--- In [email protected], "DH Dynamint" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >More examples: > > > >"Watasi no chichi wa furui desu." > > "Furui" can't be used to describe people, only things. If you want to say > that your father is old, you can use "toshiyori" (noun).
Thank you for that one. That I did not know. Up until now I have never heard of "toshiyori". Would I then say, "Watasi no chichi wa tosiyori desu"? Could I say as well, "Chichi wa tosiyori-na hito desu"? (Since "tosiyori" is a noun, I suppose it could be conjugated with "-na".) I have not been too sharp on how Japanese distinguishes between adjectives for inanimate objects and those for animate objects. Are there other examples that I should consider? > > >"Kyô tenki wa samui desu." > > It's a little more natural to say this one as "Kyou ha samui tenki desu."> Thank you once more. That one's new to me as well, and I would not want to use the same formula all the time. Are adjectives usually placed right before the element they modify, or can they be used in the predicate as well? (Since you say that the sentence I wrote seems a tad "artificial".) > >And a slightly more complicated one: > > > >"Kuroi inu ga aru uchi ni futoi neko ga arimasu." > > Huh? I was following you up until "ga arimasu". What do you mean? > > ~Dynamint> I meant that "In the house where there is a black dog, there is a stocky cat." In Japanese, a clause precedes the noun that it modifies. For example, in English one would say, "The roundworm inside the dog". However, in Japanese it is usually, "Inu no naka ni iru kaichû." Notice the location of the clause relative to the noun. Ahh, I see now. "Aru" is only for inanimate nouns. For animate nouns, "iru" is used. However, when one refers to an animate thing being in a place, does one use "ga arimasu" or "ga imasu"? It could be that I may have made the listener think the animals were plastic! - Arian I. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/9rHolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese_Language/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
