Addressing a group

[Angel Valis]

I was curious how to address a group. I know that みな(さん) is "everyone" but would it be used in the following context?

"Some of you already know me."

The only other way I can think to construct it would be:
ここの少ない人はもう私を分かります。
"Some of the people here already know me."

Essentially, I'm curious how I should say it. I'm going to have to introduce myself to the class I will be running supplemental instruction lessons for, and some of the people in the class are students I've had previously.

Also, in this usage would 分かります or 分かっています be more appropriate?

よろしくおねがいします。

 

[undrentide]

I was curious how to address a group. I know that みな(さん) is "everyone" but would it be used in the following context?

"Some of you already know me."

The only other way I can think to construct it would be:
ここの少ない人はもう私を分かります。
"Some of the people here already know me."

Essentially, I'm curious how I should say it. I'm going to have to introduce myself to the class I will be running supplemental instruction lessons for, and some of the people in the class are students I've had previously.

Also, in this usage would 分かります or 分かっています be more appropriate?

よろしくおねがいします。

分かる means to be able to the difference/understand and in this context "know" is 知っている.

In case of "some of...""many of..." etc. translating word by word does not always work.

"Some of you already know me."
When you're addressing to a group of people,
みなさんの中には私のことを知っているひとがいます。

In a formal situation, one might say
みなさんの中には私のことをご存知の方もいらっしゃい ます／いらっしゃるかと思います。
（ご存知＝知っている いらっしゃる＝いる both are keigo/honorific expression)

 

[Angel Valis]

分かる means to be able to the difference/understand and in this context "know" is 知っている.

Ha ha, yeah, I get 分かる and 知る mixed up sometimes, even my instructor had difficulty explaining it when I asked. She was saying to use 分かる when you have at least a bit of knowledge about what's being said, and to use 知る when you don't know anything about it.

みなさんの中には私のことを知っているひとがいます。

I'm not sure how this is saying what it's saying...

みなさんの中: within everyone, so individual(s) in the group?

私のこと: Umm...yeah...not sure on this, I know 私 of course, and こと (thing...unless this is a different こと)...but not sure how it fits in with the meaning of the whole sentence. How would the meaning change if just 私 was used?

So is the (somewhat literal) translation something like "There are people here (in the group) that know me"?

 

[Toritoribe]

Ha ha, yeah, I get 分かる and 知る mixed up sometimes, even my instructor had difficulty explaining it when I asked. She was saying to use 分かる when you have at least a bit of knowledge about what's being said, and to use 知る when you don't know anything about it.

In addition, you need to pay attention to the difference between 知る/わかる and 知っている/わかっている(and plus, 知っていた/わかっていた).

みなさんの中: within everyone, so individual(s) in the group?

among you

私のこと: Umm...yeah...not sure on this, I know 私 of course, and こと (thing...unless this is a different こと)...but not sure how it fits in with the meaning of the whole sentence. How would the meaning change if just 私 was used?

That might be close to "about me".

［2］ 形式名詞。上に修飾語を伴ってどんな事柄であるかが限 定される。
（ア） ある物事に関連する事柄。

・ 自分の―は自分でしなさい

・ 試験の―を話す

・ 彼の―だからうまく処理するだろう

「こと」の検索結果 - Yahoo!辞書

So is the (somewhat literal) translation something like "There are people here (in the group) that know me"?

There are people among you that know about me.

 

[Angel Valis]

Thank you both for helping me out with this. It's definitely making more sense now. I figure it's going to take some practice to really understand the difference between 分かる and 知る.

どうもありがとうございます。

 

[Angel Valis]

Umm, I have another related question so I figure I'll just put it here.

After I cover the fact that some people already know me (yay that I know how to say that now). How can I say, "For those who don't, my name is 黒川神恵."

I was originally thinking of saying, 「私の名前は知らない人に黒川神恵です。」

Or should I just give my name normally first and then state that some people know me? Which sounds more natural?

 

[Mike Cash]

You can (should) just drop the chatty "for those who don't..." part altogether and state your name. That is more natural.

 

[Toritoribe]

And が is used to connect those two sentences.

みなさんの中には私のことをもう/既にご存知の方もいらっしゃるでしょうが、私の名前は 黒川神恵です。

みんなの中には私のことをもう知っている人もいるでし ょうが、私の名前は黒川神恵です。

 

[Angel Valis]

Thanks for the replies.

みんなの中には私のことをもう知っている人もいるでしょうが、私の名前は黒川神恵です。

I just have a couple small questions. Is the も in "...人もいる..." sort of acting as contrast in this sentence? I know も carries a meaning of "too" or "also", but a direct translation of that sounds odd coming out of nowhere with no context (in English)... is it sort of implying the reverse of the statement, that some people don't know me?

Also, why did you choose でしょう to end that sentence? I know there will be people who know me, "probably" seems...cautious. Or is that the point? Believe me, I want learn how to use the language correctly, so I'm all for using でしょう here if it's more natural.


Also....what is the difference between みんな and みな(さん)? When I first learned the word for everyone, I saw it spelled, in romaji, as minnasan, implying there is an ん in it. However I later came across みなさん so now I'm a bit confused.

 

[Toritoribe]

Is the も in "...人もいる..." sort of acting as contrast in this sentence? I know も carries a meaning of "too" or "also", but a direct translation of that sounds odd coming out of nowhere with no context (in English)... is it sort of implying the reverse of the statement, that some people don't know me?

Yeah, your interpretation is correct. That も connotes 私を知らない人も知っている人もいる or "There are people who don't know me, and also there are people who already know me."

Also, why did you choose でしょう to end that sentence? I know there will be people who know me, "probably" seems...cautious. Or is that the point? Believe me, I want learn how to use the language correctly, so I'm all for using でしょう here if it's more natural.

It is a kind of euphemism, sounds softer than 知っている人もいますが.

Also....what is the difference between みんな and みな(さん)? When I first learned the word for everyone, I saw it spelled, in romaji, as minnasan, implying there is an ん in it. However I later came across みなさん so now I'm a bit confused.

"Minnasan" is just incorrect. It's either みんな or みなさん.

 

[Angel Valis]

"Minnasan" is just incorrect. It's either みんな or みなさん.

Ahh, thanks, well it was in an email so it was probably just a typo. Though it got ingrained in my mind for awhile *sigh* lol.

So I take it that みんな is simply a more casual form of みなさん? Does this follow the same social rules as using honorifics with names (using みんな when with people to whom you wouldn't add さん to their names)?

 

[Toritoribe]

So I take it that みんな is simply a more casual form of みなさん? Does this follow the same social rules as using honorifics with names (using みんな when with people to whom you wouldn't add さん to their names)?

Right. みんな is a 撥音添加[はつおんてんか](ん addition) of みな, as same as おなじ→おんなじ, まま→まんま, まなか→まんなか and so on.(The added ones are more colloquial than the original.) Thus, both みんな and みなさん are originally from みな.

I wrote みんなの中には in the example sentence in my previous post, but みなさんの中には would be more appropriate for a (somewhat) formal speech like self-introduction.