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The "What's this word/phrase?" thread

I think
そんなんやったかな = そうなんだったかな
それでええの?=それでいいの?
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pudding cat Wrote:I think
そんなんやったかな = そうなんだったかな
それでええの?=それでいいの?
I think そんなんやったかな might be そんなの(を)やったかな
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something along the lines of "(i wonder if) you did that sort of thing?"
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JapanesePod101
i see こと quite a lot in monolingual dictionary entries and i am wondering what it means/does to a sentance?
here is an example http://www.sanseido.net/User/Dic/Index.a...J=checkbox

駐車
〈スル〉 車をとめること.

I understand that it means to stop your car(parking) but what does the こと right at the end mean?
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My grammar book lists multiple uses of こと. This one seems to make most sense:

"こと is also used to highlight parts of lists of orders, points, and rules, etc."
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Zon70 Wrote:i see こと quite a lot in monolingual dictionary entries and i am wondering what it means/does to a sentance?
here is an example http://www.sanseido.net/User/Dic/Index.a...J=checkbox

駐車
〈スル〉 車をとめること.

I understand that it means to stop your car(parking) but what does the こと right at the end mean?
It's a bit of grammar (check your local good grammar reference :-)). In fact, こと has a number of grammatical meanings and is often a component of larger phrases and templates which usually get lumped under the heading of "grammar points". This example is fairly straightforward: it's acting as a "nominaliser", ie it turns a verb phrase into a noun. So:
Quote:車をとめる -- I/he/you park the car
is a verb phrase, describing an action.
Quote:車をとめること -- Parking a car.
is a noun phrase.

Basically the dictionary is giving you a definition of the noun 駐車 (== "parking") rather than the verb 駐車する (== "to park [a car]"), and so the definition is a noun phrase rather than a verb phrase.
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daaan Wrote:My grammar book lists multiple uses of こと. This one seems to make most sense:

"こと is also used to highlight parts of lists of orders, points, and rules, etc."
This is not what's being used here; they're talking about things like 廊下で走らないこと. Here it's just a simple nominalizer as pm says.
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In one of the KO2001 sentences;
"。。火事になって、" - which was translated as "the temple caught fire".

Does the expression 火事になる mean "to catch on fire"? I tried to confirmed it with my limited resources with no luck. (Language tools humoured me with the translation " to become fire")
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The Kanji there can help you - 火事 is more like a "fire incident" not a "fire" itself.
So 火事になる would mean "become a fire incident"
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FooSoft Wrote:The Kanji there can help you - 火事 is more like a "fire incident" not a "fire" itself.
So 火事になる would mean "become a fire incident"
Ah okay thank you. That sounds a bit weird when we directly translate it. Is this a natural way to say a fire occurred?

Oh and also:
あと十分しかない = We have only 10 minutes left.

I don't really understand what does しかない means. Rikai-chan just says "to have no choice"
Edited: 2011-05-18, 5:38 pm
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PensukeD Wrote:
FooSoft Wrote:The Kanji there can help you - 火事 is more like a "fire incident" not a "fire" itself.
So 火事になる would mean "become a fire incident"
Ah okay thank you. That sounds a bit weird when we directly translate it. Is this a natural way to say a fire occurred?
Yes. 火事 means a fire as in an accident, house fire, etc. Can you post the whole sentence? If it's using なる it might mean that a small fire turned into a 火事.

But you should get used to many things in Japanese sounding weird when directly translated. One of the old 60's Japanese textbooks said in their introduction (in all caps): "EXPECT DIFFERENCES. BE SURPRISED BY SIMILARITIES."

Quote:Oh and also:
あと十分しかない = We have only 10 minutes left.

I don't really understand what does しかない means. Rikai-chan just says "to have no choice"
You should consult a grammar reference; you need to have access to something that will explain grammar patterns like this for you, because Rikai-chan won't do it. X しか + a negative means "only X", usually in a negative or unexpected way.
Edited: 2011-05-18, 5:49 pm
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yudantaiteki Wrote:
daaan Wrote:My grammar book lists multiple uses of こと. This one seems to make most sense:

"こと is also used to highlight parts of lists of orders, points, and rules, etc."
This is not what's being used here; they're talking about things like 廊下で走らないこと. Here it's just a simple nominalizer as pm says.
Sorry! I guess I'd better restrict myself to only asking things myself or simply keeping quiet, for now.
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yudantaiteki Wrote:Yes. 火事 means a fire as in an accident, house fire, etc. Can you post the whole sentence? If it's using なる it might mean that a small fire turned into a 火事.
「このお寺は2年前火事になって、去年建て替えられた。」

