"三時ではありません。"
Translation:It is not three o'clock.
65 Comments
205
ありません is the polite/formal version of ない. じゃ is the casual, spoken version of では.
So, all in all, じゃない is a considerably more casual version of ではありません
One can also say ではない and じゃありません, and they fit somewhere in between, though I'm not versed enough to comment on where exactly each one lies or how big the gap is.
- 205
@Andrew-Lin yeah, that makes sense to me, but I'm not a native speaker, so I'm not sure if that's how it actually goes.
Also, I asked my (native Japanese-speaking) partner about じゃないです and it took her a while to register what I was asking because she doesn't think there's anything wrong with じゃないです. Even after I explained that じゃない is a negative verb form of です, and by adding です on the end like that "for politeness" is essentially treating it as an い-adjective, she told me that Japanese people don't really think that deeply about it f(^_^;
I believe that ではありません＞じゃありません＞ではない＞じゃない. Do you think it's reasonable? Sometimes people use ないです for ありません, original it's not grammatically correct but is very common in daily conversation.
I found this helpful
http://selftaughtjapanese.com/2015/02/26/japanese-particle-combination-では-de-wa-and-じゃ-ja/
Tbh that article is really confusing especially considering it used Kanji that we haven't learned yet at this point in time >. <
If you really want to break it down... the "de" indicates a state of being, while "arimasen" means "there is not." So, literally, it means, "There is no being 3:00," or in other words, "It isn't 3:00." If we just said, "Sanji wa arimasen," that would mean something like, "There is no 3:00."
"De wa arimasen," "Jya arimasen," and "Jya nai" are all forms of the same construct, which means "it isn't."
Guess I'm not the only Israeli here...What a luck. Thanks dude. You're awsome.
I got this sentence (and got it right) 5 times now almost in a row. Was it just me?
So your telling me that the entire phrase after the first two characters mean "it is not?"
Why does this exact same item keep coming up even though I've always answered correctly?! Very annoying!
Roman numerals are mostly used in Japan, but you are right, you should learn the Kanji
- 205
I made same mistake as you in another comment! Roman numerals are like VII and IX, but you mean arabic numerals like 7 and 9 ;)
In practice, 'arabic numerals' (which are actually indian) are used in most applications and are readily understood even by young school children. The kanji are used more than the kana forms - especially in advertising.
The acceptable translations for time are inconsistent. In one instance, "3" is acceptable. In another, it is not; "3:00" is required. There was also an instance where "PM" was required. Either allow them all or settle on one.
Does anyone else find it bizarre that in the lesson introducing time the first thing it teaches is "It is NOT 3 o'clock"?
is there a way to say this politely, as to answering someone for the question (is it three o clock?)
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Yeah, it's already polite :) The use of です and ます forms indicate politeness.
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Yes, it means the same thing. But be aware that じゃない is a casual form, and there are strict social rules in Japan about when it is/isn't appropriate to use casual speech.
How to differentiate between 3 PM and just 3:00 ?? I got a response earlier where I should have used PM and here it says PM shouldn't be used
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PM in Japanese is 総理大臣... just kidding, that means "Prime Minister".
The one you're looking for is "p.m." and in Japanese, it's 午後 (ごご). So, if you see/hear these characters in the sentence, you'll know you should include "p.m." in your answer.
Side-note: the convention in Japanese is the opposite of English. 3 p.m. = 午後三時
I've already learnt a little more than 1 000 漢字 and you just gave me a mini heart-attack with 総理大臣 meaning P.M. Take my lingots!
- 205
Well, "Living in quiet retirement, dividing one's time between yard work and intellectual pursuits" is such a long way to say 晴耕雨読, but that's what it means. When learning a new language, you should discard any preconceptions about what it should be, and embrace what it is.
Why is the first we learn "it is NOT X o'clock" instead of "It's X o'clock". I never ever said it's not x o'clock...
And now I have this mental image of Sanji from One Piece introducing himself and someone going "いいえ3時でわあれますん。1時です。"
Do they really gotta separate 'o' and ''clock'...? I mean, c'mon.
It's just an extra step for no good bleeping, censored reason.
- 205
What do you mean by "outside of numeric values"? 三 means three, 3, or even III; it's just the way Japanese represents the number, so there's no situation where it isn't used as a numeric value.
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Is it a glitch that it tells me I missed a word, but doesn't tell me what word I missed? I feel like it would be more helpful if it gave you an example of the correct sentence
I used "3" instead of "there" and got it wrong. Is it specific that in this case it should be translated to the word from of the number?
Both "three" and "3" are now accepted. Thank you and all students reporting.
- 205
No, 3 should also be accepted. You should report it.
In fact, "three o'clock" would commonly be written as ３時 in Japanese.
How many times? I got this exact sentence to translate 4 times this lesson...
Why is the "は" pronounced like "wa" instead of "ha?" I thought it only did that when it was being used as a subject marker, but in this example it's being used in a verb. Could anyone please explain if this is just an irregularity or if は is also commonly used to make the "wa" sound?
- 205
Well, です itself is considered an irregular verb, so this pronunciation of は as wa is irregular too, in a sense. That said, the は in ではありません is, etymologically speaking, behaving as a particle, so it still complies with the general rule of thumb.
However, は is used as the topic marker, not the subject marker, though the subject is commonly also the topic.
