"いえにかえっていいですか？"
Translation:Can I go home?
57 Comments
We have a plenty of commom verbs very close in meaning to "can" and some fit much better in certain places, I don't know why Duolingo MAY not use the proper ones. (I would use "can" but can help but do that)
帰って generally reads as "return home" in manga, so I don't really see the need for putting 家 here.
That's the meaning, but it's not how "return" is used in English. In English people use "go home" just like Japanese speakers use "return home". Translation is always context sensitive.
202
It does mean return, but how often do you use return as opposed to go. It's just choosing a more natural sounding and commonly used translation.
いい = good/fine/all right/okay
いいですか? = is it good?/is it okay?
いえにかえっていいですか？ = is it okay to go back home?/can I go home?
I said "Is it okay for me to go home?" But duolingo said I should have used "if we" instead. But both are correct, yes?
- 202
Thanks for explaining - it was a little confusing because you typed 家 and then typed the hiragana for the kanji いえ.
- 54
he meant when refering to your own home you will say 家 uchi otherwise use 家 ie
I used "Can I go home?" and it was accepted. Technically, both the first person singular that we used and the first person plural that Duolingo used are both correct, as pronouns in Japanese are determined based off of context, and there is none in this situation. Furthermore, "can I..." and "is it okay for me to..." are literally the exact same thing, just different ways of phrasing. I believe this is just Duolingo being overly-picky. So yes, both "if I" and "if we" are correct, if there is no context to state otherwise.
This comes up a lot in the comments section. If there is no context, assume it is about oneself and therefore use "I". It will never be marked wrong.
Also, "is it okay..." and "can I..." are not literally the exact same thing. "is it okay..." is a little politer/softer sounding. But, yes, they do both mean the same thing.
If "帰って" can mean to return home by itself (according to Duolingo) is the "家に" necessary here to make sense or is it just to sound more polite?
"帰る" reminds me "go back where you belong". So "家" is natural place where you go back. But occasionally it may be a hometown (帰郷), country(帰国), or the earth(帰還). ... In those cases you cannot omit them.
If you add "家に" into your sentence, it makes clear where you go back. It makes sense without "家に", if you go back to home.
The literal translation seems weird to me. "is it okay to go home?" Sounds like a kid who got kicked out of his old house. Just my opinion.
- 202
Not unusual if the person is asking/needed permission to leave eg. a student asking if it's alright for them to go home yet/confirming if it was home time yet or if the teacher was letting them leave early. Or if people had been evacuated from their homes and they wanted to check if it was safe to return home. Or if school or work had closed early perhaps due to severe weather conditions and students/employees were confirming that it was ok for them to return home early. Or for children in after school care of some kind inquiring whether they could return home yet who need to wait to go home till someone of a legal age to care from them is home. You also might ask this if your home or building was being fumigated or had a gas leak. Plenty of situations for which this sentence makes perfect sense.
- 202
No, because "should" implies a degree of obligation or compulsion whereas this construction in Japanese is asking permission/confirming if it's OK to carry out an action.
- 202
Literally it is - I go (return) home and is it good? Often there is a も after the te form verb in which case it is literally translated as 'Even though verb'.
- 123
You "can" but you "may" not. You will stay here learning Japanese (and poor English grammer translations) forever!
- 202
買 is from 買う （かう）meaning to buy. You want 帰る (かえる) which means to return/go back.
