Need a word or phrase translated?

[Glenn]

へ、それは分かりますよ。私にもそんなことが時折ありますからね。

 

[Half-n-Half]

In what situation?

For example:
A: "They scored a goal."
B: "It doesn't matter! We will still win."

 

[Glenn]

I'm just guessing here, but maybe something like this.

A:あいつら、得点しちゃったよ！
B:そんなのいいよ、どうせ俺たちの勝ちだからな。

 

[StandAlone2323]

well, how about this. is it ever incorrect to use が instead of は.
for example:

大人の手が小さなです。
as opposed to
大人は手が小さなです。

also, in a song, the singer says: "赤く染まる私の…"
i wanna know why she says 赤く and not 赤い。

 

[kooo]

What's the difference between でしたっけ and でした?

 

[Glenn]

well, how about this. is it ever incorrect to use が instead of は.

Yes, when は does anything other than override が it is incorrect to substitute が for は.

大人の手が小さなです。
as opposed to
大人は手が小さなです。

You can't use 小さな like that. It can only be used attributively, which means it has to stick to a noun; it can't be used as a predicate.

These two sentences (once you change 小さな to 小さい) are both fine, but with different focus. The first is just saying, sort of out of the blue, that adults' hands are small. The second is bringing up "adults" as a topic, and then making a comment on it. So it's sort of like "you know adults? Their hands are small." Hard to put the nuances into English, though, since it doesn't have this overt topic-marking structure.

also, in a song, the singer says: "赤く染まる私の…"
i wanna know why she says 赤く and not 赤い。

Because she's describing how her X is dyed. 赤く is an adverb; 赤い is an adjective.

what's the difference between でしたっけ and でした?

っけ is when you've trying to remember something or confirm something. So 鍵はどこに置いたっけ would be like "where was it that I put my keys?" and 試験は今日だったっけ would be like "the test was today?!"

 

[kooo]

^ thank-you, that makes sense since the sentence was "最近テレビでやってたので少し見ました。キキは猫でしたっけ?"

what's the difference between 私 and 自分? Are they interchangeable? (i hope its ok to ask so many questions)

 

[StandAlone2323]

ok, thanks a lot glenn. this is helping me make steady progress. gracias

 

[Elizabeth]

what's the difference between 私 and 自分? Are they interchangeable? (i hope its ok to ask so many questions)

Sometimes and other times not. 自分 is more like 'self' which could be my or another person depending on the context.

ok, thanks a lot glenn. this is helping me make steady progress. gracias

大人(子供。。。)は手が小さ）です。
as opposed to
大人(子供。。。)の手が小さいです。
as opposed to
大人(子供。。。）の手は小さいです。

These are all fine sentences grammatically and I don't understand the differences in nuance well in this case between は and が either。 Although my instinct is that 大人(子供。。。)の手が小さいです is extremely rare, applicable in only special cases.

So certainly there are a lot of times where が cannot replace は and even if it does there is almost always a corresponding shift in meaning or emphasis.

 

[Glenn]

Where have you seen 小さなです?

 

[Elizabeth]

Where have you seen 小さなです?

Oh, damn. Don't say it too loud and I'll edit that out before StandAlone2323 returns. Honestly all I did was copy the original sentence, insert は and forget about everything else....

 

[lamshopping]

Hello there.

Just a qucik question. How would you say "You missed one"?

In English this phrase can, in a way, apply to any context (eg. you missed a button, you missed a jelly bean, you missed a step etc.)

Is there such a handy phrase in Japanese for "You missed one?" without specifically saying "you missed doing up a button", or "you missed counting one jelly bean".

Thank you.

 

[undrentide]

Hello there.

Just a qucik question. How would you say "You missed one"?

In English this phrase can, in a way, apply to any context (eg. you missed a button, you missed a jelly bean, you missed a step etc.)

Is there such a handy phrase in Japanese for "You missed one?" without specifically saying "you missed doing up a button", or "you missed counting one jelly bean".

Thank you.

It is a very difficult question. There's no Japanese word which has exactly the same meaning as "to miss".
If one missed something one meant to do (in other words one forgot to do without knowing, or skipping something unconciously), what I can think of are:

ぬけている (nuketeiru: meaning "missing" = intransitive)
ぬかしている (nukashiteiru: "missing (+ object)" = transitive)

likewise
とんでいる (tonde iru: meaining "skipping/omitting" intransitive)
とばしている (tobashiteiru: meaning "skipping/omitting" transitive)

or
忘れている (wasureteiru: meaning you've forgot (to count, put, etc.) transitive)

But I don't think the above words can be used in any context - in certain context it would sounds unnatural or awkward.

"you missed doing up a button"
「ひとつ忘れているよ」 「ひとつぬかしているよ」 sound OK.
「ひとつぬけているよ」「ひとつとんでいるよ」 understandable yet a little bit awkward.

"you missed counting one jelly bean"
「ひとつ忘れてる」「ひとつぬけている」「ひとつぬかしている」「ひとつとばしている」 are OK.
「ひとつとんでいる」 sounds strange.

When talking about something one intends to catch (such as train, bus, etc.) you cannot use the above, you should say
逃した (nogashita: let it go, did not catch, missed)

 

[lamshopping]

Thank you for your detailed response, undretide.

