Birthdays

Tomii515 · 8 May 2006

My birthday is May 15th. I want to say "My birthday is May 15th." which one is how u say it?
(watashi no) tunjoubi wa gogatsu juugoban desu.
(watashi no) tunjoubi wa juugoban gogatsu desu.
(watashi no) tunjoubi wa gogatsu juugonichi desu.
(watashi no) tunjoubi wa juugonichi gogatsu desu.
(the one in bold is what I think the right one is)
which one is right? if none of thm are right, please tell me the correct sentence and why it is like that. thanks!
p.s. in happy birthday in japanese, wh is it "birthday happy"?

Buntaro · 8 May 2006

"My birthday is May 15th."

--> (watashi no) tanjoubi wa gogatsu juugonichi desu.

Your Japanese is coming along very nicely. Keep up the good work!

"Happy birthday!"

--> Tanjoubi ni omedetou gozaimasu!"

KrazyKat · 8 May 2006

Happy Birthday - ハッピーバースデー

JimmySeal · 8 May 2006

Buntaro said:
"Happy birthday!"
--> Tanjoubi ni omedetou gozaimasu!"

Tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu!

Literally "birthday congratulations/birthday happy"

Elizabeth · 8 May 2006

Tanjoubi omededoto !

"(watashi no) tunjoubi wa gogatsu juugoban desu."

Is incorrect because "ban" (番） as a counter is used when you can substitute the English "number," of a series :

５番の電車 (number 5 train), 私の席は５番です。(My seat is number 5). etc.

Also, Tomii, can you please make a birthday resolution to start writing in kana and stop using romaji with spelling mistakes ?

Mike Cash · 8 May 2006

Elizabeth said:
Tanjoubi omededoto !

"(watashi no) tunjoubi wa gogatsu juugoban desu."

Is incorrect because "ban" (番） as a counter is used when you can substitute the English "number," of a series :

５番の電車 (number 5 train), 私の席は５番です。(My seat is number 5). etc.

Trains that are numbered are usually followed by 号. Individual cars get 両 or 輌, with the ordinal suffix 目.

Elizabeth · 8 May 2006

Mike Cash said:
Trains that are numbered are usually followed by 号. Individual cars get 両 or 輌, with the ordinal suffix 目.

And isn't it the number followed by 号車 for individual cars, at least for passenger as opposed to commuter trains, Shinkansen, etc and perhaps long-haul buses as well ?

In any event, it was just a demonstration of the concept. I initially used バス
but changed to make the example more interesting.

Mike Cash · 8 May 2006

Elizabeth said:
And isn't it the number followed by 号車 for individual cars, at least for passenger as opposed to commuter trains, Shinkansen, etc and perhaps long-haul buses as well ?

Yes, that is correct. They would be 1号車 2号車 3号車. Counting off things like the cars in a train, where several separate vehicles are combined to make a single unit, would be 1両目 2両目 3両目. The kanji 両 is often used, although the more "correct" kanji would be 輌.

Buntaro · 9 May 2006

Tomi-san!

Don't worry about learning Japanese characters (Hiragana, etc.) right away. For someone who is only 12 years old, you are doing very well.

However, the sooner you learn Hiragana, the better. Here is a great web page to learn Hiragana, starting with the first character "ah".

a

Here is a page where you can type in romaji (ABC's) and see the corresponding Hiragana:

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/romaji.htm

Here is a chart where you can cut and paste Hiragana and make words:

Hiragana Writing Chart

If you unable to display Hiragana on your computer screen, let us know.
Try to learn a few Hiragana. Try to write a few words in Hiragana in this thread. Let us know how it goes.

Elizabeth · 9 May 2006

Buntaro said:
Tomi-san!
Don't worry about learning Japanese characters (Hiragana, etc.) right away. For someone who is only 12 years old, you are doing very well.
However, the sooner you learn Hiragana, the better. Here is a great web page to learn Hiragana, starting with the first character "ah".
a
Try to learn a few Hiragana, and let us know how it goes.

