Japanese Some help please?

Hey again ^_^
I'm trying to learn more and more japanese of course...and it's going well. Words I can learn, but the structure of how japanese say things still bothers me...maybe you all can clear something up? ^^;

Like, sonna and konna, what do these mean literally?
And what does "sonna koto arimasen" literally mean? It's translated as "it's not true," but I cannot see how.

It seems to me that lots of words are used for more than one thing...
hanasu - means "to say" or "to release."; hanase is usually spoken as "let go of me!"
koto - means thing. It's also somehow used in meanings such as "dou yo koto wa?" (what will you do?/what are you going to do? or similar).
itai - pronouned as the english "ow," but I've also heard it in lots of other meanings...at least one of them concerning direction. It was included with the use of "doko" (where).

...Can someone here help me clear up a little?

 

I'll go ahead and field this.
Konna, Sonna, Anna, Donna come from the same family of words as koko, soko, asoko, doko, (ko, so, a, do) The first portion denotes where whatever it is you're talking about is. In the case of Konna, It refers to 'This sort of thing' (something near you) Sonna = 'that sort of thing' (something near someone you're talking to, or elsewhere) Donna = 'what sort of thing?' Anna = 'That sort of thing' (most definately not something close to you or whomever you're speaking to)

For Hanasu, yes, it's the case that there's some homophone action here, Hanase is the command form of the verb hanasu - 'to separate; to set free; to turn loose' as well as the command form of to speak. It's context time!

Koto is actually not another homophone in the case you're asking about, Koto refers to a thing, but the thing in this case is a non-material 'thing' like a concept, idea, action... you get the idea. "Dou you koto wa?" Dou = what you = option koto=non-material thing now.. rendering translations doesn't work like this, actually... you just need to feel the phrase for short ones like that in context and such, and take the japanese meaning (not the english translation, this is a hard concept to explain... but since you're studying the language, you probably understand what I'm getting at)

'itai' for 'ow' and 'ittai' for 'how/what/who/etc... in the world' are in fact different sounds... they're hard to tell apart though ittai is placed before questions to place more emphasis there... "ittai nani mono?" "Who in the world are you?" "Ittai doko da?" "Where in the world am I?" &c...

Hope this helps!
-UK

 

Yeah it helps...I know japanese have an entirely diffrent view on words to use in context which is a little hard...I never knew that koto could refer to non-material things, however.

But sonna is also used like "No way!"..."this cannot be" which made me confused about it...another word I think about is sorette (or similar?) which i've heard, yet have no idea what it means (plural sore?)

So also, the phrase "sonna koto arimasen" would mean "those kind of things doesn't exist" in a literal translation? Which would usually be translated as "that's not true" in english...

Thanks for that! So...another thing I usually ponder about is the words: saa, sate and ma something...I can't get a real translation of these since they're based on context. Saa should be when a command has been thought over if I'm not wrong?

Also, I've got two other phrases that I could want translated? ^^;
Yudan shitara jigoku iki yo
Jama wa sasenaikara

Meaning, "one misstep and to hell you'll go!" and "so don't mess with me."
But the words are unfamiliar to me. I only know iki (to walk, go) and jigoku (hell).
Aside from that, I also wonder these two things: usually when saying a place to go, or a location; the particle ni is used. In this case, however, it isn't used...why? Also, the second form of the ichidan verbs...the form mostly used with polite speech, is used here. I don't know a reason for this?

Thanks for your help ^_^

 

By Standard Japanese, 'koto' is actually *only* non-material things.. that's standard japanese though.

To your second paragraph: 'Sonna' where you're talking about it is actually a sentance fragment. It still has the same meaning by itself, but context and situation will add more to the meaning, either denial.. or some other such japanese phrase starting with 'Sonna'. 'Sorette' is referring to something near whomever is being spoken to (Sore) 'tte' is a quotative, like putting quotation marks on speech, What you're talking about might be said when you've just heard something startling from someone...

Spot on with 'Sonna koto wa arimasen' Good job!

