"今、とりがなきましたか?"
Translation:Did a bird just chirp?
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Duolingo: Did birds sing right now?
Me, incorrect: Did birds sing just now? 2018-02-09
I also feel that "just now" should be an accepted answer.
Given that the sentence is past tense (Did…? / …ましたか), this implies the possible action has completed and is not still happening.
The phrase "right now" implies a present-continuous tense, meaning that the action described is still happening. Therefore "right now" seems like a contradictory translation to the ました.
However the phrase "just now" implies a completed action, which is no longer happening. This makes more sense.
To better illustrate, here are—in my opinion—natural English translations for three Japanese variants:
今、とりがなきましたか? (Did birds sing just now?)
今、とりがないていますか? (Are birds singing right now?)
今、とりがなきますか? (Will birds sing now?)
Now, a bird chirped? Sure isn't right. A bird chirped now? Was that a bird chirping now? Did that bird chirp Now? (Of all moments to choose!!) now?... or now?.. How about now?
Those dernn chirping birds! Always shattering the sweet silence like that!.. All at just the worst timing too.
None of it sounds like a natural english question to me. -.-
1843
Yes. If an animal or bird is making the sound, you use the kanji 鳴く. If a human is crying, you use the kanji 泣く.
1843
鳴 is なる. 鳴門 is なる+と. It means "whirlpool", which is why the character Naruto in the manga has a spiral symbol on his stomach and his headband. The spirals also resemble narutomaki (鳴門巻), a type of fish cake with a spiral pattern, often served on soup and ramen, which the character often eats.