Email #3 - Help With Particles...

[Fedgrub]

Hey guys,

I'm back with another email I am lost in. I am using my electronic dictionary to get some of the words out, but the particals are really making it difficult to determine what sound is part of a word etc... I have a lot of work to do on particals. Anyway, here goes (my translations or ideas are below the line my friend has written to me in hiragana):

My friend wrote:

あけまして おめでとう
(Happy New Year)

わたしは 1がつ 1にち に いもうとと からおけ に いきました。
(I can only pick out 'sister/little sister')
4がつ に まっと と からおけ に いくのが たのしみです。
(I got nothing here... haha)

しゃしん ありがとう。
(I read this as "Thanks for hometown"? I thought shushin meant hometown? The sentence doesn't make sense like that though.)

おもしろい しゃしん を とったら わたしも おくります。
(I read this as "If there is trouble/in case of trouble sending to your address" but don't see where the sentence goes from there.)

ぷれぜんと とどいて よかった。
(I can't get anything out of this)
はし の れんしゅう してね。
("Chopsticks... The meaning of the chopsticks" - thats all I can read from there)


かずこ
(Kazuko)

The particles from there make everything hard to work out for me. I have read through the stickied thread, however I still get lost when I get back to this. If anyone can help me get over my particle problems or let me know where I have overlooked words or grouped sounds incorrectly it would be GREATLY appreciated.

These emails I get from my friend are a great way for me to put my Japanese in practice, but I also appreciate the help you guys give me in decyphering them.

[jemstone]

わたしは 1がつ 1にち に いもうとと からおけ に いきました。
(I can only pick out 'sister/little sister')

i'm not sure if the "1"s are supposed to be in there... the middle part i'm not too sure, but it's something about karaoke. maybe "he and his sister went to karaoke" but this means the middle portion is left out, so there must be something more than "he and his sister went to karaoke".

4がつ に まっと と からおけ に いくのが たのしみです。
(I got nothing here... haha)

there's your name in there "まっと" and karaoke after that "からおけ". beyond that i have no idea what this sentence is about.

しゃしん ありがとう。
(I read this as "Thanks for hometown"? I thought shushin meant hometown? The sentence doesn't make sense like that though.)

"thank you for the picture (or photograph)".

おもしろい しゃしん を とったら わたしも おくります。
(I read this as "If there is trouble/in case of trouble sending to your address" but don't see where the sentence goes from there.)

"interesting picture (or photograph)" but then i don't know what's "とったら　わたしも　おくります。"

ぷれぜんと とどいて よかった。
(I can't get anything out of this)

"present <something> thank god." i'm thinking probably "thank god your present arrived."

hopefully someone comes along and help us all out. =D

[Fedgrub]

わたしは 1がつ 1にち に いもうとと からおけ に いきました。
(I can only pick out 'sister/little sister')

i'm not sure if the "1"s are supposed to be in there... the middle part i'm not too sure, but it's something about karaoke. maybe "he and his sister went to karaoke" but this means the middle portion is left out, so there must be something more than "he and his sister went to karaoke".

4がつ に まっと と からおけ に いくのが たのしみです。
(I got nothing here... haha)

there's your name in there "まっと" and karaoke after that "からおけ". beyond that i have no idea what this sentence is about.

しゃしん ありがとう。
(I read this as "Thanks for hometown"? I thought shushin meant hometown? The sentence doesn't make sense like that though.)

"thank you for the picture (or photograph)".

おもしろい しゃしん を とったら わたしも おくります。
(I read this as "If there is trouble/in case of trouble sending to your address" but don't see where the sentence goes from there.)

"interesting picture (or photograph)" but then i don't know what's "とったら　わたしも　おくります。"

ぷれぜんと とどいて よかった。
(I can't get anything out of this)

"present <something> thank god." i'm thinking probably "thank god your present arrived."

hopefully someone comes along and help us all out. =D

Thanks Jem! Does the word しゅしん mean hometown AND picture? Thats where I got confused I guess...

[jemstone]

i'm not sure... it looks more like shashin しゃしん than shushin しゅしん to me.

you're right though, shushin is hometown.

