Basic Conversation Practice for Beginners

[Damicci]

ダミッチさん、こんばんは！
Good evening, Damicci-san!

じかん（時間）があまりないので、へんじ（返事）はこれだけです。
My post is for only this question, because I don't have much time.

うらやましい (i-adjective):
うらやましがる (to be/feel jealous)
うらやましがらない (to be/feel [not] jealous)
うらやましがらないで (don't be jealous)

くわしいことは、ここをよんで（読んで）ください。
Showing signs of something - Tae Kim's Japanese grammar guide
Please read this for details.

本当にごめんなさい。 私はこの返事にありがとうございますと言いませんでした。
I am really sorry. I did not say "Thank you" for this answer.
ありがとうございました。 えっと 「～がる」と言う、すべて「Ｉ－Ａｄｊｅｃｔｉｖｅ」と一緒に「がる」を使う
ことが出来ませんか。
Thank You. um, To say (to be/feel ~), Are you not able to use "がる" with all I-Adjectives?

 

[Elizabeth]

Hehe, it is that bad I guess. I really wish I could afford a good book

I will try, but I don't know how to answer this very well.

日本語でも英語でもどちらでも良いですよ。(in either English or Japanese is fine !)
誰かが日本語に訳すだろうから。(because someone will translate it to Japanese).


日本語を勉強するのに、間違いを訂正してもらうの は一番役に立つ勉強方法ですね。
Receiving corrections is the best method for studying Japanese, don't you think ?

 

[Elizabeth]

私の友達は彼のガラッジで修理をしました。
Ｍｙ ｆｒｉｅｎｄ ｄｉｄ ｔｈｅ ｒｅｐａｉｒｓ ａｔ ｈｉｓ ｇａｒａｇｅ.

In the case you asked and paid for the repairs,

私の友達には、彼のガラッジで修理してもらいました。がいいとおもいます。
修理をしました。is the kind of thing he would do with his own car.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

日本語でも英語でもどちらでも良いですよ。(in either English or Japanese is fine !)
誰かが日本語に訳すだろうから。(because someone will translate it to Japanese).


日本語を勉強するのに、間違いを訂正してもらうの は一番役に立つ勉強方法ですね。
Receiving corrections is the best method for studying Japanese, don't you think ?

Yes, thank you elizabeth-san, you are so helpful. God bless you.

Nihongo demo eigo demo dokira demo 良 idesuyo..

Wow! alot of demo's..

One more thing. I heard 'okasan' means mother, hehe. It is interesting to find out so many things use 'san' as part of keigo, politeness. I remember san is used as the most polite level, keigo level. So, calling your mother would be polite, so therefore it is used as 'san' at the end. Interesting. I also heard 'haha' meant mother as well, more like 'mommy' in english. Is this true? If it is, this is quite humorous. (No pun intended, LOL)

 

[Damicci]

haha is used to refer to your own mother, okaasan is used to refer to other peoples mothers.

chichi and otousan too.

 

[Elizabeth]

haha is used to refer to your own mother, okaasan is used to refer to other peoples mothers.

chichi and otousan too.

Haha is what you use talking about your own mother with other people in formal or polite conversation. Perhaps it is more humble. Okaasan is what you call your own mother at home (well, not everyone, but as a general rule), your own mother with close friends or other peoples' mothers.

I know it is confusing....there was a thread on this not long ago though, which I'll try to recover.

 

[Damicci]

Jinkies, I forgot about that using at home part. hehehe

 

[Elizabeth]

Yes, thank you elizabeth-san, you are so helpful. God bless you.

Nihongo demo eigo demo dokira demo 良 idesuyo..

