HOW DO I SAY "…." THREAD

[SheepyModerator]

Saying “I want to” is easy. But what do you say for “he wants to”?

The same as “I want to” but just changing the pronoun? Or implied in context? Or maybe I don’t understand the question.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 11 months ago by  Sheepy.

[TanneMember]

Like, I want to go means “行きたいんです”. But you can’t use the たい form on other people, only on yourself.

[SheepyModerator]

Tae Kim once again.

“Also, you can only use the 「たい」 form for the first-person because you cannot read other people’s mind to see what they want to do. For referring to anyone beside yourself, it is normal to use expressions such as, “I think he wants to…” or “She said that she wants to…” We will learn how to say such expressions in a later lesson. Of course, if you’re asking a question, you can just use the 「たい」 form because you’re not presuming to know anything.”

So:

あなた何をしたいんですか？

彼は野球を遊びたいと思います。

彼は野球を遊びたいと言いました。

Are good, but you probably know that. It does seem weird that you can’t say it with some certainty. Oh well ^^

[ElenkisMember]

You can also use がる with たい formed verbs.

子供は眠たがっている = The child wants to sleep (Lit. The child shows signs of wanting to sleep)

I could be wrong but I believe that this is generally how you would say it when narrating a story, but that it might be considered a bit too “impersonal” to use in conversation. That’s what Tae Kim’s guide seems to say anyway.

[SheepyModerator]

がる basically makes it third person, so yeah what you said makes sense.

[HypnoCrownMember]

in terms of casual talk, (some might not translate at all) how do you say…
1. hey, whatsup
2. whatever
3. there’s no way
4. come on (as in, lets go)
5. wow, that’s hella crazy (i used ‘hella’ just cause its a slang for ‘very’)
6. alright, later (じゃまた　is casual for saying bye. how would ‘alright’ be used with it?….that is, if じゃまた is even used for the term ‘later’)

hopefully this isnt confusing U_U

[thisiskyleMember]

2. depending on what you mean by whatever…なんでもいい means “anything is fine
3. むり
4. いこう
6. じゃあ pretty much mens “alright” or “well then”

[HypnoCrownMember]

thanks again kyle. huge help. (and does anyone know questions #1 and #5?)

• This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by  HypnoCrown.

[SheepyModerator]

Do you mean “hey whatsup” as a general greeting. Or do you actually want to know what is up?

5. Nothing specific comes to mind. Maybe すげぇぇぇ？ xD

[HypnoCrownMember]

yea, i meant saying ‘hi’ casually
a translation for either ‘hey’ or ‘whatsup’ would help me as well
iono though….

[SheepyModerator]

There are quite a few and obviously its pretty slang.

Personally I’m starting to like どうも although theres also the stereotypical guy-ish おす.

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

Hmmm… this one seems a bit odd to explain.
Is there a way to say “You X!” instead of “You are X!”? For example: “You idiot!” as opposed “You are an idiot!” or “You tight-fisted bastard!” instead of “You are a tight-fisted bastard!” (is that PG-13? I don’t really know :P).

Oh, I just thought of another question in the same vein: how would you say “You are one X Y! :D”. Like… “You are one sly dog! hehe” or “You are one special lady! ;)”.

[HypnoCrownMember]

would it just be something like おめあばかよ or simply ばか　？

[リンディMember]

Okay.

This HAS to be wrong. I am not mad (am I?)…

明日の百より今日の五十　translating to “A bird in a hand is worth two in a bush”

Why… and HOW? When I break it up, I come up with nothing like that. Am I missing something?

Jisho and Rikaichan translate it the same way, leaving me confused and wondering.

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

^ Sometimes expressions are “translated” to their closest English equivalent. It looks to me like it’s kinda like “50 today is better than 100 yesterday” (though I’m not too sure on the より grammar) – it has the same meaning as the English saying, but since “50 today…” isn’t any sort of saying in English, they give you a rough idea of the feeling through examples you can relate to.

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