Thanks, Buntaro ! Although he knows hiragana fine (as far as I can tell) it's just a matter of application.

Buntaro · 9 May 2006

Elizabeth-san!

Oops, you post shows my shows my post before I edited it. Maita, na.... (Bunataro's hand goes to the back of his head, Pink-Lady-ish style. Who remembers that one...?)

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

Elizabeth said:
And isn't it the number followed by 号車 for individual cars, at least for passenger as opposed to commuter trains, Shinkansen, etc and perhaps long-haul buses as well ?
In any event, it was just a demonstration of the concept. I initially used バス
but changed to make the example more interesting.

Sorry, my computer wont let me write in Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji. The only way to type that way, is to find an online dictionary, lookup the word and copy and paste that. I'll try to remember to do that!

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

Buntaro said:
Tomi-san!
Don't worry about learning Japanese characters (Hiragana, etc.) right away. For someone who is only 12 years old, you are doing very well.
However, the sooner you learn Hiragana, the better. Here is a great web page to learn Hiragana, starting with the first character "ah".
Here is a page where you can type in romaji (ABC's) and see the corresponding Hiragana:
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/romaji.htm

I already know all the Hiragana....I'm working on Katakana, and some Kanji now...

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

ok, so "My birthday is May 15th." is "(私の) 誕生日は五月十五です"?

and "Happy birthday!" is "誕生日おめでとう (ございます)" or is there a "に" in the middle? And, also, do you need "ございます"? (I was wondering how to say "Happy Birthday" because on my Nintendo DS, it said "誕生日おめでとう!" because my girlfriends Ds in in Japanese and yesterday was her birthday.)

doinkies · 9 May 2006

Tomii, to learn how to get your computer to type in Japanese, go to Asian Languages & Literatures | College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota
And yes, "Happy birthday" is 誕生日おめでとうございます, no に in there.
You can also leave out ございます if you want; you don't need it.
誕生日おめでとうございます is more formal sounding than just 誕生日おめでとう.
And the even more formal form would be お誕生日おめでとうございます.
"My birthday is May 15th" would be
「（私の)誕生日は５月（ごがつ）
１５日（じゅうごにち）です。」
You got it mostly right but you forgot the 日 after 十五.
がんばって！

doinkies · 9 May 2006

Also, here's a katakana practice page (it's on that nihongoweb site that Elizabeth linked to):

Katakana Practice

Buntaro · 9 May 2006

Tomi-san!

Are you using Windows? Which version?

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

Buntaro said:
Tomi-san!
Are you using Windows? Which version?

Windows XP. I can't find the disk to install it...do you knwo what it looks like?

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

"（私の)誕生日は 5月 15日です" is "My birthday is May 15th."?

"(私の) 誕生日は五月十五日です" is the same only with written out #'s? ( what does the "日" mean?

Glenn · 9 May 2006

Day.

Like Doinkies posted earlier, for information on installing Japanese input ability go here: Computer and Japanese

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

Thank you: a random question, is this right?:

英語を習うが欲しいですか。

it is supposed to say "Do you want to learn English?"

Glenn · 9 May 2006

Not quite. For "want to do," you have to put the verb in the masu form (習い, in this case), then add たい. So 英語が習いたいですか would be "do you want to learn English." But that's a pretty direct question, so its use is limited. It may be better to say 英語を習いませんか, especially if you're inviting someone to do it and you don't know them too well.

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

Rawr. My computer is being retarded. I put in the Home Edition CD. It says its not in there or to put a floppy disk or something in. i have the CD in, and i have a floppy disk in. It won't work...What do I have to do?

Glenn · 9 May 2006

Hmm, I didn't think you needed to CD to intall IME. Try this site, then: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/downloads/recommended/ime/default.mspx

Tomii515 · 9 May 2006

Glenn said:
Hmm, I didn't think you needed to CD to intall IME. Try this site, then: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/downloads/recommended/ime/default.mspx

I don't really understand what to download....

Birthdays

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