"母にうでどけいをあげます。"
Translation:I will give a watch to my mother.
46 Comments
With Kanji it's 上げます :)
You actually have to be careful. If I remember correctly, あげる translates to "give", while 上げる translates to "raise, improve".
Lol i wrote: I gave my watch to a mother. What was I thinking? But would it be also right?
Almost did the same! It is pretty similar but it wouldn't be right. The sentence uses "haha" which means "my mother" and is only used for your own mom. To say someone else's mom I believe it is "okaasan" (which you can also use for your own mom).
I don't have a horse in this race but I would like to argue that in English, if you say "I gave mother [...]" it is always implied that you are speaking of your own mother.
18
You are correct, though "Mother" should be capitalized when used as a proper noun.
Japanese does differentiate between ones own mother (はは) and other mothers (おかあさん).
That sentence did talk about one's own mother, otherwise it would be "I give your mother a watch."
- 18
You should generally have an article before "mom" unless it is being used as a proper noun.
EDIT: And when using it as a proper noun, "Mom" or "Mother" needs to be capitalized.
You also don't refer to other people's mothers as Mom, yet the owl rejects Mom as a translation. Dad works for 父 in other exercise sentences, so there is no logic to what is accepted.
- 18
Depends on what you typed for the rest of the sentence, but that seems fine.
とけい is any watch or clock
うで means arm
うでどけい is a wristwatch
says the dictionary
Wrist watch was the original term...not sure when it became common to make it one. Less then 100 years though.
Why isn't the verb あげります? I thought that when you put a verb into -ます form, you change the u component to it's i version, like with もらう/もらいます. What am I not picking up on?
It is a group II verb, because it ends with 〜える, and so conjugates differently. Verbs ending in 〜いる do this too.
Taking it a bit further:
-eru and -iru ending verbs you remove る to add -ます. Ex: 食べる (たべる) becomes 食べます (たべます).
-u ending verbs (including the other -ru endings) you change i to u before adding -ます. Ex: 上る (のぼる notice the -oru ending) becomes 上ります (のぼります).
And then there are the iregulars -uru endings する and くる, where you remove the whole -uru to します and きます and yeah, good luck.
They're only somewhat irregular. You're still changing the -u syllable to an -i syllable and adding ます.
Also known (I think more commonly) as ichidan (一段). Godan (五段) verbs are the ones you were thinking of when you used もらう as an example.
- 388
"I offer a watch to my mother" was not accepted. Native English speakers, is there any problem with that sentence? Or just lack of available options?
"Offer" implies you are giving a gift or something special, or you are trying to make a deal with someone. It heavily implies that the recipient is being given a choice of whether or not to accept the item. "Give" is much more simple, and tends to describe the action itself without regard to the circumstances surrounding the action.
お母さん (what you’re thinking of) is used when talking about someone else’s mom.
It doesn't specify its my mum
You dont refer to other peoples mother as 母（はは）, you refer to them as お母さん（おかあさん）.