[Fedgrub]

i'm not sure... it looks more like shashin しゃしん than shushin しゅしん to me.

you're right though, shushin is hometown.

Ohhh, totally right! I did not even notice that difference... I have a terrible attention to detail!

[jemstone]

heh.. i suspect after awhile the details won't even matter because when we become fluent, we'll probably read more from context than from the words. so one day someone may mistype something but we'll get the meaning anyway.

[Fedgrub]

Yeah, I agree. For the meantime, hopefully someone can help us fill the gaps we are not sure of!

[jkeyz15]

あけまして おめでとう
(Happy New Year)

perfecto

わたしは 1がつ 1にち に いもうとと からおけ に いきました。
(I can only pick out 'sister/little sister')
4がつ に まっと と からおけ に いくのが たのしみです。
(I got nothing here... haha)

I went singing Karaoke with my little sister on New Year's.
Going karaoke with matt in April is (will be) fun

1がつ１にち + に particle = On January 1st
いもうと + と　particle = with (my) little sis
からおけ= karaoke
に particle here shows purpose/goal for going
いきました - went

からおけに いく means "to go out to karaoke (like at a karaoke bar or something)"


４がつ + に particle = In April
まっと +　と　particle　=　With matt
からおけ + に particle +　いく(to go) = You should understand this from the last sentence. When a verb in the middle of the sentence is in this tense, it means that either in the "time frame" of the sentence or in actual life outside the "time frame of the sentence" the verb action is incomplete.

いく + の +　が +　たのしみ(fun) = going is fun
Aが たのしみ means "A is fun"
We want to say going is fun, but here が particle must attach to a noun.いく is not a noun so to make it a noun we attach の (you could also say こと.　の is like a generic noun that can replace こと、もの、 etc.)
いく +の acts like a noun so we can attach が

です - makes the sentence polite

しゃしん ありがとう。
(I read this as "Thanks for hometown"? I thought shushin meant hometown? The sentence doesn't make sense like that though.)

Thanks for the picture

You read it wrong. しゅ =shu しゃ＝sha
shashin（しゃしん） = photograph/picture

hometown = shusshin

おもしろい しゃしん を とったら わたしも おくります。
(I read this as "If there is trouble/in case of trouble sending to your address" but don't see where the sentence goes from there.)

おもしろい (interesting) + しゃしん (pictures)
+ を particle.....you know what wo is....
とったら conditional form of とる (has many meanings, but here means "Take")

しゃしんを　とる = to take a picture
The とる has been made a conditonal. (to form add ら to past tense)
しゃしんを　とったら = If [subject] takes a picture

*A note about this conditional. Tara is actually as it appears a form of the past tense. It's like a past conditional, but that does not mean it takes place in the actual past. The past tense is not always past in actual time, but can signify a "complete" (past) action in the "time frame" of the sentence. So here the condition generally precedes the result. Hence, you take a picture (hypothetically) and you send it after*

わたし+も paticle = I too
おくります = to send

Here the subject for the "taking a picture" part is not explicitly stated, but わたし is our topic and makes sense so therefore,

If I take any interesting pics, I will send them too.

ぷれぜんと とどいて よかった。
(I can't get anything out of this)

ぷれせんと = プレゼント = present
とどいて = te form of とどく (to reach)
よかった = commonly attached after te form to show your glad or it's good that [verb] blah blah

Why it's attached to the て form is that te form can express cause.
[I'm] glad that [my/your] present arrived.
context tells which meaning

はし の れんしゅう してね。
("Chopsticks... The meaning of the chopsticks" - thats all I can read from there)

Practice using chopsticks, ok?

はし + の ＋ れんしゅう(practice) = lit. chopsticks practice.
の is used in between nouns. It describes れんしゅう (practice) with はし

して = do (te form can also be a light command form)
ね kinda softens it up a bit...

Practice using chopsticks, ok?

[jkeyz15]

i'm not sure... it looks more like shashin しゃしん than shushin しゅしん to me.

you're right though, shushin is hometown.

Sorry this isn't correct either.

Hometown is shusshin.