'Saa' to me feels like a hesitation noise rather than a word, I could ask some native speaker friends of mine for more about it if you'd like... It's said when someone is not sure what to say, or is about to propose that the group (or individual they're talking to) do something in an inobtrusive manner... I guess you could translate it as 'And so...' in some cases. Sate and ma also fill similar roles. Yes, they depend highly on context.

The two phrases you posted were spoken, yes? Grammar is much looser in speech, particles (like 'ni') are dropped sometimes. For the first phrase, Yudan = unpreparedness, neglegence shitara = if done. the last bit, did you transcribe this from a show? I'm wondering if iki is what they used or if it was 'iku' it can be difficult to tell, it still means the same thing as what you translated it as. "If (you/we/I)'re negligent, (you/we/I)'ll go to Hell." The second phrase, the verb form used *is* usually used in polite speech, it being the passive form, or 'to be caused not to do' Put it together with 'Jama' or interference and you get the meaning out, which is essentially the same as what you put above. The passive form isn't polite all the time though, it just means 'to be caused to verb'. I suppose a slightly more literal rendering of the second phrase would be 'So I'm causing you not to get in my way.'

Again, hope this helps,
-UK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lecture Mod Extraordinaire

 

I took those two phrases from slayers season 1. But...these words: sate, ma and saa would be good to know when to use...or could one be used all the time?

So...adding tte after, say anta, would mean "you" (with the quotes). Well sort of at least?

OH and...in my lesson by a native japanese speaker..."koto" was described as "thing."

About the two phrases...should the particle "wa" be placed anywhere? Like yudan shitara wa jigoku ni iki yo
The same goes with the last part...Jama wa (interfearence would be the topic here...) sasenaikara.

Btw...what does "mietatte" mean? I took another phrase from slayers originally "onna no ko ni mietatte" (that's just how we girls are) and remade it to "watashi ni mietatte" (that's just how i am). Is this something one posesses, hence the "ni" particle?

 

Sono kotoba, Get Along kara kimashita ka?

Machigaetara, zannen desu.

Anata mo slayers wo suki desu ka?

 

Explain two first sentences, I'm not good enough to translate them alone.
Hai, slayers wa ii desu yo.

 

Sono kotoba, Get Along kara kimashita ka?
Those words, came from Get along?

Machigaetara, zannen desu.
If I made a mistake, I am sorry or in regret.


Ah, a fellow Slayers fan thats nice to hear.

 

Neat.

kotoba = word(s)
kara = from
kimashita = came
Machigaetara = mistake
zannen = sorry

Am I right? ^_^

Sono kotoba, Get Along kara kimashita ka?
Hai, sou desu.

Machigaetara, zannen desu.
Shinpai de nai!

 

I was looking in my English to Japanese Dictionary and I couldn't find all the words you have(I guess there not 100%), Iwas abile to find kotoba and kara, and they do mean what you have.
But I wasn't abile to find kimashita(came),
and I like Machigaetara(mistake) is suposeed to be machigatte (I could be wrong though), and zannen I think is doen like this zan'nen, they also gave me ki no doku be(felling pitty).

 

kimashita comes from kuru ki is the stem plus mashita which is the polite past form
machigaetara comes from machigaeru made by dropping the te form of the word and adding tara.
zannen is as said zannen.

sore wa kotae wo tadashii ga watashi no shinjiru.

 

Okay I kind of get that little say at the bottom Zelgadis, I don't really understand the two letter words like wo, ga no and wa.
I looked them up and could only find wa and no, and they ment circle or ring(wa) and brain(no). so how are they used here???

 

wa is indicating a topic ga could be used if it is being introduced.
wo is indicating a direct object
ga is being used to link the 2 clauses
no is linking the subject and verb I think

 

Thanks I get it now,
But what I don't get is what you you try to say in the sentince,

sore(it,that) wa kotae(answer,reply,solution) wo tadashii(right,properly,correct) no shinjiru(believe,trust).

put the I translated togather make no sense.

it might not be a big deil but would help me out.

 

it should translate like this

sore wa kotae wo tadashii ga watashi no shinjiru.
That is the correct answer, I believe.

