Quote:
Originally Posted by lucagalbu
Hi all!!
Can someone please explain me this phrase:
nanika taberu mono ga aru
My problem is thah I don't understand why I have to use nanika and mono: mono means "thing" but nanika means "something", so by using nanika and mono together, don't I repeat twice the word "thing"? Shouldn't I say:
ikutsuka taberu mono ga aru or taberu nanika ga aru
End another question please:
in order to translate "I speak japanese" I say:
a) nihongo wo hanasu
b) nihongo de hanasu
Thanks very much
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Great questions! And this is a great example when you have to clear your mind of all that you know, and accept this unnatural (in English) structure.
Taberu nanki ga aru? is a word for word translation of "Is there something to eat?" but that's why word for word translations work less when the sentences get more complicated. The WORDS are right, but the structure is different.
Ikutsuka taberu mono ga aru is a POSSIBLE sentence in Japanese, but it sounds like you are asking for food for a starving group of people.
Just get used to the structure
nanika taberu mono ga aru
and then you can get into more fun sentences like
nanika oishiimono nai?
or when your friend is watching a boring TV show:
nanka motto omoshiroi bangumi nai?
2)
The difference is:
I speak Japanese. (emphasizes more that YOU can do it, rather than someone else)
I speak in Japanese. (empasizes that you will be speaking in JAPANESE rather than another language)