I'm trying to work out the most natural conversational way to distinguish in Japanese between the following three sentences:
* I'm going to Japan for the next few weeks - i.e, leaving in the next few days, and returning in 2 or 3 weeks
* I'm going to Japan for a few weeks - i.e., leaving sometime in the future (maybe implied by previous context), and returning 2/3 weeks later
* I'm going to Japan in a few weeks - i.e., leaving in 2 or 3 weeks time, no return time specified
The best I can come up with is (excuse romaji):
ato suushuukan nihon e ikimasu - I'm going to Japan for the next few weeks
suushuukan nihon e ikimasu - I'm going to Japan for a few weeks
suushuukan go nihon e ikimasu - I'm going to Japan in a few weeks
I know there are also words like 'igo' and 'kongo' but these don't seem to be conversational, however the first sentence to me seems ambiguous, as I've definitely seen the 'ato suu-jitsu/shuu etc.' form used to mean "after/in a few days/weeks", which is not what I'm trying to say at all!
I've even tried to get my Japanese partner to help but she seemed to have trouble distinguishing the meanings or coming up with something that I can actually find examples of online (she suggested 'kyou kara' for the first one, but it might not be today I'm leaving, and still seems ambiguous).
Thanks for any suggestions
Dylan
* I'm going to Japan for the next few weeks - i.e, leaving in the next few days, and returning in 2 or 3 weeks
* I'm going to Japan for a few weeks - i.e., leaving sometime in the future (maybe implied by previous context), and returning 2/3 weeks later
* I'm going to Japan in a few weeks - i.e., leaving in 2 or 3 weeks time, no return time specified
The best I can come up with is (excuse romaji):
ato suushuukan nihon e ikimasu - I'm going to Japan for the next few weeks
suushuukan nihon e ikimasu - I'm going to Japan for a few weeks
suushuukan go nihon e ikimasu - I'm going to Japan in a few weeks
I know there are also words like 'igo' and 'kongo' but these don't seem to be conversational, however the first sentence to me seems ambiguous, as I've definitely seen the 'ato suu-jitsu/shuu etc.' form used to mean "after/in a few days/weeks", which is not what I'm trying to say at all!
I've even tried to get my Japanese partner to help but she seemed to have trouble distinguishing the meanings or coming up with something that I can actually find examples of online (she suggested 'kyou kara' for the first one, but it might not be today I'm leaving, and still seems ambiguous).
Thanks for any suggestions
Dylan