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Understanding the usage of 'ippai' - いっぱい

nfpgasmask

後輩
9 Jul 2011
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So, I am now a month and a half into JPN101, and a good ways into the Pimsleur Japanese Lessons, and doing a lot of self study in preparation for my next trip to Japan. I have no illusions about being even remotely better than a 2 year old child, but I would like to have a grasp of some basic communication in order to politely and properly communicate what I want while I am in Japan this time around. I plan to continue studying into the future, either way.

One word that is confusing me, and possibly because it is actually either two different words, or simply two completely different contexts, is "ippai" ( いっぱい ).

Example 1: "Onaka ga ippai desu" means, "I'm full" or literally, "stomach is full", correct?

Example 2: "Ippai" meaning, "one more" when asking for another drink, etc, which I have also heard but am confused by.

Am I confusing two separate words that sound the same, or is there a context problem here? How could asking for "one more" also equate to "I'm full"? This seems to be a contradiction. So, how does ippai work?

Thanks - Bart
 
Sorry, I am not proficient in Japanese, but ippai does not mean "one more", it means "one".
いっ means one and ぱい is a counter for liquid objects.
Also, it could be translated as full, and I do not see here any contradiction, cuz ぱい counts
only liquid in a container(glass for example), and container should be full. You should use another
counter (一本 - いっぽん) for counting empty glasses. Sorry, I do not know if here exist special counter
for counting empty stomacs.

Counters for liquid objects and drinks:

一杯 - いっぱい
二杯 - にはい
三杯 - さんばい
四杯 - よんはい
五杯 - ごはい
六杯 - ろっぱい
七杯 - ななはい
八杯 - はっぱい
九杯 - きゅうはい
十杯 - じゅうっぱい
 
OK, so the same word is used as a counter for drinks, but can also mean full, depending on context. The hiragana is the same, but the kanji is different then?

This makes more sense when you see it written. "Two more" is essentially, "niippai" and "three more" would be "sanppai", etc

OK, then I guess you just have to make sure you say it properly and at the right time with the right gesture then, huh? Or is saying "ippai" when you are full not a really common or proper way to say I am full? i suppose you could just say "kekko desu" or something, eh?

Thanks for the help.

Bart
 
It is using the same canji: お腹が一杯です

I edited my previous post, and make some explanation, please read them.

I think that You may use full stomac and kekkoudes if somebody is proposing You food or drink, like:

いいえ、けっこうです。お腹が一杯です
 
OK, that makes a little more sense literally. So when you say "ippai" related to beer or something, you are just saying "one", asking for one, etc.

But if you were to say something such as "ippai desu" that would make more sense in the context of "I'm full". I think I understand now.

Do you know where I could find a list of Japanese counters? I understand there are many.

EDIT: Nevermind!
Japanese counter word - Wikipedia

Thanks - Bart
 
If you're going to ask for 'one more', you could say 'mou ikkai'
If you're asking for '1, 2, 3, etc', beers/items, you want to use 'Hitotsu, Futatsu, Mittsu, etc' followed by onegaishimasu or kudasai.
Ex: Biru wo futatsu kudasai.
 
Understanding the usage of "Ippai" - いっぱい

Mou ikkai is "one more time". While it will no doubt result in another beer being served, it is not a correct usage.

You can use the native numbers as in the end of your post, but for something in a glass, the counter is -hai and for something in a bottle or can, the counter is -hon.
 
Understanding the usage of "Ippai" - いっぱい

Or, it could mean you're full already....
 
OK, that makes a little more sense literally. So when you say "ippai" related to beer or something, you are just saying "one", asking for one, etc.

But if you were to say something such as "ippai desu" that would make more sense in the context of "I'm full". I think I understand now.

Do you know where I could find a list of Japanese counters? I understand there are many.

EDIT: Nevermind!
Japanese counter word - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks - Bart
The kanji is much more common as a counter in my experience than meanings of "full of" or "I am full," although it certainly can be used in any situation or context.
 
This is confusing. Why not はははははは?

Just because I know how Ha-ha is written on chinese ... and I do not know japanese analog. Shame on me :(
From the other side, はははははは looks weird, and it could be translated in very tricky way, like .... thanks Google :
お - Us
おお - Oh
おおお - Covered
おおおお - Oh oh
おおおおおおおお - Oh oh oh oh
おおおおおおおおお - Cover cover cover
おおおおおおおおおお - Oh oh oh oh oh
おおおおおおおおおおお - Oh Ooo Ooo Ooo
おおおおおおおおおおおお - I covered covered covered covered
:)
BTW, could You tell me what kanji I could use for Ha-ha.
 
There aren't any that I'm aware of. But you could always go with (笑) or just 笑 or even "w(www)". There's also katakana (ハハハハハハ).

ewww said:
From the other side, はははははは looks weird, and it could be translated in very tricky way, like .... thanks Google :
お - Us
おお - Oh
おおお - Covered
おおおお - Oh oh
おおおおおおおお - Oh oh oh oh
おおおおおおおおお - Cover cover cover
おおおおおおおおおお - Oh oh oh oh oh
おおおおおおおおおおお - Oh Ooo Ooo Ooo
おおおおおおおおおおおお - I covered covered covered covered

I thought you were just making that up until I tried it out myself. Wow.
 
There aren't any that I'm aware of. But you could always go with (笑) or just 笑 or even "w(www)". There's also katakana (ハハハハハハ).

I thought you were just making that up until I tried it out myself. Wow.

ハハハハハハ - I tried ははは, but I could not imagine that it should be katakana!
Thank You very much, Glenn san 笑
 
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