Ich verstehe nicht! (1 Viewer)

[slyball]

i don't actually do japanese, as this is a challenge made between friends to switch languages... (he learns german while i learn japanese) and i've come across a hitch in my learning. well, lots of hitches, but i've figured out most of them...


"watashi wa nihon-jin desu. Anata wa"

"doitsu-jin desu"

1) is a sentence ending with 'wa' a question (just like 'ka')? or is anata wa something special?

2) why do i respond with "doitsu-jin desu" instead of "watashi wa doitsu-jin desu"...? what's the significance of the desu?

 

[slyball]

and what the heck is yakisoba?

 

[man]

yaki=fried, grilled etc.,
soba is like buckwheat noodles i think
so it's a type of fried noodles which japanese are famous for

answering question 'doitsu jin desu' and 'watashi wa doitsu jin desu'
is like the difference when ppl ask are u hungry
ur answering 'yes' instead of 'yes i am'
or like the difference between 'german' and 'i am german'

yeah...
and a 'wa' i dun think ever acts as a 'ka', but i guess ur question implies that it demands an answer
like 'you are... ?'
but a complete sentence would probably be 'what are you', and the missing 'ka' equals to a missing 'what'
though japanese speaking casually drop a lot of particles from their sentences anyway...so yeah

 

[Lexicographer]

Yes, "anata wa..." is typical of the Japanese habit to leave sentences strung out midway. When it is obvious that the speaker is asking a form of question, you answer it by completing the sentence with the correct answer, which in this case is "doitsu-jin" (German).

"I am Japanese. You are...?"
"German."

In this case it's done exactly the same way in English, but there are other more complex phrases, following the same principle, like:

"Sony no MD to iu kikai wo kau tame ni akihabara ni ikitai desu ga..."

"I want to go to Akihabara to I can buy one of those Sony MD machines, but..."

Here the speaker is (basically) asking if the listener minds going to Akihabara (assume that the listener has a car or something) but doesn't want to put her out. Thus the "ga..." particle, implying the rest of the statement (but I don't want to be a hassle). Since this expression is mutually understood and indeed expected, the Japanese simply drop it off, leaving a conversational void for the other person to fill with the obvious:

"a' , yoi desu. ikou na?"

"oh, it's ok. let's go?" (lit "shall we go?")

Unless of course they can't go, in which case a lot of profuse apology and bowing results. But you get the picture. If the rest of a statement is bleedingly obvious and mutually understood, the Japanese will drop it off and the other person will know it's their turn to speak. Weird at first, but easy to grasp.

 

[slyball]

ahhhh... okay, thanks alot both of you
was really helpful

 

[Lexicographer]

Any time. We need more discussion here anyway!

 

[mle]

what does the topic mean? I ..something... nothing?

I do Japanese and I'm thinking of taking up German next year as well at Uni. Languages rock! YAY!

 

[Lexicographer]

!!! Someone who thinks like me!

 

[slyball]

ich = i
verstehe = understand
nicht = not

join them together and it means "i don't understand!"
german is great, very easy to understand.

ich verstehe nicht (pronouce as "ikhh vershtayer nicked")

I'm thinking of taking up German next year as well at Uni.

viel Glueck und Sprechen Sie langsam

 

[Lexicographer]

Why doesn't anyone use the German forum? I used to almost have interesting proto-conversations there...

 

[slyball]

hehe, well.. thread titles like komm, ssser tod scares me.

 

[Lexicographer]

Did you read the thread?

 

[hurrotisrobbo]

Nein, das ist mein hanbargen.

Zannen ni, ich bin nicht ein flughafen.

Etc, etc.


> Unless of course they can't go, in which case a lot
> of profuse apology and bowing results.

Yep.

 

[Lexicographer]

I think you mean:

NEIN, DAS IST MEIN HAMBURGER!

 

[hurrotisrobbo]

Same difference.

 

[Lexicographer]

Nah. One of the above is a real word.

 

[kkorpz]

Go to the German Forum is yah wanna speak german..this is a Japanese forum... duh..

 

[Lexicographer]

Well, since I'm the most linguistically adept moderator [modesty ON] this is sort of the everything forum.

Everyone's welcome if it's interesting. Just don't get carried away with other languages.