Need a word or phrase translated?

[pipokun]

What is the image of "blue" in your Finnish culture?
Blue is one of the most favorite color in Japan. And it has a sort of connotation as youth or immaturity.
Seishun 青春 is literally "blue spring".

So the author or you think the title should have a good meaning. The translation would be something like... Sayonara, my brilliant or colorful youth days.
Or you think it is in a not good situation, using part of your translation good-bye for my blue shade of youth. But not sure if "blue shade" is a right answer.

To willuknight,
Try the nihongo letter. Hand-written letters in Japanese from my Brazilian friends are my most important treasure. I'm sure your effort counts more than millions of e-mail.

 

[deadhippo]

I also noted that I have no idea how to say 'I think' or 'to be sure'
Breen was not very helpful either. :?

Thanks for help.

to say i think just tag と 思います onto the end of your sentence
eg. もうすぐ終わると思います。
to say you are sure you can start the sentence たしかに or 絶対に but they are probably not necessary
just make your statement and it is enough

japanese people often express doubt at the end of their sentence (to avoid sounding arrogant or offending anyone) by adding かなぁ or かもしれません。
eg. 雨かなぁ。明日も雨かもしれない。
If this doubt is not expressed it sounds as if the person making the statement is very sure of himself

絶対に is quite strong and maybe should be used to express enthusiasm
and if you want to assure somebody it is good to say たしか in response to their doubt

*edited...thanks Glenn

 

[Glenn]

You should drop the だ when you use か. So it should be 雨かなぁ and 明日も雨かも知れない, to use your examples.

 

[gwendy85]

Please Help Me!!!

Hi!

I posted a thread on this somewhere, but haven't gotten any responses as of yet. I know there are a lot, but I was hoping someone could help me out :emoji_stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Hope it's not too much. You don't have to help me with everything. Just as much as you can. I'm close to desperate :emoji_blush:

Lots of translations & corrections needed | Japan Forum

Arigato!

 

[Zhivago]

What is the image of "blue" in your Finnish culture?
So the author or you think the title should have a good meaning. The translation would be something like... Sayonara, my brilliant or colorful youth days. Or you think it is in a not good situation, using part of your translation good-bye for my blue shade of youth. But not sure if "blue shade" is a right answer.

Thank you.
ありがとう。

I though that aoki would be 'light blue' or 'dark blue' but your explanation makes much more sense. Word books might know words, but not the culture behind them.

Image of blue in Finnish culture is connected to lakes, but that is quite irrelevant. :emoji_flushed:

 

[Buntaro]

Hi everybody!

"They sell batteries at the store."

--> O-mise ni/de denchi o urimasu.

Is it "ni" or "de"?

 

[deadhippo]

Hi everybody!

"They sell batteries at the store."

--> O-mise ni/de denchi o urimasu.

Is it "ni" or "de"?

hi, its "de"

maybe the best sentence here would be

omise de denchi ga urarete imasu
batteries are sold at the store

 

[Elizabeth]

hi, its "de"

maybe the best sentence here would be

omise de denchi ga urarete imasu
batteries are sold at the store

omise de (wa) denchi ga urarete imasu

O-mise ni/de denchi o urimasu.

Omise de (wa) denchi wo (or wa) utte imasu.

I think "wa" is grammatically important for giving the sense of "that store"
in contrast to others, as opposed to simply a place where batteries are sold -- it just has a more natural flow imo but I'm not sure it's necessary in all cases...probably if you were already in the store "Koko de, denchi wo (wa) utte imasu" would be fine.

 

[Buntaro]

Thanks, deadhippo and Elizabeth.

The wa/ga and ni/de stuff is always tricky.

 

[J44xm]

"My future is in Japan"?

I'm currently studying grammar and concocted the sentence "My future is in Japan," which I figured was 私の未来は日本にあります。 However, I'm not so sure this is right.

Online translators are sometimes good for simple sentences like this, but Excite gives me "It is in Japan in my future" and AltaVista says "As for my future there is Japan." I know that these services aren't good to rely on, but it makes me curious.

I can't help but wonder if some sort of のこと should be in there, too. (Just what's the deal with "no koto" any way?)

I suspect there's a wording change, as it were, that I need to make. Thanks for any help.

 

[deadhippo]

I'm currently studying grammar and concocted the sentence "My future is in Japan," which I figured was 私の未来は日本にあります。 However, I'm not so sure this is right.

It seems fine.

 

[Elizabeth]

It seems fine.

Shourai would be used referring to your short/medium term future. Mirai is further out or, in a broader context, a barely imaginable science-fiction distant future of the world.

 

[Damicci]

のこと is a noun modifier. koto can be a verb modifier to change a verb into a noun iku koto ga = the action of going or the thing of going.
I usually see this when speak of being able to do something and action that is liked.
tatoeba (for example):
nihongo o benkyou suru koto ga suki desu.
Literal: I like to do the thing of studying Japanese.
Less literal: I like to study Japanese.

hoka rei (other example):
nihon ni iku koto ga dekimashitaka.
Literal: I have you done the thing/action of going to Japan?
Less literal: Have you been to Japan?



Bah I don't know what I am talking about. Made some corrections thanks Elizabeth.

