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Time words: Genki Ch4 (Specifically ニ週間前)

Nulambda

Kouhai
14 Jul 2014
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I'm going through the Time Words in Genki I. I noticed that 一昨日 had 一 in-front while ニ週間前 had ニ. Why is this? I also tried searching ニ週間前 on denshijisho to no avail. When I tried searching elsewhere, it would have 前 in a different part of the sentence. Is ニ週間前 not the way people say it? Is the book correct in the words it gives for this part? Can you write ニ週間前 in a sentence so I'd understand it more?
 
Did you notice that 一昨日 is read おととい?

Do you know the word 昨日 (さくじつ)?

二週間前 has a 二 (2) because how else would you know it was two weeks ago?

私は二週間前車を買いました
 
Did you notice that 一昨日 is read おととい?

Yes. But I'm not sure what the significance of that is.

Do you know the word 昨日 (さくじつ)?

I've learned it as きのう.

二週間前 has a 二 (2) because how else would you know it was two weeks ago?

I was just confused as to why week and day were numbered differently. It could have ended up as 二日間前 for the day, and it did not. I was wondering why.

私は二週間前車を買いました

Thank you.
 
In English there are multiple ways of saying things (e.g. day before yesterday, two days ago, or two weeks ago, the week before last, etc...). Similarly, in Japanese there are more ways than one to express days or weeks past. In addition, there are levels of politeness in the words used. さくじつ would be the more polite/formal way of saying きのう, just as あす or みょうにち would be the more polite/formal way of saying あした.
 
昨日(さくじつ or きのう) yesterday
一昨日(いっさくじつ or おととい・おとつい) the day before yesterday

一日前(いちにちまえ) one day before
二日前(ふつかまえ) two days before
Note: you cannot say 二日間前. either 二日間 for two days (duration) or 二日前 two days ago (time)

先週(せんしゅう) last week
一週間前(いっしゅうかんまえ)one week ago
二週間前(にしゅうかんまえ) two weeks ago

So it is the same whether it is about days or weeks and same goes with the month and the year.
 
ニ週間前 had ニ
Notice that you used katakana instead of kanji .

Here is the summary.

one second ago/before
一秒前

one minute ago/before
一分前

one hour ago/before
一時間前
×一時前 (This word means "before one o'clock".)

one day ago/before
一日前
yesterday
昨日
×先日 (This word means "a few days ago/the other day".)

two days ago/before
二日前
the day before yesterday
一昨日

one week ago/before
一週前
一週間前
last week
先週
昨週

two weeks ago/before
二週前
二週間前
the week before last
先々週
一昨週(This word is acceptable, but rarely used.)

a month ago/before
一月前[ひとつきまえ]*
一か月前
last month
先月
昨月

two months ago/before
二月前[ふたつきまえ]*
二か月前
the month before last
先々月
一昨月

one year ago/before
一年前
last year
去年
昨年
×先年 (This word means "a few years ago".)

two years ago/before
二年前
the year before last
一昨年 (いっさくねん / おととし)
先々年 (This word is barely acceptable, but rarely used.)

*Note that another readings いちがつまえ and にがつまえ have different meanings "before January" and "before February", respectively.
 
I suppose it also depends on what font you're using. I have my browser set to use Meiryo (which I highly recommend over the default pixely one used in Windows) and don't see any difference whatsoever...

if790QX.png
 
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