Nihongo de - In Japanese
Mo - Both/also
Eigo de - In English
Dochira - Which
Demo - Any
(Dochira demo - either one)
良 (i) - Yoi (or ii) Good/Fine


Demo (but, however) at least the 'demo' in eigo de mo and Nihongo de mo are not really words, only the particles 'de' and 'mo')

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Nihongo de - In Japanese
Mo - Both/also
Eigo de - In English
Dochira - Which
Demo - Any
(Dochira demo - either one)
窶氾 (i) - Yoi (or ii) Good/Fine


Demo (but, however) at least the 'demo' in eigo de mo and Nihongo de mo are not really words, only the particles 'de' and 'mo')

Oh, I see. Could you perhaps explain 'de' better? I also see 'mo' used alot, but it is not always used as also, as well!

How would I say, "Interesting", "However", "I see", etc?

Watashi no nihongo de ii desu ka?
Is my japanese good?

 

[doinkies]

doinkies would say 私の日本語はいいですか？ instead.

面白い（おもしろい） = interesting, funny
そうですか／そうか／そうですね／そうね = I see...
けど （from けれども）／だけど = however (also used as but). They are not used at the beginning of sentences, but to link sentences together.

例えば（たとえば, for example)：
漫画（まんが）が好きですけど、少年漫画
（しょうねんまんが）があまり好きじゃありません。
I like manga, however (or but) I don't like shounen manga too much.

 

[Elizabeth]

doinkies would say 私の日本語はいいですか？ instead.

Usually it is Watashi no nihongo ha jouzu desuka? Yoi isn't really appropriate in describing a person's skill or ability. Well, actually not usually since it isn't really considered very good manners to ask about yourself. XXX de ii desuka ? = Is this fine ? Is this OK ?

I'll try and explain more about de when I have a chance.

 

[Glenn]

Looks like "And because my Japanese is also subtle" Kinda Hard for me to translate that sentence into natural english, too many add on words. @_@
Should probably something following or something before it. Was there more to that sentence GCL?

I think "ambiguous" is better than "subtle" here. It seems that he's saying that his usage is wakamono no kotoba. Does he use watashi-teki a lot?

By the way, the sentence would mean "and since my Japanese is ambiguous..."

 

[Damicci]

I see, still am confused whether there should be more to this statement.

 

[The7thSamurai]

A quick question, are there other ways to greet someone and ask how they are rather than 「こんにちは、お元気ですか」? In English we have a heap of ways, some more formal than others, to greet someone, e.g. "hey, how's it going?", "hey, what's up?", "what's goin on?".

Every time I say 「げんき？」 to one of my Japanese friends they always seem to give a quick laugh and reply 「はい、げんき」, and I've only heard it said once between Japanese people, and they were two old ducks lining up at the post office.

I know there's also いかがですか but I heard somewhere you only really say that if the other person has had some trouble recently.

Could one of you gurus maybe put together a list of informal greetings and the situations that they can be used in?

 

[Glenn]

I see, still am confused whether there should be more to this statement.

He's saying "there's nothing funny, Mr. America (that's a bit funny, but whatever), and my Japanese is a bit ambiguous, so..." It appears that he's giving a reason for why there may be misunderstanding and miscommunication between the two of them.

Could one of you gurus maybe put together a list of informal greetings and the situations that they can be used in?

I believe they don't use them like we do. Check out this post. Of course if anyone knows any that are commonly used I'd be interested to read about them as well.

 

[Elizabeth]

Every time I say 「げんき？」 to one of my Japanese friends they always seem to give a quick laugh and reply 「はい、げんき」, and I've only heard it said once between Japanese people, and they were two old ducks lining up at the post office.

Ogenki ? (desuka?) I usually just use on the phone or in the introduction of a letter. I've never heard it in person either I guess since it's easier to see if the person is well 面と向かって especially if it's someone you see often.

You can also use "oh, hai, hai" for phone conversations with a friend as greeting or "ojama shimashitaka?" (am I interrupting ?) in more polite contexts.

I know there's also いかがですか but I heard somewhere you only really say that if the other person has had some trouble recently.

I agree. It's the polite version of "dou desuka" and since the subject is often a person's mood or health condition, used alone would be like saying "How have you been doing ? Or how have you been getting along lately?" as a greeting.

