はなしたい文があるけど。。。

[Girumon]

Anyway...

I know that you can use the base form of verbs before nouns to make them...kind of like...relative pronouns...I dont know the word for it. Like, for example, 彼の書く手紙 would be like...the letter he writes. But can you do this with the present progressive? For example, 食べている食べ物, the food hes eating. Is that allowed?

[Jason]

Yes, you can put most verb forms before a noun or noun phrase to form a relative clause.

[Girumon]

Does that mean you can say している事はしっている to say "I know what Im doing." ?

I just think thats kinda funny.

[Jason]

Almost. You could say している事を知っている. While it would be grammatically correct, it would probably sound very awkward. A more natural way may be 自信があるから、大丈夫だ.

[Bueller_007]

While I've never heard it or used it before, ALC has this for "I know what I'm doing."

私のやることに抜かりはない。

But that might be an example of Japanese that is correct and comprehensible, but sounds foreign, like I've heard 良い一日を is.

[Girumon]

Besides stuff like "見た事があると思う。。。”and such, is there a simple, for-everything "This seems/tastes/looks/sounds familar..." phrase?

[Jason]

Besides stuff like "見た事があると思う。。。”and such, is there a simple, for-everything "This seems/tastes/looks/sounds familar..." phrase?

There isn't a "for-everything" phrase to my knowledge, but you can shorten it a bit. For example:

これ、どこかで見た事が。。。 (I think I've seen this somewhere before)

This could be short for 見た事があると思う or 見た事がある気がする.

[Girumon]

There isnt? Ah well.

Anyways, if I wanted to say, "Trees are for climbing." would 木は登るのためだ be acceptable?

[Jason]

I'm not sure how much sense it would make, but it's almost grammatically correct. Just take out the の before ため. When used with verbs, ため directly follows the verb.

A slightly better version may be, 木は登るための存在だ.

[Girumon]

Thanks.

Ok, for Japanese class I have to write a short paper on what I did over winter break. Im trying to use some contructions I havent had any proper lessons on, so I'll need it checked before I turn it in.

私の冬休みはとてもつまらなかったです。　十二月二十二日から十二月二十四までテレビゲームしか何もしませんでした。　テレビゲームは楽しいですがそんな事毎日したら直ぐにつまらなくなります。やっとクリスマスが来ました。 最初にプレゼントをあけました。　私は衣服とかテレビゲームをもらいました。　過ぎはクリスマスの夕食でした。ラザーニャやソーセージを食べました。　とてもおいしかったからもうすぐお仲が一杯になりました。それから又々何もしませんでした。

Ok, thats all I really need.

[Jason]

Overally, it looks pretty good. I'll point out some things, though.

十二月二十四

You're missing 日 after 四.

テレビゲームしか何もしませんでした。

You don't need 何も here, and I wouldn't put it there. 「しかない」 implies "<whatever> and nothing more" already.

テレビゲームは楽しいですがそんな事毎日したら直ぐにつまらなくなります。

I would take out そんな事. And I would replace つまらなくなります with 飽きます (飽きる[あ・きる] = to get tired of).

最初にプレゼントをあけました。

I would say 最初は instead of に. Don't ask me to explain why. I'm not sure myself exactly. It just sounds more natural to me here.

私は衣服とかテレビゲームをもらいました。

A couple of points here:
-I would just say 服 here
-とか is a bit on the informal side. I'd stick with や

過ぎ

過ぎ should be 次. つぎ not すぎ

とてもおいしかったからもうすぐお仲が一杯になりました。

-お仲 should be お腹
-grammatically, it's fine, but the logical flow is slightly off. Maybe you're different, but I've never gotten full just from food being tasty. You may want to slip in "I ate a lot" after から

[Girumon]

Ah, thank you very much.

Some of those mistakes I wouldve caught if I just looked it over myself. -_- I looked up the romaji for video game and copied down television game by mistake. -_-

[Girumon]

Hm...after writing it down I have a bit more space left, so I need these checked:

その後で休めなければならないとかんじましたから早くベッドに行きました。　

そのクリスマスは易しかったですけど易しい事が好きです。

And for the "ate too much" suggestion I wrote つい食べすぎました。 That ok?

[Jason]

Actually, I believe テレビゲーム = ビデオゲーム

その後で休めなければならないとかんじましたから早くベッドに行きました。

　
This sentence just doesn't work. I'm not really sure what you want to say in the first half. "I felt like I had to rest"? And while I understand you mean "go to bed", I don't think it works like that in Japanese. You should use 寝る.

そのクリスマスは易しかったですけど易しい事が好きです。

-I'd say この instead of その. Since it hasn't been that long ago, その makes it sound like a Christmas from further back.

And for the "ate too much" suggestion I wrote つい食べすぎました。 That ok?

I actually just meant insert 「たくさん食べて」 there after から, but that works perfectly fine, too.

[Girumon]

"I felt like I had to rest"?

Well...yeah...but Ill take out the とかんじました　and just say 休めなければならなかった anyways, if it really doesnt work. I dont really know how to say the more natural "I felt like resting." or something.