obentou wrote:

When you ask, "doko ni aru?", is it disrespectful or just plain informal? Or can you use it only in casual conversation?

If you're talking with friends, it's perfectly fine to use that. Using honorific language with people at your social level is odd.

obentou wrote:

And does "oyaji PURIKURA" make sense? Coz oyaji=father right? And PURIKURA=photo sticker booth...

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. purikura = print club (those photo stickers). I can't connect it with "Father"

I've got a question about the TE IRU form...
My teacher didn't really explain it clearly so I don't really understand now in what situations I will have to use the TE IRU form...

2 examples that were given to me:

1. Doko ni sundeiru n ka?

2. Ima shigoto wa sagashiteiru n desu.

Then, there's shitteimasu... I am confused...

My test is this Saturday so ONEGAISHIMASU!

Thanks!

u can think of it as the -ing form :
- Doko ni sundeiru n ka? wld mean where r u living?
- . Ima shigoto wa sagashiteiru n desu. wld mean i am looking for a job now.
- shitteimasu wld mean i am doing...
so its what u r doing at the moment... but it doesnt always mean u r doing that action at the time... like :
basuketto kurabu ni haitte imasu... wld mean i am in the basketball club so its basically the state ur in...
like :
Doko ni sundeiru n ka? that can mean where r u living but commonly its translated as where do u live?
so its the present state...
i hope thats not that confusing... i cldnt really think of that many eg so im sorry but hope it helps

jdoramacrave wrote:

u can think of it as the -ing form : - Doko ni sundeiru n ka? wld mean where r u living? - . Ima shigoto wa sagashiteiru n desu. wld mean i am looking for a job now. - shitteimasu wld mean i am doing... so its what u r doing at the moment... but it doesnt always mean u r doing that action at the time... like : basuketto kurabu ni haitte imasu... wld mean i am in the basketball club so its basically the state ur in... like : Doko ni sundeiru n ka? that can mean where r u living but commonly its translated as where do u live? so its the present state... i hope thats not that confusing... i cldnt really think of that many eg so im sorry but hope it helps

Good explanation for the most part (although, proper capitalization, spelling, and punctuation would make it immensly easier to read ).

However, the original poster said "shitteimasu," not "shiteimasu."

�m���Ă��܂� = shitteimasu = "I know."
���Ă��܂� = shiteimasu = "I am doing (st)."

Note: The verb �m�� is rarely used in it's dictionary form. You just have to remember that "I know" is �u�m���Ă��܂��v (shitteimasu) and "I don't know" is �u�m��܂���v (shirimasen).

HTH,
������
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Ah, thanks so much jdoramacrave and kokuou!
Now it's much clearer to me - coz my teacher kept saying "state" but didn't explain further and I was like "WHAT state???"

I have hope for my test this Saturday..

Just one more question though - how do I say in Japanese the following:

"Can you help me buy XX (something)?"

dochira wrote:

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. purikura = print club (those photo stickers). I can't connect it with "Father"

Me neither. I saw it from a fan-art of SuperGALS! character Kotobuki Ran. It bugged me bigtime. But "Doko ni aru" is exactly the same as "doko ni imasu ka" right?? Only that the latter is more respectful?? I wanted to know.
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Quote:

Me neither. I saw it from a fan-art of SuperGALS! character Kotobuki Ran. It bugged me bigtime. But "Doko ni aru" is exactly the same as "doko ni imasu ka" right?? Only that the latter is more respectful?? I wanted to know.

isn't imasu for people and animals only while arimasu is for things ? or am i completely off topic?

jdoramacrave wrote:

Quote: Me neither. I saw it from a fan-art of SuperGALS! character Kotobuki Ran. It bugged me bigtime. But "Doko ni aru" is exactly the same as "doko ni imasu ka" right?? Only that the latter is more respectful?? I wanted to know. isn't imasu for people and animals only while arimasu is for things ? or am i completely off topic?

