How do you say "Do you speak japanese"
 

I wanted to say do you speak japanese in japanese but forget if it was
にほんごをはねせますか。
or
にほんごをはなせますか。

日本語がわかりますか？

That's "Do you understand Japanese?"

nihongo o hanasemasu ka?

Do you speak Japanese?
Nihongo wa hanashimasu ka?
日本語は話しますか。

This is correct. 日本語が話せますか is also okay.

Ignore other posts that says otherwise. There are a lot of people who wants to help but sometimes they provide the wrong answer.

I didn't think you could use the 話せる kind of form (potential?... don't know) with を... Or at least I haven't personally seen it like that as of yet, and whenever i've said something like 日本語を話せる i've always been corrected to say 日本語が話せる for example.

Good point.

As far as sheer grammatical correctness, I'd have to say both are correct. But if the question is which sounds more natural or which is heard more often in Japan, then the answer is definitely が.

Nagoyankee, I've heard that using を instead tends to change the emphasis of the sentence, like maybe it emphasizes the "Japanese" (as opposed to another language). In a sense, it makes the ear jump to attention and say "wait a minute, there was supposed to be a が there!" and pay attention to the 日本語 then.

I could have been misinformed, though. It's something I think I saw on sci.lang.Japanese back in the day. I definitely always stick with が because it's safe and I don't need to worry about such subtleties too much yet.

So was I misinformed? I defer to a native speaker's experience on this one.

i thought を　was for actions, and が was for emphasis of the subject or something abstract like a feeling, and existance "います”

日本語 (を) はなします i speak= action ?
日本語 (が) わかります i understand= thought/abstract ?

日本語をはなしますか？　or....
nihongo wo hanashimasu ka?

lol :o ...

どうも僕の忠告を無視したようですね、alanXさん。
人をあざ笑う前に自分の日本語を磨き上げること…

Alanx, you keep on laughing at other people but your own Japanese is pretty pathetic.

No your understanding is a bit off.

を is a marker for an object.
が is the marker for the subject.

Example:
I open the door.
I = Subject, Door = Object, Open = Action (transitive).
私が　ドアを　開けます。
Note が is marking 私 as the subject, を is marking ドア as the object. Had it been 私を　ドアが　開けます, it would have meant The door opened me. Which.. could not make much sense but you see the difference.

私が　日本語を　話します
Means I (subject) speak (verb) Japanese (object).

分かります is one of those weird Japanese verbs which has no 100% English equivalent. Just use が when using 分かります. To understand the difference, you have to understand Intransitive Verbs and Transitive Verbs and their use in Japanese (which is slightly different to Vi and Vt in English).

You've never heard me speak Japanese, so how would you know it's pathetic?
And I wasn't laughing at anyone. It's just more practical for someone to look this question on google, instead of making a thread about it.

How about 日本語が出来ますか? I noticed that Japanese people use more the potential form of verbs (also faster I might say), but I love using the potential form of する much more :)

Correction: I personally don't use that phrase but there is nothing wrong with it and I have heard people using it but not as common.

Alternatively, you can say 日本語を話すことが出来ます。

All these are correct, but I still think the most commonly said is just nihongo wo (wo is optional) hanashimasu ka

日本語を話したか does not make too much sense. It kinda means, did you speak (to someone in the past) Japanese. Not denoting ability.

I meant hanasu



I've had a tat bit to drink. :confused:

Yea in fact I noticed native speakers don't use a lot 出来る, but they prefere to use the potential of verbs. I tried to cut it a little bit shorter, but when I write emails to Japan I tend to use alot more the form ことが出来る then the potential of the verbs, I kinda feel more confident that it is not "misunderstandable".

Something else I tried to avoid using was the passive form of verbs (also coz text books says it is not very much used). But I am getting more confident to use it...also coz I have noticed the guy in Japan who writes to me uses it a lot :)

AlanX, we know your Japanese is not good because you have repeatedly given a terrifically incorrect answer in this thread.

日本語を話します means "I will speak Japanese." You have to use the potential form 話せる there. And then, you should preferably use が. And end with the sentence-final particle か.

日本語が話せますか。

This is textbook Japanese. Yours should be clearly wrong to a second-semester student of Japanese.

In your parlance, /facepalm.

I haven't been learning japanese for too long and am confused. Why would it be はなせます and not はなします? I thought masu form went with base 2 making verbs ending is す become し.

It would be 話せます because it is the potential form of 話します the question would be "can you speak Japanese?" you can use the potential form to ask if somebody is able to do something.

This is a good example of a sentence using potential forms like you asked about in the questions thread.

if you said 話します the question would become something like "Will you speak Japanese?"

Why is there so much arguing going on? its pretty streight forward...

I'm going to have to get used to this potential form, it's something I can imagine myself forgetting and using the standard one instead.

wtf is a potential form?! Learn the JAPANESE not the English words to describe and catogorize japanese words. FFS.

I didn't say "nihongo wo hanashimasu." Did I? Can you please quote me where I did? Thanks. You're right, "nihongo wo hanasemasu ka?" is technically correct. However, I simply stated what I believe is more commonly said. (nihongo hanashimasu ka) Much appreciation for your concern though.

Also, "nihongo wo hanashimasu" doesn't mean "I will speak Japanese." It means "I speak Japanese." It CAN mean "I will speak Japanese." However, that sentence is rarely said, and probably doesn't mean that in this context.

Also, starting sentences with the word "and" and missing proper punctuation, is "terrifically incorrect." I suggest mastering English before you bash someone's language skills.

Good day :vsign:

haha^^

the "nihon go ga hanashimasu ka? is future tense right?

I think It's "nihon go ga hanashitemasu ka? for past and present tense.
Im just guessing.^^

No need to ramp up the language, Shad0w. It means "can do" form.

In Japanese it is 助動詞 if that helps.

Please don't feel the need to guess. The sentence you wrote is incorrect in more ways than one.

日本語を話せますか or 日本語をしゃべれますか　are your winners.

MMM, I'm just curious...are you actually Japanese? I think you posted something saying you are American, but I can't tell. Because your Japanese is perfect.




Just curious=PP sorry of off-topicness D:

Nope. I am as American as the day is long.

Hahah wow, man.

I've been thinking you were Japanese for some time now.

I am full of surprises.

Shad0w, I'm an editor on an academic journal. The prohibition against beginning sentences with a conjunction is falsely repeated by people who don't really know grammar.

This is also the internet - A place where you can type what you want, how you want, and no-one gives a shit. Except from you ofcourse, trying to redeem oneself from an epic fail (almost a WEEK later, isn't it now?). A late comeback is better than none i suppose, or is that how long it took you to find a dictionary to look up the spellings of those big words you've used? Bless ya cottons for trying, though. *pats* Do you want a special sticker? Good boy!

Tip: Stop digging.

日本語（にほんご）がはなせますか。

nihongo wo shyaberemasuka?
日本語をしゃべれますか？

Quoted for truth.

I thought the correct particle was を...
てにをはは難しいですね。