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Thread: Newbie : help with some sentences

  1. #1
    Regular Member
    Join Date Nov 14, 2003
    Posts 31

    Newbie : help with some sentences


    国際交流パーティー - Tokyo International Party

    Hello all,

    I am new to this forum.

    I am just practicing learning some Kanji and writing sentences.

    I would appreciate if anyone could correct me or give me advice :

    I would like to say :

    I am an only child :

    私は一人子。
    watashi wa hitorigo.

    Januray is the first month :

    一月は睦月
    ichigatsu wa mutsuki.

    Please give me a bite :

    一口を下さい。
    hitokuchi o kudasai.

    (is there a difference between bite and sip? Would i use this same phrase to ask for a sip as opposed to a bite)

    Finally

    The victory was single handed.

    勝利は一手に買った。
    Shouri wa hitotenikatta.

    I'm sure there is a better way to say this. Is there a difference between saying The victory was single handed, and it was a single handed victory?

    Thanks
  2. #2
    Regular Member Female
    Join Date Apr 22, 2003
    Location アメリカ
    Posts 9,464
    United States

    Re: Newbie : help with some sentences

    Originally posted by Mirage
    I would like to say :

    I am an only child :

    私は一人子。
    watashi wa hitorigo.


    Yes, I think this is the most common way although it should be "hitorikko" (一人っ子)not hitorigo.

    Januray is the first month :

    一月は睦月
    ichigatsu wa mutsuki.
    It's probably correct, at least for the lunar year calander.


    Please give me a bite :

    一口を下さい。
    hitokuchi o kudasai.

    (is there a difference between bite and sip? Would i use this same phrase to ask for a sip as opposed to a bite)
    I'm not sure but think you can use hitokuchi for either (一口飲む : to take a sip)

    Finally

    The victory was single handed.

    勝利は一手に買った。
    Shouri wa hitotenikatta.

    I'm sure there is a better way to say this. Is there a difference between saying The victory was single handed, and it was a single handed victory?

    Thanks
    I've never encountered the "ni katta" part for single-handed, but the difference in the two ways of saying it would of course come in word order. In the first instance, as is, "victory" would be the subject and in the second the object (それは一手に買った勝利です/でした). Does it look reasonable? 
    たとえ辛くても、永遠に続く苦しみなどないでしょう。
  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date Nov 14, 2003
    Age 32
    Posts 8
    Hello all, first post.
    1.
    私は一人子。
    watashi wa hitorigo.

    I think this is a more common way to say it (as Elizabeth mentions):
    私は一人っ子です。

    2.
    一月は睦月
    ichigatsu wa mutsuki.

    I don't know if this sentence would make sense, since 一月 usually refers to the solar calendar, while 睦月 refers to the lunar calendar. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on this.

    3.
    一口を下さい。
    hitokuchi o kudasai.

    The 「を」should be dropped so: 一口ください。
    This is okay when asking for either a bite or a sip. Although, you can also use 飲ませてください for sipping.

    4.
    The victory was singlehanded.
    勝利は一手に買った。
    Shouri wa hitotenikatta.

    買った -> 勝った。
    I've never heard of the phrase of, "一手に勝った。" But then again, I'm not a resident Japanese.
    I can't think of a good word to translate "singlehanded victory", but I would think 「単独勝利だった。」is a better approximation.
  4. #4
    Regular Member
    Join Date Nov 14, 2003
    Posts 31
    Yes, actually the ni katta part was a mistake on my part. I was actually trying to get the past form of "was single handed" But single handed isn't a verb so I made a mistake. I think the appropriate way to say it is :

    処理は一手にでした。

    shouri wa hitoteni deshita.

    using the past form of to exist to mean was single handed.

    Is that correct?

    有り難うございます Elizabethsan!
  5. #5
    Regular Member
    Join Date Nov 14, 2003
    Posts 31
    I've got one more if you want to look at

    This one is kinda weird but... i'm only practicing with certain Kanji so i get the feel for them.

    I'm trying to say:

    The prince was one step ahead of the princess.

    My attempt :

    王子は、王女に一足先でした。

    ooji wa, oojo ni hitoashisaki deshita.

    is the ni particle correct here?
  6. #6
    Regular Member Female
    Join Date Apr 22, 2003
    Location アメリカ
    Posts 9,464
    United States
    Originally posted by Mirage
    Yes, actually the ni katta part was a mistake on my part. I was actually trying to get the past form of "was single handed" But single handed isn't a verb so I made a mistake. I think the appropriate way to say it is :

    処理は一手にでした。

    shouri wa hitoteni deshita.
    I don't know....can you have an adjective with "ni deshita"? Maybe independent victory is better in this case or "tenishita." if that can be used for achieving/having a single handed victory.
  7. #7
    Regular Member Female
    Join Date Apr 22, 2003
    Location アメリカ
    Posts 9,464
    United States
    Originally posted by Mirage
    I've got one more if you want to look at
    王子は、王女に一足先でした。

    ooji wa, oojo ni hitoashisaki deshita.

    is the ni particle correct here?
    I'm thinking it may be "yori" instead of "ni," mirage.
  8. #8
    Regular Member
    Join Date Nov 14, 2003
    Posts 31
    Ah yes yori would make sense too i think.

    Thanks again!
  9. #9
    Regular Member
    Join Date Nov 2, 2003
    Location Yokohama/Japan
    Posts 41
    2.
    to be precise,
    一月は最初の月(です)。
    ichigatsu wa saisho no tsuki (desu).
    mutuki(睦月) is an age-old word means Januray in Japanese.
    off course "ichigatsu wa mutsuki" gets across enough as Japanese.

    3.
    calb0y is right.
    in addition, a way of saying friendly.
    一口、ちょうだい。
    hitokuchi choudai(or, cho-dai).

    4.
    I'm not intimate as for English, but if you express the sentence like "the victory was got by myself" in above phrase "the victory was single handed", I translates freely that
    (わたしは)勝利を、この手でつかんだ。
    (watashi wa) shouri wo kono te de tsukanda.
    nominative is often omited in Japanese.
    or, if the sentence like "the victory was held single handed",
    (わたしは)勝利を、一手に握った。
    (watashi wa) shouri wo itte ni nigitta.

    and to Mirage, translating "The prince was one step ahead of the princess." to Japanese literally,
    王子は、王女より一足、先にいた。
    ouji wa oujo yori hitoashi saki ni ita.

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