I want to be able to learn these phrases!

[GoldCoinLover]

I wish I could speak japanese. I live near the phoenix area, in glendale. I hope to go to a major colleage and study japanese for years, so when I travel to tokyo I can actually speak it. I know a few words, such as:

ringo - apple
watashi wa amerikin-jin desu. - I'm an american (I always end up spelling it wrong.)
jin - person
nihongo - japanese
nihon - japan
あなたは、PSPを持っていますか - Do you have a PSP?
And,
わたしは、PSPを持っていません。 なぜなら、面白いゲームがないからです
No, I don't. Because there is not an interesting game.

図星を指す - to guess exactly right
nazenara - because
omoshiroi - interesting, amusing
douyou - like

As you can I see I barely know anything. I tried to communicate on the japanese forums saying things I bet no japanese person could understand (or anyone) could understand in japanese.

I want to be able to write, and say:
-
Or
Such as in a sentence as:
Do you have a PSP, or a Nintendo DS?
Do you like (anything)?
How old are you?
What's your name?

Thanks

 

[Damicci]

I am not sure about using 持っていますか、

Ｍａｙｂｅ あなたはＰＳＰかＮｉｎｔｅｎｄｏＤＳがありますか。
anata ha PSP ka NintendoDS ga arimasuka.
Do you have a PSP or a NintendoDS?

何が好きですか。
nani ga suki desuka.
What do you like.

何歳ですか
nan sai desuka
How old are you (What is your age?)

あなたのお名前は何ですか
anata no onamae(really polite) ha nan desuka
What is your name (Your name is what?)

watashi ha amerikin jin should be
watashi ha amerika jin

just a few things there i would look at....

 

[Index]

What's the deal with writing ha for wa? Is it not because there are two symbols for the same sound that 'ha' needs to be inputted as 'ha' rather than 'wa' when using a keyboard to write hiragana? Phonetically the sound is still 'wa'. Is writing 'ha' a common convention when using romaji?

Using 持っている is fine; eg PSPを持っていますか, ie. do you have PSP?
PSPがありますか means "is there a PSP?".
I daresay there is no need to use personal pronouns in either case; it might sound a bit unusual, to say the least.

I'm also tempted to think that if you were going to ask someone's name using あなた, you might drop the お in front of 名前. ie. あなたの名前は何ですか vs. お名前は何ですか。Still, I can't help help but feel that the use of あなた in this case is anything but polite.

 

[ralian]

あなたは、PSPを持っていますか - Do you have a PSP? わたしは、PSPを持っていません。

You can drop 「あなたは」 「わたしは」
So it will be:
ＰＳＰを持っていますか。
いいえ、持っていません。

 

[Damicci]

What's the deal with writing ha for wa? Is it not because there are two symbols for the same sound that 'ha' needs to be inputted as 'ha' rather than 'wa' when using a keyboard to write hiragana? Phonetically the sound is still 'wa'. Is writing 'ha' a common convention when using romaji?

Using 持っている is fine; eg PSPを持っていますか, ie. do you have PSP?
PSPがありますか means "is there a PSP?".
I daresay there is no need to use personal pronouns in either case; it might sound a bit unusual, to say the least.

I'm also tempted to think that if you were going to ask someone's name using あなた, you might drop the お in front of 名前. ie. あなたの名前は何ですか vs. お名前は何ですか。Still, I can't help help but feel that the use of あなた in this case is anything but polite.

motteimasu is new to me i have never heard of it or used it. So I am completely unaware. Thanks for the heads up

using onamae is more polite especially if you don't know the person, Many japanese people when I was in japan would ask me my name in that fashion. you don't have to use it but maybe if your addressing someones parent or someone in a higher status.

 

[Elizabeth]

motteimasu is new to me i have never heard of it or used it. So I am completely unaware. Thanks for the heads up

using onamae is more polite especially if you don't know the person, Many japanese people when I was in japan would ask me my name in that fashion. you don't have to use it but maybe if your addressing someones parent or someone in a higher status.

