friend studying english, how to give encourage?

briareos · 3 Jul 2007

A penpal has started studying english. I was wondering what's the typical way to encourage her to do her best, other than 頑張って?

Mike Cash · 3 Jul 2007

You can add 応援しているから in front of 頑張って. It means "I'm pulling/rooting/cheering for you". I assume you know the purpose of the から.

briareos · 3 Jul 2007

Thanks! Will try that.

briareos · 3 Jul 2007

から means from, right? I don't quite understand how it's used here.

So 応援しているから頑張って means, do your best, I'm cheering for you?

Mike Cash · 4 Jul 2007

In this case から indicates reason or cause (with the reason/cause coming before から).

yukio_michael · 4 Jul 2007

Mike, can から also be used to say, at this point it's okay, like "this is enough?" I"m quite sure that it can be, but I forget the syntax. Such as いいから。

Mike Cash · 4 Jul 2007

yukio_michael said:
Mike, can から also be used to say, at this point it's okay, like "this is enough?" I"m quite sure that it can be, but I forget the syntax. Such as いいから。

Depending on intonation, situation, etc., sure. It is the same "because" から, though. The part that comes afterward is mutually understood and omitted.

yukio_michael · 5 Jul 2007

Mike Cash said:
Depending on intonation, situation, etc., sure. It is the same "because" から, though. The part that comes afterward is mutually understood and omitted.

Aah I see, I was under the impression it marked a point in time (in the usage example I gave), thanks for clearing that up for me.

Elizabeth · 5 Jul 2007

yukio_michael said:
Aah I see, I was under the impression it marked a point in time (in the usage example I gave), thanks for clearing that up for me.

For example imagine it's Sunday afternoon and you think you've studied enough for the time being, you could say "Ima (Kyou) wa, sore de ii (kekkou) desu." (That's good enough for now (today)). It's a pattern used for talking about a sufficient quantity of anything in the abstract.

Is that what you were getting towards ? "Ii kara" alone doesn't have much of a meaning beyond "Because it's good."

yukio_michael · 5 Jul 2007

Elizabeth said:
Is that what you were getting towards ? "Ii kara" alone doesn't have much of a meaning beyond "Because it's good."

I just found an example that shows what I was intending... From the Crayon Shin-chan manga, probably published early 90's...

tanomu yo---, ichiman-en de ii kara.

(come on~~~! even 10,000 yen would be good enough)

It's inverted syntax, tanomu yo would come after the ii kara, but the de particle marks the point "limited to" where it would be okay...

(at this point) because it would be good...

ps. I always had trouble using kekkou, I don't think people understood my meaning, if I were saying "No that's okay", or "Yes, that's okay..." I usually had to add some body language when asked if I needed hashi, when I responded with "kekkou desu", & "ii yo" seemed impolite.

Mike Cash · 5 Jul 2007

Elizabeth said:
Is that what you were getting towards ? "Ii kara" alone doesn't have much of a meaning beyond "Because it's good."

Or

"Forget about it"
"Drop it already"
"Shut up about it"
"Leave me alone"
"Mind you own business"
"Don't worry about it"

etc
etc
etc

It's quite common. I suppose you must have yet to annoy anyone.

Elizabeth · 5 Jul 2007

Mike Cash said:
Or
"Forget about it"
"Drop it already"
"Shut up about it"
"Leave me alone"
"Mind you own business"
"Don't worry about it"
etc
etc
etc
It's quite common. I suppose you must have yet to annoy anyone.

Well you could be right about that. I was trying to think of when I may have come across it and the closest I could come was "mou ii kara" although even this must have a variety of synonyms with varying degrees of delicacy.

Mike Cash · 5 Jul 2007

I am absolutely right about that. Which of the English renditions it equates to varies depending on the situation and the intonation, and it doesn't always have a negative connotation, so I would caution any Japanese learners to not take a simplistic approach to いいから and just assume they can substitute any of them anywhere willy-nilly. You are entirely correct about "mou ii kara". It also varies wildly depending on the situation and intonation, with anything from mild annoyance to resignation to indignant outrage being encompassed by it.

friend studying english, how to give encourage?

briareos

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

briareos

先輩

briareos

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

yukio_michael

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

yukio_michael

後輩

Elizabeth

先輩

yukio_michael

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Elizabeth

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

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