Which way is better?

GoldCoinLover said:

I think the verb you want here is "atsumeru," meaning "to collect."

Gold coin is "kinka."

Kinka wo atsumete imasu. collect gold coins. (Literally: I am collecting gold coins or I am in a continuing state of collecting gold coins.)

You don't have to say "watashi" all the time. You just it just when you really have to indicate that you are talking about yourself.

Kinka" means "gold coinage" or "gold currency." "Kin" is gold, "ka" refers to money or currency. I picked that out of my kanji dictionary to be sure.

Does kinka mean gold coinage? And which way is better?

Click to expand...

epigene said:

That person's suggestion is correct--in a sense.

"Kinka wo atsumete imasu" is the closest translation of "I collect gold coins."

"Kinka" means gold coinage, too.

However, Japanese and English are different languages and there are no 100% equivalents (most of the time) because of the difference in approach that stems from culture and history.

"Kinka wo atsumete imasu" can mean "I collect gold coins (as a hobby)" AND "I am collecting coins (now--meaning you are physically gathering coins that may be scattered around where you're standing)." The interpretation depends on context of when and in what situation it is spoken.

"Kinka" can also be interpreted as "gold coins (as individual pieces)" and "coinage/currency in gold," also depending on context of usage.

In short, he is right, depending on situation.

Your signature "watashi no shumi wa kinka atsume desu" literally means "my hobby is collecting coins." You may not feel this is not exactly what you want, but this expression minimizes the chance of misinterpretation. So, I think your signature is OK.

As you advance in your Japanese language skill, you'll find that you should not expect "100% exact" translation of many sentences between English and Japanese.

Hope it helps!

Click to expand...

GoldCoinLover said:

Thanks. Japanese is so interesting. Could you give me an exmaple of when you say the kinka phrase about you are collecting gold coins, and when you are physically gathering them, and when to use each one?

Click to expand...

Elizabeth said:

Epigene is saying that you can use the same phrase (Kinka wo atsumete imasu) for your hobby as well as well as when you are literally putting them together in a group (gathering or collecting them in a group). Which one you use depends what you're doing and what you want to imply although I think most listeners would understand it as "I collect gold coins" as a hobby.

If you want to be perfectly clear in using it to mean physically gathering together you may be able to change it to "kouka wo hiroiastumete iru" (拾い集めっている) which literally means picking up and putting together.

Also there's nothing wrong with "kin no koin" for gold coin.
After all, Isn't that how Mac translated it the first time around?

Click to expand...