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Japanese little question

  Tags: Grammar | Japanese
 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages Post Reply
vykis92
Groupie
LithuaniaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5074 days ago

68 posts - 71 votes 
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 1 of 5
24 January 2011 at 5:20pm | IP Logged 
Hi, I got new textbook for japanese and I found some sentence things whicch do not agree with my previous texbook.
What sort of book it is? my oppinion - donna hon desu ka. But now I found - nanno hon desu ka. Which correct?

Edited by vykis92 on 24 January 2011 at 5:21pm

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budonoseito
Pro Member
United States
budobeyondtechnRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5564 days ago

261 posts - 344 votes 
Studies: French, Japanese
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 Message 2 of 5
25 January 2011 at 12:55am | IP Logged 
Both are correct. Welcome to Japanese. There are many pronunciations for the same word
and the same pronunciation for different words.
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fielle
Diglot
Groupie
Japan
maliora.com
Joined 5029 days ago

53 posts - 69 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: German

 
 Message 3 of 5
25 January 2011 at 6:10am | IP Logged 
It's like the difference between saying "What kind of book is it?" and "What type of book is it?" and "What sort of book is it?"

They all mean approximately the same thing, but they use different words.
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Lucky Charms
Diglot
Senior Member
Japan
lapacifica.net
Joined 6708 days ago

752 posts - 1711 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: German, Spanish

 
 Message 4 of 5
25 January 2011 at 1:23pm | IP Logged 
donna hon desu ka? = what kind of book is it? (donna = what kind of)

Some possible answers might be: An interesting book, a history book, a book about a
dude who falls in love with a chick, a really old book.

nan no hon desu ka? = what is the book about? (nan no = literally, "of what?" like
Spanish "de que"- Just think of "no" as a Spanish "de" that works in the opposite
direction. So nan no hon? = libro de que?)

Possible answers include: rekishi no hon (libro de historia)
As opposed to the first question, which is asking really broadly for any description of
the book, this second question is specifically asking the MAIN TOPIC of the book.

Even if it's bad Spanish, hopefully you get what I mean!

@Budonoseito,

Come on now, stop trying to scare the new guys ;)

Edited by Lucky Charms on 25 January 2011 at 2:07pm

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Monox D. I-Fly
Senior Member
Indonesia
monoxdifly.iopc.us
Joined 4894 days ago

762 posts - 664 votes 
Speaks: Indonesian*

 
 Message 5 of 5
25 March 2018 at 8:02am | IP Logged 
Lucky Charms wrote:
donna hon desu ka? = what kind of book is it? (donna = what kind of)


Wait, if "donna" means "what kind of", why is "donna ni" often translated as "even though"?


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