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Japanese language: Question

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  1.  # 1

    What does it mean when the particle "ni" is placed after a subject matter. For example, "Suna ni" or in names like "Miki ni"

    • CommentAuthortamatama
    • CommentTimeFeb 6th 2010
     # 2

    "ni" is a hard one--it often translates to "to" "at" or "in" but more generally it represents the direction of an "action"
    for example,

    boku wa suna ni tatte imasu "i'm standing in sand"
    (by suna, did you mean sand?)

    boku wa miki-chan ni katta "i beat miki-chan"

    boku wa mari-chan ni pen wo karita "i borrowed a pen from mari-cha"

    just to clarify, particles like "ni" always modify the word before them, and the work coming before "ni" is going to be an indirect object (not the subject).

  3.  # 3

    So in names, it's just a statement towards the person they're talking about? If so, does this work: "Toko ha Miki-chan ni ka?" = "Where is Miki-chan?"

    Yeah, I did mean sand =P Not many Sunas mean anything beside Sand =P

    Thanks for the info :D It'll come in good use in translations :D

  4.  # 4

    When asking where someone is, you would say "[name] ha doko desu ka?".

    • CommentAuthorTobberoth
    • CommentTimeFeb 6th 2010
     # 5
    Posted By: KouhiiChan

    When asking where someone is, you would say "[name] ha doko desu ka?".

    Yeah, that works. Or you can go with "[name] ha doko ni imasu ka?"

    • CommentAuthorAodh
    • CommentTimeFeb 6th 2010
     # 6

    Can also mean 'from'!

    • CommentAuthortamatama
    • CommentTimeFeb 6th 2010
     # 7

    yes, basically, it means the action is happening "to" the person being spoken about, but it depends on the way the verb in question works. if you look at the last example, you might think since me borrowing from mari means an object is going from her to me, it should be boku ni, but it's not, because of the way the verb works. i could say

    mari-chan ha boku ni pen wo kashita (mari-chan lent a pen TO me)

    hence as aodh emphasizes, sometimes "ni" also means "from"

    I was just surprised that you would know a word like suna, or use it for an example. I don't think I learnt it until long after I learnt about 'ni' and the other basic particles.

  8.  # 8
    Posted By: megasean3000

    Yeah, I did mean sand =P Not many Sunas mean anything beside Sand =P

    Thanks for the info :D It'll come in good use in translations :D

    In this case, yes. But, wait till you discover the wonderful world of　同音異義語 :-P

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