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Expressing "how" in Japanese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| metordorus Newbie United States Joined 5540 days ago 26 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 13 24 March 2011 at 9:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Expressing the notion of "how" in Japanese is difficult for me.
Right now, I want to ask a Japanese pen pal in Japanese how he writes his name in kanji. This is he best I can come up with: お名前の書き方は漢字で何ですか。 or どうしたら、漢字でお名前を書きますか。 I suspect that neither of these possibilities is correct. How would a Japanese person politely ask a peer "How do you write your name in kanji?" Edited by metordorus on 25 March 2011 at 12:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cameroncrc Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6309 days ago 195 posts - 185 votes  2 sounds Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Ukrainian | Message 2 of 13 25 March 2011 at 12:53am | IP Logged | ||
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It's a very informal way of saying it, but I've always got by with
saying どうやって to ask how to do something. どうしたら doesn't quite make sense here, it's often used in expressions such as "どうしたら良いの?" (what should I do) and has more of an exasperated connotation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ericspinelli Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5575 days ago 249 posts - 493 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Korean, Italian | Message 3 of 13 25 March 2011 at 2:49am | IP Logged | ||
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The interrogative "how" is usually expressed in Japanese using どう or its permutations, including どうやって as already mentioned. Another common construction is どのように which I suppose is analogous to "in which way," though it doesn't quite fit in this case.
For a direct translation of "How do you write your name in kanji?" I would probably say 「お名前は漢字でどう書く？」 although it is possible to approach the topic using "what" instead of "how" (e.g., なんと書く？). Keep in mind that, though they sometimes overlap with English, Japanese has different rules for when to use which interrogative, especially these two. As for when to use どうやって versus just どう, remember that the former is just どう＋やる(to do). I think どうやって書く？ would be understood but it sounds a little strange to me, as if you weren't sure of how to physically go about writing it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| metordorus Newbie United States Joined 5540 days ago 26 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 13 25 March 2011 at 7:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks, cameroncrc and ericspinelli.
Commonly, it seems to be said that "how," translates as "どう" in Japanese. Yet, it seems to me that "どう" is very limited in its usage. It seems to be used with the copula ("しごとは、どうですか。") and with certain verbs like "する" and "やる." I'm not sure, but it seems to me that, in Japanese, there is no general purpose interrogative "how" that goes with all verbs. Instead, particular verbs require particular expressions. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| metordorus Newbie United States Joined 5540 days ago 26 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 13 25 March 2011 at 4:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Eric Spinelli:
I increasingly think your suggestion "なんと書く" may be correct. I googled the phrase "漢字で何と書きますか" and got numerous hits. Furthermore, it has obvious analogs in expressions like "何と言う" and "何と読む." So I'm going with it. Thanks for your help. Thanks again for your help, cameroncrc and ericspinelli. --John 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ericspinelli Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5575 days ago 249 posts - 493 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Korean, Italian | Message 6 of 13 26 March 2011 at 9:27am | IP Logged | ||
どう is an incredibly powerful and useful word. It's not just limited to the copula and 'to do,' though those alone spawn a host of idioms. A search for どう on Space ALC returns 6500 entries. Though there are many examples for each usage, I suggest scanning through the list. You'll find many, many useful phrases that are used every day. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| metordorus Newbie United States Joined 5540 days ago 26 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 13 26 March 2011 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks, Eric, for your input!
In English, we can use the word "how" with just about any verb and make an idiomatic question. "How did you sleep?" "How will you carry the box?" "How did you get here?" "How do you live with yourself?" I can't find parallels in Japanese for this broad usage of “どう” for "how," even in the list at Space ALC (Thanks, by the way, for directing me there). Most usages there had "どう" in combination with some form of verb for doing (する、やる、いたす), which would include such expressions as "おうして," "おうやって," and "どういたしました." There also was the combination "どういう" as in "どういういみですか?" Then there were uses as a predicate with the copula (sometimes the copula was left out) like "お茶はどうですか。" And finally, there were many uses of "どう" with various particles: "どうも," "どうでも" and so on. Were you able to find direct uses of "どう" with verbs like "書く" in interrogative sentences? Edited by metordorus on 26 March 2011 at 11:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5173 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 8 of 13 26 March 2011 at 9:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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Deleted Edited by Arekkusu on 26 March 2011 at 11:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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