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- "てがみを読みます。"
"てがみを読みます。"
Translation:I will read the letter.
28 Comments
You have to change the verb stem ; eg masu = to do, iru= doing, mashita = did . I hope that made sense . So , i am reading a letter = tegami wo yondeimasu.
My answer : I read the letter And I got it wrong. This is so confusing that I cannot identify if they need future tense or present tense.
Yeah, in order to say you're actively doing something right now, you have to convert the verb into て-form (which Duolingo hasn't covered yet) and add います, so it'd be てがみを読んでいます。Very useful but usually a later lesson, since て-form is different for every consonant and takes some memorization.
1091
Hey, I remember Duo teaching us that 'read' was 'yomu' 「よむ」! How did it become 'mi' at the end?
- 1181
Wtf did you just use the Japanese for 3 and 9 in place of the Engrish "thank you"? How did I not think of this before? Mindblown.
- 1091
最高じゃないですか？ (｡>﹏<｡)
Haha, put the sentence below in Google translate with Japanese voice and enjoy! :D
『三、九 ソウ マッチュ』
San kyuu sou macchu! :P
Couldn't it be also translated as "I'm going to read a letter"? In context of What are you going to do? question.
Future tense is also a correct translation. "I will read a letter" was accepted, so "I'm going to ..." should be too.
- 440
What difference would it make to say "tegami wa yomimasu" instead of "tegami wo yomimasu"?
Tegami wa yomimasu - I read letters in general, while Tegami wo yomimasu - I read a specific letter. I think, at least
- 1091
That is perfect. The 「 は 」 particle is a topic marker, whereas the 「 を 」 particle is an object marker.
てがみ は 読みます。 About letters, I read them.
てがみ を 読みます。 I read <context specific> letter(s).
I'll answer what I understand about this. If someone understands this better please correct me or confirm what I'm saying!
手紙は読みます (tegami wa yomimasu) would be "I read letters", as in, generally speaking, you read letters. You know how to read letters. You read letters often. Etc. As opposed to 手紙を読みます (tegami wo yomimasu), which would be "I read a letter" or "I read the letter", in the sense that you are reading an specific letter in this moment.
"Letters" is correct instead of "letter" without s and I don't have any idea if in Japanese it says in plural or not. Great.
To clarify: 手紙／てがみ "tegami" is the kind of letter addressed to someone and delivered. 文字／もじ "moji" is the kind of letter that is in the alphabet.
It is 読む(read, plain form) and 読みます(polite form); 泳ぐ(swim, plain form) and 泳ぎます(polite form) just because it is.
When does one decide to use the long form without 'masu' on the end? I have yet to see this in genki 1 or 2.
Tegami wo yomi...not 'yomu'? ??
Doushite(?)
If I understand your question...
読む is the plain form of the verb and the verb is often conjugated (or in plain speak, the last kana is often changed) to give it different meanings. When you conjugate a verb like 読む to 読み, one of the possible meanings that you have is "verb, and" so you would use it in long lists of various actions if the order of the verbs doesn't matter. It does sound a tad bit stiff to me though when this is used. Take for example
彼は公園で遊び、休みました。(kare wa kouen de asobi yasumimashita/He played at the park and rested).
