HOW DO I SAY "…." THREAD

[AstralfoxMember]

そうか。
Then in the case that the listener is familiar with the series, would「狼と香辛料」の９巻 surfice?

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

I learned about this use of ところ through an intermediate J-pod, and I think it is actually a quite good thing to know.
In this case it is used to indicate the time at which the action takes place, and when combined with 今 it basically just reinforces the meaning. Because the verb is present progressive form, adding ところ to the end will change the meaning to “to be in the midst of doing something”. So in this sentence, the meaning is: “currently I am in the midst of reading the 9th volume of a book called Spice & Wolf”.
If you removed ところ the meaning would be: currently I am reading the 9th volume of a book called Spice & Wolf”.
So this expression can be used to say that right now, you are doing the present progressive verb.

The meaning you have found only applies to verbs in the plain present form Joel :) It can be used with verbs, nouns and adjectives, and can mean things like: to be just about to do something, to have just done something, to have been in the midst of something, to be in the state of the adjective & indicate time span. All these meanings are specific to which tense the verb is in, or if it is an adjective or noun.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by  マーク・ウェーバー.

[AstralfoxMember]

That does sound very versitile. But I’m afraid such subtlties are currently beyond my ability, and that of the listener. I’ll keep it’s range in mind though.

One last thing (とうとう？); is　ている　the casual form of ています？

[JoelMember]

Thought ている already meant “in the midst of”. Also, it’s in plain present tense.

And yes, ている is the plain form of ています

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

Hmmm. I am pretty sure I am remembering this right. Let me find the lesson.

Edit found it. I already had some of it in my notes, but this is the full thing.

Today’s grammar point is tokoro, a noun meaning “place”, that, through Japanese
interpretation of Chinese literature, has also acquired the meaning of “state” or “result”. When
modifying a verb, adjective or noun, tokoro is used to indicate the exact time or
circumstances under which an action occurs (or almost occurred). The meaning of tokoro
depends on the tense and aspect of the word that precedes it.
-After a verb in plain present form, it means “to be just about to do something”.
-After a verb in plain past form, it means “to have just done something”.
-After a verb in present progressive form, it means “to be in the midst of something”.
-After a verb in past progressive form, it means “to have been in the midst of something”.
-After adjectives, tokoro means “to be in the state of the adjective”.
-After nouns that represent time spans, such as shuumatsu (weekend), tokoro is used to
represent that period of time, or the state that existed during that time equivocally.
Tokoro may be followed by the copula, or any one of the particles ga, de, ni, e or o.
V.plain/plain past + tokoro – just about to/just (V.past tense)
行くところ/行ったところ
iku tokoro/itta tokoro
about to go/just went
V.plain present progressive/past progressive + tokoro
食べているところ/食べていたところ
tabete iru tokoro/tabete ita tokoro
in the middle/midst of eating/have been eating
i-adj + tokoro
忙しいところ
isogashii tokoro
someone is in the state of being busy
na-adj + na + tokoro
静なところ
shizuka na tokoro
something is in the state of being quiet
Noun + no + tokoro
週末のところ
shūmatsu no tokoro
the state in which someone is on their weekend

Edit 2; is ている V.plain present progressive or as you say V.plain present? I know most of my grammar through Danish so I am not really good with grammar words and their meaning in English…

• This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by  マーク・ウェーバー.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by  マーク・ウェーバー.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by  マーク・ウェーバー.

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

So yeah, as you can see I meant to say plain form. I suck with grammar terms lol ^^

Also, I think you can consider っている to add what is in English the -ing form. while ところ attached to it, just emphasizes that it is something you are doing right now. In English there is a difference between saying “I am in the middle of watching a movie”, and “I am watching a movie”(though this is Japanese, and many things can’t really be compared). The first meaning can be obtained by attaching ところ, while the second only requires plain present form.
That is how I understand this grammar point.

[AstralfoxMember]

Thanks for the help.
As for grammar, I didn’t know much about English myself until I started learning Japanese and had to keep up with the terms. So don’t trust my native grammer until I’m near fluent in something else XD.

[MomoIroMember]

Isn’t ９巻 still just “nine volumes?” I’d probably put 第 in front to make it ordinal. 第９巻, the ninth volume.

[thisiskyleMember]

Speaking of 第, can some one explain to me the difference between using that and 目 (assuming there is one)? I asked my neighbor and she said they were the same but she says that about a lot of things.

第３週 vs ３週目

[JoelMember]

第3週 is “week number 3″ while 3週目 is “the third week”. The difference is a bit subtle.

[MomoIroMember]

I think that using 第 sounds a little more formal.

[AstralfoxMember]

Hi, I’m back with a new question. It’s not quite a ‘how do I say’ question, but should fit this thread well enough. Right so, a Japanese learner told me 楽しいを　ある。I get the message but does ‘いadjectiveをverb’ make gramatical sense? just　楽しむ would be fine in context right?

• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by  Astralfox. Reason: deleted a mistake

[MiriamMember]

Okay, I have a ‘how do you say’ question. In season two the task is to put the job titles of people you know into Japanese. So my husband (しゅじん）？ Is the manager of an off-road autoshop. He said in Japan they call it くるまかいそ　(truck modification). The word for manager is てんちょう　and the word for garage/autoshop is せいびこうじょう。 Since I still don’t have a good grasp on sentence structure, I want to know how to put those all together! Would it be: １）てんちょうくるまかえそせいびこうじょう　　２）くるまかいそせいびこじょうてんちょう　３）てんちょうせいびこうじょうくるまかいそ

Maybe it would be explanatory enough to say てんちょうくるまかいそ

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

Put some spaces, and make sure you spelled everything properly, then me or someone else should be able to help you.

[MiriamMember]

１）てんちょう　くるま　かいそ　せいびこうじょう　２）くるま　かいそ　せいびこじょう　てんちょう　３）てんちょう　せいびこうじょう　くるま　かいそ
or てんちょう　くるま　かいそ

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