Ok. I missed the whole explaination in my Japanese II class the other day, and I just need a lil help. Here's an example of what I'm stuck on. What's the difference between these two sentences?:
Aisukuriimu o tabete iru Kodomo
Kodomo ga tabete iru aisukuriimu
I pretty sure the first one just means, 'The child who is eating ice cream' - but I'm not sure how to translate the second one.
I hope someone out there knows japanese :)
2007-01-21 15:16:31 · 6 answers · asked by topazdragonflyz 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Both of these are not full sentences, but parts.
In the first It's the KID who we're talking about.
"Aisukuriimu o tabete iru Kodomo"
="The child who is eating ice cream."
In the second, it's the ICE CREAM we're talking about.
"Kodomo ga tabete iru aisukuriimu" means
="The ice cream that the child is eating."
Remember in Japanese relative clauses, the MAIN NOUN comes at the end, and everything before it modifies it.
Examples of usage:
子供が食べているアイスクリームはおいしいそう！
kodomo ga tabete iru aisukuriimu wa oishisou!
="The ice cream that kid is eating looks great!"
アイスクリームを食べている子供は太っているよね！
aisukuriimu o tabete iru kodomo wa futotte iru yo ne.
="That kid eating ice cream is fat, eh?"
2007-01-21 21:45:29 · answer #1 · answered by Salvador 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
These are inverted sentences. What is said after the initial sentence is like an afterthought.
"Aisukuriimu o tabete iru kodomo" translates to something like, "S/He's eating ice cream... The child, that is."
"Kodomo" in that sentence is the after thought. It's extra information that the speaker decided was necessary to add, but he didn't say it initially, so it is just put at the end.
The second sentence:
"Kodomo ga tabete iru aisukuriimu" is: "The child is eating... Ice cream, that is."
This time it is "Aisukuriimu" that is the afterthought.
2007-01-21 16:30:44 · answer #2 · answered by Rabbityama 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You are right about the first phrase.
The second means 'the ice cream that the child (or possiblly children/ a child) is eating.
2007-01-21 17:21:29 · answer #3 · answered by flemmingbee2 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The difference is in this and that. It isn't THE kid who is eating but This kid is eating icecream in the first sentence and That kid is eating icecream in the second sentence. At least that's what my wife says. She's Japanese, by the way.
2007-01-21 15:37:32 · answer #4 · answered by mustanger 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
OOh. I really want to learn Japanese! Good luck on finding the translation!
2007-01-21 15:28:01 · answer #5 · answered by hay 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I find this forum very wonderful:
forum.wordreference.com (it is a language forum)
2007-01-21 15:33:18 · answer #6 · answered by Scott 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