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Can you check this text?
Hi there!
I wrote a text all by myself, but I'm not sure it is correct. It is a very simple text in which a person named A gives a birthday present to a person named B. Then A find a bag and a watch and asks B if they are theirs (uhm.. I'm not sure this phrase makes sense in English). Can you please check it out? Thanks A) 誕生日おめでとうございます。これはイタリアのプレゼ ントです。 B) おお、うれしいです。何ですか。 A) フィレンゼのステーコです。 かばんと時計をみました、Bさんのですか。 B) 時計は私のですがかばんはじゃありません。 |
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誕生日 > お誕生日 (This is because you used the polite ございます) イタリアの > イタリアからの (Not incorrect but that it better.) フィレンゼ > フィレンツェ をみました > がみえます かばんはじゃありません > かばんはちがいます |
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かばんと時計をみました、Bさんのですか。==> かばんと時計を見ました、Bさんのですか。 A should say: I saw a bag and a watch, do they belong to B? And B is supposed to say: The watch is mine, but the bag is not. かばんはちがいます: what does ちがいます mean? |
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We use ちがう several times per hour. A: これBちゃんの? Is this yours, B-chan? B: ちがいます。 No, it isn't. A: イアタリアの首都って、ナポリ? Is the capital of Italy Napoli? B: ちがう。ローマだよ。 Nope. It's Rome. |
ちがう, is it polite? I mean, can I use it in a formal speech? Or I just use it with friends?
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Yes, you can use the verb in any kind of speech, but you would of course say ちがいます when you're using です/ます form.
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Uhm.. but then, what is the difference between ちがいます and じゃありません?
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An oversimplification is just to point out: ちがいます means "is different" ではありません (don't say じゃ with ます form despite what teachers tell you) means "is not" For example: ア:学生ですよね You're a student, right? イ:いいえ、違います。 No [that is different from what I am] You couldn't answer with いいえ、ではありません。 You could say いいえ、学生ではありません though. Edit: No idea what is up with my fonts, sorry. |
So, I can say
これは、貴方のですか。いいえ、これは私のではありま せん。 or これは、貴方のですか。いいえ、これはちがいます。 but I cannot say これは、貴方のですか。いいえ、これはではありません 。 Is it right? Quote:
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How about an observation of a native speaker that lives in Japan, not Italy, which is me? Since I'm not a teacher, I can be more honest about what really sounds natural in our ears. I don't think I ever say じゃありません myself. I hope not because it doesn't sound good. Where I live, which is mid-town Tokyo, I hear it once in a while though I've never liked it. The phrase has got a terrible balance between the very casual-sounding じゃ and the non-casual ありません. That's just the kind of a phrase that educated people hate to see the most. It lacks the refinedness people expect. I'm pretty sure it would be corrected if a kid used it in a composition in Japan as well. I would surely correct it if my own kid used it. This may not be the case in Kansai but I doubt you are being taught a dialect. |
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