you are correct. iru and imasu is for living things. aru and arimasu for inanimate objects.
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Quote:

hi i posted it in separate topics thingy and i didnt realise to post it here so im sorry to take up space but here are my questions: i want to travel to japan and meet people: ���{�ɍs���Đl�X�ɉ�����ł��B�@can u say ni ikitai de hitobito ni aimasu. ? and when you say but in a sentence like: �P�[�L�����ׂ܂����܂����ł��B�@�@ what if you change the tense of eat? can you say : ���̋���H�ׂ܂��񂪎h�g��H�ׂĂ݂����ł��B�@�@can you change the verb and still add ga or do u have to start a new sentence and say demo? and when u say : this room is not spacious and it is a bit dirty: ���̕����͍L�Ȃ��Ă�����Ƃ����Ȃ��ł��B is that the right way to join adj in the negative? saying hiro + nakute ? and for na adj. u say kirei jaanai de rite? hopefully soemone can answer my questions!! thank u !! p.s how do u use hitobito again?

hey sorry this was one of my posts that nobody answered so can someone help me again? ���肪�Ƃ�

When you speak Japanese you have to know their way's of talking, or else they will have no idea what your trying to say, may be tey'll know the word's coming out of your mouth, but they'll have no idea what your trying to say though. My question is how is the Japanese grammer like, because from my experiance from translating book's and watching movie's with subtitles, I've notice that the subtittles are not word to word translation.

Example: In one of my movies, when the guy is talking the subtitles say
"I want you heart", but then when he's talking he say's
"Kokoro ?????????"somthing, I don't remember the rest of
what he said, but Kokoro is one of the meaning's for saying
heart.

So I was wondering, do they say the word first, then finish their sentance.

Stop creating new threads and read the rules first. You had a post like this already...



Please read the rules first before creating new threads, there are already existing threads, particularly about questions on Japanese to English language translation. Plus, there is a matter of the search function which you can use to find what you're looking for. Please be guided accordingly.

w3bhead wrote:

Stop creating new threads and read the rules first. You had a post like this already... Please read the rules first before creaeting new threads, there are already existing threads, particularly about questions on Japanese to English language translation. Plus, there is a matter of the search function which you can use to find what you're looking for. Please be guided accordingly.

seriously wtf? ppl expect answers to their posts out of some entitlement or something.....wack man.

starting multiple threads about the exact same thing doesn't make people want to help, it just annoys people.

my grammers about 85 yrs old, still walks everyday....

it sounds like the subs are a little off. but you know, you should REALLY ask this in a thread that is appropriate. I'm sure a mod will be merging this to that thread. Next time, you'll know better, right?

- niko
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johnnythao wrote:

When you speak Japanese you have to know their way's of talking, or else they will have no idea what your trying to say, may be tey'll know the word's coming out of your mouth, but they'll have no idea what your trying to say though. My question is how is the Japanese grammer like, because from my experiance from translating book's and watching movie's with subtitles, I've notice that the subtittles are not word to word translation. Example: In one of my movies, when the guy is talking the subtitles say "I want you heart", but then when he's talking he say's "Kokoro ?????????"somthing, I don't remember the rest of what he said, but Kokoro is one of the meaning's for saying heart. So I was wondering, do they say the word first, then finish their sentance.

My brain hurts from reading that

But seriously, this does not warrant its own thread.

Japanese word order is SOV (subject, object, verb).

Moving...

������
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-Bern Williams

kokuou wrote:

My brain hurts from reading that But seriously, this does not warrant its own thread. Japanese word order is SOV (subject, object, verb). Moving... ������

My boy!
You crack me up.
And I thought I was the 'brutal and blunt moderator' in this forum!

You beat me hands down!
(a good thing, really!)
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Tetsudau...

I have a few questions

1. Why is "kokoro" written in katakana?? Isn't it an "authentic" Japanese word?? I always see it in anime..written in hiragana.

2. How do you really write your name in Japanese?? In Katakana or in Kanji?? Coz there was this episode in SuperGALS when Kotobuki Sayo wrote her name in Katakana. I'm really confused.

3. Which is correct, "genkidane" or "genkidena"??


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obentou wrote:

3. Which is correct, "genkidane" or "genkidena"??

I think it's genkidane (���C����).

dochira wrote:

I think it's genkidane (���C����).

I think it depends on what you want to say. "genki de na" is correct if you want to say something like "take care".

Um.. I'm not sure if this question have been posted before but what's the difference between gomen and sumimasen?
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