Question/FAQs Thread

[xXRadioactive_CerealXx]

-okonomiyaki o konomu-

xXRadioactive_CerealXx

This is a thread for questions, not comments.

Also, I still don't understand the whole って thing that I asked about in my post above...can someone try to explain it to me please? The guide wasn't much help, sorry. D:

って has a few different uses. It's a colloquial version of the quotative と. When it's at the end of a statement, it's saying that you've heard something, or that someone said something. For example, I heard a customer at work the other day say 日本語がわかるって about me to someone she was with when I told her that I studied Japanese. Or if you heard someone graduated, you could say 卒業しましたって. You can of course use it in place of と when you put the full sentence （けっこんしたって聞きました - I heard you got married）. If it's preceded by an ん though, it just becomes て.

It can also be short for というのは, which gives it a couple of other meanings. If someone were to say a word you didn't understand, you could repeat that word and then say って. For example: "専攻（せんこう）はなに？" "専攻って？" ("What's your major?" "'Major?'"). It's implied that after the って you mean どういう意味（ですか）？ Also, I've heard it used this way when one friend was talking about her and some other people doing something and she said みんな about which another person asked, みんなって、だれ？(Who's "everyone"?)

Finally (or mostly, there may be something I'm leaving out), って can be a more colloquial は (again, this is related to the というのは). It's kind of like how は is translated as "As for..." Well you could think of って as being "Speaking of..." Unlike は though, you can put a verb right in front of って. Also, apparently, when it's used like this, what follows って should be some type of expression of judgment/evaluation on the part of the speaker. So something like 友達って学生です wouldn't work, but 友達っていい人です would.

Anyway, I probably left a few things out, but there are some basic things about it. Hope it helps

Ah ok I understand now, どうもありがとうございました。

 

[Dante Tatlin]

OKAAAY~ This really doesn't have to do anything with Japanese grammar and more about how to TYPE japanese. But anyways. I have windows vista. When I go to the control panel and change the keyboards, input dot dot dot, I change it to Japanese. THE THING IS, after I make Japanese an available language, it doesn't appear ANYWHERE. I tried change the tick on the Language bar tab from hidden to on the taskbar, but everytime I press apply, it just resets itself to hidden. WHAT DO I DO?!

NEVER MIND~!　やった～！  

[Koiyuki]

Because apparently posting this once wasn't enough:

If I see any more threads that ask for a word or sentence translation from this moment, they will locked ON SIGHT WITHOUT WARNING OR ANY RESPONSE FROM ME. We have the sticky in Learning Japanese for a reason, use it Thank you.  

[Master Ninja Fu]

sorry, but to be honest i can't use that windows ability on this computer i'm using. I'm afraid it's my moms. so どうもありがとうございました。dose not work (copied that sorry) but i can understand Domo, Dozo, you know like this (forgot what it is called >__<) I'm mostly trying to learn how to speak Japanese not write it (with all do respect) ninja  

[Koiyuki]

Koiyuki

Because apparently posting this once wasn't enough:

If I see any more threads that ask for a word or sentence translation from this moment, they will locked ON SIGHT WITHOUT WARNING OR ANY RESPONSE FROM ME. We have the sticky in Learning Japanese for a reason, use it Thank you.

Since I seem to be seeing these inappropriately placed much more often, I'm making a bit of a change to my policy. Instead of locking it, it will be deleted, no sight, with no warning after the first time you do it  

[BlindingOrchid]

I couldn't get any of it to work... I have a Toshiba mini. You know the piece of s**t laptop with no CD drive crying  

[xXxSeiza-chanxXx]

OK I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post but I just cannot understand this:
you know how japanese sentance structures are different well, like I can't explain what I mean like if I were to say " Winds that cross over seas" or "The person tachi is searching for" would become "sea cross wind" or tachi search person"
It's like they switch it I guess I have searched the internet but I still don't understand this piece of grammar or when and how its used.

Sorry couldn't explain it clearly sweatdrop
Thanks!  

[Coda Highland]

xXxSeiza-chanxXx

OK I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post but I just cannot understand this:
you know how japanese sentance structures are different well, like I can't explain what I mean like if I were to say " Winds that cross over seas" or "The person tachi is searching for" would become "sea cross wind" or tachi search person"
It's like they switch it I guess I have searched the internet but I still don't understand this piece of grammar or when and how its used.

Sorry couldn't explain it clearly sweatdrop
Thanks!

I can field this one. The short answer is that verbs in Japanese are capable of acting as adjectives. At a slightly more technical level, in both languages you have appositive phrases, and it just happens that the "natural" way to phrase it in each language is in a different order.

For starters, it would sound much more natural and obvious if you were to say "the sea-crossing wind" -- this obviously is the same thing as "the wind that crosses the sea." In both cases you start with "wind" and then you apply a phrase that modifies it: "crossing the sea."

For another example, let's consider the English phrase "the running man." It's the same in Japanese: "hashitteiru hito." You might say it instead as "the man who is running." You start with "hito" ("person") and then modify it with the verb "hashiru" (in -teiru form because it's an action in progress) to indicate that it is, out of all of the possible people you might be referring to, specifically the one who is running.

It's no different from saying "the red thing" ("akai mono") -- out of all of the "things", you're referring to the one that is "red". It just happens to be that you're using a verb instead of an adjective.  

[xXxSeiza-chanxXx]

Coda Highland

xXxSeiza-chanxXx

OK I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post but I just cannot understand this:
you know how japanese sentance structures are different well, like I can't explain what I mean like if I were to say " Winds that cross over seas" or "The person tachi is searching for" would become "sea cross wind" or tachi search person"
It's like they switch it I guess I have searched the internet but I still don't understand this piece of grammar or when and how its used.

Sorry couldn't explain it clearly sweatdrop
Thanks!

I can field this one. The short answer is that verbs in Japanese are capable of acting as adjectives. At a slightly more technical level, in both languages you have appositive phrases, and it just happens that the "natural" way to phrase it in each language is in a different order.

For starters, it would sound much more natural and obvious if you were to say "the sea-crossing wind" -- this obviously is the same thing as "the wind that crosses the sea." In both cases you start with "wind" and then you apply a phrase that modifies it: "crossing the sea."

For another example, let's consider the English phrase "the running man." It's the same in Japanese: "hashitteiru hito." You might say it instead as "the man who is running." You start with "hito" ("person") and then modify it with the verb "hashiru" (in -teiru form because it's an action in progress) to indicate that it is, out of all of the possible people you might be referring to, specifically the one who is running.

It's no different from saying "the red thing" ("akai mono") -- out of all of the "things", you're referring to the one that is "red". It just happens to be that you're using a verb instead of an adjective.

Oh, I see now so verbs can be treated like adjectives
Thank you! that was bothering meO.~