Intermediate Vocab Quiz

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by delacroix01

Cool! I'm looking forward to the answer

I am giving a hint, not the answer now.

My sentence: 「ミサさんはかわいいそうだ。」 > The speaker has never seen Misa.
Your sentence: "Misa looks cute." > The speaker has seen her and he knows that she is cute.　

[delacroix01]

Alright, I'm giving another shot.

"I heard Misa is cute."

[SHAD0W]

Originally Posted by delacroix01

Well, in my case, a large number of words in the quiz appear in manga, anime and light novels, which are my main sources of vocabulary. Since 2009, I have trained a habit of noting every word I find interesting or feel that I may come across again. My notes are, of course, stored on my PC for easier lookup. 6 months of using flashcards to review my notes also helped me retain a large sum of words in my brain It's still a long way until I can read Japanese as quickly as I read English, though. Right now I'm still heavily dependent on dictionaries

You're an inspiration. Well done to you.

Originally Posted by masaegu

#6 may have boardered on adavanced level in the way I asked the question if not the words themselves. I tend to ask questions that regular teachers might not ask in school as I try to have you guys have fun while answering.

I just thought of the following question today while picking up some items at Sunkus, the convenience store nearest me (only about 30 steps away from home). Give it your best shot, SHAD0W!

What do these sentences mean?
ミサさんはかわいそうだ。
ミサさんはかわいいそうだ。

ミサさんはかわいそうだ - Poor Misa / I feel sorry for Misa

ミサさんはかわいいそうだ - Sounds like Misa is cute.

I learned the difference between these the hard way while in Japan. A friend of the family was telling me how her grandchildren were enjoying elementary school. I told her I felt sorry for them..

Oops.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by SHAD0W

ミサさんはかわいそうだ - Poor Misa / I feel sorry for Misa

ミサさんはかわいいそうだ - Sounds like Misa is cute.

I learned the difference between these the hard way while in Japan. A friend of the family was telling me how her grandchildren were enjoying elementary school. I told her I felt sorry for them..

Oops.

lol It explains exactly why I asked this question. Native speakers would rarely, if ever, fail to catch that split-second difference between short and elongated vowels.