Expression my opinion

[TexMurphy01]

Hi guys,

Okay, so I just had a Japanese lesson and there was something that the teacher was unable to explain well (at least, so I felt), so I'm here hoping someone can shed some light on the situation.

What I wanted to say was that I thought there were some interesting words (/ was some interesting language) in a film. I'd already said the part about the film, so then came my opinion about the language, about which I wished to say 'seemed interesting'.

Omoshirosou na kotoba ga atta to omoimasu.

My teacher corrected me to:

Omoshirosou na kotoba da to omoimasu.

Well, this correction is the part that confused me. I wanted to say that there were interesting words / language.

Can someone help me out? Thanks in advance.

 

[Toritoribe]

Are you talking about the tense issue "datta to omou" vs "da to omou", or the reason why "there were" was translated to "da"?

 

[TexMurphy01]

Hi Toritoribe. Sorry for not replying for a while (Christmas duties and what not).

Hmm... I was thinking about the second of those two. That said, if you could quickly go over the tense issue for me, that would be great (just to make sure).

Thanks!

 

[Toritoribe]

Saying "kotoba ga atta" solely sounds a bit awkward to me. If it's, for instance, "hon no naka ni omoshirosou na kotoba ga atta", it's no problem. "Datta to omou" is also acceptable, but could mean "it was interesting but now is not".

Although I would say "Omoshiroi kotoba da to omoimashita" for the situation.