Obsolete: The Japanese Language Help Thread

[Taras Bulba]

Well, okay, besides that, is there anything wrong with the rest of the sentence? I'm not worried about the names - those can be changed at a glance.

I think it might be better to condense that into one sentence.

「zekrom」じゃなくて「zekurom」と呼ばれる。「ウ」があるから。。。
zekrom ja nakute zekurom to yobareru. u ga aru kara...
Literal: "Zekrom" not being, "Zekurom" be called (informal). "U" having (informal) because...
Semantic: (I) am called "Zekurom," not "Zekrom." Because there's a "u"...
I hope I'm using the "ja nakute" right.

 

[Zekurom]

I think it might be better to condense that into one sentence.

「zekrom」じゃなくて「zekurom」 と呼ばれる。 「ウ」があるから。。。
zekrom ja nakute zekurom to yobareru. u ga aru kara...
Literal: "Zekrom" not being, "Zekurom" be called (informal). "U" having (informal) because...
Semantic: (I) am called "Zekurom," not "Zekrom." Because there's a "u"...
I hope I'm using the "ja nakute" right.

The rest of your post was somehow cut off by the rendering engine.

I have a question either way. What does the "to" do in "to yobareru"?

 

[Taras Bulba]

Huh? Where'd it cut off?

Also, use of "と" ...well, this is what I remember:

"To" is a particle like "ha," "ga," "ni," "he," etc. It has two main purposes:

"And."
"Pikachu to Kamonegi to Fushigidane." means "Pikachu, Farfetch'd, and Bulbasaur."
It can also be used with only one noun. Wikipedia example: "Boku to ikitai?" means "Me (with) go(desire)," i.e. "Would you like to go with me?"

Marking speech or thought
"Uzumaki-san wa dattebayo to iimashita." means "Uzumaki said 'Dattebayo.'"
"Hitodeman datta to omoimashita." means "Staryu was (thought marker) thought," i.e. "I thought it was Staryu."

It can also kinda mean "if," but that's complicated.

 

[Zekurom]

Marking speech or thought
"Uzumaki-san wa dattebayo to iimashita." means "Uzumaki said 'Dattebayo.'"
"Hitodeman datta to omoimashita." means "Staryu was (thought marker) thought," i.e. "I thought it was Staryu."

I knew the first one and the "if" version, but not the second. Thanks for telling me.

 

[Taras Bulba]

No problem.

 

[Xiaomao]

So question for some of the more advanced speakers, when you start getting into the middle-school level Kanji, how in the world could someone differentiate between some of those characters? I have trouble reading English sometimes, and the letters get jumbled, so reading Kanji is a big bitch to me. Would it help me to learn the radicals better? I started doing Kanji a long time ago and neglected to familiarize myself with the radicals, so now I kind of have a gap in my edumacation.

I've heard that many Japanese can't actually write some of the harder Kanji off the top of their head, but can read them, like
薔薇 for example, they can read it, but would need some time to remember to write it.

 

[Rafia]

I have been wondering, what does the word "hitomi" means?

 

[Steven]

'Hitomi', translated into English, means 'eye.'

 

[Rafia]

'Hitomi', translated into English, means 'eye.'

Thanks but is there a Kanji for it?
I was watching code geass's opening snd it had the song writer Hitomi's name written in katakana whereas all the other names were written with Kanji, is there an explanation for this?

 

[Steven]

Thanks but is there a Kanji for it?
I was watching code geass's opening snd it had the song writer Hitomi's name written in katakana whereas all the other names were written with Kanji, is there an explanation for this?

'瞳' ('hitomi') means 'eye.'

Ah, you're referring to Hitomi Kuroishi. I didn't notice it before, but yeah, you're right, she doesn't write her name in kanji... My only guess is that she likes the way the katakana writing of her name looks better than what the kanji writing would've looked like...

 

[Kthleen]

I was wondering about a translation for this comic for Hyatt.

The transliteration I currently have:

Gureru

Buneary: Pikachuusama~ Shinou Riigu de wa Mimiroru seiippai ouen shimasuu~
Pikachu: Omae no chiakosu daikaikyaku ga ore no shouri no hoshi sa

Buneary: Arayada koko wa doko? Pokemon Riigu wa?
?: Ha? Mou kaeri no fune yo

Buneary?: A~n!! Mou gureteyaru-!!
Dawn: Mimiroru!!

Dawn: Aaaaakoitsu gureyagatta!!



What I understand:
Buneary says she'll be cheering for Pikachu as hard as she can at the Sinnoh League, and Pikachu says something about her cheerleader costume daikaikyaku ("kaikyaku" apparently means "with the legs spread" [splits, perhaps?]) being his "victory star".

Buneary asks where this is and what about (where is?) the Pokémon League, someone says something about a boat (the boat back home?), at which point Buneary runs off crying, then (I think Buneary and) Dawn say something about "straying from the right path" with some odd pun about Croagunk (Guregguru).

I don't quite get it, though. <:/ Can someone help me?

 

[Zekurom]

I'm trying to translate "That's what she said!" into Japanese - what is currently in my signature is my futile attempt at that.

彼女がそれと言った！

Currently, it reads "She said that!". Is that the correct way to go about it?

 

[Taras Bulba]

You probably want it shorter and pithier...
Maybe:
彼女も言った！
Rough translation: She-also said.
I dropped the "that" to make it shorter. Contextually, it still works, and Japanese is all about context.

 

[Zekurom]

I dropped the "that" to make it shorter. Contextually, it still works, and Japanese is all about context.

Yeah, I forgot that the context would already exist.

 

[Draconic Renegade]

あたしのにほんごはわかってじゃない！すみません。 I was wondering if a kind soul could help me practise my Japanese, I'm none too proficient in it yet. Someone to correspond with through email and/or voice if in the US, much appreciated, thanks. <3

 

[mini-chan]

Spoiler

I need to know if I need to use all the little characters for a syllable, or just pick one!
Please answer quickly. It's due in 2 days for Japanese. I am using it for a guess who book thingy.

 

[make_it_worse]

what's the difference between wa and ga..
like::
Watashi wa
Anata ga..

 

[Zekurom]

Spoiler

I need to know if I need to use all the little characters for a syllable, or just pick one!
Please answer quickly. It's due in 2 days for Japanese. I am using it for a guess who book thingy.

All the little characters, for things like "sha", "ja", and "kya"?

Yeah, you need to use the "ki" and the little "ya". You could also write it like this: kya = ki_ya

what's the difference between wa and ga..
like::
Watashi wa
Anata ga..

As far as I understand it, "wa" is used when the subject is already known - for example, if you're saying that you are John, you'd do this:

I am John.
私はジョンだ。

That means: I (topic) John - is, or "I am John".

Now, "ga" is used for when the thing being talked about, is part of the predicate of the sentence - in other words, it's the information you're trying to convey. For example, if somebody was asking for who John is, they'd say:

Who is John?
誰がジョンだ？

This translates to: Who is the one that is John?

And John would then stand up, and say:

I am John.
私がジョンです。

Meaning: I am the one that is John (copula).

If you use "wa" here:

Who is John?
誰はジョンですか？

This translates to "Who is John?"

Which means that you're asking whether who is John or not.

 

[make_it_worse]

ok this one..
i see that jap dubs says "da" instead of desu right?
and is "yo" used to all subjects? is it another way to say jap... or dilects?

 

[Ru-Kun]

In Japanese how do you say we or us?