I want to say:

"It's cold but it is not so cold that there are problems in the way that there are in Japan."


Can I do it something like this?
¡AƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚ÍŠ¦‚¢‚¾‚¯‚ǁA“ú–{‚̂悤‚ȃgƒ‰ƒuƒ‹‚É‚È‚é‚Ù‚ÇŠ¦‚­‚È‚¢‚¾‚æB

especially I'm wondering about case marker after ‚悤, I only learned ‚悤 in combination with ‚É but that doesn't work here I think...

Also do I "need" ‚É‚È‚é? Or can I also write ƒgƒ‰ƒuƒ‹‚È‚Ù‚ÇŠ¦‚­‚È‚¢?

Thanks for helping me! :bow:

[edit]
Hahah, I think what I wrote in Japanese actually means:
It's not so cold that we have problems such as Japan. :beaten: :banghead:

Attempt two: ¡AƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚ÍŠ¦‚¢‚¾‚¯‚ǁA“ú–{‚É‚ ‚éƒgƒ‰ƒuƒ‹‚̂悤‚É‚È‚é‚Ù‚ÇŠ¦‚­‚È‚¢‚¾‚æB??

[/edit]

how about something like;

ima oranda wa samui desukedo, nihon no yohna mondai ni natteru samusa de wa arimasen.

kenjilina wrote:

how about something like;

ima oranda wa samui desukedo, nihon no yohna mondai ni natteru samusa de wa arimasen.

thanks for the reply. It probably does convey the meaning but I'm looking for some way to use ‚Ù‚Ç. Not sure wether “ú–{‚̂悤‚È–â‘è means "troubles like Japan's" or "troubles such as Japan". As if - in the latter- Japan would be a trouble. :sweat: I don't want to accidentally say that. hehe

supermidget wrote:

thanks for the reply. It probably does convey the meaning but I'm looking for some way to use ‚Ù‚Ç. Not sure wether “ú–{‚̂悤‚È–â‘è means "troubles like Japan's" or "troubles such as Japan". As if - in the latter- Japan would be a trouble. :sweat: I don't want to accidentally say that. hehe

Hmm... what kenjilina says is clearer than what you first said, but here is how I would do it:

¡‚̃Iƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚ÍŠ¦‚¢‚Ì‚¾‚¯‚ǁA“ú–{‚ÅŠ¦‚³‚ª–â‘è‚É‚È‚Á‚Ä‚¢‚é‚Ù‚Ç‚Å‚Í‚È‚¢‚æB

There're many ways to say it, but I think the above gets the message across fairly clearly.

HTH,

‘‰¤š


EDIT:
After reading kenjilina's post again, you can use it perfectly fine, I would just move the '‚悤‚È'.

So, instead of:

ima oranda wa samui desukedo, nihon no yohna mondai ni natteru samusa de wa arimasen.

I would put:

ima oranda wa samui desukedo, nihon de mondai ni natteru yohna samusa de wa arimasen.

@kenjilina & kokuou; Thank you both for the great help! Some stuff to think about >_< I mean, since my suggestion was kinda clumsy... so much to learn for me :sweat:

Hi I'm having a conversation test tomorrow, so I have a question or maybe more...

How do you say (cause I cn't find it in mybook anymore):
"please leave the window open"

We're not supposed to learn that one construction with ‚Ü‚Ü but some other one, and I'm not sure which. I'm thinking of something with ‚悤 or ‚Ä’u‚­??? I don't know!

If you know please help! :bow:

supermidget wrote:Hi I'm having a conversation test tomorrow, so I have a question or maybe more...

How do you say (cause I cn't find it in mybook anymore):
"please leave the window open"

We're not supposed to learn that one construction with ‚Ü‚Ü but some other one, and I'm not sure which. I'm thinking of something with ‚悤 or ‚Ä’u‚­??? I don't know!

If you know please help! :bow:

Well, if you were allowed to use ‚Ü‚Ü, then you might say:

‘‹‚ðŠJ‚¢‚½‚Ü‚Ü‚É‚µ‚Ä‚¨‚¢‚Ä‚­‚¾‚³‚¢B(Mado wo aita mama ni shite oite kudasai.)

Otherwise, you can say:

‘‹‚ðŠJ‚¯‚Ä‚¨‚¢‚Ä‚­‚¾‚³‚¢B(Mado wo akete oite kudasai.)

However, the nuance in the second place is more like, "open the window and leave it that way."

If you are trying to tell someone to "LEAVE the window open" (i.e.: "don't close it"), then you can just say:

‘‹‚ð•Â‚ß‚È‚¢‚Å‚­‚¾‚³‚¢B(Mado wo shimenaide kudasai.)

I can't think of any other way of saying it right now.. :crazy:

If I do, though, I'll be sure to let you know ;)

HTH,

‘‰¤š


Edit:

You can say the following, which implies the same nuance as ‚Ü‚Ü:

‘‹‚ðŠJ‚¢‚Ä‚¢‚é‚悤‚É‚µ‚Ä‚¨‚¢‚Ä‚­‚¾‚³‚¢B(Mado wo aiteiru you ni shite oite kudasai.)

ahh thanks :) since me and a friend weren't able to find the part in the book, I think we should use the mama construction after all then... it's pretty easy as well.

One more question for I go to my univ. city...