写真【しゃしん】 = picture
出身【しゅっしん】 = hometown (can be homecountry too);
shusshin has other meanings aswell

[jemstone]

i love jkeyz15さん explanation! it's just as clear as the jp101 lessons!

[Fedgrub]

Thanks for your breakdown JKeyz!! It really helps.

[Fedgrub]

Can someone please double check what I have replied to my friends email with? Any help would be appreciated!

おはいよ　かずこ！
Hello Kazuko!

おげんきですか？わたしはかざあります。 かざがだいきだいです！haha　
How are you? I am sick with a cold. I hate colds! haha

すごい！わたしもかれおけだいすこですよ！すごい！にんてんどがすこです！　あなたのにんてんどがすきですか？　
Amazing! I also love Kareoke! Amazing! I like Nintendo. Do you like your Nintendo?

わたしの日本語わかりましたか？わたしの日本語ひどいすみません。
Do you understand my Japanese? Sorry my Japanese is awful.　　

あしおきいさん
Mr Big Feet


Does anyone have any other words that can be used to spice up the "amazing!" part?

[jemstone]

おげんきですか？わたしはかざあります。 かざがだいきだいです！haha　
How are you? I am sick with a cold. I hate colds! haha

second portion,
わたしはかぜあります。 or you can use (わたしはかぜぎみです。)
third portion follows,
かぜがだいきだいです！
your friend would understand from the context that かぜ here refers to the cold that you have, and not "wind".

わたしの日本語わかりましたか？わたしの日本語ひどいすみません。
Do you understand my Japanese? Sorry my Japanese is awful.

probably you'd wanna use ごめんなさい (i'm not sure of this spelling) instead of すみません. i think すみません is leaning more towards "excuse me" rather than "apologies".

あしおきいさん
Mr Big Feet

おーきいさん
gotta drag the お

Does anyone have any other words that can be used to spice up the "amazing!" part?

you could try すげ！！ for すごい
it's just the informal for すごい

[Javizy]

おはいよ　かずこ！
Hello Kazuko!

おはよう is the correct spelling for good morning. Distinguishing these two sounds takes a bit of getting used to, so don't worry.

おげんきですか？わたしはかざあります。 かざがだいきだいです！
How are you? I am sick with a cold. I hate colds! haha

You use the word 引く(ひく)'to attract, to draw' (among other things) when talking about colds. It usually appears in the ている-form to represent the state of having a cold.
今かぜを引いていて、げんきがないんです。かぜが大きらいです。

すごい！わたしもかれおけだいすこですよ！すごい！にんてんどがすこです！　あなたのにんてんどがすきですか？　
Amazing! I also love Kareoke! Amazing! I like Nintendo. Do you like your Nintendo?

Drop the pronouns here, since it's obvious you're the one who likes karaoke, and he's the one you're questioning about Nintendo.
すごい!カラオケが大好きですよ!すごい! ニンテンドも好きです! ニンテンドが好きですか。

わたしの日本語わかりましたか？わたしの日本語ひどいすみません。
Do you understand my Japanese? Sorry my Japanese is awful.　　

You have missed a couple of particles here, and again should also avoid using pronouns when they aren't necessary. I'd suggest something like this:
私の日本語がわかりましたか。日本語がひどくてすみませんでした。

あしおきいさん
Mr Big Feet

Big is spelt おおきい, you can't use ー with hiragana, unless it's for some sort of emphasis. Secondly, さん is an honorific which raises the status of the subject, so using it about yourself raises your own status (something you should never do).

Does anyone have any other words that can be used to spice up the "amazing!" part?

Maybe something like:
ぐうぜんですね!what a coincidence!
同じことにきょうみがあるんですね。we are interested in the same things, huh?

I'd recommend trying to use some more kanji, for your friend's sake if not your own. You can check them in the dictionary if you don't know them, it'll help you remember them when you do come to learning them, and reduce your spelling errors since they won't be displayed if you misspell the word.

[jemstone]

Big is spelt おおきい, you can't use ー with hiragana, unless it's for some sort of emphasis.

i never knew that! now i know the ー is not used for hiragana... =D

ありがとう　javizyさん！