Need a word or phrase translated?

[cacawate]

あなたは私より背が高い　and あなたは私よりも背が高い

What is the difference? When should stick も in? What prompted me to ask this question was the Siam Shade song 「せつなさよりも遠くへ」

[epigene]

I know that.... but does that mean the stress is on "sa"

eg: k'SAko?

or is it k'saKO?

Pika la is the one who asked earlier about naming his/her pet "Kusako."

My answer to Pika la:
Japanese words are pronounced more or less in monotone, without the clear accentuation used in English.

So, it's Ku-sa-ko. However, if an accent must be placed, I'd say you place a light accent on the KU.

HTH!

[epigene]

あなたは私より背が高い　and あなたは私よりも背が高い

What is the difference? When should stick も in? What prompted me to ask this question was the Siam Shade song 「せつなさよりも遠くへ」

They are basically the same. Yorimo is slightly more emphatic.

[cacawate]

They are basically the same. Yorimo is slightly more emphatic.

So would that be something like:

あなたは私より背が高い
You are taller than I

vs.

あなたは私よりも背が高い
You are way taller than I

[epigene]

Hi cacawate-san!

I wrote "slightly more" emphatic because the difference is minimal.

"Way taller" in English, I thnk, stresses that the difference in height is significant. In Japanese "yorimo takai," the emphasis is simply on the "fact" that A is taller than B, without suggesting the degree of difference.

In short, it's basically the same.

PS Where's your 99 avatar? I had the image that you look like Okamura-san... I like him! He's cute!

[cacawate]

PS Where's your 99 avatar? I had the image that you look like Okamura-san... I like him! He's cute!

Thank you, Epigene. Oh, here's your new avatar

[Elizabeth]

Thank you, Epigene. Oh, here's your new avatar

Who was the last one ? I always felt a little harassed by it, so even though I know it wasn't for me....but thanks for showing him the door anyway.

[GaijinPunch]

Amen. I always felt cheap and violated by that avatar!

[Kiyomi]

can someone please help me? i need the phrase
'I will always care for you'
translated to romaji. this is being said to a mother not a lover so i dont not how to phrase it. please help.

[cacawate]

Who was the last one ? I always felt a little harassed by it, so even though I know it wasn't for me....but thanks for showing him the door anyway.

Amen. I always felt cheap and violated by that avatar!

LOL! Probably one of the funniest comedians to come out of Britain. Viva la Avid! He's proper bo' I tell thee.

[cacawate]

can someone please help me? i need the phrase
'I will always care for you'
translated to romaji. this is being said to a mother not a lover so i dont not how to phrase it. please help.

"Kimi no koto wo itsumo aishiteru"
How's that? Literally, it means I will always love you, because I think if we used 'to care for' in Japanese it might mean 'to watch over; to care for (a child, patient)' or whatnot.

Care for (from Space Alc)

[Kiyomi]

"Kimi no koto wo itsumo aishiteru"
How's that? Literally, it means I will always love you, because I think if we used 'to care for' in Japanese it might mean 'to watch over; to care for (a child, patient)' or whatnot.

Care for (from Space Alc)

i see....thank you so much..*glomp*....you're the best

[Elizabeth]

"Kimi no koto wo itsumo aishiteru"
How's that? Literally, it means I will always love you, because I think if we used 'to care for' in Japanese it might mean 'to watch over; to care for (a child, patient)' or whatnot.

Care for (from Space Alc)

Maybe "ki ni kaketemasu" or "ki ni shite imasu" is closer to "care for" than love ?
Watch over in a protective sense is closer to "osewa ni naru" or "mendo mimasu"....but there are other aspects to it as well.

[J44xm]

"Kimi no koto wo itsumo aishiteru"

Is that the particle "o" there? If so, I think it was always pronouned "o" even though it's written with "wo." Or does rômaji indicate it with the character used instead of it's meaning? Am I making sense? I've been pretty ill lately ...

[GaijinPunch]

Sort of. You're right basically. Written 'wo', pronounced 'o' for clarities sake (kind of like it is in Japanese).

[J44xm]

I apologize for the delay in a response. I've been very ill. I very much appreciate the help that was offered in my previous post. I could use some clarification.

I'll try to apply my limited knowledge to your questions

I appreciate that. It seems your limited knowledge was quite sufficient.

"benkyou shitai" and "benkyou shite" are a combination of "benkyou" (勉強) meaning study, and suru (the "to do" verb which can be combined with a lot of nouns, such as the ones marked "vs" in WWWJDIC, to make a new verb). So, "benkyou suru" means "to study."

Or, more precisely perhaps, "to do study"? I've just entered the waters of verb conjugation, so I didn't know much of anything about "suru." Your information helps much. Pretty convenient way to make a verb from a noun, that.

Going further, the 〜tai form, "benkyou shitai" means "I want to study" and the "shite" one is continuative, meaning that it needs another verb after it -- such as "kudasai" -- to complete the meaning.

