Hoo...starting out grammar.

Putrefaction · 17 Nov 2008

Just turned to chapter 3 of Genki and was ambushed! This seems really really hard, but maybe it's because I've done a few hours of work, Organic Chemistry, and two essays...did some -ru verbs and did not sink in. Please tell me it gets easier! Sentence structure still confuses me.

Yeah I'm not 100% sure why I made this haha.

Chidoriashi · 17 Nov 2008

Gets easier... hahahahahaha... thats pretty funny. Well, the stuff you are thinking is hard now will probably be nothing to you in a few months, and be replaced with stuff that you think is hard, until you get past it and run into the next bunch of stuff that seems hard. I guess ultimately once you master the majority of grammar and vocab, then yeah it gets easier.. still not easier than using English.. but your headaches will probably go away.

Putrefaction · 18 Nov 2008

I have a simple question. I'm doing future tenses, such as will. Are they the same thing as the present, just mixed in with a word that doesn't indicate that it is happening now? What separates "I read books at the library" and "I will read books at the library"?

Aurura · 18 Nov 2008

If I were to guess, you may literally have to say when you 'will' read the books; like "Later, I will read books at the library" or "Next week I will read books at the library".

Can anyone add to this? It'd be good to know if there are actually more alternatives...

undrentide · 18 Nov 2008

xtremevillan said:
I have a simple question. I'm doing future tenses, such as will. Are they the same thing as the present, just mixed in with a word that doesn't indicate that it is happening now? What separates "I read books at the library" and "I will read books at the library"?

Strictly speaking, there's no "tense" in Japanese grammar.
Of course we have the concept of past/present/future, but the difference is usually made by the context, not some conjugation verbs, for instance.

Chidoriashi · 18 Nov 2008

If you really want to specify that you "will read books at the library" just put in a time frame like Aurura said. Otherwise, the meaning can just be assumed from context. Japanese does not really have a future tense like English, because it really is not all that necessary.
If you want to say I read books at the library as a form of habit, you can use a different grammar construction.
So think about it in context. Does it matter which you say? Does either sentence really change the meaning? So you are talking to your friend. How will the conversation go? What are you talking about? Throwing context around a sentence like that destroys any ambiguity. I would not dwell on this, I know you want to see the difference because it is something that is important in English, but part of learning Japanese is learning to put your English speaking mind aside and develop a Japanese one.

grapefruit · 20 Nov 2008

Chidoriashi said:
If you really want to specify that you "will read books at the library" just put in a time frame like Aurura said. Otherwise, the meaning can just be assumed from context. Japanese does not really have a future tense like English, because it really is not all that necessary.
If you want to say I read books at the library as a form of habit, you can use a different grammar construction.
So think about it in context. Does it matter which you say? Does either sentence really change the meaning? So you are talking to your friend. How will the conversation go? What are you talking about? Throwing context around a sentence like that destroys any ambiguity. I would not dwell on this, I know you want to see the difference because it is something that is important in English, but part of learning Japanese is learning to put your English speaking mind aside and develop a Japanese one.

Even in English, sentences like "I have a meeting tomorrow" and "I'm leaving tomorrow" has a kind of future tense feel despite it is in the present tense (probably because of the word tomorrow).

Putrefaction · 20 Nov 2008

Perhaps it's because I've been around it for so long it's really hard to do...I'll give it a shot though! Thanks guys, I'll use this thread as an update

Hoo...starting out grammar.

Putrefaction

不幸中の幸い. . . がない.

Chidoriashi

In imagination land

Putrefaction

不幸中の幸い. . . がない.

Aurura

Reaching out...

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

Chidoriashi

In imagination land

grapefruit

先輩

Putrefaction

不幸中の幸い. . . がない.

Similar threads