I suspected there that were several different ways to say that.

 

[Elizabeth]

When talking about something one intends to catch (such as train, bus, etc.) you cannot use the above, you should say
逃した (nogashita: let it go, did not catch, missed)

If I miss those because I'm late I usually say 乗り遅れた (間に合わなかった) or 乗り過ごしてしまった if it was a stop on the way I didn't catch from overlooking, falling asleep, not knowing the route, etc.

And 乗り損なった is also general for both types of miss ?

 

[tanhql]

Can anyone translate 'social rules'?

 

[epigene]

Can anyone translate 'social rules'?

It's 社会のルール

In academic writing, however, you can also say 社会ルール

There are also other variations depending on the implicit meaning you intend to add to "social rules."

 

[undrentide]

If I miss those because I'm late I usually say 乗り遅れた (間に合わなかった) or 乗り過ごしてしまった if it was a stop on the way I didn't catch from overlooking, falling asleep, not knowing the route, etc.

And 乗り損なった is also general for both types of miss ?

Yes, you can use 乗り遅れた to have missed the train.
（乗り過ごした is when you missed the station you meant to get off, not the train.)

The point is, there's no single word/phrase in Japanese that can be used in every context where "you missed one" in English can cover .

 

[Elizabeth]

Yes, you can use 乗り遅れた to have missed the train.
（乗り過ごした is when you missed the station you meant to get off, not the train.)

Which for a bus stop translates to "teiryuujo wo norisugoshita" ? Ughh, that sounds so formal....I prefer sutoppu wo norisugoshita.

The point is, there's no single word/phrase in Japanese that can be used in every context where "you missed one" in English can cover .

Well, at least "you forgot (one)" for "left one out" would be quite common for the jellybean or button examples in English too...so it isn't as quite as boring as it might first appear.

 

[Apple Bomb]

Quick one--

I was wondering what an appropriate way to tell someone that someone in your family died awhile ago... 死んでしまった？死んだ？なくなりました？

I suppose I know HOW to say it, but I wasn't sure about the nuances of the above ways...

 

[Elizabeth]

Quick one--
I was wondering what an appropriate way to tell someone that someone in your family died awhile ago... 死んでしまった？死んだ？なくなりました？
I suppose I know HOW to say it, but I wasn't sure about the nuances of the above ways...

I don't know what you mean by "a while ago" but if it's a few years for example, ether 数年前に、（死んだ・）（なくなった） I can imagine would be sufficient.

Although I don't have a very firm idea when you need variations like 死んでしまった, 死になった、 なくなってくから数年前になる etc, I have seen 死んだ occasionally to talk about the death of a personal family member.

 

[undrentide]

Which for a bus stop translates to "teiryuujo wo norisugoshita" ? Ughh, that sounds so formal.... I prefer sutoppu wo norisugoshita.

I think in case of bus stop, バス停 is the most commonly used word...
Though it is correct and we can say 駅を／バス停を乗り過ごす, I feel that people say 電車を／バスを乗り過ごす more often.

 

[Elizabeth]

I think in case of bus stop, バス停 is the most commonly used word...
Though it is correct and we can say 駅を／バス停を乗り過ごす, I feel that people say 電車を／バスを乗り過ごす more often.

はい。わかりました。「バス停」はよく使われると思いますが、前に、「停」という言い方を使ったときは、若者に笑われたことがありますよ。。。それがカタカナではないので、ちょっと恥ずかしくなったんじゃないかな。。。

 

[FrustratedDave]

I don't know what you mean by "a while ago" but if it's a few years for example, ether 数年前に、（死んだ・）（なくなった） I can imagine would be sufficient.

Although I don't have a very firm idea when you need variations like 死んでしまった, 死になった、 なくなってくから数年前になる etc, I have seen 死んだ occasionally to talk about the death of a personal family member.

Elisabeth, to answer your question, when you are talking about your own family member "死んだ" can be used, but it does not sound very nice and "亡くなった" should be used in this situation. When talking about someone other than your family "死んだ" should never be used "亡くなった" is the appropriate term. BTW, "亡くなる" should be written with kanji in this situation .

 

[Elizabeth]

Elisabeth, to answer your question , when you are talking about your own family member "死んだ" can be used, but it does not sound very nice and "亡くなった" should be used in this situation. When talking about someone other than your family "死んだ" should never be used "亡くなった" is the appropriate term. BTW, "亡くなる" should be written with kanji in this situation .

My personal view is that euphemisms for death are rather silly or contrived in any language culture even when they are widely accepted and the reasons behind them fully understood. It's literally meaningless, after all, to say the person "passed" or "passed on," "passed away," "vanished" and so on but of course there isn't the same feeling in the West of respect for the dead or ones ancestory. And since this is a conversation on Japanese where everything becomes a little にごらす表現....recently I've really tried to struggle with that mindset and become a little less resistant.

｢死んだ」はただ事実を述べているので、「亡くなった人に尊敬の意をこめて会話では「亡くなる, 亡くなってしまった」を使うようにしましょう。

Also to answer my own question, adding しまった I think probably includes more of a sense of regret or misfortune than simply the word itself.