Japanese Help Questions/Translations

[samokan]

Originally Posted by Kuroneko

You are correct with your words

But "who is she" would be

Ano kanojo wa dare desu ka?


present/future tenses are masu

Past are mashita

It would be better to refrain using Kanojo as it also means girlfriend. Instead use the word "女性” Josei or Lady.

so it would be like this: Ano josei ha dare deshou/desu ka?

[samokan]

Originally Posted by benza

could someone give a translation in these sentences?

1. would you mind telling me how to do it?
2. teacher, do you know how to draw a good picture?

Thx.

1. Sumimasen yarikatta ha oshiete moraimasen ka? or
Sumimasen, oshieta moraimasen ka?

2. Sensei, ii e wo egaku kuremasen ka?

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by samokan

Suiyoubi no yoru ha hima desu ka? Yokattara isshoni ega wo mimasen ka?

Konya ha hima desu ka ? or it would be more polite and nice way to say as
Konya ha ojikan ga arimasu ka?

Minor correction:

It's eiga.

Also, although you use the hiragana character "ha," you pronounce it as "wa" and in romaji, you write it as it is pronounced, not as it is ^_^. In other words, you would write the topic marker particle not as "ha" but as "wa," and (usually) the direct object marker particle "wo" as "o."

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by samokan

1. Sumimasen yarikatta ha oshiete moraimasen ka? or
Sumimasen, oshieta moraimasen ka?

2. Sensei, ii e wo egaku kuremasen ka?

Minor correction:
Sumimasen, yarikata o oshiete moraimasen ka.
"Yarikata" means "way to do something, method, how to do it"
"Yarikatta" would be the informal past-tense form of "yaru," which means "to do, perform, etc."
And instead of the "wa" particle, you probably should use "wo," since you're asking someone to teach you something.

"Ii e o egaku kuremasen ka" is a polite way of saying "Will/Can you draw a good painting, please?"

To say "Do you know how to draw a good painting," you would say:

Sensei, ii e o egakikata o shitte imasu ka.

[NekoNekoChan]

Alright. Now for a quick, random question. Regarding "ecchi".
People often times refer to it as "ecchi", but as far as I know, the hiragana does not even have a sound for a single "k" sound. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it.
What is the word really? echiーえち？　ekuchiーえくち
Thanks for the help!　

Edit

[quote]You are correct with your words

But "who is she" would be

Ano kanojo wa dare desu ka? [\QUOTE]
What does Ano mean? And, by the looks of it, it says "She is who" is this the language structure all sentances use?

I don't know what Ano is, so I'm not going to use it yet, but say you ask is the cat cute?

Neko wa kawaii desu ka, and just because I got the japanese keyboard installed on here, I'm going to write it in hiragan, maybe I will pick up on a few.
ねこわかわいいですか

Oh, and just out of curiosity, what are some "curse" words in japan. I know they have them, every nation does. I just want to see how they compare to American ones.
Thanks again.

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by NekoNekoChan

Alright. Now for a quick, random question. Regarding "ecchi".
People often times refer to it as "ecchi", but as far as I know, the hiragana does not even have a sound for a single "k" sound. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it.
What is the word really? echiーえち？　ekuchiーえくち
Thanks for the help!　

Edit

What does Ano mean? And, by the looks of it, it says "She is who" is this the language structure all sentances use?

I don't know what Ano is, so I'm not going to use it yet, but say you ask is the cat cute?

Neko wa kawaii desu ka, and just because I got the japanese keyboard installed on here, I'm going to write it in hiragan, maybe I will pick up on a few.
ねこわかわいいですか

Oh, and just out of curiosity, what are some "curse" words in japan. I know they have them, every nation does. I just want to see how they compare to American ones.
Thanks again.

It's actually neither えち nor えくち. It's spelled えっち. The small っ symbolizes a short pause of sorts between syllables. For example, えち is two syllables - "e" and "chi." えくち is three syllables - "e", "ku", "chi."

And so, えっち is 2 syllables with a stop in the middle - "e",(short pause),"chi."

"Ano" means "that." In Japanese, there are several words that modify nouns in terms of distance. These are:
Kono, Sono, and Ano. These words are placed directly before the noun you want to modify.

Examples:
Kono kuruma wa ooki desu ne. - This car is big, isn't it?
Sono uchi wa Tanaka-san no desu. - That house is Tanaka-san's.
Ano kanojo wa dare desu ka. - Who is that girl over there?

Kono means "this," and is used when the noun being referred to is close to the speaker.
Sono means "that," and is used when the noun is close to the listener.
Ano means "that" (as in that over there), and is used when the noun is far from both the speaker and the listener.

Does this make sense?

So, to apply this to your other question, which is how to say "Is the cat cute?" You could add to it by saying:
"Sono neko wa kawaii desu ka."
Is that cat cute?

And concerning Japanese sentence structure, sentences are often written backwards from how they're expressed in English. Actually, so long as you have your verb conjugations and particles right, you can technically shuffle everything around and the meaning would still be understood.

Lastly, about curses and swearwords, although they do exist in Japanese, they are hardly useful. Rarely if ever does a native Japanese use them (unlike here in America). In all my experience speaking with native Japanese, never have I heard them speak a single swear. The only time you'll really hear them used is in anime and manga ^_^. So if a foreigner were to actually know and then speak them, it would not be a pretty sight.

[NekoNekoChan]

Yes, this all makes sense. Thank you. And note to all, if I were to curse, I'd never use the japanese ones, it would probably come naturally to me to say the american ones. I was just curious, in case I had run across them in, like you said, a manga or anime.

With e-chi I don't quite understand fully. Do you mean, it's like turing a two syllable word to a three syllable word? So when you say it, it's almost like two words or what? e chi, instead of saying it in one go like echi?

Now, how would you ask for someones name, and tell someone your name?
Nice to meet you. Introductory stuff.
Then, what are the types of hellos for the times of the day, and is there one that can be used during any time of day?

I think morning is-ohayo gozaimasu
Afternoon is-konnichiwa
and evening-don't know.
I think oi-hey. But you think you wouldn't be able to use that unless you're close friends or family.
Thanks for the help.

[CrimsonNataku]

Unfortunately, it's really hard to explain. The best thing would be to hear it, but I don't have the equipment right now to do something like that. ^_^;

The question regarding Personal Introductions was already asked in this thread.

I've quoted my response. ^_^

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

When meeting someone for the first time, you start with:
Hajimemashite.
Then, you say your name without any suffixes.
Watashi no namae wa ... desu.
Afterwards, you can add some other information about yourself, then finish with:
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Good Evening is Konbanwa.

[samokan]

Thanks for the correction and explanation CrimsonNataku.

There are lots of curses and I have heard a lot of them from Japanese People. Specially if your working in a company where most of the population are men, there are times when you hear them say it, although not loudly

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by samokan

Thanks for the correction and explanation CrimsonNataku.

There are lots of curses and I have heard a lot of them from Japanese People. Specially if your working in a company where most of the population are men, there are times when you hear them say it, although not loudly

Yes, but they rarely, if ever, say it to anyone. What's more, Japanese men are more free from social complications. In other words, if they swear, it's more or less tolerated. But you have to have a very good reason. If you're a woman, it isn't pretty. Especially if you're young.

Also, you may encounter people who call someone else a gentle insult, such as "baka" (idiot, fool), but this is usually in jest, like saying "You dummy" in English. However, the person saying "baka" absolutely has to be older than the one being called "baka."

If someone younger calls someone older "baka," forget it.