You should definitely use "deshou" as well....it's unlikely you'd be asking a person's name that you know, unless you have a really bad memory. Maybe "onamae wo oshiete kudasi" is easier to remember.

 

[Damicci]

You should definitely use "deshou" as well....it's unlikely you'd be asking a person's name that you know, unless you have a really bad memory.

LMAO you win.
まけた

 

[McCrutch67]

What is the difference between があります and 持っています exactly. I know that ga arimasu means it exists("There is a ...") but when is it used as have because I always see that translation of aru. Have I been misinformed or what?

 

[ralian]

What is the difference between があります and 持っています exactly. I know that ga arimasu means it exists("There is a ...") but when is it used as have because I always see that translation of aru. Have I been misinformed or what?

「があります」 indicates that a certain object is in a particular place. Strictly speaking, It does not indicate the ownership of the object.

For example:
わたしの家の前には、バス停があります。
There is a bus stop in front of my house.
(but I don't own it, you see)

While 「持っています」indicates the ownership of the object.

 

[McCrutch67]

Where does the "have" translation come from then. Can a question about having something like money be asked as in "is there enough?"="do you have enough?"? I'm just trying to figure out where the "have" ever came from or could be used when going english to japanese. Japanese to english I understand 持っています and 有る. But if you are trying to translate english to japanese when would the have translate as 有る?

 

[ralian]

Both "Is there enough money?", and "Do you have enough money?" can be
「お金はじゅうぶんありますか」
Basically, 「お金がある」and 「お金を持っている」means the same.
Difference is that 「お金がある」 can be used for "I have money in my bank"「銀行にお金がある」, and 「お金を持っている」 sounds more like you have money with you right now.
But then again, in conversation, you'll hear 「今お金、ある？」「うん、あるよ」 a lot.
ある is more indirect than 持っている. Japanese has tendency to avoid the direct expressions.

Did I answer to your question?

 

[Index]

Where does the "have" translation come from then. Can a question about having something like money be asked as in "is there enough?"="do you have enough?"? I'm just trying to figure out where the "have" ever came from or could be used when going english to japanese. Japanese to english I understand 持っています and 有る. But if you are trying to translate english to japanese when would the have translate as 有る?

It might be one of those things that are hard to explain; it would perhaps be easier to understand if you stopped worrying about looking for a literal translation and rather look at the way it is used and how to get the equivalent meaning across in English. I know that is easy to say, but with some more practice I'm sure the penny will drop. There are lots of things in that are difficult to translate literally when you compare languages and I think it can be frustrating attempting to translate at too early a stage.

 

[McCrutch67]

Yes thank you I guess it's just one of those things in a language that you have to learn phrase by phrase and use by use with no general rule. Aru being more indirect definitely makes sense though. I'm sure I'll get used to it all eventually.

 

[zeroyon]

I have a question... what exactly is the difference between "oikutsu desu ka" and "nan-sai desu ka"? Is the first one way more formal?

Because i have read some websites that say that "oikutsudesuka" is too formal and is rarley used in japan nowadays... but all the japanese videos ive seen have used "oikutsudesuka" and not "nansaidesuka". Should you use oikutsudesuka to people you don't know, and use nansaidesuka to people you do know? In one japanese class i had it was taught as "nansaidesuka", and in the other it was taught as "oikutsudesuka".

I have also heard japanese people reply to the question "oikutsudesuka" with "juu ku-sai", "juu kyuu" (yes, without the sai), and even "ni juu"..... i was taught to only use juu kyuu sai for 19 years old and hatachi for 20 years old.....

 

[nhk9]

oikutsudesuka is much more polite... it should be used when talking to any acquaintance. On the other hand, nan-sai desu ka should only be used towards those who are younger than you, etc. If you want to not sound so formal, something like "o ikutsu" would still be much better than "nan-sai", since "nan sai" would be considered to be a very direct question, and it seems that the Japanese regard these direct questions to be rather rude.

the kanji for 20 years old has two readings, one is "hatachi", and the other one is "nijissai". Notice that it's not "ni juu sai" As far as I know, I have not heard of "juu ku-sai".