"このことばのいみをこたえてください。"
Translation:Please tell me the meaning of this word.
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"Tell" would be 教えて, but I get what you mean. The former is more natural than the latter.
If answer HAD to be in there, I think "answer with" would be best.
こたえてください means "please answer", so I'd agree with the translation of "Please answer with the meaning of this word."
It doesn't have to be a teacher, but unless that's just how they say it in Japanese, I wouldn't expect to hear it from anyone else.
I wrote "Please define this word" which I think is probably the most proper way to translate the sentence.
Nope, it sure isn't. It's grammatically correct but that's about it.
Much more natural ways to say this:
この言葉の意味を説明してください。
この言葉の意味を教えてください。
Not from my experience, but I'll ask a native Japanese speaker later for confirmation. The English sure isn't.
"Please answer me" is fine English. Its not a commonly used form of the word answer, though.
Is this sentence said by a teacher to a student? If it is the other way round, would it be このことばのいみを(教え)てください?
Previously the ni particle was used instead of the wo particle. Is it the difference of answering to (a question/person) and to give an answer of (the meaning if the word) ?
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Which case are you referring to? The に particle means (among other things) "in" and "at", while を refers to the direct object of the verb (the thing being acted upon).
The other example was "もう質問に答えましたか？" The explanation given was that に is used to describe the target of intransitive verbs. Meaning, not the direct object, like in the case of the English sentence "I ate the bread," for example, but the target of an intransitive action, like "I smiled at the woman." You wouldn't say "I smiled the woman." It's not something you're doing TO something, it's something you're doing AT something, or TOWARDS something, or THROUGH something, like in the sentence "I waved at the man" for example.
So, 答える, someone said in the other discussion, is an intransitive verb in Japanese (So a more literal translation of that other sentence might have been "Have you already responded to the question?")
But here, を is used, which denotes the direct object of a transitive verb. So either one of these sentences is incorrect, I misunderstood the explanation, or 答える can be both transitive or intransitive depending on how you use it. Like the word "Run." In English, you can "run on a treadmill," or "run to the store," but you can also "run a marathon" or "run a mile." But you can't "run a treadmill," and "running a store" has a different meaning entirely. It seems like it might just be a case specific thing, and you just have to remember which things you "answer" or "tell" (~を答える) and which you "respond to" (~に答える).
Mine said I should have put "please answer the meaning of this word," which honestly doesn't make sense in my opinion (both English and Japanese).. But if it wanted that, yours should have been accepted.
I thought "Please answer with the meaning of this word" would be more accurate. Could happen in a classroom- teacher asks student who isn't paying attention and you encourage him to answer.
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Surely "Tell me the meaning of this word, please." should be exactly equivalent, but it was rejected.
