Some uncertainties in Japanese

[naru]

Hi, I'm new too this forum so please excuse me if I do something wrong!

I have a couple of questions related to Japanese grammar, etc. Some of them might surely seem odd.

1. Is there a verb (-masu) equivalent to "To have" to "To own" like "Tengo / Tiene" in Spanish or "To have". I would feel that something like this would be very useful to know (if it exists) since it could be used in many situations.
Ex
Boku wa densha no kippu ga *verb*.
I have a train ticket.

If there isn't - is there some good replacement for it? Something that could almost could be used in the same way?

2. What does the -n suffix mean?
Ex
"Iin desu yo" instead of "Ii desu yo"

3. Can the -na suffix that denotes adjectives for specific objects (I think) be applied to any regular adjective?
Ex
"Furui tokei" > "Furuina tokei"
Also, I'm very unsure of this, but is it possible to say things like "Tabetaina hanbaagaa" - I.e. turning the verb ultimately into an adjective.

4. When should the 'de' be used? Should it be used only for denoting location(in time or space), i.e. "Boku no kuruma ga iriguchi de aru" "My car is by the entrance".

5. I once heard that 'ya' should be used when "listing" a non-predefined (when you do not list everything of e.g. hobbies, etc) number of things verbally and that 'to' should be used when "listing" a finite number of things. Is this true?
Ex
"Tenisu ya sokkaa ya terebi o mite ga daisuki" = "I really like tennis, soccer and watching TV"
"Kuruma to densha to jiitensha ga ii desu" = "Cars, trains and bicycles are alright (but not necessarily other things)."

6. The big one (for me) - What is really the differences between wo を, wa は, o を and ga が? I do certainly recognize differences, but I'm uncertain about rules in relation to them.

Are wo を and o を exactly the same thing but just pronounced differently (they have the same kana)? In that case, why and when does some pronounce it as "wo" rather than "o" and how come you can sometimes hear "wo" where you would expect "wa" or "ga"?

Are there any thumb rules for knowing when to use "wa" and when to use "ga"?

-

Thank you a lot!

 

[TheAce]

i am still learning myself, but there are some things I know:

1.
Boku wa densha no kippu ga *verb*.
I have a train ticket.

it is better to learn with watashi, boku sounds a bit rude
and because "ga" is behind "densha no kippu" i think it means something more like "the train ticket
the verb I do't know yet, sorry


3.
the "na" particle is only used behind na-adjectives
that are mostly the adjectives without an -i at the end
some na-adjectives have -i at the end, but not many


6.
i haven't learned "wo"/"o" yet, but i know the differance between "wa" and "ga"
wa is used for just saying what the topic is
ga is used for pointing out a specific thing

some examples (not 100% sure if they're right)
watashi wa baka desu - i am an idiot
watashi ga baka desu - the idiot, that's me

both actually mean "i am an idiot", but if you use "ga" it'll sound more like you are talking specificly about yourself

 

[naru]

i am still learning myself, but there are some things I know:

1.
Boku wa densha no kippu ga *verb*.
I have a train ticket.

it is better to learn with watashi, boku sounds a bit rude
and because "ga" is behind "densha no kippu" i think it means something more like "the train ticket
the verb I do't know yet, sorry

Well, I use 'boku' because I heard from someone that saying 'watashi' (as a male) does sound a bit odd in Japanese conversation. Using 'ore' however is what I regard as too rude unless with your close buddies or something, I believe 'boku' has some degree of formality to it, albeit not much. But still thanks for the heads up.

6.
i haven't learned "wo"/"o" yet, but i know the differance between "wa" and "ga"
wa is used for just saying what the topic is
ga is used for pointing out a specific thing

some examples (not 100% sure if they're right)
watashi wa baka desu - i am an idiot
watashi ga baka desu - the idiot, that's me

both actually mean "i am an idiot", but if you use "ga" it'll sound more like you are talking specificly about yourself

I heard something like that too - thanks for providing some good examples. For me it just feels tricky to pick out which one I should use while I am actually writing/talking.

 

[Glenn]

1. No, there really isn't anything like that. In this case you want motsu in its present progressive/resultant state form: motteiru. So, your sentence would be kippu o motteiru. There's also aru and iru for existence, which are used to show ownership sometimes, like watashi ni otouto ga san-nin imasu or kanojo ni mago ga imasu or boku no ie ni robotto ga aru.

2. Have you tried searching for this one? It's a big one that comes up often.

3. There are two types of adjectives: -na and -i. The don't really mix, but sometimes you can replace the i of an -i adjective with na, like ookina or chiisana.

4. It would have to be ni aru. Generally speaking, ni is used for stative verbs, like "being," "sitting," "standing," etc., and de is used for action verbs, like "walking," "running," "working," etc. There's more to it than that, but that's the basic difference. A basic textbook should explain this, so if you can, I suggest getting your hands on one.

5. Well, I think your examples are a little off, but yes, ya is for inexhaustive lists, and to for exhaustive lists. For natural corrections you'll have to wait for one of our resident native speakers to chime in.

