Have I written this correctly?

[MatthewP]

I have a friend that I met in Japan when I went there a few weeks ago. She has sent me a message saying that she is now in Cambodia. I want to ask (in Japanese because I'm practising, and she encouraged me to talk to Japanese people if I want to learn) where in Cambodia she is staying. This is what I have:

どこはあなた滞在にありますか

Google translate (I know, I know) translates it as "Where do you have to your stay"

I want to say "Where are you staying?" (as in what city/town etc)

From what I understand:
どこ (doko) = Where
は (wa) = shows that 'where' is the topic
あなた (anata) = you (politely)
滞在 (taizai) = staying (as in what place, not staying put or remaining)
に (ni) = roughly means (or can mean) 'in'
あります (arimasu) = can mean 'are' (and the masu makes it polite)
か (ka) = makes it a question

 

[lanthas]

It's completely wrong I'm afraid. Since it's a quite easy question to formulate, you should get there with a bit more study.

 

[MatthewP]

It's completely wrong I'm afraid. Since it's a quite easy question to formulate, you should get there with a bit more study.

Are the words wrong, or the way I've structured the sentence?

 

[lanthas]

Mostly the structure. In addition, あなた is unnecessary (not to mention it *can* be inappropriate depending on the person you're talking to), and you should be aware of the difference between あります and います; the former is reserved for inanimate things like trees and rocks, not people.

 

[MatthewP]

What about this then:

滞在がどこにいますか

I made 滞在 the subject (I think) and dropped the pronoun.

 

[Toritoribe]

It means "Where is Taizai?". います shows that Taizai is the name of an animate thing.
I think it's too advanced for you to compose what you want to say. The correct answer is 今、カンボジアのどこに滞在していますか？ or more simply/casually/naturally 今、カンボジアのどこにいるんですか？ There are many things(structures, aspects of verbs, position of particles, order of words, etc. etc.) you should learn to make these sentences.

EDIT:
It would be no problem just to list words with no particle, ignoring the order of words or conjugations of verbs when talking face to face. For instance, if I hear どこ カンボジア 滞在 あなた in your context, I can relatively easily guess what you want to say probably accurately. You wouldn't be able to make progress in your learning Japanese in this way of communication, though.

 

[Sakide]

I would suggest 滞在(の所)はどこですか or どこで暮らしていますか, or maybe even どこで宿っていますか (I actually never saw the verb 宿る anywhere except in my kanji workbook and cannot guarantee it's safe use). Or if you are to include Cambodia, you could say カンボジアのどこにいますか / カンボジアのどこで暮らしていますか. I should stop here with the variations before I make any (more?) mistakes.

Just a tip: Pronouns (you reading this, Tori-senpai? ;D) that indicate a question, such as どこ, 誰, 何 etc. cannot be a sentence's topic and therefore cannot be succeeded by は.

滞在がどこにいますか however, literally means "Where is the stay" (considering 滞在 to be animate which it isn't). いる is for animate things such as persons or animals, and ある is inanimate.

 

[Toritoribe]

Just a tip: Pronouns (you reading this, Tori-senpai? ;D) that indicate a question, such as どこ, 誰, 何 etc. cannot be a sentence's topic and therefore cannot be succeeded by は.

You might call this "nitpicking", but what you are referring to is interrogatives/interrogative words(疑問詞), not pronouns. I believe the OP is talking about あなた, i.e., personal pronoun(人称代名詞) by I made 滞在 the subject (I think) and dropped the pronoun.

Interrogative word - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Personal pronoun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[MatthewP]

So although it's rude to say it, あなたは is not grammatically incorrect?

 

[Sakide]

Actually, the only reason why I called them pronouns is because my dictionary says that they are in fact pronouns. I still don't see the logic behind it (even after looking up on Wikipedia what a pronoun actually is), but whatever.
Yes, that's what I was referring to. I just forgot what they were called in English. Actually, now that you say it, I think I can recall something called "interrogative pronouns" from my elementary school time.
Anyways, I wasn't referring to あなた at that time.

@OP: I would say using あなた is perfectly fine here. Or... is it?
(There seem to be quite contradictory opinions on whether it is appropriate to use あなた in formal situations or not...)
However your sentence would still not be grammatically correct because you used います for 滞在 (あなた is a person, so you could use います on あなた, as in あなたはカンボジアのどこにいますか).

