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Last night Rei and I were speaking in Japanese.
And she laughed at one of my mistakes. ๐ญ
When speaking a foreign language, there are some moments where you know, beyond a doubt, that you are making a mistake. But you either don't have the time (or brain energy) to think about the correct way to say something, or you simply don't know how to say it.
For me, it was the former. I knew I was making a mistake, and I knew that if I spent an extra half-second using my brain, I could say something more natural. But it was like 11:30 p.m., I'd been working all day, and I was too tired to be proofreading the flood of incoherent mush swirling around in my head.
And I got laughed at for it.
I think we were talking about looking for an apartment in Penang, Malaysia (we spend an obscene amount of time pondering the logistics of moving to new places... even if we're not necessarily going to them).
I was trying to say something like, "We'll just go visit the apartment building in person."
As a result, I said:
โใ่บซใใใฃใฆ่กใใ
โใใฟใใใฃใฆใใใใ
โใLiterally: "in person + go."
Behold the dangers of letting yourself think in English.
Because in Japanese, they simply don't "in person," ่บซใใใฃใฆ, in this type of situation.
่บซ๏ผhere pronounced ใฟ๏ผ means "body." ใใฃใฆ can, in some circumstances, be the ใฆ-form of ๆใค๏ผใใค // to carry๏ผ, so we can remember that to do something "in person" is to "carry your body" somewhere.
It's used in sentences like this:
่ฒๅ
ใฎๅคงๅคใใ่บซใใใฃใฆไฝ้จใใใ
ใใใใใฎใใใใธใใใใใใฟใใใฃใฆใใใใใใใใใ
I [He/She] experienced firsthand how difficult it is raising children.
Literally: "childcare + ใฎ + difficulty + ใ + in person + experienced."
Note: ๅคงๅค is an adjective (usually) meaning "tough; difficult," but we can turn it into a noun by putting ใ at the end: "difficulty." Also, I had trouble deciding if this should be "raising children" or "having a baby," because the nuance of ่ฒๅ
is that one is taking care of a very small child (i.e. a baby or a toddler).
Explaining ่บซใใใฃใฆ is quite difficult, but the simplified explanation is that ่บซใใใฃใฆ is only used for "experiencing (something) in person." It might help to think of it as "internal firsthand." Or just pick it up naturally over time... my solution for everything that I can't explain very well.
But how, then, do we say: "Go in person?"
We don't. Instead, it'd be more natural to say: "Go directly."
Specifically, we want to use the word for "direct," which is ็ดๆฅ๏ผใกใใใใค๏ผ.
็ดๆฅ่กใใ
ใกใใใใคใใใใ
I'll go directly.
Literally: "direct + go."
I use the word ็ดๆฅ all the time. Here are some other examples:
ไผ็คพใใ็ดๆฅ่กใใ
ใใใใใใใใใกใใใใคใใใใ
I'll go there straight from work.
Literally: "company + from + direct + go."
ใซใใใ็ดๆฅ่ใใใ
ใซใใใใใใกใใใใคใใใใใ
I heard it from Kana herself.
Literally: "Kana + from + direct + heard."
็ดๆฅใใใใชใใงใ
ใกใใใใคใใใใใชใใงใ
Don't touch it (directly).
Literally: "direct + don't touch."
Note: For example, if you want to tell someone to use their chopsticks, and not their fingers, to pick up some food, then you could say this.
All of the sentences we've seen with ็ดๆฅ have something in common.
Can you guess what it is?
No, seriously, scroll up and see if you can catch the unique way this word tends to be used.
Any guesses?
The answer is that ็ดๆฅ will usually come directly before a verb.
The same is true of two other words that use the kanji ็ด๏ผwith the reading ใกใใ๏ผ๏ผ
็ดๅ
ใกใใใใ
just before
็ดๅพ
ใกใใใ
immediately after
These words make a lot of sense when you consider that ๅ๏ผใพใ๏ผ means "before" and ๅพ๏ผใใจ๏ผ means "after."
ๅฏใ็ดๅ๏ผใซ๏ผ้ฃในใใฎใฏไฝใซใใใชใใ
ใญใใใกใใใใ๏ผใซ๏ผใใในใใใฎใฏใใใใ ใใซใใใใชใใ
Eating right before you go to bed is bad for you.
Literally: "sleep + just before + eat + ใฎใฏ + body + ใซ + not good."
ๅฎถใๅบใ็ดๅพ๏ผใซ๏ผๅฐ้ใ่ตทใใฃใใ
ใใใใใใงใใใกใใใ๏ผใซ๏ผใใใใใใใใใใฃใใ
The earthquake hit right after I left my house.
Literally: "house + ใ + went out of + immediately after + earthquake + ใ + happened."
You might be wondering why I'm including an optional ใซ after ็ดๅ and ็ดๅพ, though we didn't have one coming after ็ดๆฅ. The short answer is: (1) You're supposed to put ใซ after ็ดๅ and ็ดๅพ, but people drop it in casual conversations all the time, and (2) you're NOT supposed to put ใซ after ็ดๆฅ... and I have no idea why.
That's all for this lesson. I know that ็ดๅพ reading this, you're gonna go study for hours and hours, right?
No?
Meh. I tried.
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If you have any questions about this lesson, fellow students on the community page can help (signup link).
Good luck with your studies, everyone!
Keep swimming,
Niko
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p.s. Want past lessons with native audio, flashcards, and additional sample sentences? You can get them here.
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