If you're going to give a greeting, they almost invariably correspond to the time of day -- I don't think I've ever been told "Konnichiwa" before 10-11 in the morning or after 4-5 in the afternoon and never by a friend (member of your in-group) in person. Unless you want to sound like you don't know anything else, although according to the link, 'konnichiwa' anytime obviously is possible..

 

[doinkies]

Usually it is Watashi no nihongo ha jouzu desuka? Yoi isn't really appropriate in describing a person's skill or ability. Well, actually not usually since it isn't really considered very good manners to ask about yourself. XXX de ii desuka ? = Is this fine ? Is this OK ?

I'll try and explain more about de when I have a chance.

Ah, oops, doinkies forgot about that. Yeah, it is supposed to be 私の日本語は上手ですか？.

 

[moofs]

A quick question, are there other ways to greet someone and ask how they are rather than 「こんにちは、お元気ですか」? In English we have a heap of ways, some more formal than others, to greet someone, e.g. "hey, how's it going?", "hey, what's up?", "what's going on?".

Every time I say 「げんき？」 to one of my Japanese friends they always seem to give a quick laugh and reply 「はい、げんき」, and I've only heard it said once between Japanese people, and they were two old ducks lining up at the post office.

I know there's also いかがですか but I heard somewhere you only really say that if the other person has had some trouble recently.

Could one of you gurus maybe put together a list of informal greetings and the situations that they can be used in?

Here's an informal one, sorta. Try 元気してる？ (lit. Are you doing well?), which can be thought as "How are you?"

For example, you just go up to your friend from behind and tap him on the shoulder and he turns around, you could say "Hey, how are ya?" which is "よっ、元気してる？" or something to that effect. Hm.. sounds a bit funny, I dunno.

 

[Cynergy]

My goodness this thread has grown since I last left!

わたし わ やすました。すみません。:sorry:

I know I'm just piecing things together, as I didn't work too much on my Japanese whilst on my break. I guess I have to work doubly hard now!

 

[McCrutch67]

わたし わ やすました。すみません。

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. First of all, "wa" is は, not わ when it is used as a particle. Besides that, I don't know what you mean by "yasumashita." If you want to use yasumu, to rest, then rested is やすみました. Is that what you mean, "わたし は やすみました" - "I rested" ?

 

[Elizabeth]

I think maybe Cynergy wanted to say that he was on break/taking time off (from this thread) or absent and is sorry. It is still やすみました。

 

[Elizabeth]

Here's an informal one, sorta. Try 元気してる？ (lit. Are you doing well?), which can be thought as "How are you?"

For example, you just go up to your friend from behind and tap him on the shoulder and he turns around, you could say "Hey, how are ya?" which is "よっ、元気してる？" or something to that effect. Hm.. sounds a bit funny, I dunno.

Except I think 元気してる is used mostly by young girls...so I suppose that would sound funny. Let us know if you have already tried it to make sure, though.

 

[Cynergy]

I think maybe Cynergy wanted to say that he was on break/taking time off (from this thread) or absent and is sorry. It is still やすみました。

Indeed that's what I was trying to say. Like I said earlier I"m having trouble cementing what I"ve learned and now I'm trying to speak/type in the language. So that leads me to piecing things together, which means I'm probably getting most of it wrong.

I just guessed as yasumu means to be absent and -mashita makes it past tense, that it would mean that I had been absent, but no longer am, and am sorry (by adding sumimasen). And I keep forgetting that while spoken it is "wa" when typing I should be typing "ha".

Please forgive my pitiful knowledge of the language, I seriously wish I had more time dedicated to learning it.

 

[nice gaijin]

間違（まちが）えてもいいですよ、Cynergyさん。このBBSは日本語が上手（じょうず）になる為（ため）のものですからね。

 

[Cynergy]

間違（まちが）えてもいいですよ、Cynergyさん。このBBSは日本語が上手（じょうず）になる為（ため）のものですからね。

そうですね。

Translating that message with just my dictionary and lesson book was fun.