I wasn't even aware "kudasai" was considered a verb. I suppose I'll read more about -tai in my Japanese-grammar book, so I won't ask about that now. Same with -shite, I suppose. Still, at least I have a decent idea now.

I believe "benkyou shitai to omoimasu" can be translated as "I think I want to study,"

I think that I would like to study English. Omou = to think

Excellent!

and "benkyou shite kudasai" means "please study" (referring to you).

Please study Japanese. (the command form)

Okay, I'm curious about the purpose of the も's in these two sentences. Here's the whole original text: 「私も英語を勉強したいと思います。ジョナサンも日本 語を勉強してくださいね！」 (watashi mo eigo o benkyôshitai to omoimasu. jonasan mo nihongo o benkyôshite kudasai ne!) In English, using "too" in these places sounds odd, but I suppose they're normal in Japanese.

"Nihongo wa muzukashii kedo, suki desu." "Japanese is difficult, but I like (to study) it." It is just that, in English, the comma comes before "but", but in Japanese it comes after "kedo". So, yes, it is normal punctuation use.

I'll keep this in mind. Also, when using a conjunction like "kedo," the part of the sentence before it doesn't need a verb? Otherwise, it'd be something like "Nihongo wa muzukashii da kedo, suki desu," right?

A couple of other questions:

1. 「米国史試験はできましたか？忙しいですね。」 She asks if I was able to take my test -- I got that. In the second sentence, is she suggesting that it's irritating (忙しい)?

2. 「日本語は難しいけど、勉強して話せるようになれると 良いですね！」 Japanese is difficult, but ... what? Something about studying -- got that ... ^_^

3. 「ジョナサンの日本語は正しいと思いますよ。」 (jonasan no nihongo wa tadashii to omoimasu yo.) What purpose does "to omoimasu" serve here? My Japanese is excellent and ... and someone thinks something?

Many thanks again!

Sort of. You're right basically. Written 'wo', pronounced 'o' for clarities sake (kind of like it is in Japanese).

Thank you for that.

[wakarimasen]

Or, more precisely perhaps, "to do study"? I've just entered the waters of verb conjugation, so I didn't know much of anything about "suru." Your information helps much. Pretty convenient way to make a verb from a noun, that.

You're right, the literal meaning is closer to "to do studies" ... Suru is a very common verb that literally means "to do" but can mean a number of things; for example, "play" as in "gorufu wo suru" (ゴルフをする) -- to play golf.

I wasn't even aware "kudasai" was considered a verb. I suppose I'll read more about -tai in my Japanese-grammar book, so I won't ask about that now. Same with -shite, I suppose. Still, at least I have a decent idea now.

Yep, "kudasai" derives from a verb, whose literal meaning is "to lower down." When you ask someone for something or to do something with "kudasai," you're asking them to lower it down to you from their high social status to your humble kneeling self. As I remember, the "kudasai" form is not a regular conjugation of that verb but instead an irregular word that has arisen specifically for this purpose.

Briefly, the 〜たい form is used to indicate your desire to do something. I believe it can't be used to indicate or ask about the desires of others. The 〜て form is used to attach a verb to other verbs (continuative) or by itself as an informal kind of imperative (Do this!).

Okay, I'm curious about the purpose of the も's in these two sentences. Here's the whole original text: 「私も英語を勉強したいと思います。ジョナサンも日本 語を勉強してくださいね！」 (watashi mo eigo o benkyo^shitai to omoimasu. jonasan mo nihongo o benkyo^shite kudasai ne!) In English, using "too" in these places sounds odd, but I suppose they're normal in Japanese.

If "I too" or "Jonathan, too," sounds too forced to you, I think you could translate them as "also" or "as well," even rearranging the sentence a little bit:

"I also think I want to study Japanese"
"I think I want to study Japanese too"

One cool thing about the "も" particle in Japanese is that (as far as I can tell) it always comes after the noun in modifies, whereas in English the "too" or "also" gets moved around and it can get confusing; e.g. in the second sentence I wrote above, it is ambiguous whether you want to study Japanese as well as another person, or you want to study Japanese as well as another language.

OK, that explanation was more confusing than the actual problem, I think :P

I'll keep this in mind. Also, when using a conjunction like "kedo," the part of the sentence before it doesn't need a verb? Otherwise, it'd be something like "Nihongo wa muzukashii da kedo, suki desu," right?

Hey, I just learned the answer to this question a few posts up from here...haha The reason why there is no "da" present there is because "muzukashii," being an "i adjective" or "verbal adjective," has that copula built in. If you were being polite and used "muzukashii" before "kedo" at the end of a sentence, you'd say "muzukashii desu kedo." But here, in the middle of a sentence, you'd be using a plain copula anyway and the i-adjective provides it for you. See Buntaroさん's very helpful message where he set me straight on this issue above.

A couple of other questions:

1. 「米国史試験はできましたか？忙しいですね。」 She asks if I was able to take my test -- I got that. In the second sentence, is she suggesting that it's irritating (忙しい)?

