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KyleGoetz (Offline)
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10-15-2009, 11:23 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by coldsymphony13 View Post
Hi. I've recently started learning Japanese and I just had a few questions to clarify a couple of things:

kono, sono, and ano vs sore, kore, and are.

the ono's are specific so for example you would say

"Kono wa pen desu." but you wouldn't ever say "Kore wa pen desu." due to pen being speficially in the sentence already. Is this correct? Because on one of the learning videos before we got into "kono, sono, and ano" they do use kore and a noun in the sentence at the same time... So I am just slightly confused on the difference.


My second question is just about spelling and writing. For example "kasa" would be the hirogana symbols for ka and sa. Is it as simple as that? Thanks alot.
No one seems to have answered your second question: Yes, it is as simple as that. However, don't get confused when "n," "wa," "y," double consonants, and "e" are involved!

For "wa," if it is used as the "topic marker," you will write "ha" even though you say "wa." Similarly, if "e" is used as a particle marking a destination, write "he" even though you say "e."

Double consonants in romaji are basically rendered as a little "tsu" plus what it would be if the double consonant were a single consonant. Example: "tatte" would be "ta" + little "tsu" + "te." たって.

When you have a consonant immediate followed by a "y" and then a/o/u, you do it as if there were an "i" in between the consonant and the "y," but then write the ya/yu/yo small. Example: "nya" = ni + little ya = にゃ as opposed to にや.

As far as "n" is concerned, "n" is the only Japanese consonant that does not have to be paired with a vowel. Accordingly, it is important to be sure you're not getting confused. For example, こんやく and こにゃく are written the same in romaji (konyaku) but mean different things and are pronounced differently. One is like engagement, and the other is a food (an elephant yam). This is why you sometimes see an "n" by itself written as n'. Thus, you can distinguish the two above by writing one as konyaku and the other as kon'yaku.

This confusion is why you need to stop using romaji ASAP.

Good luck!
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