Home Forums The Japanese Language HOW DO I SAY "…." THREAD

This topic contains 372 replies, has 62 voices, and was last updated by  Charlie 7 years, 12 months ago.

Viewing 15 posts - 271 through 285 (of 373 total)
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  • #41110

    Angela
    Member

    How would you ask someone to “spell out” a word in Hiragana? I know how to ask them to repeat or speak slowly but sometimes I need the spelling of the word to figure it out. Thanks!

    Angela
    #41125

    Joel
    Member

    You could give them a piece of paper and say すみませんが、書いてくださいませんか. Don’t know if there’s a set phrase to ask them to say it one kana at a time, but maybe 一つのかなで言ってください, though someone’s bound to come and say “wait, I do not think that means what you think it means”…

    #41127

    Astralfox
    Member

    My attempt would be; 「Insert word here」とは次々にかなを教えてください. But I really have no idea, just had a go for fun. 次々 is probably more understandable than 一つ though right?

    #41129

    Joel
    Member

    Probably. I was just trying to think “one at a time” in the sense of how 一歩 implies “one step at a time”.

    #41137

    Maybe using something like ずつ or 次第に? Or you could ask them to say the word slowly, I’m not sure.

    #41154

    Angela
    Member

    Could I say “hiragana kudasai?”

    Angela
    #41158

    Joel
    Member

    Well, if you’re speaking, that’s a bit of a silly thing to say. It sounds like you’re asking them to speak in hiragana rather than kanji.

    Edit: Thought maybe I should perhaps clarify something here – unlike English (or Greek, or Hebrew) letters, hiragana characters don’t have names that are distinct from their pronunciation. That is, if you ask someone to spell out (say) おはよう “in hiragana”, all you’re going to get is “o… ha… yo… u”.

    • This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by  Joel.
    #41718

    thisiskyle
    Member

    This is probably obvious, but how do I say ‘the # most adjective nouns’, as in ‘the three funniest causes of hemorrhoids’ or ‘the five most idiotic penguins’?

    #41726

    I don’t actually know but I’m thinking that if you can find a Japanese equivalent to cracked.com, you’ll surely find your answer ;)

    #41739

    thisiskyle
    Member

    世界でもっとも入りたい5つの会社 – the five best countries to work for in the world
    – or –
    今まで実行された10つの最も危険なスタント妙技 – the 10 most dangerous stunts ever performed

    I was right, it is obvious.

    #41862

    Astralfox
    Member

    Just to be sure, with the pluralising suffix たち、it’s added after the normal suffix for a persons name right?
    Like; マサミさん達。

    #41863

    Joel
    Member

    Yes.

    #42052

    vanandrew
    Member

    I’m looking to translate this sentence from a book into Japanese:

    “Then he and Frog ran outside to see how the world was looking in the spring.”

    In particular I’m not sure who to treat this part – “how the world was looking”

    Any suggestions?

    #42053

    Joel
    Member

    Might be a little less poetic, but maybe 世界がどのように見える?

    #42066

    vanandrew
    Member

    Thanks!

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