Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 66 Location: Japan Country:
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:43 am Post subject:
RedRum wrote:
But I know now �`���� is the potential form of to draw. So that doesn't seem correct. And what does ���P mean in this case?
�`���� is kakeru. It means to wear something on your face, like glasses (or eyes in this sentence). ���P means "because" or "for what reason." So your translation was correct.
[L]ewis wrote:
It seems the Japanese (in the animes I watch, anyway) use the words "sa" and "na" a lot when they speak. Usually attached to the end of a statement. Why is this? What do they mean?
"...sa" is like your English "...you know". "Na" is more like "kana". You use it to sound a bit vague because in Japanese it sounds more polite. For example if someone ask you where the station is, instead of saying saying "it's in that direction" you can say "I think it's in that direction" (achira desu kana). Or if you don't know the direction you can say "I don't think I know..." (wakaranai na...) Or even more polite: "Chotto komatta naa..." It means something like "I really should know, but I'm ashamed that I don't..."
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 5 Location: North Rhine-Westphalia Country:
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:42 am Post subject:
I'd add that it can also be used to express a prohibition: taberu-na -> don't eat
Whether this is the case can be determined by checking if the "na" follows a verb in present tense (sorry, I don't know the correct terms in japanese school grammar for this as I was thaught a different grammar system ) like: iku, suru, toberu .... if this is the case, then both this and what IZUMI wrote could be correct; you'd have to look at the context to make sure. If it's not then go with what IZUMI wrote
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 335 Location: Yamapi's private house Country:
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:04 pm Post subject:
minna-san..
i'm little bit confused with particle "ga"
i've read bout it a lot...
but i still cannot understand..
my sensei said, it's rarely used
but, can anyone explain further bout it.. onegai..
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 5 Location: North Rhine-Westphalia Country:
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:32 pm Post subject:
Like many particles "ga" has more than one way of using it:
1. As a particle following a noun, it makes the noun something like the actor in a sentence (there are circumstances where this is not exactly true). It is the particle to signal "Nominative".
"Inu ga tobenai." -> "Dogs can't fly."
2. When used to link two sentences to each other, so they become a single sentence, the "ga" is translated as "but".
"Tomodachi no ie ni itta ga kare wa imasen deshita." -> "I went to my friend's house, but he wasn't there."
I don't know why your teacher said it'd be rarely used. If it isn't replaced by "wa" (which has no grammatical meaning whatsoever, just stresses the significance of the subject) it's used for most sentences that hava someone doing something. I consider it one of the particles that are used a lot.
Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Romania Country:
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject:
Hi! Can you tell me when do you use in Japanese terminations like "san", "kun", "chan" or "sama" as attached to names, by example "hikari-san" or stuff like that, because I always thought that a termination like "san" is more official, whereas something like "chan" is more familiar, but I'm not sure.
Thanks!
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 12123 Location: It was fun while it lasted. Country:
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 1:38 am Post subject:
Acalewia wrote:
Hi! Can you tell me when do you use in Japanese terminations like "san", "kun", "chan" or "sama" as attached to names, by example "hikari-san" or stuff like that, because I always thought that a termination like "san" is more official, whereas something like "chan" is more familiar, but I'm not sure.
Thanks!
Correct,"sama" is the most formal, then "san". "kun" is familiar for boys/males, "chan" is familiar for girls/females.
Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 155 Location: Australia Country:
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:40 am Post subject:
It's not that clear when you use which termination in my opinion.
San: used when talking to someone who you meet for the first time (people you don't really know that well). You would always use the san-prefix on your work to collegues who have a higher rank than you.
Some say it can be translated by 'Mr. or Ms.' but that doesn't really make much sense. You should always use the surname of the person in combination with the san-prefix. Using 'anata' would already be too informal.
Kun: used by people talking to collegues with a lower rank, or parents talking to their children. Also people with the same rank can use it if they know eachother really well. Indeed it's only used between boys/men.
Chan: Same as with 'Kun'. It's mainly used between girls but it's also used with boys, but only in families.
Sama: a bank worker (or any other work were the name of the client would be used) would use this prefix when talking to a client. Also workers talking to their boss would use this.
Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 9573 Location: �o�J�i�_ Country:
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:22 am Post subject:
I'm sorry. I didn't express myself right. I wasn't blaming you or anything. It just that I've been searching a lot, but didn't find anything. I found a few things like 39 to say thank you (san kyu), but nothing close to LOL. All those emoji are complicated, so I thought they weren't using them. I guess they must be copy/pasting them like me.
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:34 am Post subject:
tabana wrote:
I'm sorry. I didn't express myself right. I wasn't blaming you or anything. It just that I've been searching a lot, but didn't find anything. I found a few things like 39 to say thank you (san kyu), but nothing close to LOL. All those emoji are complicated, so I thought they weren't using them. I guess they must be copy/pasting them like me.
Nah I knew you weren't blaming, I was merely saying sorry in that I couldn't come up with anything better for you....sorry as in "sorry no dice."
I didn't look that hard though....yeah those Japanese emoticons are way too involved, at least to use on a cellphone....
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) like: iku, suru, toberu .... if this is the case, then both this and what IZUMI wrote could be correct; you'd have to look at the context to make sure. If it's not then go with what IZUMI wrote 
I didn't express myself right. I wasn't blaming you or anything. It just that I've been searching a lot, but didn't find anything. I found a few things like 39 to say thank you (san kyu), but nothing close to LOL. All those emoji are complicated, so I thought they weren't using them. I guess they must be copy/pasting them like me. 
