日本語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread 7

If you have a question about the language, ask it and fellow 4channers might see it and answer it for you.
日本の方からのご協力も大歓迎です。


■USEFUL TOOLS

Rikaichan
http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/
A pop-up dictionary for Firefox that shows readings and definitions when you hover over words.

Rikaikun
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jipdnfibhldikgcjhfnomkfpcebammhp
Same as above, but for Chrome.

Anki
http://ankisrs.net/
Flash card program mainly useful for vocab and kanji repetition. Can sync decks between computers and your phone.


■WEB-BASED DICTIONARIES

ALC
http://www.alc.co.jp/
Offers a web interface to the Eijirou dictionary, made for use in translation work.

kotobank
http://kotobank.jp/
Pretty good for J-J lookups. J-E/E-J definitions from Progressive.

Tangorin
http://tangorin.com/
The best interface to Jimu Buuriinu-sama's EDICT, which is a mess, so don't use this unless you have to.

weblio 類語辞典
http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/
It's an extensive thesaurus.

(If you want the best J-E/E-J dictionary, get an EPWING copy of Kenkyusha.)


■MEDIA

D-Addicts
http://d-addicts.com/forum/torrents.php
It's a horrible community, but it's THE go-to for drama series. Many variety shows turn up there as well.

JPopsuki
http://jpopsuki.eu/
It's a private music tracker with an extensive selection of just about everything.

KeyHoleTV
http://www.v2p.jp/video/english/
An application that lets you stream live TV in shit quality.

Tokyo Toshokan
https://www.tokyotosho.info/
anime anime anime anime anime


■PREVIOUS THREADS

See >>2 for links.

>>358
どうもありがとう。
Strange!
So, when no context involved, what youre saying is;

A
Have you ever met an involved parent who wanted their student to be a beggar?
B
We never see a parent who force their children to be a ‘beggar’.
C
What sort of parent do you think would want their children to be a beggar?

Correct?
But there are still some who say...
↓

>That native speaker is correct.
>There are a couple of other mistakes as well, and 'beggar' is misspelled.
>
>The correct sentences would be:
>"Have you ever met involved parents who want their children to be beggars?"
>"We never see a parent who forces their children to be beggars."
>"What sort of parent do you think would want their children to be beggars?"

>>357
 ``Drink the medicine X times a day/week/month``?

この薬を（一日）に（一回）服用して下さい。
飲んで下さい as well.

Sorry, one more thing.

"What sort of parents do you think want their children to be a begger?"

↑
Is this sentense missing something?
Don't we need 'would' or such?

can anyone tell me in which forms verbs/ NA and I adjectives bust be used when directly and indirectly quoting someone?

thanks

I don't really understand your Englishman, sorry.
If you could refrase it for me, I could be of your herpesvirus.

I mean, help.
 Goddamn this stupid apple product.

if i quote directly or indirectly what a person is saying, in which forms do i put the verbs/adjectives before と言いました。？

"Study more" would imply having studied in the first place, now wouldn't it? Besides giving up 600 characters into Heisig and occasionally referencing Tae Kim, studying is not a thing I have done.

>they'll always complement you no matter how much shit you suck
Yes, this is what I was saying with the diatribe there. I get the point. Still, you can hardly blame them when ALL of the gaijin Japanese they come across is awful nonsensical gobbledegook.

>ぜ died in the 90's.
In that thread alone:
53 一周したぜ 102 寂しいんだぜ 111 遊ぼうぜ 113 いるんだぜ 305 欲しかったぜ 384 するぜ 390 終えてきたぜ 548 なってたぜ 577 飛ぶぜよ！(`･ω･´) (... yeah okay that one not so much) 604 出来ないぜ 617 良い思い出なんだぜ 623 ほしかったぜ 627 なるぜ 680 構ってやるぜ (though this one seems ironic too) 682 しようぜ 722 遊ぼうぜ 760 出したんだぜ 793 引いちゃったぜ 802 物語なんだぜ
But yeah I'll yield the point and cut back on the ぜs.

>一人旅
Nope. The game is called Journey (邦題は「風ノ旅ビト」), it takes an hour or two to play through start to finish and I usually call one playthrough "a journey". I'll just go with 一周する or 旅する.

>アリ
I've seen it used this way. Seems real netslangy though. Perhaps reckless of me to try to sprinkle that stuff in at my level. I'll try to be careful.

Thanks again for the harshness, I needed it.

Oh and also そんなことより〇〇の話でもしようぜ is a pretty common set phrase.

what is the difference if i find a sentence with 行く時　and 行った時。

>>367
No one "says" ぜ. It died in the 90's. 6 posts using it (ironically) in a thread of over 700 should tell you something.

>"I've seen it used this way"
The way you used it? Not quite. Yes, it means "aru" but it has its own nuance.

>>368
That's not a set phrase. It's a sentence.

>>369
The difference between present/future and past tense.

