The "I found some Japanese I don't understand" thread.

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

I sometimes say “That’ll lurn ye!!”, but only in a jocular manner ;)

[Hatt0riMember]

Thanks to everyone helping me with sentences so far. I have more questions :(

空いたお皿をお下げします。 What is お下げします? 下げる + する :S

今日は一人で映画を見ます。 (I saw a movie by myself today.) I don’t understand how is this sentence in past tense?

地図を見て来てください。 見て来て part is confusing me.

あちらに行ってみよう。 (Let’s go that way.) Is the meaning of this sentence close to “Let’s try going that way”. Like they have no idea where they are going?

このケーキはあなたの分です。(This is your share of the cake.) Is the person here talking about the last piece of cake?

[JoelMember]

1. Um… pass. No idea. =)
2. It’s not past tense – that’s a mistake.
3. 見て来て basically means “look and come back”. Or perhaps “come and look”?
4. It’s more like “let’s go that way and see” – whether it’s “see if it’s the right way” or “see what it’s like / see what’s there” would be implied by the context.
5. Since it’s using この, then it’s probably something like the speaker holding out a plate with a slice of cake on it – this is your piece. Not entirely sure what you’re asking, to be honest.

[Hatt0riMember]

Thanks Joel. I just talked to my Japanese friend. But he is very bad at explaining grammar. He says お下げします is basically 下げます. Then he says it’s not polite enough, it should be お下げいたします. In the end he says お下げ is a noun, so it’s okay to attach する to it… Not sure what to think now :D I’ll just leave that sentence as it is.

About the cake… The sentence feels like this person is talking about the whole cake and a piece of cake at the same time, so I just assumed it’s a last piece. Nevermind. Your explanation is better.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by  Hatt0ri.

[thisiskyleMember]

Hey Hattori!

The お verb prefix thing is pretty common so it’s definitely a good thing to learn.
You basically take the ～ます stem of a verb and slap an お in front. It’s considered more polite and can be used with なさい　（お休みなさい）, ください　（お待ちください）, and する as in your example as well as by itself as a noun. I head お待ちください so many times yesterday over the intercom system at the train station because of a delay. Over 30 minutes late!

地図を見て来てください　means Please check the map and come.

I agree with Joel on the next one. It sounds like “Let’s see whats over that way.” They very well could be lost or just perusing around a museum or something.

Joel +1 again on the last one.

[Hatt0riMember]

Thank you very much Kyle! I really appreciate your help guys!

[Hatt0riMember]

明日は雨が降るでしょう。 (It will rain tomorrow.) Does でしょう part means “I think”?

チケットはもう売り切れだって。(The tickets have sold out already.) What is だって?

魚がたくさん泳いでいます。 Translation says it’s “There are a lot of fish swimming”, but it looks like “Fish swim a lot” to me. How do I know which part of sentence たくさん relate to? Because in 昨日はたくさん泳ぎました it is about swimming a lot :S

昨年は地震が多い年でした。 What is 多い年?

新しい机を買ってもらいました。 (They bought me a new desk.) Grammar guide says -て form + もらう means to make someone to do something. So, is it “I made them to buy me a new desk”?

[JoelMember]

1. でしょう means “probably” – it’s the formal version of だろう. It also acts to soften a too-direct sentence/question. Unlike in English, where you’d go “It’ll rain tomorrow”, in Japanese, you’ll be indirect and say “it’ll probably rain tomorrow.”

2. [Edit] Sneaky, you added one. My dictionary is telling me だって means after all, because, even, too, as well, they say. Et cetera.

3. I’m not entirely certain, to be honest. I have a feeling that the -でいます might make a difference. Um. Pass.

4. It’s not 多い年, but 「地震が多い」年 – that whole bit is the noun-modifying phrase. So, it’s “last year was a “many-earthquakes” year”.

5. I don’t think -てもらう is as strong as “made them do X” but yeah, as an auxiliary verb, it means that you’ve received a benefit from somebody’s action. So, either “they bought a desk for me” or “I had them buy me a desk”. Um, though now that I’ve written them, those sentences feel different. Maybe just the latter?

• This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by  Joel.

[ElenkisMember]

I’m pretty sure チケットはもう売り切れだって is just チケットはもう売り切れだ and the casual quoting particle って. So the meaning is like “I heard the tickets have sold out already” or “They say the tickets have sold out already”.

As far as I know, だって meaning because and だって meaning even/too (でも/も) doesn’t come at the end of sentences.

-てもらう can be translated as both “they bought me a desk” or “I had them buy me a desk”.

In regards to number 3, in difficult/unclear sentences I still sometimes get tripped up on whether an adjective describes the subject marked by が or whether it directly modifies the word following the adjective :(

• This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by  Elenkis.

[Hatt0riMember]

As usual, you are a great help, guys! Thank you very much m(._.)m I hope you benefit from analyzing these sentences as well. At least a little? I feel a bit bad asking for help so often :/

[JoelMember]

It’s no problem. =)

[VurskariMember]

Hey, I’ve tried to find the meaning of this Kanji, but searching by radicals didn’t help and I’m not even sure it’s a single kanji anyway.

Picture here: http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g52/yonilinder1/?action=view&current=Kanji.jpg

• This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by  Vurskari.

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

駅からはタクシーに乗ってください。

「は」は本当に必要ですか？

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

it is 19 stroke, and my guess is that it is very very rare, because I can’t get the IME to recognize. It definitely ain’t 常用漢字。

[JoelMember]

Vurskari: What’s the context of that? Only I’m not sure it’s actually a single kanji at all.

Mark: No, but it’s marking the emphasis of the sentence. Rather than “please take a taxi from the station” it’s more like “from the station, please take a taxi”

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