 

[Elizabeth]

のこと is a verb modifier. iku koto ga = the action of going or the thing of going.
I usually see this when speak of being able to do something and action that is liked.
tatoeba (for example):
nihongo o benkyou suru no koto ga suki desu.
Literal: I like to do the thing of studying Japanese.
Less literal: I like to study Japanese.

hoka rei (other example):
nihon ni iku no koto ga dekimashitaka.
Literal: I have you done the thing/action of going to Japan?
Less literal: Have you been to Japan?

No koto is not correct after a verb. Have you ever been to Japan is Nihon ni itta koto ga arimasuka? 'Iku koto ga arimasuka?' means 'Do you sometimes go to Japan?"

 

[Damicci]

But My tutor suggested using "~~koto ga dekimashita" or was it "~~(pastense) koto ga dekimasuka" to say "been able to do~~"

Ah crap I forgot.
sdklfjsldfj
no koto goes after nouns
bah. grammar bah humbug

no koto could be used to say an abstract about a noun

example
Tanaka bought a car.
Ｔａｎａｋａ-san ga kuruma wo katteimashita
田中さんが車を買っていました
Is it(the thing) true that tanaka bought a car?
Tanaka-san ga kuruma wo katteimashita koto ga hontou desuka
田中さんが車を買っていましたことがほんとうですか

Then the last phrase can be shortened. Assuming that everyone is familiar with this abstract.

Is the thing about Tanaka true?
Tanaka no koto ga hontou desuka
田中ーさんのことが本当ですか

Basically I guess use it to describe intangible things like events or incidents.

I suck at explaining things.

 

[Elizabeth]

But My tutor suggested using "~~koto ga dekimashita" or was it "~~(pastense) koto ga dekimasuka" to say "been able to do~~"

example
Tanaka bought a car.
Ｔａｎａｋａ-san ga kuruma wo katteimashita
田中さんが車を買っていました
Is it(the thing) true that tanaka bought a car?
Tanaka-san ga kuruma wo katteimashita koto ga hontou desuka
田中さんが車を買っていましたことがほんとうですか

『車を買っていました』は意味がちょっと変な日本語ですね。
「XXXっていました」なら、英語で [Was doing....was buying a car]
みたい意味で使いますよね。

その上で、「事が当ですか」という表現も聞いたことがないんです。
「車を買ったというのは本当ですか」がいいですね。

 

[Glenn]

You can have a look at this post of mine that describes some uses of koto. If you really want to see the different uses spelled out in very specific fashion check out the definition in the daijirin, if you feel you can handle it. Fair warning: be prepared for lots of reading. Another special use of koto is outlined here, although it gets pretty technical.

 

[Elizabeth]

But My tutor suggested using "~~koto ga dekimashita" or was it "~~(pastense) koto ga dekimasuka" to say "been able to do~~"

使われる are/have been able は、「dictionary form of the verb ことが出来ます・出来ました 」です。「"~~(past tense) ことが出来る」 は 日本語として正しくありませんね。
聞きなおしてください。

 

[Damicci]

Well that is one of my biggest problems is particles and conjugation.
I am still learning.

 

[Elizabeth]

Well that is one of my biggest problems is particles and conjugation.
I am still learning.

誤る必要がありませんね。初心者でも、かなり会話から日本語を覚えたということがわかりますよ。

 

[J44xm]

Thanks to each of you! I'll do the reading, indeed.

 

[crunch]

I came across this phrase in a shooting game called, esp.ra.de. The character irori says めっちゃいたいわ after she returns from a death, and I am unsure of what it means. Is it slang or something? Any help would be great, thanks.

 

[epigene]

I came across this phrase in a shooting game called, esp.ra.de. The character irori says めっちゃいたいわ after she returns from a death, and I am unsure of what it means. Is it slang or something? Any help would be great, thanks.

Hi crunch!

めっちゃ is current Japanese colloquialism that means "very"
めっちゃいたい means (it) hurts a lot.

It was originally used by comedians from Kansai and spread across Japan.
It derives from 滅茶苦茶（めちゃくちゃ）・無茶苦茶（むちゃくちゃ）meaning the same thing ("very" in the superlative).

Hope it helps!

 

[The7thSamurai]

What's the word for "charged" in Japanese, as is "my credit card has not been charged". I purchased someone online two weeks ago and the transaction is still not appearing on my credit card. I need to ask them if there's a problem.

How about, watashi no credit card ga ryoukin o seikyou shimasen deshita (私のクレヂトカードが料金を請求しませんでした)

Cheers,

Bucko

 

[Elizabeth]

What's the word for "charged" in Japanese, as is "my credit card has not been charged". I purchased someone online two weeks ago and the transaction is still not appearing on my credit card. I need to ask them if there's a problem.

How about, watashi no credit card ga ryoukin o seikyou shimasen deshita (私のクレヂトカードが料金を請求しませんでした)

Cheers,

Bucko

勘定書、クレジットカードに間違いがあるようだったら。。。。

すみませんが、品物が送られてきたけど、クレジットカードから代金が引き落とされていませんでした。 もういちど確かめていただきませんか(もらいませんか？)。

It isn't perfect, but basically correct I think.

クレヂトカードが料金を請求しませんでした sounds like it is your card that is making a demand or claim.