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[Speedy9199]

What does this mean? 的

I usually see this character with な so like 的な

In chinese 的 means "of" but in Japanese の means "of" so this 的 character has to have a different meaning or used differently in Japanese. What does it mean?

 

[Mike Cash]

Actually, it is a suffix added to a preceding noun and turns it into an adjectival noun. For example 経済 into 経済的. So it means "of" or "having to do with xxx".

At your current grasp of Japanese, it would be far more encouraging if you had shown more interest in the な than the 的.

 

[Speedy9199]

Actually, it is a suffix added to a preceding noun and turns it into an adjectival noun. For example 経済 into 経済的. So it means "of" or "having to do with xxx".

At your current grasp of Japanese, it would be far more encouraging if you had shown more interest in the な than the 的.

So it also means "of" but used only as a suffix? So when you use の it's usually between two words? Also I have seen の used as a possession of a noun which I am pretty sure の is used for like in english the "'s" after nouns also.

Also I know the な is the hiragana "na" sound but like what you were hinting to me to, why use な after 的?

 

[Toritoribe]

の has so many functions other than "possession". For instance, 首都の東京 shows 首都 and 東京 are in apposition.

～的 is a na-adjective/adjectival noun, as Mike-san wrote. ～的な is the adnominal/attributive form.
Japanese equivalents of adjectives - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Incidentally, 的 is made from the transliteration of the final part of English adjectives that end in "-tic" like romantic or optimistic in Meiji Period . It's originally used for translating those English words.

 

[Shirou]

Please, anyone can tell me what it's wrote in this image? Thank you very much!

 

[Mike Cash]

This is why you need to get a regular textbook (or enroll in a class) and learn the language rather than just the characters used to write it. The な bit is covered together with the other adjective type.

Learning the basics of grammar well and from materials that present points in a sensible order with ample explanations and drills will do you a hundred times more good than continuing to focus on kanji and just picking up random little points here and there regarding grammar. It's like a guy who wants to build a house spending all his resources on lumber but not giving a thought to nails.

 

[Toritoribe]

Please, anyone can tell me what it's wrote in this image? Thank you very much!

進化したアクションを体感せよ！ 連撃
Shinka shita akushon wo taikan seyo! Rengeki
Feel evolved actions! Consecutive Attack

 

[Mike Cash]

Please, anyone can tell me what it's wrote in this image? Thank you very much!

進化したアクションを体験せよ。 連撃

 

[Shirou]

Thank you very much!

 

[Speedy9199]

進化したアクションを体験せよ。 連撃

I think 験 is actually 感 it is kind of hard to read since its so small.

 

[Mike Cash]

I just made a careless error between the time I memorized the text from the image and the time I got back to the text input window to transcribe it.

 

[taktak]

Hi, guys,

My guess is it reads 海鷲 or umiwashi, meaning "sea eagles", as were called Japanese fighters (and pilots) during WWII. The explanation is as follows:
1) Till the end of WWII, when Japanese was written horizontally (as were magazine titles, shop signs, company names on trucks, etc. ) it was usually written from right to left. The guy who wrote this must have rememberd that.
2) 海鷲 was not the name of a specific model of Janese fighters as 紫電改 etc., but general nickname for fighters and pilots (there are films entitled 桃太郎の海鷲, an anime, 海鷲, a documentary, etc. (Which means this sign is not a genuine one, because no fighter had this written on them or, for that matter, no fighters had their names written in kanji on them, if not model numbers. It's written on the replica just for a show.)
3) As for the kanji 鷲, I first suspected it was an 異体字 (variant) of 鷲, but a look up of my 漢和辞典 proved it wasn't (there's no 異体字 for 鷲). My guess is that might be because of it being written in stencil (it's hard to think a Japanese military fan who wrote it made such an elementary mistake about such a rather popular kanji like 鷲 when cutting out a stencil plate or painting otherwise. Why stencil? You see the bottom stroke of the さんずい of 海 is divided in two. And the look of the photograph suggest that the letters were first stenciled and then retouched. When writing letters in stencil, they often change strokes not to let parts drop off...., but for this point I'm not really sure.

taktak

 

[Mike Cash]

What are you replying to?