My guess is that she silently changed the subject to you, and is saying "You're busy, aren't you?" ("busy" is another meaning for 忙しい).

2. 「日本語は難しいけど、勉強して話せるようになれると 良いですね！」 Japanese is difficult, but ... what? Something about studying -- got that ... ^_^

EDIT: My amateurish translation: Though Japanese is difficult, I hope you study in order to become able to speak it!

Someone please correct me, as there was a LOT of guessing involved with this ;)

3. 「ジョナサンの日本語は正しいと思いますよ。」 (jonasan no nihongo wa tadashii to omoimasu yo.) What purpose does "to omoimasu" serve here? My Japanese is excellent and ... and someone thinks something?

I'm pretty sure the "と思います" takes the entirety of the rest of the sentence and makes it "I think that.... { }" So, "I think that your Japanese is correct/proper/etc"

Many thanks again!

どういたしまして。
Always happy to be able to help. (and to have the practice)
P.S. I just noticed the top of your message -- I'm sorry that you've been ill and hope that you recover soon. :/

[Damicci]

Ok guys hook it up:
時々damianの言葉は冷たい気がする。
tokidoki Damian no kotoba ha tsumetai ki(?) ga suru
My translation (Sometimes Damian's words are cool.)

今日は仕事忙しかったですか？
kyou ha shigoto isogashikatta desuka?
My translation (Today was work busy?)

お疲れさま。
not sure about this one, I don't know the kanji.

またメールするね。
mata mail suru ne
My translation (Write me again.)

[GaijinPunch]

Ok guys hook it up:
時々damianの言葉は冷たい気がする。
tokidoki Damian no kotoba ha tsumetai ki(?) ga suru
My translation (Sometimes Damian's words are cool.)

Sometimes your words are "cold". Completely different in meaning, no? Anyways, the 気がする at the end softens it a bit. Perhaps there's something lost in the translation and she's not quite sure?

お疲れさま。
not sure about this one, I don't know the kanji.

おつかれさま。 one of those "japanesey" phrases... I think you're familiar with it.

またメールするね。
mata mail suru ne
My translation (Write me again.)

Grammatically it means "i will write again" but colloquially I've seen it (or similar things) said like you translated it.

[Damicci]

Thanks Gaijin I also asked a friend of mines and she said it was weird so she wanted to know why it was said which I don't know the answer to at the moment. But yeah basically she said the same thing about "Somtimes Damian's words feel cold".

[jt_]

Thanks Gaijin I also asked a friend of mines and she said it was weird so she wanted to know why it was said which I don't know the answer to at the moment. But yeah basically she said the same thing about "Somtimes Damian's words feel cold".

Is she referring to when you speak Japanese to her? If so, it's not really all that surprising. A lot of times when we speak a foreign language, our words don't come off sounding the way we intend them. (Actually, this might also hold true -- though probably to a lesser extent -- if you're speaking English and her comprehension of English is a bit shaky) If I were you I'd explain to her that you didn't mean to be "cold" to her, that sometimes you just aren't sure how to best express yourself in Japanese, and ask her if she'd tell you what you said that made her feel that way... That would probably be very helpful in your study of the language. That is, if she'll be honest with you, of course... Otherwise you could post an example of what you've written to her here (assuming it's nothing too private ^^) and we could try to point you in the right direction.

Also this is just a minor point, but I'd really start thinking of "Damianさんの言葉" as "your words" instead of "Damian's words". Referring to the person that you're talking to by their name instead of a pronoun isn't the way we do things in English, but it's very common in Japanese. If you can realize (maybe you already do) that this is just the standard way (or one of them, at least) to say what we would express in English as "your words", then it should help you train yourself to avoid overusing words like "anata" in your own speech.

[Damicci]

I know she means "your words". I am just more concentrating on literal translation. Once I get the literal menaing of the statement i then can make sense out of it in english.

And Elizabeth broke my anata habit.
See my avatar and title.

[Elizabeth]

But yeah basically she said the same thing about "Somtimes Damian's words feel cold".

That sounds somewhat confrontational not to mention rude (if it is directed towards a foreigner) to me as well....why don't you ask directly if you're confused ? 私　(Damiensan)　の話し方（書き方）は、何か冷たい Kanji がしましたか？　　　　　　ちょっと誤解があったよう ですね。 　

Can someone help with this mojibake ??? It's making me crazy ! :

[Damicci]

So I got a response and she says "Probably my misinterpretation" ごめんね気にしない。But that response she gave isn't going to go away that easily. So I asked her to tell me specifically what she didn't understand. I wait for her response.

[Elizabeth]

So I got a response and she says "Probably my misinterpretation" ごめんね気にしない。But that response she gave isn't going to go away that easily. So I asked her to tell me specifically what she didn't understand. I wait for her response.

Better preface it that you didn't intend this to escalate into an argument.

XXXさんにけんかを売っているつもりなどまったくあり� ﾜせん。