>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".)
"Watashi no chichi ha toshiyori desu" is fine. I'm not so sure about the second one, though. "Toshiyori na hito" brings up 983 hits on Google, so it's not impossible. Usually, though, when nouns are used to modify other nouns, "no" is used rather than "na", and Google backs that up with 19,200 hits for "toshiyori no hito". >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? "Atsui" and "atatakai" as well as "samui" and "tsumetai". I'm blanking on the exact differences, though, and how those change depending on, say, the kanji you use for atsui, so I won't try to explain. ^^;; >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"? They can be in both places; it depends partly on the sentence. For instance, if you're modifying the adjective in some way (~sugiru, ~ku naru) it would usually go after what's being described. E.g. "Reizouko ha samusugimasu" - 'the refrigerator is too cold', or "tenki ha samuku natta ne" - 'the weather's gotten cold, hasn't it'. If that phrase is the beginning of an idea, though, it goes in the beginning - "samusugiru reizouko ga kowareta" - 'the too-cold refrigerator broke down'. I'm sure there's a more natural way of phrasing that, though. Perhaps "reizouko ha samusugite kowareta" or something. > > >And a slightly more complicated one: > > > > > >"Kuroi inu ga aru uchi ni futoi neko ga arimasu." > >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. Ah, I was understanding 'aru uchi' as 'there is a house'.. Aaron-san already pointed out that yes, "iru" is used for animals. It doesn't matter if the organism is in a place, it is still "iru". A tricky thing here, that you may or may not already know, is that it's not quite an animate/inanimate divide. It's more of a can-move-by-its-own-power/ can't-move-by-its-own-power divide, so plants are generally described with "aru" despite being animate. In your sentence, if you replace the "aru" with "iru", it's correct, but I still have a really strong urge to change "futoi neko ga imasu" to "futoi neko mo imasu", to show that they're both in the house. It should be fine without it, too, though, so just ignore me. As far as I know, what I've said is correct, but please, if I'm making mistakes, correct me so I can improve. ~Dynamint ------------------------ 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/
