trouble with revision question.

letslearn · 3 Dec 2014

Hi guys,
I was hoping someone would check my understanding of this question and my answer.
It is a fill in the blank question with four options.
昨日はうちに______何をしました。
The choices are.
帰る
帰って
帰るから
帰ったり
I chose 帰る
My reason is because the entire sentence is in the past, so I translated it as...
When you went home yesterday what did you do?
帰るから roughly means because and that doesn't sound right.
帰って is a conjunction which joins multiple actions so not correct as no multiple actions
帰ったり lists consecutive actions so also not correct.

Thank you in advance.

Mike Cash · 3 Dec 2014

帰って is the only one that works. There are two actions there: going home and whatever it was you did afterwards (which is being asked about).

Grammatically, 帰る there would sound like it is modifying 何. And it clashes with 昨日.

〜たり actions aren't necessarily consecutive (or in sequence).

letslearn · 3 Dec 2014

Mike Cash said:
帰って is the only one that works. There are two actions there: going home and whatever it was you did afterwards (which is being asked about).

Grammatically, 帰る there would sound like it is modifying 何. And it clashes with 昨日.

〜たり actions aren't necessarily consecutive (or in sequence).

Sorry I missed the か particle.... it should be.
昨日はうちに______何をしましたか

Mike Cash · 3 Dec 2014

letslearn said:
Sorry I missed the か particle.... it should be.
昨日はうちに______何をしましたか

It is often dropped in conversation, and makes no difference in this case.

letslearn · 3 Dec 2014

Mike Cash said:
It is often dropped in conversation, and makes no difference in this case.

So is the person stating and then asking a question.like..,
Yesterday you went home and what did you do?
It might be my English brain kicking in again, but it sounds weird.

Mike Cash · 3 Dec 2014

letslearn said:
So is the person stating and then asking a question.like..,
Yesterday you went home and what did you do?
It might be my English brain kicking in again, but it sounds weird.

You're just not comfortable with the continuative aspect of 〜て yet.

Try not translating stuff and it will stop seeming weird a whole lot quicker.

letslearn · 3 Dec 2014

Mike Cash said:
You're just not comfortable with the continuative aspect of 〜て yet.

Try not translating stuff and it will stop seeming weird a whole lot quicker.

Thanks for your explanation mikesan.

nekojita · 3 Dec 2014

"What did you do after you went home?" in English likewise assumes/states that you went home. We do this all the time in English (statement + question) but the question part tends to come first. The speaker knows a fact (you went home), and uses it to bound the question (what did you do after that?)

Other examples:
日本に行って、何をしましたか
日本に行って、何をしますか
おしゃれして、どこに行きますか
あんなに食べて、どうして太りません (ムカツク！)

letslearn · 4 Dec 2014

nekojita said:
"What did you do after you went home?" in English likewise assumes/states that you went home. We do this all the time in English (statement + question) but the question part tends to come first. The speaker knows a fact (you went home), and uses it to bound the question (what did you do after that?)

Other examples:
日本に行って、何をしましたか
日本に行って、何をしますか
おしゃれして、どこに行きますか
あんなに食べて、どうして太りません (ムカツク！)

Thanks nekojitasan,
They are great examples.
So it is in this case similar to, てから or たあとで, but do these other conjunctions more emphasis after?

nekojita · 4 Dec 2014

て by itself is more flexible, it doesn't have to be "after". e.g. if it's 飲んで話す we're not suggesting strictly in that order (same as "Have a drink and a chat") in 飲んで寝る unless you have a very special talent it's going to be "after" (same as "Have a drink and go to bed.")

In the last example I gave previously, the eating and the not getting fat are habitual (lucky sod). おしゃれして one could be asking about habits (for example, see this on Yahoo Kids), but in context if the person is standing there dressed up then it could refer to their present outfit (oi, where you are going dressed up? デート？)

Actually I'm going to borrow an example from that same Yahoo site:
Q: おしゃれして、どこに行く？何をしたい？
A: 可愛いカッコして好きな人と手つないでお化け屋敷に行きたい
(the wearing cute things and holding hands are presumably still in effect when entering the haunted house)

letslearn · 5 Dec 2014

Thank you nekojitasan, it is much appreciated.
日本にお化け屋敷はとても人気がありますか。
例文の中にを使うことを度々見ました。

Toritoribe · 5 Dec 2014

に indicates the target something is popular with, e.g., 若者に人気がある. で is used for the location.
日本でお化け屋敷は人気がありますか。 / 日本でお化け屋敷は人気が高いですか。

What do you mean by 例文の中にを使うことを度々見ました?

aspenx · 5 Dec 2014

letslearn said:
Thank you nekojitasan, it is much appreciated.
日本にお化け屋敷はとても人気がありますか。
例文の中にを使うことを度々見ました。

例文の中にを使うことを度々見ました。 ← This sentence does not make sense grammatically. (You can't string に and を together like that)
I am guessing you want to say something along the lines of "I have seen this often in sample sentences".

In Japanese, perhaps I will say: 例文でよく挙げられるようです。 (It seems to be (a topic) often raised in sample sentences)

You will notice that the English translation from the Japanese sentence that I suggested is awkward.
Like Mike Cash has suggested, you have to try to stop yourself from translating. Creating a sentence is definitely more difficult than trying to understand one. Just keep at it. The good thing is, you are already in a very good environment for absorbing all the Japanese "sample sentences"!

letslearn · 5 Dec 2014

例文の中にを使うことを度々見ました
Yes I was trying to say that
I have often seen that word "お化け屋敷" being used in Example sentences.
How about if I use で as advised by aspenxsan.
この言葉は例文で使うことをよく見ました。

Mike Cash · 5 Dec 2014

letslearn said:
例文の中にを使うことを度々見ました
Yes I was trying to say that
I have often seen that word "お化け屋敷" being used in Example sentences.
How about if I use で as advised by aspenxsan.
この言葉は例文で使うことをよく見ました。

You can drop 使うことを.

Use of past tense gives the impression you no longer look at example sentence. Use 見る if that is not the case. Or 見かける would probably be better.

Notice that "being used" is passive in English, while 使う is active. The passive form is 使われる.

letslearn · 5 Dec 2014

So
この言葉は例文でよく見かける
I often happen to see that word in example sentences.

If I was to state the word, in case the context wasn't clear would I just use は?
お化け屋敷は例文でよく見かける

Mike Cash · 5 Dec 2014

「お化け屋敷」は例文でよく見かける

letslearn · 5 Dec 2014

Thanks everyone it really helps that you explain the reasons why it is wrong. I used 中 before as I know that it can mean within. But here we use で which can also mean in. But my beginner knowledge often still thinks of で as an action particle, and I suppose in a way there is an action of putting the word into the sentences.
I know it is one of the fundamentals I need to work on. But with more exposure there is new hope!

Mike Cash · 5 Dec 2014

Exposure
Drills
Practice
Errors
Corrections
Questions
Review
Embarrassment
Determination
Perseverance
Patience

trouble with revision question.

letslearn

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

letslearn

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

letslearn

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

letslearn

先輩

nekojita

先輩

letslearn

先輩

nekojita

先輩

letslearn

先輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

aspenx

後輩

letslearn

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

letslearn

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

letslearn

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Similar threads