Yes, the “seems new” meaning
I think the first would be translated as ‘as though [it’s] new’ whereas the other would be ‘to look new’/‘new-looking’. Does that help? The sort of usage of みたい I’m thinking about is much more common with nouns, like 「まるで子供みたい！」(‘Just like a kid!’). そう emphasises outward physical appearance when attached to the verb/adjective stem.
That brings us to your second question:
While そう focuses on outward appearance, よう suggests a certain amount of observation or deduction. The place mentioned in your sentence doesn’t just ‘look’ quiet: various observations or signs have led to the conclusion, however uncertain, that the place is likely to be quiet. よう goes beyond the superficial level.
Bonus point: according to my dictionary, みたい (when used in the sense of ‘like’ or ‘as though’, and not as the たい-form of a verb) is a transformed version of 見たよう, which might explain why its usages are closer to those of よう than those of そう.
4 Likes
For interpreted quotes, why do we need to explicitly show だ, when the quoted relative clause is a state-of-being for a noun or na-adjective?
For example,
これは何だと⾔いましたか。
vs
何と⾔いましたか。
Is this a reference to some kind of lesson you read in a textbook or on a website or something? The context of what prompted you to ask this would help.
1 Like
Yeah so it’s a lesson from Tae Kim. I am learning how to directly quote something and how to quote along the lines of something said. Under the section of “the interpreted quote” he states:
" Unlike the direct quotation, which you can just copy as is, if the quoted relative clause is a state-of-being for a noun or na-adjective, you have to explicitly include the declarative 「だ」 to show this."
- 彼は、これは何だと⾔いましたか。
What did he say this is? - 彼は⾼校⽣だと聞いたけど、信じられない。
I heard that he is a high school student but I can’t believe it.
“Notice how 「だ」 was added to explicitly declare the state-of-being that is highlighted in the English
translation. You can really see how important the「だ」is here by comparing the following two sentences.”
• これは何だと⾔いましたか。
What did (he) say this is?
• 何と⾔いましたか。
What did (he) say?
So I guess I’m kinda confused by this 
In the first sentence with だ, the “what” refers to the quoted person’s declaration of これ’s state. It shows that someone declared これ is “something” and 何 stands in for that something.
In the second sentence, the “what” just refers to a whole statement said by someone. A sentence or a word, whatever.
Without だ the first sentence would be more ambiguous and could be interpreted in other ways as well.
6 Likes
Ahhhhh okay thank you.
As @Leebo said, the reason だ is there is because of the meaning of the sentence. Someone declared that これ was something. It’s not about whether or not the quote has been ‘interpreted’. It’s also about grammar, as in the case of the second example:
A listener would probably be able to understand the sentence correctly even without だ, but technically speaking, what comes before と (provided it’s reported speech and not a direct quote) should be a complete sentence, and complete sentences of this sort technically require a form of だ・である after a noun or な-adjective.
I personally have a question about this though:
I was really expecting 「何を言いましたか。」Are both correct? (That’s the main thing I’m not sure about, because I’m really only used to seeing なんという as a set expression.) If so, is there a difference in meaning depending on the particle used? My guess would be that と would place the focus on what exactly was said, whereas を would shift the question towards the nature of what was said, but again, I’m not certain.
EDIT: I asked a friend and he said it would be ‘exact phrasing’ vs ‘meaning’, so it seems it’s more or less what I was thinking. So, my question has been answered… but everyone is free to voice other thoughts about it if they wish.
3 Likes
Why does どういうこと？mean “what do you mean?”
どう means “how” or “in what way”
言う means “to say,” though it often gets written in just hiragana in expressions
こと is a kind of generic noun
どういう is often used to effectively mean the same as どんな “what kind of” and こと is basically standing in for the thing that was said that wasn’t understood
So it’s kind of like “what kind of thing is what you just said” if you wanted to get super literal.
At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s worth getting too hung up on why an expression means what it means literally. It’s clear that you understand what どういうこと means, and that’s what matters.
6 Likes
IDK if this helps, but in French, “vouloir dire” (= ‘to want to say‘) is often equivalent to ‘to mean’. For example, “Que veux-tu dire ?” (literally ‘What do you want to say?’) often means ‘What do you mean?’ or ‘What are you getting at?‘ Similarly, in English, we use expressions like ‘what are you saying?’ or ‘what are you trying to say?’ to probe others’ intentions. It’s not quite the same thing as this usage of いう in Japanese, but in all these cases, speech or ‘saying something’ is used to refer to a more explicit or descriptive way of explaining one’s meaning.
It may also help to know that 〜ということ is a structure often used to describe an abstract matter or thing. In this structure, ~ can be a name, a general idea, or even a very detailed description. Hence, when someone asks 「どういうこと？」, they’re essentially looking for the ~ in 〜ということ that would provide necessary explanation.
4 Likes
I always have trouble with particles, can someone help me with this, which one should be correct?
子供は部屋の中に遊んでいる
子供は部屋の中で遊んでいる
I know that you use に with position like 鞄の中に本があります, but in the sentence above shouldn’t it be で ? because you use で with action verbs like 食べる、飲む etc
Exactly, で is the way to go.
2 Likes
Thanks, I can’t stop thinking about anything else when I don’t understand something.
1 Like
I don’t think this covers every single case and I sometimes still get confused with で and に, but here’s something that has helped me a bit.
You should use に…
- If there is movement or change of location involved. (e.g. 東京に行く)
- If the main verb is いる (to be) or ある. (e.g. 公園に鳥がいる。 or: カバンにリンゴがある)
- Related to the above, verbs that involve “just existing” somewhere such as 住む also expect their location to be marked with に. (e.g. アメリカに住んでいます)
You should use で…
- If the location is a backdrop to the main action, and the main action is not simply existing. (e.g. レストランで寿司を食べる)
- For other meanings of で, such as marking the means. (e.g. お箸で食べる)
So for your example, because the main verb is 遊ぶ, and 部屋の中 is just the backdrop for that action, で is the appropriate particle to use. However, if you made the sentence 子供は部屋の中にいる, then に would be the correct particle.
6 Likes
is this a gramatically correct sentence? I want to say ”What time is it in Japan?” This is what I have put down ->日本では何時ですか . also what are the differences between 時間(じかん） and 時（じ）?
2 Likes
Right! But you could add an 今- now for clarity.
１時間 - One hour ie 12:34 to 13:34
１時 - One o’clock
6 Likes
今は日本で午前９時５分です。
3 Likes
Thanks for the detailed explanation! 
Guys I have another question
ておく is used when you do something in advance for example
今ホテルの予約しておく
I have trouble with this one 辞めておく, I can’t understand how can I 辞めるin advance ¿? is there another grammar use for ておく？ 
I have seen it so many times but I cant quite grasp the meaning of it
Do you have any examples of where you’ve seen it used?
It’s not necessarily “in advance,” but more like “for future convenience.”
For example, say I have a sports meet tomorrow, so I decided to not do any exercise today in order to let my muscles rest a little. I might say 「明日はスポーツ大会あるから、今日は運動辞めておく。」
2 Likes