 

[Toritoribe]

Hi, guys,

My guess is it reads 海鷲 or umiwashi, meaning "sea eagles", as were called Japanese fighters (and pilots) during WWII. The explanation is as follows:
1) Till the end of WWII, when Japanese was written horizontally (as were magazine titles, shop signs, company names on trucks, etc. ) it was usually written from right to left. The guy who wrote this must have remembered that.
2) 海鷲 was not the name of a specific model of Japanese fighters as 紫電改 etc., but general nickname for fighters and pilots (there are films entitled 桃太郎の海鷲, an anime, 海鷲, a documentary, etc. (Which means this sign is not a genuine one, because no fighter had this written on them or, for that matter, no fighters had their names written in kanji on them, if not model numbers. It's written on the replica just for a show.)
3) As for the kanji 鷲, I first suspected it was an 異体字 (variant) of 鷲, but a look up of my 漢和辞典 proved it wasn't (there's no 異体字 for 鷲). My guess is that might be because of it being written in stencil (it's hard to think a Japanese military fan who wrote it made such an elementary mistake about such a rather popular kanji like 鷲 when cutting out a stencil plate or painting otherwise. Why stencil? You see the bottom stroke of the さんずい of 海 is divided in two. And the look of the photograph suggest that the letters were first stenciled and then retouched. When writing letters in stencil, they often change strokes not to let parts drop off...., but for this point I'm not really sure.

taktak

Your reply seems to be a bit late for the OP. It has been FIVE AND HALF years since then....

Need a Kanji Translated? Just ask! | Japan Forum

 

[Speedy9199]

In Japanese, this character, 我 makes no sense to me.

Various sources say it means "I" in Japanese, which is the same meaning in Chinese but how I see the Japanese using it confuses me.

Isn't 私 僕 俺 and I am pretty sure わたくし all mean "I" in English but I don't see 我 being used like one of those.

I have seen this before 我が which I know means "our" but it still doesn't make sense to me and I have also seen this as well 我々

Can someone explain to me (EXCEPT MIKE CASH) how and when you should use 我 in Japanese.

 

[Mike Cash]

Nothing in Japanese makes sense to you. Try learning the ****** language instead of just kanji.

 

[Speedy9199]

Nothing in Japanese makes sense to you. Try learning the ****** language instead of just kanji.

And of course Mike Cash replies since he can't read underlined text or English properly. lol

Are you seriously going to reply to me from now on if I post questions like that? Oh wait... yes you are since you post in pretty much EVERY THREAD. You need to take a break/leave the internet seriously.

On a side note: I rarely ever see a person with thousands and thousands upon thousands of posts post normally on forums...

 

[Mike Cash]

Instead of being antagonistic, why don't you try counting the number of people who have bothered trying to help your clueless self?

I reply just to prove that people who stick their fingers in their ears and get their panties in a wad when being told what they NEED to hear instead of what they WANT to hear by proclaiming they're putting somebody on their ignore list in reality just can't resist the urge to click and see what was said.

You proved me right.

Seriously, you don't have the first damned clue about even the most rudimentary elements of how Japanese works....clueless about particles, clueless about conjugation, and what's worse don't even give a flying sh!t to bother learning....and you obsess over how kanji are used. You NEED to have a familiarity with the LANGUAGE in order for explanations about how kanji were force-fit onto it as a writing system to make any sense at all. Why don't you try learning what any m0ron would pick up from the first two or three lessons of any beginning Japanese class before assuming you're so damned smart that kanji alone is all you need? Have you ever given a thought to why there are kana scattered about here and there throughout Japanese text? It is because they contain bits of information vital to understanding how all parts relate to each other, bits that can't be sussed from the kanji parts alone. No, jackass, you CAN'T just gloss the kanji from Japanese text and skip the rest and have any hopes of understanding it clearly. And you sure as hell can't WRITE Japanese that way either.

Do us all a favor and go learn Chinese already.

PS: 私 IS わたくし.

When the clue store opens, run down and pick up a few.

 

[Speedy9199]

Instead of being antagonistic, why don't you try counting the number of people who have bothered trying to help your clueless self?

I reply just to prove that people who stick their fingers in their ears and get their panties in a wad when being told what they NEED to hear instead of what they WANT to hear by proclaiming they're putting somebody on their ignore list in reality just can't resist the urge to click and see what was said.

You proved me right.

Seriously, you don't have the first damned clue about even the most rudimentary elements of how Japanese works....clueless about particles, clueless about conjugation, and what's worse don't even give a flying sh!t to bother learning....and you obsess over how kanji are used. You NEED to have a familiarity with the LANGUAGE in order for explanations about how kanji were force-fit onto it as a writing system to make any sense at all. Why don't you try learning what any m0ron would pick up from the first two or three lessons of any beginning Japanese class before assuming you're so damned smart that kanji alone is all you need? Have you ever given a thought to why there are kana scattered about here and there throughout Japanese text? It is because they contain bits of information vital to understanding how all parts relate to each other, bits that can't be sussed from the kanji parts alone. No, jackass, you CAN'T just gloss the kanji from Japanese text and skip the rest and have any hopes of understanding it clearly. And you sure as hell can't WRITE Japanese that way either.