 

[Toritoribe]

So although it's rude to say it, あなたは is not grammatically incorrect?

It's not incorrect, but sounds awkward or odd. Not just because it's rude or not, but because it's obvious from the context, second-person pronouns are usually not mentioned in the questions like yours.

Actually, the only reason why I called them pronouns is because my dictionary says that they are in fact pronouns. I still don't see the logic behind it (even after looking up on Wikipedia what a pronoun actually is), but whatever.
Yes, that's what I was referring to. I just forgot what they were called in English. Actually, now that you say it, I think I can recall something called "interrogative pronouns" from my elementary school time.

You misunderstood interrogative pronouns, or more likely, you don't seem to understand what the pronoun is yet. "Where" is an interrogative word(疑問詞) and an interrogative pro-adverb(疑問副詞), but is not an interrogative pronoun(疑問代名詞) in English grammar, as you can see even in the wiki page I linked in my previous post. Interrogative pronouns are just five (who, whose, whom, which and what) in English.
Pronoun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just a tip: Pronouns (you reading this, Tori-senpai? ;D) that indicate a question, such as どこ, 誰, 何 etc. cannot be a sentence's topic and therefore cannot be succeeded by は.

The focus is put on the word/phrase/clause preceding が and following は in a noun sentence(名詞文). Interrogative words such like いつ, どこ, だれ or なに are always what the questioner is asking about, i.e., the focus of the question in a interrogative sentence, so が, not は, is always associated with them. In other words, these interrogative words can be the topic if the focus of the sentence is not on the interrogative word.
e.g.
誰や何は疑問代名詞ですが、なぜやどうは疑問副詞です。

Are these also "nitpicking", or correction?

 

[Sakide]

Yes, but you would normally set them in quotation marks to indicate that they don't actually symbolize a question in this case.
「誰」や「何」は疑問代名詞ですが、「なぜ」や「どう」は疑問副詞です。

Anyway, you might have noticed I lack the understanding of some linguistical terms. No need to get mad over this.

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, but you would normally set them in quotation marks to indicate that they don't actually symbolize a question in this case.
「誰」や「何」は疑問代名詞ですが、「なぜ」や「どう」は疑問副詞です。

That's exactly what I wanted to say. Please read again my post more carefully. (Do you think interrogative words are used only in questions?)

Anyway, you might have noticed I lack the understanding of some linguistical terms. No need to get mad over this.

Does that mean "I may be wrong but do not point it out"? You started talking to me with a bold word we had been discussed about, but the wording was wrong in the first place. You mean I should have overlooked it or ignored you?

 

[Mike Cash]

Just a tip: Pronouns (you reading this, Tori-senpai? ;D)

Have you learned 生意気 yet?

 

[Sakide]

Do you think interrogative words are used only in questions?

Now that is nitpicky. Quotations are obviously special in the way that you can put any word in them and that word wouldn't be directly affecting the parts of the sentence outside the quotation. I ask, where else can you use interogatory words, except direct (and indirect) questions and quotations?

You mean I should have overlooked it or ignored you?

No. But don't forget that I'm just a human being and fallible. I might say things that are wrong or only partly right, or out of place, but through discussion I'm able to broaden my horizons and make less (of the same) mistakes in the future.

Have you learned 生意気 yet?

It's not the first time I hear something like this.
But don't worry, I do not mean to offend anyone. I guess this one can be read as (another) lousy attempt of mine at being funny. ^^

 

[Toritoribe]

I ask, where else can you use interogatory words, except direct (and indirect) questions and quotations?

誰が見ても間違っている。
何もわかっていないのに、なぜか噛みついてくる。

Hope your "horizon" is somewhat broadened.

I do not mean to offend anyone.

I believe how it's received by the readers would be far more important, just like your using "nitpicking" regardless of my intention.

 

[Sakide]

誰が見ても間違っている。
何もわかっていないのに、なぜか噛みついてくる。

This could almost count as an indirect question... But I guess my definition of an indirect question would be quite off the standard then. So yeah, this was indeed somewhat broadening.

I'm sorry if I should have offended you in any way. You are, in various aspects, the more experienced user, after all.
I strive to improve myself, not make enemies.

 

[Toritoribe]

Please look up 不定語; a usage of interrogative words in Japanese grammar, and relative pronoun in English grammar(of course you must know this, though) if you are interested.

I'm sorry if I should have offended you in any way.

It is I who should say so.