Translation problem

[kisaragi]

This is not 100% clear to me.

Did you study Japanese yesterday?
Kinoo Nihon-go no benkyoo o shimashita ka ?

Why is there a "no" particle after nihon-go ? The "no" here is not possessive without any doubt. But what's the real reason the "no" is there?

Because some friends came to my house.
Tomodachi ga uchi ni kimashita kara

Why is there a particle "ga", and why is it just "uchi" and not something like "watashi no uchi". How else is anyone gonna know that it is MY house, and not just "a house" ?

Thanks in advance !

Kisaragi

 

[Elizabeth]

This is not 100% clear to me.

Did you study Japanese yesterday?
Kinoo Nihon-go no benkyoo o shimashita ka ?

Why is there a "no" particle after nihon-go ? The "no" here is not possessive without any doubt. But what's the real reason the "no" is there?

Because some friends came to my house.
Tomodachi ga uchi ni kimashita kara

Why is there a particle "ga", and why is it just "uchi" and not something like "watashi no uchi". How else is anyone gonna know that it is MY house, and not just "a house" ?

Thanks in advance !

Kisaragi

The first one is because you can't have two direct objects for a single verb (two wo's). Another way is Nihongo wo benkyou suru. And it is possessive in a way.....did you do your Japanese studies yesterday?

The second has to do with the usage of "kuru" which is prescribed for the speaker's possessions or where there are physically at the moment. Unlike English, you cannot say she came to a stranger's house -- she went to that house instead (iku).

 

[PaulTB]

The second has to do with the usage of "kuru" which is prescribed for the speaker's possessions or where there are physically at the moment. Unlike English, you cannot say she came to a stranger's house -- she went to that house instead (iku).

It's also got to do with the word being 'uchi'. How often is 'uchi' without the honorific used to mean somebody else's house? Lastly nobody would talk about 'a house' in that context - "because some friends came to a house" makes no sense. "because some friends came to the house." does make sense - even without the 'my'.

 

[Elizabeth]

It's also got to do with the word being 'uchi'. How often is 'uchi' without the honorific used to mean somebody else's house? Lastly nobody would talk about 'a house' in that context - "because some friends came to a house" makes no sense. "because some friends came to the house." does make sense - even without the 'my'.

Those are good points, although I see both uchi quite a bit without the o and of course ie. But if it is another house, as far as I'm aware kono uchi or kono ie ni kimashita is correct, speaking from the vantage point of actually being there yourself and emphasizes this as opposed to other homes. Or just koko ni kimashita to say they came here.

 

[kisaragi]

I understand now, thank you all very much !