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- "いもうとが七人います。"
"いもうとが七人います。"
Translation:I have seven younger sisters.
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I just thought of those big Catholic Spanish faimilies like in the 70s and such...
I am having trouble understaing the number part of this can someone write it in hiragana? I am not hearing 七人 as しちじん. Instead I hear it as しちに. Is this related to how people are counted?
When talking about a person or people (unspecified amount), its じん.
Example: 日本人 「にほんじん」
When talking about an exact number of people, its にん.
Example: 七人 「しちにん」
The first 2 numbers exceptions here: 1 person: 一人 「ひとり」 2 people: 二人 「ふたり」
Not really. They switch between pronunciations depending on the counter, and you kinda just have to remember it. なな is used for normal counting, age (~歳), and minutes (~分), among others. しち gets used for things like months (~月) and hours (~時).
Happens a lot with 四 (よ/よん or し) too.
Actually, when someone in Japanese lesson accidentally said ななじ, the teacher explained that 七時 is actually しちじ, but in radio before the news they sometimes say ななじ so it is not confused with 一時
Wait but if なな is commonly used and しち is used for months and hours why is it being used for normal counting in this case?
It was old way which is not used anymore. now just : 一人 (ひとり), 二人 (ふたり), 三人 (さんにん), 四人 (よにん) etc.
Why is it "I have 7 younger sisters " instead of just "There are 7 younger sisters"?
İt doesn't really make sense in English to just say "there are three younger sisters". Younger than who? The sisters are the subject of the sentence, but there is also an implied older sibling. Without any additional context we should assume that the implied topic of the sentence (the older sibling) is yourself. This is true for many of the sentences you will be translating, as it is common in Japanese to leave the topic unspecified when it can be implied.
Thank you very much for this comment. I was tied up in knots by the が particle and its interaction with います. Your statement that "sisters" is indeed the subject, but that the logic of "younger" implies that there must be more to the translation, helps me a lot.
In certain contexts "there are" would make sense: "I have a bunch of first cousins living nearby. Among them, there are 7 younger sisters... so I've pretty much learned every song in Frozen by now." Although you aren't necessarily referring to your own little sisters(s), you're still talking about your own family, so you still avoid honorifics with "sisters".
I'm not sure and would like to know too but I wonder if it's something to do with the words used for your own family vs other people's families? So "chichi" or "haha" would only ever refer to your own father and mother - is "imouto" only your own little sister?
Got it in one. You use いもうと to refer strictly to your own little sister when talking to other people. When talking about other people's younger sisters, you use いもうとさん. If you wanted to just say that the seven women are sisters in the same way you say "those people are siblings", you'd use しまい/姉妹.
Shouldn't it be "I have seven "younger" sisters" instead of "I have seven "little" sisters"?
At least in American English, they mean the same thing. "Little" sister is more casual and not my preference.
Why is it used が instead of は? How do I know when I should use one or another?
I would appreciate it if someone could transcribe it. I cannot understand the spoken sentence at all
妹（いもうと）-- imouto -- younger sister
が -- ga -- subject particle
七人（しちにん）-- shichi nin -- 7 people
います -- imasu -- polite present indicative form of the verb to be/exist, i.e "(there) are"
In full: imouto ga shichi nin imasu
If I were to say "I have one older sister" would I use 姉 (あね) or お姉さん (おねえさん)? Are there any major differences or is it preference?
You'd be using 姉.
Generally speaking, when talking about your own family members to other people you use the 'humble' forms (母、父、姉、兄、妹、弟)
When talking about other people's family members you use the polite forms (お母さん、お父さん、お姉さん、お兄さん、妹さん、弟さん)
When addressing your own family members, you use the polite forms if they are older than you; although sometimes people use the informal, shortened versions (かあさん、とうさん、etc) When addressing family members younger than you, you generally use their first names.
I suppose that is the reason Edward Elric calls his brother "Alphonse" and Alphonse call his にいさん, in Fullmetal Alchemist, right? To me, it never sounded like the お in お兄さん was being pronunced...
あね (Ane) is a "humble" word so you'd only use it when talking about your own older sister to someone else.
If you were talking about someone else's older sister, you'd use おねえさん (oneesan).
When i answered this question it said the answer was THEY have seven younger sisters?
+squints+ I'm not entirely sure, but that の particle makes it seem more like "I have the little sisters of seven people" which... is a little sinister XD
What is the word for have in Japanese? Why is have used in this sentence?
It's literally "there are seven younger sisters" or "seven younger sisters exist", with a bit of implied context about how they're the speaker's sisters. We just express the same idea using have in English
Is there a way to refer to both younger and older sisters/brothers with a single noun? Would I have to recourse to using a も particle and listing both?
If you're asking for a term to refer to all siblings collectively, it's 兄弟（きょうだい）. 姉妹（しまい）if you only have sisters. If you just want a term to refer to specifically older siblings of both genders (or only to younger siblings)... I'm sure there is a term but I dunno what it is, sorry ^_^"
So, 兄弟が七人います, would mean I have 7 siblings, whether older, younger, male or female, right? That's what I had in mind, thank you! ありがとうございます!
You will usually see が used with the verbs いる and ある.