Of course, I could be wrong I am not an expert at this.

 

Quite a few grammar mistakes, I'm afraid. If I try to place this correctly, it should be something like...

Watashi no shinjiru ni sono kotae no tadashii ga arimasu.

First, the particle "no" is used to declare that something is owned. So "watashi no kuruma" would be "my car" (the car is owned by me). Also, subject always comes first. Do not put it last. The particle "ni" is used to say that it's owned by "my belief" (my belief *has* this).
Remember the form of sore. Sore means "that", so "sore no kotae" would be correct. However, in japanese, this isn't used. Instead "sono" is used. Meaning "that (object)". It cannot stand alone; an object must follow this word.
The particle "wo" is used to tell that someone or something is doing this or that. Nothing else. So what you were saying was something like "the right is answering" or something...well, totally wrong in any case.
Also remember that "kotae" is part of the subject; hence it should be before the particle "wa."
The last part..."ga arimasu" says "exists."
So this meaning literally translates to...

In my belief, that answer is right.

Remember to use "ga arimasu" when you say something (any thing, even thoughts) are there, or exists. This is also used to say where objects are.

I think this is right...but I haven't done much sentences before, so correct me if I'm wrong.
Any questions? ^_^

 

watashi no shinjiru ni sono kotae no tadashii ga arimasu
because of my beliefs, that answer is correct

no separates the subject and verb
ni is indicating a cause or reason for a state or situation
I dont see why the last part is there it makes sense to me without it.
Yea after some careful consideration I came to about the same thing.

Edit: I dont think there is just one way to saying something in english it is subject verb object doesnt mean every sentence follows that in japanese it is subject object verb doesnt mean it always has to be like that.

Sore wa kotae wo tadashii ga watashi no Shinjiru
Sore is the subject which is that object it is implied meaning
wa is the topic indicator which is sore
kotae is the direct object directly affecting that
wo is indicating a direct object which is directly affecting the subject
tadashii indicates the verb that is affecting the the direct object
ga (I think it could also be ni) is indicating a separation between the 2 statements in which the second is supplementing the first
watashi is subject of next statement
no is ethier possessing or separating the subject and verb
shinjiru affects the subject.

 

Once again, you are wrong. So I'm kind enough to correct you.

Wrong! The particle no indicates ownership.

Wrong again. Ni is used with locations and with situations when one says to go to a location, etc. It also tells you that someone posses something. It might be for other uses as well, but if so, I don't know them yet.

Well, think of it in another way, then. Without it...it would be: "In my belives, right answer."
With omitting the "ga arimasu" part, or "it exists," you don't say it's actually there.

Ummm....i'm not really with you there.

You are wrong. The particle "wo" is used to declare an action. As "Anata o korose!" (I will kill you.)
You cannot do an action "right" on kotae. After the action particle must be a verb; not an adjective.

I know nothing of such. But I do know that "ga" may be used to put extra touch on the words that follow. You could also replace "wa" with "ga" in the beginning of the sentence, which implies that the "watashi..." part is the actual SUBJECT. The wa particle says the topic follows after the particle, actually.

Posessing only. And this part is correct, only that it's missing "ga arimasu."

 

I wrote that at school this is what I meant to say of course the above is wrong god do I hate being incoherent at times


Sore wa tadashii kotae da ga, watashi no shinjiru.
That is correct answer, I believe
one simple mistake I made causes such a commotion god damn.


ni can indicate a cause or reason for a state or situation
example: Shigoto ni tsukaremashita



no can be used as the subject marker like ga
watashi no yomitai
I want to read

ga is being used to link them it can be done to link the two together rather than make them separate.

 

That makes sense We're still both somewhat new to structures, eh? We do make a little errors do and when.
Actually forgot about the entire adjectives part!

So...to my original question:
Saa, ma and sate: what do these mean?
Sumete...what does this mean?
Also, the pronouns such as ore, anta and kimi...what EXACTLY does these pronouns imply? I know they mean I and you, but each of them indicates specific things...