some questions on numbers and particles

[duo797]

Pacerier, I would suggest bookmarking Tae Kim's site if you haven't already. Japanese Grammar Guide | Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese Unfortunately the one language he doesn't have for it is chinese ^^; but it should be a good help. A bunch of grammar topics with examples.

[pacerier]

I would suggest buying a textbook to help you study, that way you can learn things in a systematic order.

ok i'll try to get some jpn language books from the library, hopefully there are good ones i could borrow

Pacerier, I would suggest bookmarking Tae Kim's site if you haven't already. Japanese Grammar Guide | Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese

yea Tae Kim's guide is great, i do love to read them. i've came across several questions while reading his guide.

Q1.
an extract from the guide:
ボブ：　アリスは学生？
アリス：　うん、トムも学生
i was wondering is 学生 required after the も particle in the second line. will this be ok:　うん、トムも

Q2.
a quote from the guide: "When you use 「する」 with a noun, the 「を」 particle is optional and you can treat the whole [noun+する] as one verb."

just to check, does this rule apply for all nouns. can テニスをします be written as テニスします?

Q3.
an example conversation from the guide:
ボブ：　学校に行った？
アリス：　行かなかった。
ボブ：　図書館には？
if i edit the third line to be 「図書館は」(taking away the に) is it still proper?

Q4.
similar to the third question, can i change this:
ボブ:　どこで食べる？
アリス:　イタリアレストランではどう？
to this:
イタリアレストランはどう (without the で)

Q5.
Tae Kim mentioned somewhere that 何で (by what means of) is pronounced as なにで. if i've remembered correctly though, i'd thought that it would be pronounced as なんで. is it true that both pronunciations are acceptable?

Q6.
sorry for asking so many questions, but there's one last thing i would like to clarify. the given polite-negative form of na-adjective in the guide is this: 静かじゃないです. would it seem more natural if we say 静かではありません instead of 静かじゃないです?

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by pacerier

Tae Kim mentioned somewhere that 何で (by what means of) is pronounced as なにで. if i've remembered correctly though, i'd thought that it would be pronounced as なんで. is it true that both pronunciations are acceptable?

なにで means "by what means of."　なんで means "why." Different words. At least, that's how I feel.

なにでたべた means "what did you use to eat?"
なんでたべた means "why did you eat?"

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by pacerier

yea Tae Kim's guide is great, i do love to read them. i've came across several questions while reading his guide.

Q1.
an extract from the guide:
ボブ：　アリスは学生？
アリス：　うん、トムも学生
i was wondering is 学生 required after the も particle in the second line. will this be ok:　うん、トムも That'll be ok.

Q2.
a quote from the guide: "When you use 「する」 with a noun, the 「を」 particle is optional and you can treat the whole [noun+する] as one verb."

just to check, does this rule apply for all nouns. can テニスをします be written as テニスします? In writing, no. In sloppier convos, yes.

Q3.
an example conversation from the guide:
ボブ：　学校に行った？
アリス：　行かなかった。
ボブ：　図書館には？
if i edit the third line to be 「図書館は」(taking away the に) is it still proper?
More than proper. You'll hear that more often than 図書館には？

Q4.
similar to the third question, can i change this:
ボブ:　どこで食べる？
アリス:　イタリアレストランではどう？
to this:
イタリアレストランはどう (without the で) Even more natural than では.

Q6.
sorry for asking so many questions, but there's one last thing i would like to clarify. the given polite-negative form of na-adjective in the guide is this: 静かじゃないです. would it seem more natural if we say 静かではありません instead of 静かじゃないです?

Among my circle, no one really says じゃないです. I've explained this several times on JF so I won't here. Did I not explain to you? I loathe hearing じゃないです. If you want to use じゃ, make です more casual.

[pacerier]

ok i'll keep in mind not to use じゃないです and/or じゃありません. regarding the third question, after Bob says 図書館は, can Alice reply this:　図書館も行かなかった?

Also can のに be used with only the left part of the sentence as such: 金持ちのに


From TaeKim's guide he provided an example マトリックスを見たけど、面白かった which translates to "I watched the Matrix and it was interesting". I was wondering if けど could mean both "and" and "but", how exactly should we decide what is it supposed to mean.


As for the sentence なんで友達に会う時間がない, is it true that it can either mean both "why is there no time to meet friend?" and "that is why there is no time to meet friend"

[duo797]

Originally Posted by pacerier

As for the sentence なんで友達に会う時間がない, is it true that it can either mean both "why is there no time to meet friend?" and "that is why there is no time to meet friend"

I'm fairly certain this one is true. なんで can mean 'why', but the other usage you're asking about is a shortened form of なので. Change the の->ん and you have なんで.

I have a question related to rephrasing this sentence. Could you say:
なんで友達に会う暇がないよ。　to mean 'That's why we don't have time to waste meeting a friend.'

I've seen 暇 used in situations like 笑う暇がない (it's been a while since I saw it, so that probably wasn't how it was used) to mean, I assumed, 'We don't have time to waste laughing.'

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by pacerier

ok i'll keep in mind not to use じゃないです and/or じゃありません. regarding the third question, after Bob says 図書館は, can Alice reply this:　図書館も行かなかった?

Yes.

Also can のに be used with only the left part of the sentence as such: 金持ちのに

Yes.

From TaeKim's guide he provided an example マトリックスを見たけど、面白かった which translates to "I watched the Matrix and it was interesting". I was wondering if けど could mean both "and" and "but", how exactly should we decide what is it supposed to mean.

I've actually never encountered this usage of けど, and I wonder if it's just some poor English on Tae Kim's part.

As for the sentence なんで友達に会う時間がない, is it true that it can either mean both "why is there no time to meet friend?" and "that is why there is no time to meet friend"

I don't think so. You're thinking of なのでー＞なんで, which I don't think you can start a sentence with.

I suppose if you are completing someone else's thought, you could start with "なので友達 blahblah" but not just sua sponte.

[duo797]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

I don't think so. You're thinking of なのでー＞なんで, which I don't think you can start a sentence with.

I suppose if you are completing someone else's thought, you could start with "なので友達 blahblah" but not just sua sponte.

You can start off a sentence with なので. That was actually a suggestion I've received on this forum (versus something else I had).

[Sashimister]

In casual everyday speech, it is completely correct and natural to start a sentence with なので （なんで in Kanto and greater Eastern Japan） to say "That's why ~~~~~~~~".

「明日はＰＴＡの仕事があるんですよ。 なので残念ですが行けません。」

「雪で電車が２時間も止まっちゃったの。なんで友達に 会う時間がないのよ。ショック～。 」

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by pacerier

Also can のに be used with only the left part of the sentence as such: 金持ちのに

I hate to comment differently and confuse you further, but native speakers don't say 金持ちのに. We say 金持ちなのに. You add のに mostly to adjectives and verbs but not to nouns like 金持ち.

From TaeKim's guide he provided an example マトリックスを見たけど、面白かった which translates to "I watched the Matrix and it was interesting". I was wondering if けど could mean both "and" and "but", how exactly should we decide what is it supposed to mean.

Only the context will tell.

Regarding that sentence, Kim is correct. That けど to mean "and" is in HEAVY use. You can hardly spend an hour in Japan without hearing or saying it.