"I am her younger brother."
Translation:僕は彼女の弟です。
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yeah, i keep getting confused because of the sentence structure. It's similar to french sentence structure, but also sometimes has normal English sentence structure which is throwing me off a lot
I am french and I am very confused too! where do you see the similarity with french?Maybe It could give me some tricks cause my brain is about to explose!
It's proving a difficult unit for me too. A lot of things aren't clear and they are asking us to construct different types of sentences with different sets of particles in different ways. I'm sure this is simple to more experienced learners but for people still trying to understand when to use は, の and が, as well as remember which kanji we're suppose to use at this point, it's pretty daunting.
は is for 'is'. John is student. The の is used as posessive. My chair, his sister. And が is used when the subject is being used and isnt the actor. Like: The chair is bought (chairs dont buy things). Anyway, Japanese isnt a hard language. Barrier to entry is the writing though. Before this i focused some time to Remembering the kana / Remembering the kanji. So focus on the early lessons first. Reading comfortably makes focussing on the rest easier.
1770
You're right about the other two particles but in this sentence, です is what means "is", not は. は marks the topic of the sentence.
Please correct me if I am wrong:
ka re ra - They (male)
ka no jo ta chi - They (female)
ka re - He/Him
ka no jo - She/Her
o ni i (san) - (someone else's) older brother
o ne e (san) - (someone else's) older sister
o ni - (my) older brother
o ne - (my) older sister
o to u to - (my) younger brother
i mo u to - (my) younger sister
o to u to (san) - (someone else's) younger brother
i mo u to (san) - (someone else's) younger sister
shi ma i - sisters
kyo u da i - brothers
Corrections* |Kare - He| |Kare no - His| |Kanojo - She| |Kanojo no - Her| |Ani - (my) Older Brother| |Ane - (my) Older Sister| Also Maybe Karera can also be used for mixed gender groups.. Idk I'm a beginner too.
Ani : my older brother Ane: my older sister Also, "karera" is mixed gender, just like the word "man" in "mankind".
Couldn't you just say 「かのじょのととうです」 ? Why is there a need to affirm that you are the subject of this sentence? I understand that it would be highly sensitive to the context of the conversation and it might as easily be understood as "That's her little brother". Maybe I'm being a bit too difficult.
Yes, you could say that. It's indeed likely to be interpreted as "It's her younger brother", but since it is so context-dependent it could technically also mean "I am her younger brother", without including わたし. Be careful with the spelling of little brother though: it's おとうと (弟)
That is an accepted answer at the moment. Yes, you are leaving the topic off but that is fine. One would assume that you are talking about yourself unless you have said otherwise....
Not in this case, since the お isn't an honorific: おとうと (弟) is a single word.
Since this would come from a guy it would be more natural to say ぼくは or おれは instead of わたし. Youd only really use わたし formally.
If you want to sound natural dont use watashi.... btw ore can come off as rude while most male adults dont use boku...
EDIT: I have read more about this and this is what I have found. According to an article I read by a non-native speaker who has lived in Japan, he claims that BOKU is used by males and some females while WATASHI is more formal as you said. But this "formal" means that with STRANGERS you would use WATASHI (Female or male).
ORE is used by males but only among friends.
Now based on what I have observed in J-dramas and listening to J-Pop, I would say that the observation about ORE is correct but I am not so sure about BOKU. I still have to hear a male using it in any drama I have watched and I have only heard women or kids use it in dramas and songs. Males always use ORE or WATASHI.... There are other forms of "I" and this can also vary by region as well which is why "WATASHI" is the best one to use for beginners....
Hope that helps! (Notice that my original suggestion to drop the topic marker is the best if you want to sound like a native)
What is the kanji in the begining of the sentence. I was looking for watashi, i didnt see it, figured the I was omitted (as can be the case) and got it wrong. Is this boku or ore. Duo is being reckless with all this random kanji usuage.
僕 is ぼく (boku), apparently. I swear this was not explained before. I've been doing 私 and getting all correct up until now
You don't sound like a native if you always use the topic marker in every sentence. It is not needed here unless it isn't clear you are talking about you!
