stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5817 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin
| Message 1 of 7 07 March 2010 at 12:23am | IP Logged |
I'm working through an exercise in Genki on the use of んです. Is the following correct? Thanks.
どうして中国語が上手なんですか.
中国に年がたくさん住んだんです。
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ericspinelli Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5768 days ago 249 posts - 493 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Korean, Italian
| Message 2 of 7 07 March 2010 at 9:38am | IP Logged |
Your use of んです is correct, though 年がたくさん is not. I suggest using either 何年も or 長く for "many years" and "a long time," respectively.
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nescafe Senior Member Japan Joined 5394 days ago 137 posts - 227 votes
| Message 3 of 7 07 March 2010 at 9:53pm | IP Logged |
中国に何年も(or 長く)住ん"でいた"んです will be better.
How different the two phrases "長く住んだんです" and "長く住んでいたんです" are (my opinion)
[1] 中国に何年も住んだんです、そうしたら、中 国語が上手くなりました。
I became fluent in Chinese language after I had lived in China for many years.
[2] 中国に何年も住んでいたんです、そうしたら 、中国語が上手 くなりました。
I am fluent in Chinese language because I have lived in China for many years.
Edited by nescafe on 07 March 2010 at 10:03pm
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stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5817 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin
| Message 4 of 7 08 March 2010 at 12:16am | IP Logged |
nescafe wrote:
中国に何年も(or 長く)住ん"でいた"んです will be better.
How different the two phrases "長く住んだんです" and "長く住んでいたんです" are (my opinion)
[1] 中国に何年も住んだんです、そうしたら、中 国語が上手くなりました。
I became fluent in Chinese language after I had lived in China for many years.
[2] 中国に何年も住んでいたんです、そうしたら 、中国語が上手 くなりました。
I am fluent in Chinese language because I have lived in China for many years. |
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What do そうしたら and くなりました mean? I know the verb なりました (I became).
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Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6753 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek
| Message 5 of 7 08 March 2010 at 2:04am | IP Logged |
Nescafe is simply using 上手い (うまい) instead of 上手 (じょうず). い → く in its adverbial form.
The English verb tenses in Nescafe's example seem off to me, but it's beside the point of this thread.
そうしたら means "that's why…"
Edited by Captain Haddock on 08 March 2010 at 2:05am
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stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5817 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin
| Message 6 of 7 09 March 2010 at 12:24am | IP Logged |
Thanks for clearing that up, Captain.
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Monox D. I-Fly Senior Member Indonesia monoxdifly.iopc.us Joined 5120 days ago 762 posts - 664 votes Speaks: Indonesian*
| Message 7 of 7 12 February 2018 at 3:07pm | IP Logged |
Captain Haddock wrote:
そうしたら means "that's why…" |
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So, it has the same meaning as "dakara"?
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