*Good Teacher*

[Kayame]

Originally Posted by Kuroneko

How much is ...? ...wa ikura desu ka?

Where can i find...? ...wa doko desu ka?

How long to... ? (time or place) ...donokuri desu ka?

Do you have..... ? ....arimasu ka?

From what I see, Japanese doesn't....use the same...words for english. Like you used desu ka many of times, but in english, I see no same word in each question. I dont understand that. does ka or desu ka means it is a question?

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by Kayame

From what I see, Japanese doesn't....use the same...words for english. Like you used desu ka many of times, but in english, I see no same word in each question. I dont understand that. does ka or desu ka means it is a question?

"Ka" is added to the end of a sentence to indicate that it is a question.

"Desu," is comparable to the english verb "to be" or "is"

In other words:

Where is the bathroom? - Toire wa doko desu ka.

Right now what time is it? - Ima wa nanji desu ka.

How much is this? - Kore wa ikura desu ka.

As you can see, "desu" is a verb used very often in Japanese.

[Kayame]

I see. Ok that kinda makes sence I guess. Thanks. I'll look over them again.

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

There are some things that are the same as in English (structure wise) such as when describing something (unlike in spanish/french) the description comes first:
example: "Kore wa aoi kuruma desu" meaning "this is a blue car" "aoi" meaning blue and "kuruma" meaning car.

It is also a good idea to learn particles and where they are used; it helps when speaking fluently to know how and which words to connect using which particles.

Also, it's good to know that when speaking Japanese, the "desu" usually is just pronounced as "des." It's useful to know that "des" and "desu" are exactly the same.

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by SamuraiAlchemistNinja

There are some things that are the same as in English (structure wise) such as when describing something (unlike in spanish/french) the description comes first:
example: "Kore wa aoi kuruma desu" meaning "this blue car/ this is a blue car" "aoi" meaning blue and "kuruma" meaning car.

It is also a good idea to learn particles and where they are used; it helps when speaking fluently to know how and which words to connect using which particles.

That's a very good point, SamuraiAlchemistNinja, however, I would like to point out a minor thing, which is that "Kore wa aoi kuruma desu" only means "This is a blue car."

"This blue car" would actually be "Kono aoi kuruma." "Kono" is similar to "Kore," they both mean "This." The only difference is that "Kore" is a noun, whereas "Kono" is an adjective and always modifies a noun.

[Kayame]

Ok, very comfusing @.@. So...des and desu are the samething, but kore and kono are different because kore is a noun and kono is an adjective. Ok.......@.@

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by Kayame

Ok, very comfusing @.@. So...des and desu are the samething, but kore and kono are different because kore is a noun and kono is an adjective. Ok.......@.@

There is only "desu." "Des" is incorrect, and a misspelling.

"Kore" is "This," as in "What is this?" (Kore wa nan desu ka)
"Kono" is "This" as in "What is this thing?" (Kono mono wa nan desu ka)

Unlike "kore," "kono" needs another noun because "kono" is actually an adjective. "Kore" is a noun and so therefore can be used on its own.

Does this help?

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

That's a very good point, SamuraiAlchemistNinja, however, I would like to point out a minor thing, which is that "Kore wa aoi kuruma desu" only means "This is a blue car."

"This blue car" would actually be "Kono aoi kuruma." "Kono" is similar to "Kore," they both mean "This." The only difference is that "Kore" is a noun, whereas "Kono" is an adjective and always modifies a noun.

That's very true Kore is a noun, sometimes I forget But I've only been studying Japanese for a about two months. Thanks for pointing it out to me, I'm sure I would've caught it sooner or later, lol

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

There is only "desu." "Des" is incorrect, and a misspelling.

"des" is a misspelling, but it's only the WAY the Japanese say it most of the time. "Desu" is the proper word.

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by SamuraiAlchemistNinja

"des" is a misspelling, but it's only the WAY the Japanese say it most of the time. "Desu" is the proper word.

Not neccessarily. I have talked and listened to several Japanese friends, and I've noticed that although it seems that they don't pronounce the "u" in "desu," they actually do, it's just not stressed very much.

Also, it's a good idea to get into the habit of remembering that there are no single consonants in the Japanese language except for "n." By doing this, it's a lot easier to transfer from romaji to hiragana.