This thread is for grammar questions that are too short to create a new topic for them. We used to have a thread like this but it’s been archived. If your question is more comlplex, maybe do make a new thread.
I’ll start: I know that in Japanese, 行く and 来る are from the perspective of the speaker, not the listener, so:
“I will come to the park” - 私は公園に行く。
Does this apply to 持ってくる (to bring) as well? Example: “I will bring it to the post office”
① 私は郵便局に持っていく
② 私は郵便局に持ってくる
Yes, 行く and 来る function just the same when used for bringing and taking.
Shouldn’t 私は公園に行く be “I’ll go to the park”?
His point is that you can say “I will come to the park” in English. He’s not translating the Japanese.
Next question:
What is the difference between 第～ and ～目? (example 第一つ / 一つ目)
They both just indicate an ordninal number right?
Yes, they both indicate ordinal numbers, but 第 is used in formal contexts while 目 is used in casual contexts.
I have a sentence here that I’d like to better understand.
まちの中では大きなトカゲを見たという人がたくさんいました。
This is from an NHK article, talking about a giant lizard that escaped in Shizuoka. I understand that the sentence is saying there were a lot of people in the town who saw the lizard, but why is という used prior to 人? I’ve seen that in the context of naming things, but not in a scenario like this. Is it also used as a connector for phrases like that?
They’re not just people who saw it (何々を見た人), they’re people who say they saw it (何々を見たという人)
Ohhh, that makes much more sense now. Haha, that actually seems way too obvious looking back on it. I should be more careful with my kana. Thanks!
What difference does it make to add でした to すみません?
It can’t mean “I was sorry”.
My impression was that it just had to do with apologizing for something that didn’t happen at the same time you’re apologizing. You’re apologizing for something that happened in the past. But that doesn’t come from anything I was taught explicitly.
The following sentence is currently in the Japanese Only section :
病院に入ったことはありますか？
mami translated it as “Have you ever been admitted to hospital?”
My question is, if she’s asking about a past occurrence, why didn’t she use ありました？ Is there a difference? Would the translation have been different if she did? So confused…
病院に入った is in past tense, and you nominalize it with こと so it becomes “The experience of having been admitted to a hospital”. Then ありますか is whether you have this or not.
“Do you possess the experience of having been admitted to a hospital?”
I understand, thank you so much!
[quote=“Ryouki, post:12, topic:18002, full:true”]
My question is, if she’s asking about a past occurrence, why didn’t she use ありました？[/quote]
Well 病院に入った is the thing that occurred and it’s in the past tense.
ありました kinda feels like you had the experience of doing something but you don’t anymore, which doesn’t make any sense. If you’ve experienced something you have that experience.
Yes, that helps a lot. Thank you!
Welcome to the wonderful world of “こと expressions” where こと + some kind of grammar almost inexplicably equates to an English grammar point you’d never guess.
There are tons.
Past tense + ことがある = I have had this experience before
EDIT: Some more
dictionary form + ことはない = there is no need to _______
dictionary form + ことになる or こととなる = _______ has been decided
ことと思う = hope that _______
AことはＡが = it is the case that _______, but…
Yesterday I remembered you.
昨日は私はあなたが覚えてた。
I added the 私は because the romajidesu’s translator wasn’t making a clear sentence without it. However, it’s better to remove it, right?
I guess that the most natural sentence would be (if I wanted to add the 私は):
昨日、私はあなたが覚えてた。
I also know that it’s better to add the person’s name instead of あなた.
Thanks in advance ^^
I would probably phrase it this way:
昨日、あなたのことが覚えてた。
Adding 私は only adds emphasis and contrast, while as a standalone sentence, it’s assumed by context that the speaker is the one who remembered.
Isn’t 思い出す more appropriate for this kind of remembering?