Use of 示す, 単語 vs 語句, expressing desire to be friends

[ledojaeger]

Hello everyone, if you could make some things clear for me, I would appreciate it very much.

First is the use of 示す for 'to demonstrate'. Please tell me if this is correct:
「日本語で簡潔な説明を示してください。」"Please demonstrate a concise explanation in Japanese." ?
Is this use of 'demonstrate' accurate to the word 示す？

Second, what is the difference between 単語 and 語句? Are they generally the same? I see 'tango' more. I saw 'goku' in my chūkyū textbook and was wondering about it.

Also, I have made a friend in Japan. I want to express the desire that I want to get to know this person/keep the friendship up, but I don't want to come across too strong (or worse, accidentally sound romantic/pushy about it).

みんなよろしくお願いします。

 

[Majestic]

Hello ledojaeger,

日本語で簡潔な説明を示してください = Not exactly wrong (actually, I would say quite good for a beginner), but I find the original sentence Please demonstrate a concise explanation in Japanese to be kind of a mouthful. Wouldn't we normally just say "give me an example" or perhaps "could you explain that for me". As it is I don't know if you want a demonstration or an explanation. Japanese tends to be an economical language: if it can be said simply, it should be said simply. So, could you just say; "please explain it simply in Japanaese"?

わかりやすく説明してください or わかりやすく説明してくれますか if you want to sound like even more like you are asking for a favor.

単語 use for individual words. Probably going to be your best choice for almost all situations. 語句 I think refers to a phrase/sentence comprised of a number of words.

I want to get to know you or I want to know you better = あなたのことをもっと知りたいです.
Although, as in English, it is hard to say this without imparting at least a slight nuance of "I'm interested in you\".

 

[Toritoribe]

簡潔な説明を示してください is not wrong, but sounds somewhat awkward. I would say 簡潔に説明してください（ませんか） instead.

単語 refers to a single word, whereas 語句 can refer to phrase, as in the kanji 句.

EDIT:
Majestic-san beats me!

 

[ledojaeger]

Thank you both very much for your clear explanations! It helps a lot. As far as expressing, 'Even though we are far apart, I want to stay friends', could it be something like: 別の国に住んでいるのに、友達でいようとおもいます。Am I heading in the correct direction?

I had a feeling that 単語 would be more universal. Since that's the case, in what kind of sentence would 語句 be used? Is it only that, この語句を勉強してください would imply that there's example sentences vs. single words?

 

[Majestic]

別の国に住んでいるのに、友達でいようとおもいます。Am I heading in the correct direction?

Yes! Heading in the right direction. I would say 別の国に住んでも、友達でいましょう
(友達でいようと思います isn't necessarily wrong, it just sounds one-sided. "This is what I intend to do...don't know about you.")

 

[Toritoribe]

The conjunction should be けど, not のに.
As I wrote, 語句 can refer to a phrase, in other words, it can refer to a single word, too.
単語 only refers to a single word. You can't call 別の国 as 単語, for instance.

 

[ledojaeger]

Toritoribe, thank you. That makes a lot of sense!
Sometimes it's hard to know when to use のに in the sense of 'even though'. Translations from English aren't always smooth though, are they.

Majestic, I'm guessing it's the と思います I added that gave it the one-sided feeling?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Toritoribe]

An adversative conjunction のに is used for the case that the main clause is opposite to the situation that is normally considered to be happened as the result of the clause preceding のに. In this case, there is not a common sense that living in another country is always hard to be a friend, so のに is not appropriate here.

I would say 違う国に住んでいるけど、友達になってもらえませんか。 to avoid being too pushy.

 

[ledojaeger]

Ahh, that explanation of のに makes a lot of sense. I will have to research it further.

If I say ともだちになってもらえませんか, does that imply we're not friends before? I have spent time with this person and been friends while I was in Japan. I wish to express more of a 'Let's stay friends' than 'become'. But I could be wrong about my interpretation of your sentence, too.

 

[Majestic]

Majestic, I'm guessing it's the と思います I added that gave it the one-sided feeling?

Yes, that is what gave me that impression. But without it, the sentence becomes presumptive, so it needs something. Of course, it is completely understandable as is, and, you being a student of Japanese I don't think anyone would be bothered that it is imperfect.
Just looking at your last post now. If you are already friends, there really is no need to say "let's continue to be friends". Could you just say something like, "I look forward to seeing/meeting/hearing from you again"?

 

[ledojaeger]

Just looking at your last post now. If you are already friends, there really is no need to say "let's continue to be friends". Could you just say something like, "I look forward to seeing/meeting/hearing from you again"?

Ah, I see what you mean. I guess it's more of a desire to sustain communication than anything.