How to say some words that aren't

[EddieMo]

How to say some words that aren't part of the vocabulary.

So I've been learning Japanese online. Romaji only so far, then I'll get started on katakana and hirugana.

I know how to say most things and the site has a good list of verbs + adjectives.

However, I want to know somethings that aren't covered.

How do you say:

-When. as in "when are you done?" is it "toki ni owarimasu ka?" please correct me.

-Later. not as in "see you later" but as in "Later, where will you be?"

What is the difference between Nan and Nani.

does Shite both mean "do" and "know"?

What is "tonight"?

Thank you. And remember I cannot read the actual characters so you'll have to type in Romaji. Thank you all!

 

[apf42589]

see you later is "Ja mata" i believe.
when, is "itsu"

I don't know a lot of Japanese but it helps if you stop trying to turn English sentences to Japanese. here is an example

time -> who -> location -> verb.

But, you look like you have the hang of that.

There is no "will" in Japanese. No future tense, unless maybe I was never taught it.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[EddieMo]

Tomo arigatou gozaimasu!

 

[Toritoribe]

Tomo arigatou gozaimasu!

Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!

You should learn hiragana, katakana and kanji first. Then, you can look up those words in a dictionary yourself. Or, are you going to continue to ask people to translate the words you don't know?;-)

 

[EddieMo]

Yeah but the thing is I am learning by myself. No teacher just websites. I found 3 websites that are really worth looking at.

And I've only been learning for about 5 days. I want to be able to understand and speak it first before learning how to read and write.

Also for the dictionary part, I have a dictionary for romaji.
HOWEVER, it doesn't really tell me how to use it.

For example, for "where" the dictionary says it's "toki ni" "toki no" "toki"

I remember that toki means time so I wasn't so sure about that so I came to you guys to ask for advice. And yes I will follow your advice to later learn hiragana, katana and kanji also but right now, I want to understand the basics of grammar and sentence structure.

But thank you for your input also!

Edit: In case you are wondering why, the reason I'm learning how to speak read and write first is so I can get associated with the syllables. When I finally learn the characters, I'll be able to know how to use them because it's all memorization from that point.

 

[Chidoriashi]

My advice do not try too hard to relate Japanese to English, as in how does "this grammar" translate, most stuff like that is not cut and dry, and trying to make it so will just make your head hurt.

And I gotta go, but "Tonight" is 今夜 こんや konya.

 

[Toritoribe]

If you want to learn Japanese seriously, you should change the order of learning. You can easily find many sites that explain well the functions of those particles "ni" or "no", just like Tae kim's site, if you can read hiragana/katakana/kanji.
Imagine how tough it would be to learn English for those who don't know alphabet at all, and how tough to find dictionaries or English grammar books that don't use any alphabet. It might exist somewhere(although I highly doubt the existance of such books), but it must be definitely rare and hard to find. I think what you are doing is similar to this.

 

[Mike Cash]

The best use of a romaji dictionary is to leave it adjacent your commode, where it rescue you from those embarrassing moments you find yourself without toilet paper.

 

[Half-n-Half]

You can easily find many sites that explain well the functions of those particles "ni" or "no", just like Tae kim's site, if you can read hiragana/katakana/kanji.

I'm glad Tae Kim's site still gets referenced. It was my Bible two years ago when I first started learning.

Learn hiragana and katakana, get an intro textbook, check out Tae Kim's website, and from there everything else will follow if your interest remains.