6. Wo and o are just two different ways to romanize を, like tu and tsu for つ. The pronunciation should be the same (although in practice the pronunciation of を can sound more like "wo," particularly in songs). It is the accusative marker. In other words, it marks direct objects. Again, any basic textbook should explain this.

Wa and ga are a topic worthy of a doctoral thesis, so I'm not going to touch that here, but if you do a search you should find lots of stuff on them.

 

[naru]

1. No, there really isn't anything like that. In this case you want motsu in its present progressive/resultant state form: motteiru. So, your sentence would be kippu o motteiru. There's also aru and iru for existence, which are used to show ownership sometimes, like watashi ni otouto ga san-nin imasu or kanojo ni mago ga imasu or boku no ie ni robotto ga aru.

Thanks.

2. Have you tried searching for this one? It's a big one that comes up often.

Yes I have actually, and I figure there's probably stuff about it out there. However, I have after several attempts failed to find anything relevant - probably since searching for "-n suffix" and similar things really gives me just a whole load of irrelevant stuff.

4. It would have to be ni aru. Generally speaking, ni is used for stative verbs, like "being," "sitting," "standing," etc., and de is used for action verbs, like "walking," "running," "working," etc. There's more to it than that, but that's the basic difference. A basic textbook should explain this, so if you can, I suggest getting your hands on one.

Thanks! I did not know this.

6. Wo and o are just two different ways to romanize を, like tu and tsu for つ. The pronunciation should be the same (although in practice the pronunciation of を can sound more like "wo," particularly in songs). It is the accusative marker. In other words, it marks direct objects. Again, any basic textbook should explain this.
Wa and ga are a topic worthy of a doctoral thesis, so I'm not going to touch that here, but if you do a search you should find lots of stuff on them.

Okay, thanks a lot.

 

[Half-n-Half]

Honestly once you get past the basic differences between は and が I wouldn't think too hard about when to use one or the other. Through lots of input eventually one will just seem more natural to use than the other. In language it should just feel right, not necessarily satisfy a list of complicated grammar rules.

 

[Touhoushinki]

2. In a broad sense, "n desu" is used when making in enquiries:

ashita doko he iku n desu ka.
Where are you going tomorrow?

You can also easily say "Ashita doko he ikimasu ka" but its more neutral and so the "n desu" sentence has a certain amount of concern/emotion attached to it.

The "n desu" construct can also be used to give reason:

Boy: Kanojo wa kinou paatii ni kita no? (kita n desu ka)
Did your girlfriend come to the party yesterday?

Friend: iie, kaze wo hiichatte konakatta n da.
No she didn't come coz she caught a cold.

And it can be used perhaps emphatically too:

Boy (surprised): Sou nan da...konakatta n da
Oh wow I see... so she didn't come.

Of course its use is probably more complicated than this though. Textbook might be able to explain it better than I did

2. I have never heard of furuina tokei before heh. In any case the -na and -i adjectives for the most part remain mutually exclusive. As Glenn said before ookii and Chisai are the exceptions as they can take on -na adjective forms ookina and chisana but they are used in only very specific circumstances.

4. "de" can also be used to denote passages of time eg.

San jikan de nihongo wo benkyou shimashita
I studied Japanese for three hours.

 

[Glenn]

Yes I have actually, and I figure there's probably stuff about it out there. However, I have after several attempts failed to find anything relevant - probably since searching for "-n suffix" and similar things really gives me just a whole load of irrelevant stuff.

Right, you need better search terms. Try no da or no desu, since the "-n suffix" is just an abbreviated version of that. By the way, it always occurs with some form of the copula. Oh, and generally there are supposed to be two types: no da of scope and no da of mood.

Honestly once you get past the basic differences between は and が I wouldn't think too hard about when to use one or the other. Through lots of input eventually one will just seem more natural to use than the other. In language it should just feel right, not necessarily satisfy a list of complicated grammar rules.

I second this. It's not worth thinking about too much, unless you do want to do a dissertation on it. Otherwise knowing wa is for topics and contrast and ga is for subjects, neutral description, focus, and sometimes objects (like with wakaru or urayamashii) may be enough. But I'm sure you'll have questions about this. Jay Rubin's Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You, from what I understand, does a good job of explaining this with examples (but I've never actually seen the book).

 

[Elizabeth]

4. "de" can also be used to denote passages of time eg.

San jikan de nihongo wo benkyou shimashita
I studied Japanese for three hours.

This means "I studied Japanese in three hours." which doesn't really make sense in the past because "de" after a number indicates length of time as "in" or "after/later" or "within" as in the relative length of time an activity consumes.

Sanjikan de tokyo ni tsuku koto ga dekimasu. (I can reach Tokyo in 3 hours).

Tokyo e ha sanjikan de ikimasu. (It takes three hours to go to Tokyo). etc...

 

[Yuta73]

Hi, I'm new too this forum so please excuse me if I do something wrong!
....

Have you visited Timwerx?
For me it's by far the best free grammar resource I've found. It's in romaji, thou.
You can check Lesson 37 for the "no desu" ending.
This and the NHK course "japan my love" are my main self-studing resources (the full course fits in a CD).