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[KyleGoetz]

No idea. I watched Son of Rambow, which takes place in England in the early 1980s, and some characters kept saying things that were cool were "skills on toast."

[Maxful]

Hi, I have a question which is regarding "決める". I would like to know which of the following sentence best describe "I am deciding whether to buy this shirt."?


このシャツを買うどうか決める。

このシャツを買うどうか決めている。


Personally, I feel that the latter sentence is suitable compared to the former - since the former sounds to me like "I will decide weather to buy this shirt".

[KyleGoetz]

I'm not sure if you use 決める that way. 買うことにする is "to decide to buy."

But if one of your two is correct, it would be the second one.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Maxful

買うどうか

It's 買うかどうか

[Maxful]

My mistake for missing out on "か". So how should I say "I am deciding whether to buy this shirt." in Japanese since "このシャツを買うかどうか決めている" is incorrect?

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Maxful

My mistake for missing out on "か". So how should I say "I am deciding whether to buy this shirt." in Japanese since "このシャツを買うかどうか決めている" is incorrect?

"Correct" but needs a couple of more words to sound natural.

「このシャツを買うかどうか（を）決めているところです。」

In colloquial speech, that を can be dropped.

[Maxful]

I get it now. Thanks for the help KyleGoetz san and masaegu san.

[chryuop]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

I think 甘い is a good example. There are things you'd describe as 甘い in Japanese that I sure would never describe as "sweet" in English. The first that comes to mind is the sweet red bean that goes in mochi.

If it's the same red bean jam-like stuff that it's in どらやき, I would call it sweet too A Japanese friend sent some to me for Xmas...when I saw them I thought "these are just pancakes", but when I bit into them I thought "these are scramptious"

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by chryuop

If it's the same red bean jam-like stuff that it's in どらやき, I would call it sweet too A Japanese friend sent some to me for Xmas...when I saw them I thought "these are just pancakes", but when I bit into them I thought "these are scramptious"

I mean, if I'm given a choice between the only five types of sensory flavor (sweet, sour, bitter, savory, and salty), it's "sweet." But when I think "sweet" I think fruits, pastries, and candy. "Sweet" may be the closest English has to describing it, but I still feel weird using it.

Also, for what it's worth, you're Italian, and so you may have a different conception of "sweet" than someone born into the English language. I'm a proponent of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, so I'm predisposed to assuming people from different languages have different classification schemes in their brains due to their native language.

[chryuop]

Never considered it under that point of view...definition of tastes and smell influenced by the culture. I guess it does make sense.