What does Soko Ni actually mean, because I am under the impression it means Over. For example, Soko ni arimasu, meaning over there. But today I find out it is some thing else, such as… Soko ni dareka ga imashita, meaning There was someone there. Funny though, because I have learned Arimasu means There is, and the proper meaning of Soko means There, and to top it off, Asoko means Over there.
And, while I am thinking about it, is there some trick or pattern for Nomi, Nomu and Noma. I always seem to get these wrong, except for the Noma one, I never forget Nomanakute.
Thank you.
First topic: Koko means “here”, Soko means “there”, Asoko means “way over there”.
For Arimasu, the closer meaning is “to exist” (for inanimate objects)
I have used Noma a fair bit, but I did not realise it to be a Negative. So, does Noma also work in a Past Tense situation as well as a Negative, because in some ways Past Tense is negative.
As for Nomi, and Nouns, well, I have never quite got the hang of Nouns, or Verbs for that matter. Nomu, basic form, I presume after you cancel out the Noun and the Negative, what you have left is the Normal.
My home work for today is trying to figure out Nouns and Verbs, maybe this is my biggest problem here.
I already know what Koko, Soko and Asoko mean, I googled them. It is the explainations this course gives that I find problematic, it is hard to understand some thing when it keeps changing its meaning. Getting from Soko ni dareka ga imashita (there was some one there) to Soko ni arimasu (over there) to Arimasu (there is) is a stretch. I did not add Arimashita (there was), because I know it is Past Tense for Arimasu.
Thank you anyway for that useful piece of information, I will get on to that after the weekend. I shall only have time to do a little Japanese this weekend, and I would rather do my Reviews with what time I do have.
Noma isn’t the negative form. It’s how you conjugate it to make it negative. Check the link I posted. All Kanjis’ pronunciation are mentioned on the upper side of the page, so you have no excuse not to read through.
In short, negative of Nomu is Nomanai. If you want passed tense, the casual form is Nomanakatta.
You need to stop trying to compare English grammar to Japanese, this method is simply flaud. You have 2 languages with completely different forms of logic, trying to see the resemblance between them is like trying to compare cake with fried chicken; both are food, but I would put Tabasco sauce on the former.
I know this is challenging, but you need to see Japanese as its own thing. And try to learn it the same way you learned your mother tongue as an infant, without having a language to compare it too.
I do not read Kanji, it is why I put it aside. I want to learn as much as I can with Kata and Hirogana before I start on Kanji. I am already struggling with learning Japanese, Kanji is a whole new struggle.
And, as for my Mother tongue, and Childhood, err, yeah, might be a problem with that. It was a long time ago, it is the reason why I have no idea what a Verb or a Noun is, some thing that passed me by in School, as a lot of things did. I am 45 years of age, my learning curve is not that great, and I chose one of, if not the hardest language to learn.
However, apart from the problems, I am actually enjoying, for the most part.
I understood that you aren’t willing to interact with kanji, which is why, as I said before, that page displays how each kanji is read, before talking about the specified topic. So that even people who can’t read kanji, can at least read how the verb is changing.
And yeah I agree learning a language is a hassle. But if you’re enjoying the process enough for you to keep going, then that’s what counts.
GL HF!
Not simply a case of not willing to interact, more of a new learning experience. Kanji to me will be like starting a whole new language, I will need the time and all my patience.
I only glanced at the Kanji page, before saving it for later use. I really want to get as much Japanese in me as I can with Hiragana and Katakana before moving on to Kanji. It is more about feeling than it is understanding, in most cases in normal life I am thinking of Japanese things in my everyday life, I see an Apple, but I see Ringo, that sort of thing, I like this and I want more.
Here, There, Over there and Where.
I honestly have no idea what to think of your reply, it is neither an answer nor a question. You might be pleased to know that Ryou Bakura has helped out amazingly.
My problems with Japanese are firmly rooted in my beliefs that my English translations would help me understand my learning disabilities, but it seems I need to re-think my approach to Japanese. It is a new language, and as such I need to treat it as so. Hard as it may be, at least I now know what I am doing wrong.
I am only just learning that. I tried to make sense of a new language by breaking it apart and rebuilding it to understand it, but it is not possible. But, at least I tried. Now I know where I have been going wrong, I can think differently.
I was thinking about this the other day and it clicked almost instantly, I was completely getting it wrong on a galactic scale (slight exaggeration), soko ni, Soko is there and Ni makes it moving, in the instances I have shown Soko ni, meaning over there is down to Ni making there move, thus getting to over there. And there I was thinking about Arimasu meaning There is and confusing it with soko ni.
Job done !!!