Here's a text I got recently, and there's a little I don't understand in it..

職場のFriendが****のPhotograph見たって言ってたよ

Is she saying she saw my photograph or does this simply she wants to see it? Or she might be talking about a Christmas tree photo I sent to this person's phone.. So she's saying her friend said she saw it?


尾張旭のお店にあったらしい

店にあったらしい.. Is she saying she's got a new place in town?
のみにとか いくの？

Is this an invitation?


こないだ フィリピン人の女の子と
Friendになって いっしょに
クラブにいく やくそく したよ

****は クラブとかいくの？

Okay, again, am I being invited, or is she just wondering if I ever go to the club and stuff? Is she just telling me about how she promised she'd go to the club with her friend, and then is asking me if I ever do such things, or is she asking me to join her?



I haven't been to the forum, or have been reviewing the kanji in ages... But I knew I'd have to count on you guys and the time has come!

Oh, and hello again everyone!

i read it like this but i wonder if i'm wrong too, lol.

職場のFriendが****のPhotograph見たって言ってたよ
"Friend at my work said she saw it"

尾張旭のお店にあったらしい
"said she saw it at a shop in owariasahi"

のみにとか いくの？
"do you go drinking and stuff?"

こないだ フィリピン人の女の子と
Friendになって いっしょに
クラブにいく やくそく したよ
"the other day i befriended a female filipino and made a promise to go to a club together."

****は クラブとかいくの？
"do you go to clubs and stuff?"



i think you're confusing it with ～V+ないの which can be construed as an invitation but it's more like asking "do you not want to...?" like 一緒に食べないの？ "why don't you want to eat together?"

of course i may be wrong. lately i have no confidence in japanese, lol.

The V+ないの is sort of like "Won't you blah blah blah?", yeah?

I asked her out to drink a long time ago but she had moved to live somewhere else.. Maybe she's back around? Anyway, it seems weird because I asked her to drink before, so her just asking me if I ever go drinking and stuff would be odd. Maybe she's just making shallow conversation again because she wants to keep mailing me.

Thanks kainzero, for giving your take on it.

I don't know how to respond to this mail :p


Do you live in Japan too?

you're thinking of V+ない？ or V+ませんか, which means "won't you...?"

How about you just mirror your response to her question.
Just something like クラブとか行くよ。or whatever.

To do it in such a way that you're as vague as she is, and you can judge from her response what she meant. Maybe bring up some other topics instead.

Just an idea.

They're both literally the negative form of a verb in the form of a question, one being more casual than the other. Is there a difference in the meaning?

In any case, she's not being as clear as either. It simply looks like 'do you go to clubs and stuff' ... I'm not familiar with that being a form of invitation, but it seems an odd question to ask me, especially since I think I answered questions like those awhile back.

Kame, yeah, I could issue a vague response.. I meant to ask my co-worker today about the text but I forgot about it, so maybe I'll have to.

is that the full message? just wondering if there was anything missed out...

if not, i'd take it as:

My workfriend said she saw ****'s photograph.
Seems like it was taken in 尾張旭. Do you go drinking there or something?
(is 尾張旭 where the photograph was taken?)

EDIT: hmm, actually... it can't be "you were in" that would be いたらしい. and i dunno why she wouldn't use 撮ったらしい instead. but anyway, if there's nothing in between, anything else would be fairly random.

Then the club thing, and she asks if you go to clubs and stuff.

I would reply erring on the side of caution... tell her if you do go to clubs, and say which ones you like. Say if you were in 尾張旭 or not, and whether you like it. You could also ask if she likes that place, and suggest going some time.

Anyway, it sounds like she is either just making conversation, or that she will invite you along, but a response like that would fulfil either purpose really, so it's fine. If you've misunderstood, it doesn't really matter, she knows you're not japanese, so she'll just be clearer next time.

Is your picture posted in a shop somewhere in Owariasahi? Maybe you're famous?

cerulean Wrote:They're both literally the negative form of a verb in the form of a question, one being more casual than the other. Is there a difference in the meaning?

nope, they're the same except in terms of formality.

Quote:In any case, she's not being as clear as either. It simply looks like 'do you go to clubs and stuff' ... I'm not familiar with that being a form of invitation, but it seems an odd question to ask me, especially since I think I answered questions like those awhile back.

maybe she forgot... we're all not as important as we like to think we are, haha =)

尾張旭　is the town I live in.

The only photo I can think of is a photo of my little Christmas tree and presents I sent to her once back during the holiday. I'm not even in it. She shouldn't actually have a picture of me unless she took one of me unaware while she was working (in the Dentist office I met her) but I doubt that.

I don't understand that line about the store though. What is あったらしい？

That's the whole message btw, other than a really short bit where she says how old her dog is.

cerulean Wrote:I don't understand that line about the store though. What is あったらしい？

過去形の「ある」+らしい

'seems to have been (at)'.

cerulean Wrote:That's the whole message btw, other than a really short bit where she says how old her dog is .

LOL and you forgot to mention that?!

cerulean Wrote:尾張旭　is the town I live in.

The only photo I can think of is a photo of my little Christmas tree and presents I sent to her once back during the holiday. I'm not even in it. She shouldn't actually have a picture of me unless she took one of me unaware while she was working (in the Dentist office I met her) but I doubt that.

I don't understand that line about the store though. What is あったらしい？

That's the whole message btw, other than a really short bit where she says how old her dog is.

あった is the past form of ある。らしい means "seems" or "looks like":

尾張旭のお店にあったらしい
"It seems it was in a shop in Owariasahi."

It's not clear what "it" refers to. I assumed it was your photo. Maybe that's why she was wondering if you go there to drink:

のみにとか いくの？
"Do you go (there) to drink and stuff?"

It might be a case of mistaken identity. All this is hearsay from her friend. It's possible the friend mistook you for someone else.

Seamoby Wrote:Is your picture posted in a shop somewhere in Owariasahi? Maybe you're famous?

ahahah maybe it IS that!! the photo itself being the "it" mentioned makes more sense... i didn't think of that.

職場のFriendが****のPhotograph見たって言ってたよ
尾張旭のお店にあったらしい

Might it be 会った? Maybe the work friend saw a photo of you and said they had met you before at "a (club,bar,whatnot) in Owariasahi." Which would lead naturally into the next question about whether you go out drinking.

It's not really phrased as an invitation but I wouldn't discount the possibility that she is giving you an opening to ask her.

imho I think the she obviously is suggesting that the 3 of you (including the filipino girl) go to a club together. You should probably reply to her message. It might be kind of weird if you nonchalantly reply a week later. No need to over think it. just say something like:
うん、行く行く。三人でクラブ行こうぜ or something.

Thanks for the help guys.

I replied back directly, basically saying "well, let's go to the club! Let's drink, and karaoke, and stuff!"

Hah, haven't seen a reply yet.

well if you waited 4 days before replying, she might take her time too.
Which is why you should you should reply to messages relatively promptly.