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Indeed. Don’t think my listening ability has improved noticeably, though…
Oh, boy. I got to do an actual presentation in Japanese as uni last session – it’s not something I’d do again by choice. =P
Um… let’s see…
今日は、私たちが「文楽」という日本語の人形の芝居について発表いたします。文楽は「人形浄瑠璃」も呼んでいて、そして、昔で「操り浄瑠璃芝居」を呼んでいました。
Think of it as an opportunity to learn new kanji. =)
No, it’s a way of adding emphasis. Basically, it means I’m conveying information to you that I know to be true, but don’t believe you know yet.
Similarly, I could add ね, which (in this context) would mean I believe we both already understand the information that I’m conveying.
Pretty sure this gets explained in an early chapter of TextFugu somewhere. Not sure exactly where, though.
はい、そうですよ。
“そうです” basically means “that is so”, though a but less clunky than it sounds in English. =)
You’d say そうです.
はい、そうです also works, as does just はい on its own.
I have to admit I don’t really know. I suspect they’ll understand, but give you funny looks, but I’m not sure.
When I was in Japan, before I started learning Japanese, I tried to call ahead to my hotel and tell them I’d be arriving (very) late, but I accidentally said 私はおそくです (i.e. the adverbial form), and she didn’t seem to understand what I meant. Of course, it’s entirely possible that she did understand, and I just failed to understand her response. =P
I guess the take-home message is that the conjugation of the adjective before the noun may match, but need not match the conjugation of the verb…
Ah, no – the take-home message is that the conjugation of the adjective and the verb/copula aren’t interrelated at all. They’re mutually independent. Even though the different conjugations make similar sentences when translated into English, they convey a slightly different meaning in Japanese.
~て form for verbs can also mean “and” – so 食べてくれてありがとう = you ate that for me, and I thank you for it.
Or maybe my translation is not quite right? I could imagine that the first one here could mean “This IS the cat that WAS big,” and the second one could be “This WAS the cat that WAS big.”
Aye, you can conjugate either way, but the resulting meaning is a little bit different.
これは大きいねこでした。 = This was a big cat (but I’m not where the cat is any more)
これは大きかったねこです。 = This is the cat that was big (but it’s not big any more – I guess it’s lost weight?)
これは大きかったねこでした。 = This was the cat that was big (but it’s both not big any more and not here any more)Mind you, it’s fairly odd to use これ and でした together, especially in this context – since the cat is “was” then how is it “this”? If that makes any sense.
Similarly for other verbs:
おおきかった ねこ あるきます。 The cat that was big is walking. (Maybe all the walking has helped the cat slim down a bit…)
おおきかった ねこ あるきました。 The (previously) big cat was walking. -or- The cat that was big was walking.
おおきい ねこ あるきました。 The (currently) big cat was walking.
Aye, that’s it exactly. Though you need a は or が between the cat and the verb in each sentence (at least until you start learning very casual speech). =)
Welcome!
I’m curious, though: just how much euroculture are you expecting to find in Osaka? =)
Since when?…
Think he means similar in usage rather than similar in meaning.
But yeah, you don’t use さん between friends – if you do, they’re going to wonder what they’ve done to offend you so much that you’re distancing yourself from them. For a different reason, you also don’t use it when talking about your own family members to other people.
ます-form first: Every verb conjugates the same, there are no exceptions. Most auxiliary verbs and adjectives attach on to the ます-stem as well. As a new starter in Japanese, it’s likely you’d only ever use the ます-form when speaking with a Japanese person, because it’s not likely you’ll come to know anyone well enough to be casual. (Downside: obscures the differences between the verb groups.)
Dictionary form first: Way more versatile, and appears in way more grammar forms and conjugations. (Downside: it’s complex. So many different conjugations…)
Welcome! Good luck with that.
Welcome!
に is fine – it’s not the topic of the sentence, here. The topic is 私, which is being implied. Though before we ponder specifics of particles, it’s こんにちは. =P
すみませんが、何かもっと安いのはありませんか