>>361
そうです。
話し手は実際にいる学生か子供に言及していないなら、
一般に学生や子供のことについて話しているわけです。
その意味で、BとCは複数形を使っても問題ないです。

他に書き込んだ方の意見と例文は確かに間違っていないんですけど、
ただ時制は違います。

貼ってくれた例文を翻訳してみると、理解してもらうかもしれません。
>"Have you ever met involved parents who want their children to be beggars?"
「自分の子供に乞食になってほしい、その教育に関与したい両親と会ったことあるか？」
>"We never see a parent who forces their children to be beggars."
「私達は強制的に子供に乞食になることを強いる両親を決して見たことがない。
>"What sort of parent do you think would want their children to be beggars?"
「どんな両親は自分の子供に乞食になってほしいだと思う？」

過去形だと、

”Have you ever met an involved parent who wanted their student to be a beggar?”
自分の子供に乞食になってほしかった両親と会ったことあるか？

ABCの会話の流れを簡単にすると、こう見たいな形になります
A
Have you ever met an involved parent who wanted their student to be a beggar?
（過去に、そのことしていた人と会ったことある？）
B
We never see a parent who force their children to be a ‘beggar’.
（今も、そのことしている人を見たことない）
C
What sort of parent do you think would want their children to be a beggar?
（例えば、いたら、それはどいう人なのか？）

メール欄のスレから来ました。

>>371
このスレにいる「オーストラリア人」によると、あなたの英語は間違いということになります。。。

>What about tense agreement?
The tense agreement in all these sentences is okay.

>"Spider monkeys have a very long tail. They use IT as their fifth limbs. "
I don't think I would say that. It seems like it should be 'limb', not 'limbs'.
"Spider monkeys have a long tail. They use it as their fifth limb." That sounds fine to me.
"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their fifth limbs." That's also correct.

僕はこの人はオーストラリア人ではないと思っています。
それともオーストラリアでは正しい英語でしょうか？

>>372

For what it's worth, I agree with the Australian. "limb" sounds better than "limbs", and I would consider "beggar" more correct than "beggars". However, I do think that I am likely to say "beggars" or "limbs" if I were speaking.

I am wondering, then, why the Australian doesn't follow his rule through and though?

Not
"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their fifth limbs."
but
"A spider monkey has a long tail. It uses it as its fifth limb."
or
"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their fifth limbs."

この二種類しか正しいと認められないことになりますね。
彼の英語の世界では。

>>374
Correction.
I mean,

Not
"Spider monkeys have a long tail. They use it as their fifth limb."
but
"A spider monkey has a long tail. It uses it as its fifth limb."

>>374
"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their fifth limbs."

In this sentence, "fifth" already contains plurality, so adding an "s" to "limb" is redundant no matter what the case.

If the sentence was "Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their limbs" that would mean monkeys have more than one tail.

The best way to correct this is to simplify it:

"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as a limb". In this sentence "a limb" contains the connotation they have other limbs but use the tail as an additional one.

じゃあ
「クモザルは長い尻尾を五本めの手足のように使います」
と言いたい時
A spider monkey...
で始めるともう駄目ですね

そんなことは話し言葉では難しそうです

書き言葉でもたくさん存在することを考えると、正しい用法と考えていいですか？
↓
What kind of teacher do you think would want their student to be a beggar?
Spider monkeys have a very long tail. They use IT as their fifth limbs.

>>377
beggar より dropout が内容として自然なので訂正します

>>376
>"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their fifth limbs."
>In this sentence, "fifth" already contains plurality, so adding an "s" to "limb" is redundant no matter what the case.

You would be correct if you were talking about a single monkey.

"My tail is my fifth limb" -- correct.
"My tail is my fifth limbs" -- incorrect.

But we're talking about multiple monkeys.  Each monkey has its own tail, so just like monkeys is plural, tails is also plural.

"Our tails are our fifth limbs" -- correct.
"Our tail is our fifth limb" -- only would make sense if there was a single tail that everyone somehow shared.

    if i quote directly or indirectly what a person is saying, in which forms do i put the verbs/adjectives before と言いました。？

>>379
そうでしょう、そうでしょう。
だから
>unless the children merge and become one, it should be plural. At least, I'm fairly certain.
というのは言い過ぎだと思いますよ。

日本語が読める方はこちらをどうぞ
http://blog.livedoor.jp/eg_daw_jaw/archives/50481572.html

If the rule is logically broken, and everybody does not seem to follow,  who cares?

>>379
Yeahhh... I'm pretty sure this is a matter of colloquialism. Some countries/regions might add this s, and some may not.

"Second limbs" "Third limbs" "Fifth limbs" makes no difference, you just don't pluralize it, no matter the plurality of the subject.

Everyone I know would say:

"The classes use the book as their fifth text"
"Our tails are our fifth limb"

etc. are totally fine.

This kind of agreement goes outside of grammar and mixes with connotation.

how do i ask in japanese:

If you have the fever, how much temperature is it?

熱があったら何度ですか。

is this correct?

>>379
The problem here is generality. "Fifth" or any other (second, third, etc.) should take a singular noun in most cases.

"Our tail is our fifth limb" is not incorrect, and the explanation you provide actually makes sense if this sentence is spoken by the monkeys themselves, as they all knowingly share an additional limb outside of the four they recognize, then categorized collectively as their "fifth limb". It's merely a matter of perspective. It would be slightly odd then, in the case of a monkey speaking, to say "Our tails are our fifth limbs". "Our tails are our fifth limb" is much more natural considering this perspective.