Quote:You should consult a grammar reference; you need to have access to something that will explain grammar patterns like this for you, because Rikai-chan won't do it. X しか + a negative means "only X", usually in a negative or unexpected way.
Thank you for the clear explanations. Time to break out DoxJG.
Edited: 2011-05-18, 6:06 pm
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PensukeD Wrote:
yudantaiteki Wrote:Yes. 火事 means a fire as in an accident, house fire, etc. Can you post the whole sentence? If it's using なる it might mean that a small fire turned into a 火事.
「このお寺は2年前火事になって、去年建て替えられた。」
There it's just an idiom -- Xになる is actually used in a lot of cases in Japanese where in English we would just use a "be" verb (i.e. "there was a fire"). You'll see more of these as you go on.

Quote:Thank you for the clear explanations. Time to break out DoxJG.
It should be in DoBJ. As long as you have those you'll be fine; I just wanted to make sure you weren't only relying on Rikai-chan.
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@yudantaiteki

Thank you so much. Everything clicked after reading your explanation. I don't think I'll be making the same mistake again. Big Grin
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FooSoft Wrote:@Elenkis
Yeah, -te form can just be an "expression of states". I guess kind of like using ";"
Thank you!
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How is that Hentai beeper called?

The thing that if a pervert comes near a girl, it starts to beepBig Grin?
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jettyke Wrote:How is that Hentai beeper called?

The thing that if a pervert comes near a girl, it starts to beepBig Grin?
There's a device that can detect the presence of perverts?
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pudding cat Wrote:
jettyke Wrote:How is that Hentai beeper called?

The thing that if a pervert comes near a girl, it starts to beepBig Grin?
There's a device that can detect the presence of perverts?
Not really Big Grin

I think I saw it about 2 years ago in drama " Sexy voice and Robo"

but anyway, it somehow starts to beepBig Grin

aaah!!! It was ぼうはんぶざ or something

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%E9...66&bih=673
Edited: 2011-05-20, 1:21 pm
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I haven't seen Sexy and Robo what you described makes me think of a 防犯アラーム.

It's like a keyring that makes an alarm sound when you pull it apart.

http://www.sanriki.com/alarm.htm

Edit: I just saw your edit, indeed it's also a 防犯ブザー.
Edited: 2011-05-20, 1:30 pm
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I liked this last sentence:

「かわいいイエローとピンクの2種類」
So JapaneseBig Grin
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Came across 立ち位置 in 2 different places today. The way I understand it, can be literally the place you're standing, or your standing within a social order.

Could I say basically..

あなたの立ち位置は危ない  as in the place your standing is dangerous?
or if not, how would you use it in a sentence?

すこし立ち位置がずれてる。 
and それぞれの高校で同じ立ち位置。

Were the 2 sentences I saw it, Manga + TV Show. But to be sure I'd like another example, seeing as my dictionary's examples aren't great.
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Gingerninja Wrote:Came across 立ち位置 in 2 different places today. The way I understand it, can be literally the place you're standing, or your standing within a social order.

Could I say basically..

あなたの立ち位置は危ない  as in the place your standing is dangerous?
or if not, how would you use it in a sentence?

すこし立ち位置がずれてる。 
and それぞれの高校で同じ立ち位置。

Were the 2 sentences I saw it, Manga + TV Show. But to be sure I'd like another example, seeing as my dictionary's examples aren't great.
I don't think it literally means 'the place where you are standing'. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think it refers more to someone's viewpoint, or position in regard to some situation. So (in natural English)

あなたの立ち位置は危ない = You are taking a dangerous stand

すこし立ち位置がずれてる = You are a bit off the mark

それぞれの高校で同じ立ち位置 = Several high schools take the same position (on the matter)

But like I said, please correct me if I am wrong :-)
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So, I pissed off this Japanese girl, who is young and usually speaks very slangy and in Kansai-ben. Anyway, she wanted to go on a trip with me. I said sure.

Then last time we went out I held hands with her, and we talked about going on the trip together. But then when I e-mailed her last night I said I thought we should go out a couple more times before we decide whether to date.

Anyway, I think she was assuming that we would date and that it wasn't really a question. So she wrote an angry message on Facebook where she says she might cancel our trip and that she made a mistake. Her post starts with:

やってもたー

What's it mean?
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Maybe it's やる + “〜てもた Vてもた Vてしまった ‘ended up ~ing’”? Source: http://web.mit.edu/kansai/9.Index/2index.html
Edited: 2011-05-21, 1:02 pm
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