"わたしたちはしまいです。"
Translation:We are sisters.
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1294
The tone of the word is important in Japanese. If it is し(low)まい(high) it means "terminate （仕舞）" and if it is し(high)まい(low) it means "sisters（姉妹）".
I think you mean stress/emphasis. Tone doesn't really get involved in the Japanese language.
No, tone is accurate. Japanese uses a tone based stress rather than a volume or syllable length stress. It is almost like dialogue in an opera.
- 1374
When putting on emphasis for English words, we most commonly raise the tone (and sometimes the length, or add a pause after). Not something I ever thought about in that way, but realised it the other day when I was learning about Japanese tone/emphasis.
That's one hell of a differance that I dont want to mess up. Thanks for the head's up!
What exactly makes a word plural? Is it always this "ta chi" thing? I'm confused. Could someone explain this?
~たち (達) is a suffix used for pluralizing people, such as turning "me" わたし (私) into "we" (私たち) or "friend" とも (友) into "friends" 友だち (友達). However, しまい (姉妹) is the specific word for "sisters", made of the kanji for "older sister" + "younger sister". The same goes for "brothers", which is きょうだい (兄弟); "older+younger bro", though this one is used for "siblings" in general as well (as most patriarchal languages do).
Japanese doesnt do plurals. -tachi just kinda means "and associated people". You could say 田中たち to mean "tanaka and their friends" for example.
- 53
You know you're tired when you fail with "We are sister". Maybe it should have let me through with a typo. Great app.
They are 'we'. They are the same meaning. But the nuance is different. I think 'わたしたち' is safe.
- 3107
"Watashitachi/わたしたち/私達" is rather colloquial and casual, while "wareware/われわれ/我々" is literary and formal. However, this distinguishment in actual usage is not so strict. "Watashitachi" often appears in a written expression and "wareware" in a spoken expression.
may I ask you want to know if it is possible to say 'bokutachi' instead of watashitati?
It is grammatically possible,
But typically, 'boku' is used by male and 'simai' means sisters.
Sometimes, young girl use 'boku' deliberately, but I do not recommend.
- 1853
If I use "boku" (because I'm a boy), could I say "bokutachi" if I am, for example, with my friends? Is there a better option?
Of course, you can use 'boku' and 'boku tati' with your friends !
私（わたし）（わたくし）（all people okay）polite, be able to official situation
僕（ぼく） ?（male）polite than おれ
俺（おれ） （male）many male use. but I not recommend at the meeting in the company (firm, business), official.
There are many words, etc.
In real life would it be impolite to just say いいえ and shake your head? Also, since we know we're talking about sisters could we leave しまい out and just say いいえ、わたしたち じゃ ない です? Thank you in advance!
You could just say No as a response to the question "Are you sisters?", but it would be more polite to say a little more.
As far as leaving things out, it would be more natural to drop the topic (watashi tachi wa) rather than しまい.
いいえ, しまいじゃないです。
Would it be true to say that "たち" for female plurals, but "ら" for male?
- 1294
Not quite true. Although ら is more commonly used with males, it can use with females in certain cases, and たち can be used for both genders. One thing definite is that たち is more polite than ら.
Do people normally use the kanjis for たち and ら because I've only seen you guys using the hirigana
