Do you speak English?

espen180 · 18 Mar 2009

I don't have access to any sentence structure teaching material, so I am wondering whether or not this is correct:

あなたはえいごではなすか?

Please correct my sentence.

ありがとう

epigene · 18 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
I don't have access to any sentence structure teaching material, so I am wondering whether or not this is correct:

あなたはえいごではなすか?

Please correct my sentence.

ありがとう

Close! But:

あなたはえいごをはなせますか?

The first one is use of wrong particle.
The second is change from sentence that is quite rude to say to a stranger to the standard polite form.

espen180 · 19 Mar 2009

Ok, so I tried to take this to the next level by writing it into a conversation.

This is actually the most advanced text I've written in Japanese thus far.

- こんにちわ。わたしのなまえはえすぺんです。
- こんにちわ。タぬかさんです. おげんきですか?
- げんきです. すいません, あなたはえいごをはなせますか?
- えいごか?
- はい。わたしはがいじんです。
- はい, そです。

Quite a bit of です in there, but that's because it is one of the three or so verbs I know so far. I tried to play a little with English written with katakana symbols, but I couldn't find the correct symbols to spell 'try'.

How does it look?

Haruspex · 19 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
がいじん

You may possibly want to change that into がいこくじん. Gaijin is sorta pejorative, so yeah.

I would also like to ask a question, since im already here. Are 異人 and 異国人 words that are still in contemporary use?

Elizabeth · 19 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
Ok, so I tried to take this to the next level by writing it into a conversation.

This is actually the most advanced text I've written in Japanese thus far.

- こんにちわ。わたしのなまえはえすぺんです。
- こんにちわ。タぬかさんです. おげんきですか?
- げんきです. すいません（すみません）, あなたは（タぬかさんは）えいごをはなせますか?
- えいご（です）か?
- はい。わたしはがいじんです。
- はい, そ（う）です。（はなせます）

Quite a bit of です in there, but that's because it is one of the three or so verbs I know so far. I tried to play a little with English written with katakana symbols, but I couldn't find the correct symbols to spell 'try'.

How does it look?

Pretty good. At least I could understand all but the last line. It sounds like タぬかさん is confirming "Ahh, yes you really are" (a foreigner). Did you want him to agree that he can speak English ?

Elizabeth · 19 Mar 2009

Derfel said:
You may possibly want to change that into がいこくじん. Gaijin is sorta pejorative, so yeah.

I would also like to ask a question, since im already here. Are 異人 and 異国人 words that are still in contemporary use?

Not that I've ever had the fortune to hear.

Is the use of more or less on par with Jap＝日本人野郎 or よそ者

as 歓迎や尊敬や友好の気持ちが感じられないですか？

epigene · 19 Mar 2009

Derfel said:
You may possibly want to change that into がいこくじん. Gaijin is sorta pejorative, so yeah.

I would also like to ask a question, since im already here. Are 異人 and 異国人 words that are still in contemporary use?

異人 : Now obsolete; used only in samurai period drama
異国人 : Obsolete in modern Japanese, but used on occasion to add a touch of romanticism, such as in poetry.

Red5 · 19 Mar 2009

epigene said:
Close! But:
あなたはえいごをはなせますか?
The first one is use of wrong particle.
The second is change from sentence that is quite rude to say to a stranger to the standard polite form.

sorry epigene I just wanna ask you question >>><<<
what's the difference between はなせます and はなします。
and I hope to give me the answer and I'll be thankful

Red5 · 19 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
- こんにちわ。わたしのなまえはえすぺんです。
- こんにちわ。タぬかさんです. おげんきですか?
- げんきです. すいません, あなたはえいごをはなせますか?
- えいごか?
- はい。わたしはがいじんです。
- はい, そです。

How does it look?

I think that こんにちは is the right ... it reads like connichiwa and write like ha は...

epigene · 19 Mar 2009

katsumoto said:
sorry epigene I just wanna ask you question >>><<<
what's the difference between はなせます and はなします。
and I hope to give me the answer and I'll be thankful

はなせます expresses your ability to speak: I can speak.
はなします simply states the fact that you speak: I speak.