Do us all a favor and go learn Chinese already.

PS: 私 IS わたくし.

When the clue store opens, run down and pick up a few.

Yeah I knew you were going to comment about the part where I block you and then reply. I had to look at your posts and unblock you because almost every thread on this forum is unreadable because you post so much.

Just because I post A LOT about Kanji and seem only focused on Kanji by my posts doesn't mean I was not going to post things about Katakana, Hiragana, how to speak, write sentences in Japanese in the future.... seriously. OF COURSE I know you can't read ALL of Japanese JUST knowing Kanji. I learn Kanji because it's actually fun to do so and I am not "trapped" in Japan or something like that that I am forced and have no choice to learn Japanese. Every language learning experience doesn't have to be very serious... it's not that my life depends on i,t even if this language is confusing it's not a waste of time for me and it's good to know a little more about different languages.

Lets take this discussion to PMs because I don't want this thread to turn ugly.

 

[Mike Cash]

I barely tolerate PMs from people I like. Sending me one would be a waste of your time.

 

[Speedy9199]

I barely tolerate PMs from people I like. Sending me one would be a waste of your time.

I came from another forum before I came here with people that comment about learning things just like you. Not just to me but to other people that might do the same thing I do on this forum. I have seen people try to force people to do things and just keep on bulling them until they are forced to do it. To people that are bullied this is NOT fun AT ALL and makes you hate your learning experience and in the end the person learns NOTHING. Using force or bulling people to teach them things does NOT WORK, I have seen this over and over again and again and it leads to nowhere. If you don't believe me look on some other forum where the community teaches you things about anything. All it leads is to nothing but crap and in the end the person bullied leaves and gives up.

 

[Mike Cash]

My mistake has been assuming you are interested in learning Japanese. It is abundantly evident you are not.

There is a difference between bullying people and trying to get a point across to the deliberately obtuse. However, you have quite correctly reminded me of the wisdom of the adage, "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig".

 

[Speedy9199]

My mistake has been assuming you are interested in learning Japanese. It is abundantly evident you are not.

There is a difference between bullying people and trying to get a point across to the deliberately obtuse. However, you have quite correctly reminded me of the wisdom of the adage, "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig".

Learning another language than just knowing one is good for you and helps/changes your brain even if you don't fully learn it in a good way. (I believe that is even a well proven fact) Before I came to this forum I knew someone with a Doctor's degree (8 years of college) that said he wanted to learn the kanji before anything else, which he did as you say, not learning it properly.

How about this, can you give me an example in which a kanji is being used and you HAD to know hiragana to understand it or else you will completely mistranslate what you read or something like that. If you can show me examples like these, that will force me to learn the hiragana more and to focus less on Kanji. If you yourself don't have the time to show me can you give me some links? One thing I have noticed that is something like this is; 速く If I just look at 速 I will only see the meaning "speed" but when く is added it becomes the meaning "faster" which I am almost for sure I am correct about that and I have seen this used in other Japanese writing. Can you give me more examples like that to get my brain off of Kanji?

 

[Mike Cash]

I didn't say word one about having to learn hiragana before or instead of kanji.

What I have been hammering at, and which you seem incapable of even contemplating, much less grasping, is that the LANGUAGE and the ORTHOGRAPHY are two different things.

 

[Speedy9199]

I didn't say word one about having to learn hiragana before or instead of kanji.

What I have been hammering at, and which you seem incapable of even contemplating, much less grasping, is that the LANGUAGE and the ORTHOGRAPHY are two different things.

It's just that when I looked at some of your post history you have said before that learning kanji and katakana was not learning Japanese so I only assumed. Ok, you say speaking Japanese and it's writing system is not the same. Is there voice tones or sounds not in English but are in Japanese? I have read the Japanese R sound is different than in English and watched videos about that. And that writing can't actually teach you how to talk the language without hearing it.

Is THIS what you mean?

Please, you must understand that it seems I don't understand this well because I verbally speak only one language and a person who verbally speaks more than one language can understand this more like you.

Edit: In case I still don't get it. Here's maybe the reason why. When you know more than one language your brain "opens up" and you have more logic and reasoning skills. This is what I meant before. People that know only one language think more straight foward and can't understand and learn things as easy because they think in only one way. When you get older something happens to your brain and you can only think straight foward. When your younger this doesn't happen.

Mike when did you learn English?