Recommend app(s) to learn a little Japanese?
May 21, 2013, 11:27 pm
#31
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May 22, 2013, 3:20 am
#32
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May 22, 2013, 4:36 am
#33
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May 22, 2013, 4:57 am
#34
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May 22, 2013, 10:57 am
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May 22, 2013, 8:48 pm
#37
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It's difficult to get WA vs. GA right.I have been taught to use GA when it is specific. So WA would imply no need in general in this case? I suppose saying sato-WA iranaidesu means that I don't need sugar in general (in my coffee for example), which is an accurate statement for most people since it's a habitual preference.
Last edited by gnaget; May 22, 2013 at 8:57 pm
May 22, 2013, 9:09 pm
#38
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May 22, 2013, 9:16 pm
#39
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Another way I have heard the distinction is that "wa" emphasizes what comes after it, with the word before it "tossed in" to clarify the topic of the discussion, while "ga" emphasizes what comes before it. This is why you say "kore wa nan desu ka?" and "nani ga ii desu ka?" in either case putting the emphasis on the blank that you want to have filled in.
It's also possible that this is total BS.
It's also possible that this is total BS.
May 22, 2013, 9:21 pm
#40
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"Ga" always denotes the subject, while "wa" denotes the topic which may be the subject, object, or something else entirely. That's how you can have sentences like "Suzuki-san wa nani ga ii desu ka?" (What would you like, Suzuki-san) or "Tokyo wa hito ga ooi" (in Tokyo there are many people). Or when ordering drinks you can say "watashi wa biiru desu," which means something like "a beer for me," not "I am beer."
May 22, 2013, 9:58 pm
#42
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"Ga" always denotes the subject, while "wa" denotes the topic which may be the subject, object, or something else entirely. That's how you can have sentences like "Suzuki-san wa nani ga ii desu ka?" (What would you like, Suzuki-san) or "Tokyo wa hito ga ooi" (in Tokyo there are many people). Or when ordering drinks you can say "watashi wa biiru desu," which means something like "a beer for me," not "I am beer."
Sheesh! Why am I arguing something so trivial. Long retired and I still slip into teacher-mode unexpectedly.
No mas!
May 22, 2013, 9:59 pm
#43
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Technically, dekiru and the potential forms of other verbs put the sentence into a sort of passive voice, so you are literally saying something like "Japanese is not possible." Another verb that similarly seems like an exception is "wakaru" (understand), which is intransitive, so you say "nihongo ga wakaru" which is literally like saying "Japanese is understood" though a decent translator would never translate it that way.
May 22, 2013, 10:18 pm
#44
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Technically, dekiru and the potential forms of other verbs put the sentence into a sort of passive voice, so you are literally saying something like "Japanese is not possible." Another verb that similarly seems like an exception is "wakaru" (understand), which is intransitive, so you say "nihongo ga wakaru" which is literally like saying "Japanese is understood" though a decent translator would never translate it that way.
May 22, 2013, 10:24 pm
#45
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I'd be curious to hear how you break these sentences down as a teacher, though I am partly at fault for not translating them literally enough. The first sentence literally means something like "What is good for Suzuki-san?" and the last sentence is really saying "for me, [it] will be beer" (with the pronoun subject omitted because Japanese lets you do that) -- so Suzuki-san, Tokyo and watashi are all prepositional objects. (any grammar nerds willing to correct me here?)