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Problems with particles and word order

kuy

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7 Apr 2015
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so I recently started learning japanese and have problems regarding these sentences:

Who is talking to the guest wright now in the room? - My mother.
今 へやに おきゃくさん だれが はなしていますか? - はは は.
sorry for writing a lot of hiragana, dont know many kanji yet.. So is the だれが correct or should it be はor something else? Also in the answer I´m not sure.
i also struggle with the word order, especially with time specification like 今:
My little sister is listening to CDs now.
いもうとさんは今 シーディーを きいています.
Is that w.o. correct or should the 今 be in the beginning?
thanks for your help
kuy
 
I just saw i forgot a と in the first sentence after okyakusan..
yes i´m using a text book from a japanese course, but i have noone to ask
 
In the first sentence, the particle after へや should be で instead of に since the action does not include movement (they're talking in the room, not toward the room). Also, the reply should be はは(はなしています), just like in the question.

The location of the time indication (such as 今) doesn't really matter as long as it's before the verb, so the second sentence would be grammatically correct. However, since you're talking about a younger sibling, the さん is not needed - this is only for family members who are older than you like おねえさん and おかあさん. And of course, if you're talking about your family members to someone outside of your family, you never use an honorific (like はは).
 
I just saw i forgot a と in the first sentence after okyakusan..
yes i´m using a text book from a japanese course, but i have noone to ask
Then, the only mistake in the first question is the particle に. The main verb はなす is an action, not existence. What particle should be used to indicate the location of action?

EDIT:
The answer is already given.:)
 
thank you guys, that explained a lot!
shame on me for the に i should know that..
 
今 へやで おきゃくさんと だれが はなしていますか is correct and understandable enough, but 今 へやで だれがおきゃくさんと はなしていますか sounds more natural, since だれ is the focus of the question.
The most common answer to this question is ははです.
 
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