はなしたい文があるけど。。。

[Girumon]

Im not sure if theyre right. (If someone can tell me how to say that in Japanese, thatd be dandy)

1. You dont think I can do it?
あなたは私ができないと思いませんか。

2. I wont be able to speak Japanese well until four years from now.
私は今から四年まで日本語をよくはなせません。

3. Im getting dumber and dumber.
私は頭がますます悪化している。

4. I studied Japanese all day yesterday.
私は昨日しゅうじつ (or maybe 昨日のしゅうじつ？）　日本語を勉強していました。

5. I was myself for Halloween.
私はハロウィン。。。に。。。じぶんでした。。。

Okay, I have no idea for that last one.

Also, how do you say like, "...I guess" or "...I suppose."

For example, "My favorite cereal is Corn Pops, I guess/I suppose."

Thanks.

[Bueller_007]

Im not sure if theyre right. (If someone can tell me how to say that in Japanese, thatd be dandy)

http://tinyurl.com/yyxd8p

正しいかどうかわからない。

1. You dont think I can do it?
あなたは私ができないと思いませんか。

Probably don't need あなたは. And you're using a double negative. That sentence means "You don't think I can't do it?"

2. I wont be able to speak Japanese well until four years from now.
私は今から四年まで日本語をよくはなせません。

Again, no need for the "wa" clause. And potential verbs don't normally take the particle "wo", they take "ga". And there might be a "wa" after "made"... But that sentence emphasizes what you CAN'T DO. Something like this might be better if you want to emphasize how long it will take to get good.
日本語が上手になるのに四年もかかるでしょう。

3. Im getting dumber and dumber.
私は頭がますます悪化している。

Probably correct, although I don't know how much ますます and 悪化する are used in everyday conversation. Might want to try どんどん and 悪くなる instead. Again, no need for the "wa" clause.

4. I studied Japanese all day yesterday.
私は昨日しゅうじつ (or maybe 昨日のしゅうじつ？）　日本語を勉強していました。

All day = 一日中 "ichi-nichi-juu". And no need for the "wa" clause.
昨日、一日中日本語を勉強していた。

But thinking about it, it might be more natural just to say 朝から晩まで.

5. I was myself for Halloween.
私はハロウィン。。。に。。。じぶんでした。。。

http://tinyurl.com/vj5be

In all likelihood, in Japanese they'd just plain say "I didn't dress up for Halloween", except they wouldn't actually say "I"--no need for the "wa" clause here either.

Also, how do you say like, "...I guess" or "...I suppose."

http://tinyurl.com/vqf26

Usually just end the sentence with かな or と思う or something.

[Airth]

Bueller gave you some great answers, though I would say the double negative in the first example is fine in the right context; in other words if you want it to mean - "Isn't it that you think I can't do it?"

I think I'd also go for "Ichi-nichi-juu" - it's used a lot in everyday conversation.

[Bueller_007]

Bueller gave you some great answers, though I would say the double negative in the first example is fine in the right context; in other words if you want it to mean - "Isn't it that you think I can't do it?"

Looking at that sentence again, I'm tempted to replace the 私ができない with 私に[は]無理だ or something.

Yeah, double negatives are more acceptable in Japanese than in English, so it might be okay depending on the context.

[Jason]

日本語が上手になるのに四年もかかるでしょう。

That shouldn't be なるのは?

This sentence still sounds awkward to me. Even with the でしょう it still sounds too "certain." I'd be more likely to recommend something like:

日本語が上手になるのは四年もかかるようだ。

if you haven't started studying yet. And this if you have:

日本語が上手になるのは四年もかかりそうだ。

3. Im getting dumber and dumber.
私は頭がますます悪化している。

Probably correct, although I don't know how much ますます and 悪化する are used in everyday conversation. Might want to try どんどん and 悪くなる instead. Again, no need for the "wa" clause.

I'd recommend:

頭がだんだん悪くなっている。

But thinking about it, it might be more natural just to say 朝から晩まで.

I think 一日中 works ok too.

Also, how do you say like, "...I guess" or "...I suppose."

http://tinyurl.com/vqf26

Usually just end the sentence with かな or と思う or something.

Or かもしれない.

[Jason]

Looking at that sentence again, I'm tempted to replace the 私ができない with 私に[は]無理だ or something.

I agree that something like 私には無理だと思うか？ would be more natural.

[Bueller_007]

Looking at that sentence again, I'm tempted to replace the 私ができない with 私に[は]無理だ or something.

I agree that something like 私には無理だと思うか？ would be more natural.

And you probably wouldn't even need the 私 unless you were specifically trying to enphasize that it was impossible for *ME* as opposed to anyone else.

無理だと思いますか or even 無理なんだ？ might be easiest/best.

[Girumon]

日本語が上手になるのに四年もかかるでしょう。

That shouldn't be なるのは?
日本語が上手になるのは四年もかかりそうだ

Isnt no ni 'in order to.'? In other words, I believe his sentence is "In order to become skilled in Japanese, I must spend (study) four years time.
Also, what exactly is the point of the も after 年? Also, why is it かかりそうだ and not かかるそうだ?

Also, whats the difference between, say, just watashi and watashi no koto?

[Bueller_007]

Oops. Somehow missed this one yesterday...

日本語が上手になるのに四年もかかるでしょう。

That shouldn't be なるのは?