- 1770
I am two years late to this but you should almost always avoid using 俺, it's considered pretty rude and arrogant. Source: got laughed at in Japan when I used it once.
What would you use if you (私) are the older brother? あに or おにいさん? (spelled in kana for clarity)
If you are older, then it would be 私は彼女の兄です。 (わたしはかのじよのあにです。) - I am her older brother
Oftentimes in Japanese, if the subject can be implied from context, it is fine to omit
It means "I", similar to 私. It is mainly used by younger males though, and females generally only use it to sound more "tomboy-ish".
I wonder why they are throwing 僕 (boku) in here when they typically use 私 (watashi). I don't remember Duolingo teaching us this form earlier on either. They seem to just throw it in randomly. Plus, Boku is more masculine to use vs Watashi.
僕 is a male prefix, im so confused lol you only use it if you're a guy, please clarify next time ;-;
- 1770
がんばって！ Learning a language is really difficult but it always seems more difficult at first than it actually is. You just need to stick with it until you get the hang of it
What's the difference between 私(watashi) and 僕 (boku) if they both mean I? How are they used differently?
私 is "watashi" - gender-neutral first-person polite pronoun, in casual conversation it is more feminine.
僕 is "boku" - a more masculine first-person polite pronoun. More casual than watashi, but okay in some polite conversation.
- 1770
Basically yes, although わたし is perfectly gender neutral and can be used by anyone, including guys. ぼくis fairly masculine and only really used by boys.
In general though, words for "I" or "me" are omitted most of the time unless you need to emphasise it.
Is it ok for females to use 僕? I find 私 a bit too many syllables for my liking
No, you can't play a particle directly before the copula.
です is used to form A=B sentences, with A being the subject, and B being the predicate, the thing describing the subject.
Your subject A would be marked with は or が and the description is what directly links to です to form your predicate. Your phrase lists "Her little brother" as the subject with が but links nothing to the です so it reads unfinished; like saying "Her little brother is..." Her little brother is what? Her little brother is a student? Short? 15?
Ok, that's clear. So whenever we meet something like Bです, it is because the subject is somehow implicit. On the contrary the omission of the predicate makes the phrase loose its meaning, right?
Why is です used here instead of います, since we're talking about living things?
です is the copula used in A=B statements. You ARE her little brother, so "I = her little brother". The subject is marked with は or が and the descriptive word is linked directly with です to form the predicate.
います is used when saying something exists, 彼女の弟がいます "Her little brother exists" or "She has a little brother"
は is the topic particle; it marks contextual/known information for the statement you are about to make "On the topic of..."
の is a noun-linking/grouping particle. The noun before it modifies the noun after it. This can also be used to show possession, and works like an "'s" or a reflexive "of"
AのB - "A's B" or "B of A"
私の名前 "My name" or "Name of me"
彼女の弟 "Her younger brother" or "the younger brother of her"
彼の犬 "His dog" or "the dog of him"
僕は - On the topic of me
彼女の弟 - Her younger brother
です - am
"I am her younger brother"
This app seems to randomly decide when you can say "僕は彼女の..." and "彼女の私は..." when is each consiered correct?
Because "her" can be my older sister, can I say 私は姉の弟です, or more simply 私は弟です?
Yeah you could say 私は姉の弟です but in english that would be something like ''i am my sister's brother'' but saying 私は彼女の弟です is easier and sounds more natural. If you want to say 私は弟です its okay too if in the right context i guess
That says "Her older brother is me"
彼女の兄は - as for her older brother 僕です - it is me
僕は彼女の弟です
"I am her younger brother"
僕は - as for me 彼女の弟です - (I) am her younger brother
Any reason it is kanojo no otouto and not otouto no kanojo? I'm confused about how "no" works
The noun before の describes the noun after it, like an adjective. You can think of it as a possessive 彼女の "Her", or a reflexive "of" as in "Brother of her"
弟の彼女 would be "My younger brother's girlfriend" where 彼女 ('girlfriend' when used as a noun) is described by/possessed by "little brother"