My Questions

[conflitz]

Hi, I'm new to Japanese (a few weeks in) and sometimes I need help with questions, in which I have nobody to help me. (obviously) I'll probably need a lot of help so thanks in advance.

I know Hiragana, Katakana, and some Kanji (roughly 20?) Anyways, onto my question.

Would 'すみませんぼくはしょしんしゃの日本語です。' translate to 'Sorry, I'm a beginner to Japanese'?

I'm not sure where to put すみません in the sentence, or if it should be a completely different sentence.

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by conflitz

Hi, I'm new to Japanese (a few weeks in) and sometimes I need help with questions, in which I have nobody to help me. (obviously) I'll probably need a lot of help so thanks in advance.

I know Hiragana, Katakana, and some Kanji (roughly 20?) Anyways, onto my question.

Would 'すみませんぼくはしょしんしゃの日本語です。' translate to 'Sorry, I'm a beginner to Japanese'?

I'm not sure where to put すみません in the sentence, or if it should be a completely different sentence.

しょしんしゃの日本語 means "Japanese for the beginners", not what you wanted to say.

What you wanted to say is 日本語のしょしんしゃ.

To add すみません to your sentence, there are two ways to do it.

Use two sentences.
すみません。ぼくは日本語のしょしんしゃです。

Connect the two by adding が, which roughly means "but".
すみませんが、ぼくは日本語のしょしんしゃです。

[conflitz]

ありがとうございます！

Would あなたが日本語はなすか？ translate to "Do you speak Japanese?" And what would be the polite form of はなす if it doesn't use する?

[MMM]

Basically, never use あなた. Unless you are talking to your husband.

The polite form of はなす　is はなします.

日本語を話します（はなします）か。

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by conflitz

ありがとうございます！

Would あなたが日本語はなすか？ translate to "Do you speak Japanese?" And what would be the polite form of はなす if it doesn't use する?

1. The polite form of はなす is はなします. However,
2. the correct forms would be 日本語ができますか。 or 日本語がはなせますか。(I prefer the second. I had a nurse in Japan one time loudly ask me that as if I were deaf instead of American )

What you guessed is more akin to "Will you speak Japanese in the future?" or something like that.

A couple notes:
1. はなせます is the polite form of the potential form ("to be able to do X") of はなす.
2. できます is the polite form of "to be able to do something"
3. In polite writing, there is only one way to end a sentence: 。 ？ is not a native Japanese punctuation, and appears in manga and such, but not in professional/"good" writing.
4. Don't use あなた. And while we're at it, don't use わたし、かれ、etc. Foreigners learning Japanese use pronouns way more than Japanese do. You'll learn how and when to use them as you study.

[conflitz]

Sorry for being a way for a while.. I went on vacation and then I got a bit busy. Though, I progressed quite a bit in 日本語. ^^

I'm just curious if this is how you would translate "everyday, the sky soars above us."

毎日、空が私たちは上かけます。

or would this be better?

毎日、空は上私たちがかけます。

Or is it completely wrong? Thanks.

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by conflitz

Sorry for being a way for a while.. I went on vacation and then I got a bit busy. Though, I progressed quite a bit in 日本語. ^^

I'm just curious if this is how you would translate "everyday, the sky soars above us."

毎日、空が私たちは上かけます。

or would this be better?

毎日、空は上私たちがかけます。

Or is it completely wrong? Thanks.

Hate to shock you but neither sentence makes any sense to me, a Japanese-speaker.

The best I can think of would be:
毎日我々の頭上に空がそびえる。

[conflitz]

Originally Posted by Sashimister

Hate to shock you but neither sentence makes any sense to me, a Japanese-speaker.

The best I can think of would be:
毎日我々の頭上に空がそびえる。

Ah, alright. Thanks. (I always forget the ni for locations too..)