I don't think so... I've seen the "~~ naru noni JIKAN ga kakaru" construction before. Here it's the "noni" of purpose, not the "noni" of "although". If you wanted, you could say "noni wa" instead of just "noni", but I'm pretty sure that you need the "ni" here.

This sentence still sounds awkward to me. Even with the でしょう it still sounds too "certain." I'd be more likely to recommend something like:

日本語が上手になるのは四年もかかるようだ。

Yeah, perhaps "you da" would be better. Not really sure.

if you haven't started studying yet. And this if you have:

日本語が上手になるのは四年もかかりそうだ。

I'm not sure about that... "Sou da" is used more for visually observable phenomena, right? I'm not sure it would be used in this kind of speculative situation... But I could be wrong about that.

[Bueller_007]

Also, what exactly is the point of the も after 年?

"mo" adds emphasis. Without it, the sentence would sound very matter-of-factly.

Also, why is it かかりそうだ and not かかるそうだ?

See the jpod grammar bank.

attachment to the -masu stem = reporting of appearance
attachment to the dictionary form = reporting of hearsay

Also, whats the difference between, say, just watashi and watashi no koto?

Your Japanese seems good enough that you should be able to read a Japanese dictionary and at least get the gist of it:
http://tinyurl.com/yabjgn

こと：

ある物事に関連する事柄。
「自分の—は自分でしなさい」「試験の—を話す」「彼の—だからうまく処理するだろう」

ある人物が動作・心情の対象であることを示す。
「彼は彼女の—が好きらしい」「私の—をほめてくれた」

（「…のことをいう」「…のことだ」などの形で）言葉が何かをさしていることを示す。
「タイガーとはトラの—をいう」「今の話の某氏というのは遠藤さんの—だ」

[Jason]

I don't think so... I've seen the "~~ naru noni JIKAN ga kakaru" construction before. Here it's the "noni" of purpose, not the "noni" of "although". If you wanted, you could say "noni wa" instead of just "noni", but I'm pretty sure that you need the "ni" here.

Ah, I forgot about the purpose のに. But I still think my version works just as well as a nomializing の + は, just with a slightly different meaning.

I'm not sure about that... "Sou da" is used more for visually observable phenomena, right? I'm not sure it would be used in this kind of speculative situation... But I could be wrong about that.

On 2nd thought, I'm not sure myself.

[Girumon]

Your Japanese seems good enough that you should be able to read a Japanese dictionary and at least get the gist of it:

No. Not really.
But, from that definition, it seems that it has something to do with a persons circumstances and situation. And, by looking some example ALC sentences, maybe personality too?

I dont really understand the examples in that definition, though. Like, is...自分の—は自分でしなさい "Do your own thing by yourself?" Im guessing the — is supposed to be 事.

[Bueller_007]

Ah, I forgot about the purpose のに. But I still think my version works just as well as a nomializing の + は, just with a slightly different meaning.

Yes, I was thinking about this last night. I think yours is also correct. Something like this in English:

"Getting good at Japanese will take 4 years".

Whereas mine is:

"It will take 4 years to get good at Japanese."

[Bueller_007]

Your Japanese seems good enough that you should be able to read a Japanese dictionary and at least get the gist of it:

No. Not really.
But, from that definition, it seems that it has something to do with a persons circumstances and situation. And, by looking some example ALC sentences, maybe personality too?

I dont really understand the examples in that definition, though. Like, is...自分の—は自分でしなさい "Do your own thing by yourself?" Im guessing the — is supposed to be 事.

Yes, the dashes in example sentences in Japanese words are "fill in the blanks" where you substitute the word whose definition you're looking at. In this case, "koto".

ある物事に関連する事柄。 "Things/matters related to something."

「自分の—は自分でしなさい」"Take care of your own business by yourself."
「試験の—を話す」"To talk about matters related to the test."
「彼の—だからうまく処理するだろう」"It's him we're talking about, so you know he'll handle it well."

ある人物が動作・心情の対象であることを示す。"Indicates the person who is the target of one's actions or emotions."

「彼は彼女の—が好きらしい」"It seems like he likes her."
「私の—をほめてくれた」"She praised me."

（「…のことをいう」「…のことだ」などの形で）言葉が何かをさしていることを示す。
"Used to indicate that a word refers to something."

「タイガーとはトラの—をいう」"A 'tiger' refers to a 'tora' [in Japanese]."
「今の話の某氏というのは遠藤さんの—だ」"The unnamed person in this conversation
is Mr. Endo."

[Girumon]

ありがとう。

2 questions.

1. Can you use kara or dakara at the end of a sentence without anything after it? I learned that with dakara it can only be at the beginning and if you use kara there has to be something after it (otherwise you would begin with dakara) but Im pretty sure Ive heard kara at the end on its own, and I think maybe dakara too...

2. Cant quite grasp the meaning of this sentence: サム, ぼたちはともだち。ともだちってぼくよくわからない, でもきっとぼくがいまサムはサムだっておもっているきもち、そうなんだとおもう。

Something like "Sam, were friends. I dont really know what a friend is, but now Im me and Sam is Sam...feeling happy. I think thats what it is."

So...yeah. Note that I transcribed that sentence via ear and a bit by memory, so I decided not to use kanji in case I use the wrong one, and also I couldve misheard a word entirely. I think I got it right, though....
Also, note that a child said it, so its probably not as proper and adult as it could be, though I got rid of some of the contractions and stuff like that.
ALSO if context is for some reason necessary, "Sam" (his name isnt realy Sam but it doesnt matter) is worried that his friend will change.