I think that こんにちは is the right ... it reads like connichiwa and write like ha は...

Yes, you're right. The use of "ha" instead of "wa" in the word is standard.
But, there are many young Japanese use わ instead of は in "konnichiwa."

FYI, I subscribed to a Japanese website titled "Committee Against the Use of わ Instead of は in Konnichiwa"...

espen180 · 19 Mar 2009

Thanks for all your comments, everyone!

Elizabeth said:
Pretty good. At least I could understand all but the last line. It sounds like タぬかさん is confirming "Ahh, yes you really are" (a foreigner). Did you want him to agree that he can speak English ?

On the last line, I wanted him to say something along the lines of 'Ah, I see.', and I have frequently heard Japanese people say something like 'so desu' when they express agreement or understanding.

Elizabeth · 19 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
Thanks for all your comments, everyone!
On the last line, I wanted him to say something along the lines of 'Ah, I see.', and I have frequently heard Japanese people say something like 'so desu' when they express agreement or understanding.

"Ah, I see" is more like わかりました or なるほど。そうですか？ maybe is more what you were referring to (Oh really ? Is that right ?), which the foreigner would then confirm with はい、そうです。

So そうです。(Yes, that's it. That's right.) comes in response to a statement the speaker would say about themselves or a fact that they have independent knowledge of being true. My attempt...

- はい。わたしはがいじんです。
- ほんとう？がいじん（がいこくじん）ですか？
ーはい。そうです。

Elizabeth · 19 Mar 2009

katsumoto said:
sorry epigene I just wanna ask you question >>><<<
what's the difference between はなせます and はなします。
and I hope to give me the answer and I'll be thankful

In addition to what epigene mentioned, with はなせます you have the option of が or を as particle markers.
～えいごをはなせますか？
～えいごがはなせますか？

はなします takes を only。

～えいごをはなしますか

espen180 · 21 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
- こんにちわ。わたしのなまえはえすぺんです。
- こんにちわ。タぬかさんです. おげんきですか?
- げんきです. すいません, あなたはえいごをはなせますか?
- えいごか?
- はい。わたしはがいじんです。
- はい, そです。

Attempting to write the next reply from *me*:

- ば, わたしはえいごをあなたにかもしれないはなしか?
Then, may I speak English to you?

I am unsure about the grammar for this sentence. Am I far off?

Elizabeth · 21 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
Attempting to write the next reply from *me*:
- ば, わたしはえいごをあなたにかもしれないはなしか?
Then, may I speak English to you?
I am usure about the grammar for this sentence. Am I far off?

Not to be too harsh or anything, but honestly you're either going to need a good text or web site since without knowing where these incomplete and totally mistaken assumptions about grammar are coming from it is impossible for them to be fully made right.

But as I explained earlier, the はい、そうです。 is the first point of correction and maybe we can get somewhere after that is straightened out. Has タぬかさん even acknowledged being able to speak English ? Or is this coming in place of being asked first ? And lastly, to reiterate, it would also be considered incomprehensibly rude for a Japanese person to persist in using あなた after the other party has just been introduced with their name (why that got changed in the earlier post....).

espen180 · 29 Mar 2009

Okay.

Should I replace あなた with タぬかさん, or is there another polite form of あなた?

undrentide · 29 Mar 2009

espen180 said:
Okay.

Should I replace あなた with タぬかさん, or is there another polite form of あなた?

If you know already the person's name whom you're going to talk to, it's better to use his/her name. ＸＸＸさん。
(It really depends on the context but sometimes あなた can sound rude even though the word あなた itself is a polite word.)

Do you speak English?

espen180

先輩

epigene

相変わらず不束者です

espen180

先輩

Haruspex

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

epigene

相変わらず不束者です

Red5

後輩

Red5

後輩

epigene

相変わらず不束者です

espen180

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

espen180

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

espen180

先輩

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

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