Couple of JLPT Questions

[Flamehearted]

Hi all,

Would anybody be able to help with the following two sankyu questions ?

1) _______ せまくても　会社に　近い　アパートに　住みたいです。

１）　いつ　　２）　なにも　３）　どんあに　４）　どこに

i thoguht the answer was 1)　and that it meant "However longs it takes I want to find an appartment near station". However the answer is 3 ?

Also is the verｂ here semaru ? Why is it in the kutemo form - is it a negative ?

and

2) テープレコーダーの　おとが　＿＿＿＿＿＿＿か？

１）　聞かせます　２）　きこえます　３）　聞きます　４）　きいています

The answer here is 2 but I'm not sure what this form of the verb is ?

Tx all in advance !

[NickT]

The answer to question 1 is 3), and should be どんなに　not どんあに. This means "in what way" or "to what extent". In this case, taken together with the も　that comes later, this means "no matter to what extent".

せまくて　is the て　form + も　of せまい. This is an adjective meaning narrow, or just "small" or "cramped" when used about apartments etc. It is not a verb, but the て form of an adjective is basically analogous to the て form of a verb.

Taking all this together, the sentence translates to "No matter to what extent it is narrow, I want to live in an apartment close to my company." Or, in more natural English, "I want to live close to my work, no matter how cramped the apartment is."

[NickT]

きこえます　is the polite form of 聞こえる. This is not, strictly speaking, a form of 聞く, but a separate verb meaning "to be audible".

It is similar to the potential form of 聞く　（聞ける）, but きこえるrefers to the sound itself, and whether it is audible or not, and きける　refers to the person who is hearing it, and whether they can hear it. A vast majority of the time きこえる will be used instead of きける, but both have their uses.

Similarly, to be visible （見える）　is a separate verb from the potential form of 見る.

The sentence as a whole translates to "Is the sound of the tape recorder audible?"

[Flamehearted]

Tx Nick T - that was a brilliant explanation ! You're the best !

[NickT]

いいえ、そんなことはないですよ。

[Flamehearted]

Another q question - what on earth does this sentence mean ?

きんじょでの　かいものは　サンダル　お　はいて　いきます

It seems to translate as "In this neighbourhood you can wear sandals to go shopping" ?

Is this some kind of japanese tradition ?

[Elfunko]

きんじょでの　かいものは　サンダル　お　はいて　いきます

When shopping in this town I go wearing sandals.


Is this really 2kyuu? No way...


Ohhhh, two 3kyuu questions. Ohhhhhh. Damn romanji tripped me up.

[markdweaver]

Another q question - what on earth does this sentence mean ?

きんじょでの　かいものは　サンダル　お　はいて　いきます

It seems to translate as "In this neighbourhood you can wear sandals to go shopping" ?

Is this some kind of japanese tradition ?

I don't know if it's talking about a tradition or not, but it could be simply: When I shop in the neighborhood, I wear my sandals.

Maybe there is the slight implication of casual shopping, like: As for shopping in the neighborhood, I just throw my sandals on and go.

[Mandrew100]

Tx Mark !

[annie]

Another q question - what on earth does this sentence mean ?

きんじょでの　かいものは　サンダル　お　はいて　いきます

It seems to translate as "In this neighbourhood you can wear sandals to go shopping" ?

Is this some kind of japanese tradition ?

I don't know if it's talking about a tradition or not, but it could be simply: When I shop in the neighborhood, I wear my sandals.

Maybe there is the slight implication of casual shopping, like: As for shopping in the neighborhood, I just throw my sandals on and go.

You often see women doing their grocery shopping with aprons on and wearing sandals, like they just stepped out of the house for a minute. In most neighborhoods, shopping is confined to food shopping, a convenience store, a futon shop, maybe a shoe store and a 100yen shop. So yeah, it's more casual shopping in one's neighborhood... not department store variety. (Unless you live in my neighborhood...)

[Flamehearted]

Tx Annie ! That was great - I wondered if it was something like that.

I have another questions which is puzzling me. It's about these two questions :

1) この　ぺんは　友達＿＿＿＿　わたしに　くれた　ものです

に　　　　の　　　　　お　　　　が


２）　この　写真＿＿＿＿＿　わたしに　送って　くれたのは　いなかの　おばあさん　です

に　　　　お　　　　　の　　　　が

The answer to the first one is が　but the answers to 2) is お。I don't understand the logic behind these questions - can anybody help ?

Thanks in advance !

[annie]

Tx Annie ! That was great - I wondered if it was something like that.

I have another questions which is puzzling me. It's about these two questions :

1) この　ぺんは　友達＿＿＿＿　わたしに　くれた　ものです

に　　　　の　　　　　お　　　　が


２）　この　写真＿＿＿＿＿　わたしに　送って　くれたのは　いなかの　おばあさん　です

に　　　　お　　　　　の　　　　が

The answer to the first one is が　but the answers to 2) is お。I don't understand the logic behind these questions - can anybody help ?

Thanks in advance !

I'm confused about the お　could it be the particle を instead?

Jason recently posted a great explanation about the way particles work with giving and receiving on this in another part of the forum. Check that out: http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2053&highlight=%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B

[Flamehearted]

Yes sorry - the particle should be o

Jason's post helps but I am still not sure whythe answer is o

[NickT]

Basically speaking, in any sentence where くれる (to give) is the main verb, there should be three particles.

が marks the grammatical subject, which is the person who gave something;

を marks the grammatical object, which is the thing that was given; and

に markets the indirect object, which is the person who received something.

Of course, in any given sentence any of the above three can be omitted, as they are understood from context, but they will always be lurking something even if not explicitly mentioned.

So, in your examples, 友達 takes が as it is the friend who gave the pen, and 写真 takes を as it is the object that was given by the おばあさん.

If you re-arranged the two sentences to take away the explanatory tone, and just making them a straight statement of who gave what to whom, they would read as follows:

友達がわたしにペンをくれた。

おばあさんがわたしに写真をくれた。　

Or more fully, 田舎のおばあさんが私に写真を送ってくれた。

[ichigokissu]

I just thought I'd chime in to give some more info.

The JLPT evaluation focuses on reading and listening comprehension as well as overall understanding of the language at various levels.

While the JLPT certification is the most widely recognized and internationally accepted certification of Japanese language proficiency focusing on reading and listening skills, the JLPT does not test an examinee on speaking or writing ability.

There is another exam that has been recently held in higher regard but I forget the name of it. Maybe the organization is something like the AIEJ or something.

Anyway I'm not bashing. I just thought I'd add some more info because most people assume that JLPT results are accepted everywhere in Japan but it is not the case. Anyway I the best solution would be to take both assessments