Japanese Help

[Sakura no]

Any questions on Japanese should be posted here. Anyone can answer the questions as well. They can be on anything Japanese-related that goes from grammar to foods to traditions and holidays to even what books to buy that will help one learn Japanese.

Please stay focused more on the language bit, though. I'm fluent in Japanese (I used to live in Tokyo, and I'm half) and I'd be more than glad to help.

[aTOH]

I'm currently taking Japanese at my highschool right now, a 2nd year student. The class is known to be a kick-back/easy A class, so most kids that are in it don't care jack about the language. That angers my sensei, so I can't really learn much. Unfortunately as well, she leaves right after school ends, so I have no time to ask questions. On the topic, I have a question on....uh, pre-fixes I guess? I can't really explain it, but I'll give an example.

Boku wa, cookie desu.

It's those things you put after nouns(?) or whatever. For instance: wa, (w)o, ga, no, etc. I'm wondering what they all mean, and when to use them.

Thanks in advance, yo
aTOH

[Sakura no]

"Boku wa cookie desu."

Hahaha. Are you truly a cookie? :3 "Wa" is not a prefix (prefixes are words that go in front, such as "pre-" or "re-" or "un-" or "in-" &tc). "Wa" is the word that connects the noun to the adjective and then ending statement ("desu", "da", "desuka", &tc).

"Wa" means "is", essentially. Without wa, your sentence would translate to "I cookie." "Wa" is the main topic particle of the conversation. The form is NOUN + PARTICLE (wa) + ADJECTIVE or NOUN + "DESU" (or other endings). That is the typical structure of a Japanese sentence. Here is an example sentence:

"Boku wa koukougakusei desu." [I am a high school student.]

"Ga" means "is", but is the SUBJECT particle of the sentence. You use it most to say you like or dislike things or want things. Form looks like NOUN + PARTICLE (ga) + VERB + ENDING. Example sentence:

"Ongaku ga suki desu." [I like music.]

You can use the two combined in one sentence, such as this:

"Boku wa gakkou ga kirai desu." [I don't like school.]

I hope that helped.

[DeasuEx]

I've been wanting to clear some stuff up, and have some questions :p:

How do you say:
Are you Alright?
I'm alright.
I see.

I Japanese : /

Thanks ahead of time

[mel-mel-chan]

just for quick purposes even though this is kind of sakura's thread
Are you alright? ~ Daijoubu desu-ka?
I'm alright ~ Daijoubu ~or~ Daijoubu desu.

I see....well i'm not completely sure on this one...i mean if for the context i think you mean it in saying it literally would make you sound silly i think... i normally say sou desu-ka? which is like is that so? or wakarimashita for i understand, but that is not quite the context i think you are looking for...... for some reason my mind automatically jumps to a soka, just becuase it's something i've heard watching japanese shows which for some reason i want to say is something like i see, but I don't want to steer you the wrong way, so I say let Sakura-chan jump in on this one.

I am just a first year college japanese student and have been studying japaense for the last four years independently.

[Sakura no]

Polite form: "Daijoubu desuka?"
To a friend or sibling, you might use something a little less formal:
"Daijoubu ka?" (a little more masculine) or just "Daijoubu?"

The simplest answer to "Daijoubu?" would just be to answer with "Daijoubu [desu]," meaning that you're all right. There are a few ways to answer differently, just like in English. If you want to respond with the essence of "nothing" or "not much", "Betsu ni" is your best phrase. If you want to say something along the lines of "it's nothing", then you can answer with, "Nandemo nai."

While "wakarimashita" could be used, it's the more common answer would be "sou ka," which is translated to "I see," rather than wakarimashita's "I understand."

Hope that helped. :3

[KenjiMuyo]

sakura, you're from connecticut? Anywhere near new york? and if so would you know any places that teach japanese in the area between connecticut and new york? I just moved up to NY near connecticut/NY border and I'd like to try to learn japanese. (Teaching myself is too time consuming)

[Sakura no]

I'm about an hour away from New York, so I'm not sure if any place I list may help you. I'm currently blanking at the moment of the name of the place... but it's a university that may do Japanese classes separate from the school hours (or maybe you can just sign up and go to just that class? I don't know how they work it). My mother is friends with the Japanese teacher, so I'll be sure to ask.

[DeasuEx]

Ah, that was what I was looking for, thanks ;p

[KenjiMuyo]

great, thanks a lot sakura, btw I'm about 15-30 min away from stamford and greenwich so if it's near there it'll help a lot :)

[juanicths]

sakura, thanks for setting up this thread and the japanese text thread! am learning japanese in uni at the moment, and i really need loads of practise since i tend to get all my particles mixed up....