In the sentence "Are these fifth limbs merely the origin of species in the evolution of the android?", the use of "fifth limbs" is most natural, because the limbs in question are being referenced as a whole, in a general sense and not necessarily owned by or tied to any one thing.

All in all, "limb" used with a counter is most clear in the singular. "prehensile tails that are used as fifth limbs" is correct but "prehensile tails that are used as a fifth limb" owns more clarity, especially when a limb in the sense of a tail  is known to be singular itself, despite whatever plural group it can possibly fit into.

>"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as their fifth limb" correct
>"Their tails are fifth limbs" correct
>"Our tails are our fifth limb" correct
>"Our tail is our fifth limb" correct
>"Spider monkeys have long tails. They use them as a limb" correct

>>383
That communicates, but sounds gaijin.
熱があるの？何度？
熱は何度ありますか？etc.

This isn't a Japanese language question per se, but I just got a new notebook with Windows 8, and I'm having a problem with IME. Does anyone know how to set the half-width alphanumeic input as the default input? Ever since XP, half-width alphanumeric has always been the default, so it's throwing me off.

みなさんありがとう
大変ためになります

結論として一言確約が欲しいんですけど、国や地域によって下の文章はありえるんですよね？
What teacher would want their student to be a dropout?

>>388
I would say that's fine for anyone.

オーストラリア人の回答

35 ：名無しさん＠英語勉強中：2013/01/28(月) 21:15:30.61
　　>>27
　　Do you just personally favor strict number agreement and accept other answers,
　　or think it is the answer and others are errors?
　　Do you follow the rule every day, in every essay and speech?

　　そもそもこんな文を認める時点で矛盾が発生するでしょ。
　　Many Japanese tourists carry a camera.
　　「カメラを携帯する日本人観光客は多い」
　　Many Japanese tourists carry cameras.

　　大勢で一台のカメラを携帯するのか
　　一人で複数のカメラを携帯するのか
　　結局「常識」で判断している。

　　Don't you think this agreement rule is flawed in the first place?
　　多くの人が無視しているならルールの方が間違っているのでは？

36 ：名無しさん＠英語勉強中：2013/01/28(月) 22:06:04.90
　　>>35
　　Oh, I definitely agree that the rule is flawed. Most rules of English grammar are flawed.
　　The best thing is just to read and listen to as much English as you can, so you get a sense for what sounds
　　right and what doesn't. That's how native speakers do it; we don't try and apply grammatical rules.

　　And you are correct, often it comes down to using common sense to figure out what a sentence means.

　　But there are some cases where getting the number agreement wrong does make the sentence incorrect.
　　For example, the sentences in >>4 that said "children to be a beggar" sound completely wrong.
　　I would never use that phrase, and nor would any other native speaker.

>>389
yay, thanks.

>>389
ごめんこっちだ＞＜

What teacher would want their studentS to be a dropout?

>>392
If you're talking about the relationship between a teacher and a student, even if there happen to be multiple students (as in a classroom setting), it makes more sense to drop the plural. Using the plural implies that you are referring to the whole class becoming dropouts, which is not the case. It's talking about the teacher's desire to ensure each (individual) student does not become a dropout, and the singular makes perfect sense. Stop making corrections if you don't have any actual basis or evidence.

>>393
I see.
Sorry, I just wanna know how English works. I'm a persistent student.
My high school was horribly bad, so it was pretty possible even for an entire class to become a whole bunch of dropout losers.
haha.

so this makes perfect sense
#1. A teacher would not want their student to be A dropout.

this works only when the whole class becoming dropouts,
#2. A teacher would not want their studentS to be A dropout.

And maybe this makes sense
#3. A parent would not want their childREN to be A dropout.
when all the children s/he has could become dropouts, right?

違ったかな…(汗)

>>394
I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you were someone else correcting me. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I'm just not having the best night. Anyway, enough about me.

I don't think that sounds very correct to me. I would either say students to be dropouts (referring to a class) or student to be a dropout (referring to either a single student or on the general philosophy of the teacher). Mixing them sounds odd. I can't comment on Australian English.

I'm sure you're probably aware, but asking these kind of questions is really difficult and often becomes a question of "what does 'correct' mean". I wish you luck and welcome other responses.

How do I know whether it's にっぽん or にほん?

近[ちか]い 将来[しょうらい] 日本[にっぽん]の 国民[こくみん]の四 人[にん]に一 人[にん]がお 年寄[としよ]りになるらしい。

授業[じゅぎょう]の 後[のち]に 先生[せんせい]に 個人[こじん] 的[てき]な 質問[しつもん]をした。

Here's another. Shouldn't 後 be あと?

>>398
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/15266/m0u/
It can be read as either, but あと is more common and のち is mostly used in formal writing. It's also used in certain expressions such as 後ほど (のちほど) and 雨のち晴れ (あめのちはれ).

>>397
にっぽん sounds more stiff and old. That's about it. The reading will have to be inferred by context, and in pretty much any modern usage it will be にほん.