Just to be sure, are these correct?:

"Japanese eat more rice than Americans"
ƒAƒƒŠƒJl‚æ‚è“ú–{l‚Í‚²”Ñ‚ð‚æ‚­‚½‚ׂ܂·@H

"Dutch trains don't come on time as often as Japanese trains"
ƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚Ì“dŽÔ‚Í“ú–{‚Ì“dŽÔ‚Ù‚Ç‚æ‚­ŠÔ‚ɍ‡‚¢‚Ü‚¹‚ñ@H

"cycling is faster than walking"
•à‚­‚±‚Æ‚æ‚莩“]ŽÔ‚·‚é‚Ù‚¤‚ª‘‚¢‚Å‚·@H
•à‚­‚±‚Æ‚æ‚莩“]ŽÔ‚ª‚Í‚â‚¢‚Å‚·@H
and more?

is there anything else I should be careful about with ‚Ù‚Ç and ‚æ‚è?

After this I hope I won't mess up my exam :) Ah well I have confidence.. I've learned so much on this forum, it couldn't go wrong anyhow :metaldevil: Thanks alot :victory:

//my exam is in 3 hours

I hope you see this in time. If not, good luck!! :mrgreen:

supermidget wrote:ahh thanks :) since me and a friend weren't able to find the part in the book, I think we should use the mama construction after all then... it's pretty easy as well.

One more question for I go to my univ. city...

Just to be sure, are these correct?:

"Japanese eat more rice than Americans"
ƒAƒƒŠƒJl‚æ‚è“ú–{l‚Í‚²”Ñ‚ð‚æ‚­‚½‚ׂ܂·@H

Perfect, but I would put “ú–{l‚́Afirst because the topic of the sentence is the Japanese.

supermidget wrote:
"Dutch trains don't come on time as often as Japanese trains"
ƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚Ì“dŽÔ‚Í“ú–{‚Ì“dŽÔ‚Ù‚Ç‚æ‚­ŠÔ‚ɍ‡‚¢‚Ü‚¹‚ñ@H

ŠÔ‚ɍ‡‚¤ means more like "to be on time" in the sense of making it on time for an event.
I would say this:

ƒIƒ‰ƒ“ƒ_‚Ì“dŽÔ‚́A“ú–{‚Ì“dŽÔ‚Ù‚ÇŽžŠÔ’Ê‚è‚É‘–‚ç‚È‚¢B(Oranda no densha ha, nihon no densha hodo jikan doori ni hashiranai.)

You could stick the ‚æ‚­ in, but I think it sounds better with out it.

supermidget wrote:
"cycling is faster than walking"
•à‚­‚±‚Æ‚æ‚莩“]ŽÔ‚·‚é‚Ù‚¤‚ª‘‚¢‚Å‚·@H
•à‚­‚±‚Æ‚æ‚莩“]ŽÔ‚ª‚Í‚â‚¢‚Å‚·@H

Almost.
"Cycling" cannot be translated as Ž©“]ŽÔ‚·‚é because Ž©“]ŽÔ is a noun that cannot become a verb. You must say Ž©“]ŽÔ‚ɏæ‚é.

If you want to say, "[The thing of] cycling is faster than [the thing of] walking," then you say:

•à‚­‚æ‚莩“]ŽÔ‚ɏæ‚é‚Ù‚¤‚ª‘¬‚¢. (Aruku yori jitensha ni noru hou ga hayai.)
(*Note: ‘¬‚¢ is for speed and ‘‚¢ is for time.)

However, if you simply want to say something like, "(you'll get there) faster by cycling than walking" (the difference between simply stating the fact that cycling is faster than walking and actually telling someone that they should cycle because it's faster), then you can just say:

•à‚­‚æ‚莩“]ŽÔ‚ɏæ‚Á‚½‚Ù‚¤‚ª‘¬‚¢‚æB(Aruku yori jitensha ni notta hou ga hayai yo.)


Anyway, good luck, you'll do fine, don't worry! I have faith in you!! ;)

HTH,

‘‰¤š

Yeah I saw it before the exam, thanks so much it did help me ^_^

Fortunately I passed the exam though it didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped for... The way he tested our grammar was pretty tough.. I mean, he didn't just ask to translate stuff. For example we had to learn transitive and intransitive verbs and to know when to use them in sentences like "the light has been switched on" and what to use "te iru" or "te aru" etc. The way of testing was like, he started out some sentence and we had to finish with iru or aru... I was completely confused lol. Probably making a sentence yourself is much easier. So it went wrong a bit... Ill await my grade. Ah well, I passed so... :beaten:

In reference to the leaving open a window question ...

Can I ask a dumb question? I see in my dictionary the verb "to leave open"
ŠJ‚¯•ú‚· [‚ ‚¯‚Í‚È‚·] /(v5s,vt) to keep open/to leave open/

Could it be used like:

Mado wo akehanasite kudasai?

loris wrote:In reference to the leaving open a window question ...

Can I ask a dumb question? I see in my dictionary the verb "to leave open"
ŠJ‚¯•ú‚· [‚ ‚¯‚Í‚È‚·] /(v5s,vt) to keep open/to leave open/

Could it be used like:

Mado wo akehanasite kudasai?

I don't think you can say that.

ŠJ‚¯•ú‚· [‚ ‚¯‚Í‚È‚·] - means more like to "fling" or "throw" something open.

So, you would use it like this.

”Þ‚Í‚·‚²‚­“{‚Á‚Ä‚¢‚āA‰ó‚ê‚é‚©‚ÆŽv‚킹‚é‚قǃhƒA‚ðŠJ‚¯•ú‚µ‚½B(Kare ha sugoku okotteite, omowazu doa wo akehanashita.)
"He was so angry that he flung the door open so hard I thought it was going to break."

Little bit of a complicated example sentence, but I hope you can parse it :beaten:

HTH,

‘‰¤š