"I need to buy a mobile phone"

[The7thSamurai]

So imagine I arrive in Japan and one of the first things I do is buy a mobile phone. Would it be right to say:

(watashi wa) ido denwa ga kawanakereba narimasen

That means "I need to buy a mobile phone", right?

 

[The7thSamurai]

Sorry, I meant "ido denwa o kawanakereba narimasen"

(forgot the 'o')

 

[starry night]

So imagine I arrive in Japan and one of the first things I do is buy a mobile phone. Would it be right to say:

(watashi wa) ido denwa ga kawanakereba narimasen

That means "I need to buy a mobile phone", right?

hello Bucko

a mobile phone="keitai"
you can say" keitai o kaitainodesuga" who do you want to ask this sentence? if you go to a mobile phone shop, you can say like that.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

"I need to buy a mobile phone"
By my translation software
"WATASHIHA KEITAI-DENWA WO KAU HITUYOUGAARU"

"ido denwa o kawanakereba narimasen"=I must buy a cellular phone.

When I purchase a cellular phone in an electric shop.
I ask a salesclerk
"KEITAIDENWA GA HOSHIINODESUGA"
OR
As "starry night-san" says
"keitai wo kaitainodesuga"

The cellular phone which I have is "AU"A5502K.
A navigation function and a digital camera stick to my cellular phone in GPS.
And, it displays traffic information
When I use a train, it is convenient.

 

[GaijinPunch]

Consider this a plug for J-Phone/Vodaphone. I never like giving money to anything with the acronym NTT in it.

 

[epigene]

Consider this a plug for J-Phone/Vodaphone. I never like giving money to anything with the acronym NTT in it.

I'm not a cell phone user (because I stay home and sit next to my wired phone most of the time). But, why not NTT? From what I heard, most cell phone service operators in Japan offer roughly the same subscription rates...

Honestly, I'd love to hear your opinion, because it looks like cell phone is becoming a must for everybody, as sort of ID card. (I can't find a pay phone when I'm in places like Shinjuku or Shibuya...)

 

[GaijinPunch]

Well... I always root for the underdog (consumers in this case). All these youngins moving to Japan now have it SOOOO much easier.

In '98 when broadband was first introduced, NTT sat on the technology, swearing they'd skip DSL and go straight to Fiber. Why not? At roughly 3 cents per internet minute, they make a fortune over the next 5 years it takes to put fiber in the home. They own every phone line in the country anyway. Cable wasn't widespread enough to be a competitor. So, all was well in the NTT world. Consumers paid big bucks for crap internet connectivity -- a huge detriment to the country, keeping many Japanese 'offline' for a long time. Eventually, one of their big wigs quit, formed Tokyo Metallic (東京めたりっく for those that want to google it) sued NTT (and won) and basically single-handedly introduced ADSL to Japan. It's a very interesting story.

There's also the age old story of foreign competition trying to enter the Japanese markets but not being able to compete w/ NTT's screwjob prices. When NTT tried to buy a major internet backbone in America, the FBI intervened and promptly told them to go **** themselves. The official 'reason' was b/c NTT was 58% government owned, and the US couldn't allow another government to have access to so much information. But I think the real reason was to teach them a lesson. The government eventually eventually sold off enough shares to be a privatized company. I've not been able to find either of the stories online... I saw them in old Tokyo Classifieds though.

Finally, since NTT was a monopoly, they invested 0 yen in customer service. Their helpdesk is a joke. A bunch of oba-sans that have no clue what they're talking about. I berated one of them for hours until she finally gave in. In short, NTT sucks, and NTT DoCoMo is "in the family".

 

[epigene]

Thanks for the response, GP-san! I root for the underdog, too. (I rooted for the Hanshin Tigers decades ago and for the Boston Red Sox until last year--what am I do to now? )

The Tokyo Metallic story is interesting--heard of the name but not the story. My son got KDDI Au, which seems to be "in" now with young people.

Isn't NTT at the leading edge with FOMA or whatnot? I'm under the impression that business people use NTT DoCoMo because their companies do. I'm also wondering if I should get FOMA... :?

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

I dislike NTT, too. :box: :box:
When I went to Tokyo, the cellular phones did not spread
I had to join NTT on the telephone.
The salary at that time was 150000 yen.
80000 yen did the participation use on the telephone, too.
I was pain very. :auch:
NTT is going to repeal the participation right on the telephone now.
I want NTT to pay money.
I have been excited carelessly.

 

[GaijinPunch]

AU has been getting bigger, no doubt about it. Vodaphone had Beckham promoting them, so they've apparently got money to throw around. Honestly, even when they were J-Phone, their service has been nothing but fantastic. I'm a tech guy, so usually tinker around and find out myself, but if I had a problem with my phone, I'd walk in, and the chick at the counter could usually tell me about it.

I'm sure if you google around for NTT (even in English) you'll find all sorts of reasons to hate them.

 

[John Lemon]

"I need to buy a mobile phone"
By my translation software
"WATASHIHA KEITAI-DENWA WO KAU HITUYOUGAARU"

「買う必要がある」Is this proper Japanese? I know translation software doesn't always produce the best results. I thought the only way to use 「必要」 to say "I need" was 「を必要がある」。 Can you just append it to the dictionary form of verbs like that?

 

[Elizabeth]

「買う必要がある」Is this proper Japanese? I know translation software doesn't always produce the best results. I thought the only way to use 「必要」 to say "I need" was 「を必要がある」。 Can you just append it to the dictionary form of verbs like that?

Suggest taking 買う（事）のを必要がある literally as 'there is a need to buy.' It's rarer, though, just as in English. In any event, everyone who has responded is a native....so I think it's pretty safe to assume you can, and mostly do.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

「買う必要がある」Is this proper Japanese? I know translation software doesn't always produce the best results. I thought the only way to use 「必要」 to say "I need" was 「を必要がある」。 Can you just append it to the dictionary form of verbs like that?

It is misunderstanding.

My translation software translated it as "hituyouga aru".

need="hituyou"

KEITAIDENWAHA SEIKATU HITUJUHINDESU

DESUKARA WATASIHA KEITAIDENWAGA HOSIIDESU.

 

[GaijinPunch]

As Elizabeth stated. 必要がある = there's a necessity to buy. IE, it MUST be purchased in order to meet another criteria. If you merely want to buy a mobile phone, stick with the "keitai wo kaitai desu (ga)" as I believe Hiroyuki originally stated.

 

[Elizabeth]

hello Bucko
a mobile phone="keitai"
you can say" keitai o kaitainodesuga" who do you want to ask this sentence? if you go to a mobile phone shop, you can say like that.

Starry nightさんからのうきうきとポストを読むと嬉しく思いますよ 。 :hilarious: フォーラムに日本語をできるだけよく書いてくださいね。いつもと変わらずに、ネーティブスピーカの数があまり多くないからね。 ではなた！

 

[Glenn]

...「を必要がある」。 Can you just append it to the dictionary form of verbs like that?

I'm pretty sure you'll never say を必要がある. 必要 is a noun, and in this case it is the head noun of a relative clause, much like はず. Since を marks direct objects, there has to be a transitive verb in the phrase to make it grammatical.* ある isn't, so you don't use を with ある.



*You can use it with intransitive verbs of motion like 行く, 来る, and 飛ぶ to show that you're travelling through something, and you can use it with the -たい auxiliary meaning "want to V," although I believe it's still more common to use が. You can even use it to clarify subject and object with the nouns 好き and 嫌い, and perhaps with other two place adjectives as well.