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- Topic: Japanese >
- "そのいすはひくいです。"
"そのいすはひくいです。"
Translation:That chair is low.
10 Comments
1013
Why doesn't "short" work in this context?
As a word, "short" is not restricted to a single dimension, it can be height or depth. In terms of tables, calling one "short" would intuitively refer to one of the table's horizontal dimensions; similarly, calling a table "low" intuitively invokes the height of the table.
If you called a chair "short", though, I would damn near never interpret that as saying that the chair is narrow; height is the only dimension that comes to mind.
There are obviously exceptions to everything, but in this case, they would be quite rare.
I have to agree. "Short" is usually used for length and height. "Low" is usually used for measurements in volume and distance from the ground. While a chair can be called "low," it would really be "the seat is low," since we are measuring just the sitting part's distance from the ground, the chair as a whole would be called "short"
A table could be called short for both its length and height, depending on context. When a table is called "low" that it refers to the tabletop is implied. (The same with desks and counters)
I typed this with a kanji and it wasn't accepted. I'm disappointed.
そのいす means that chair, and it can mean those chairs, too, can it not? DL marked "those chairs are low" wrong when I experimented. Any thoughts?
I was about to suggest 'tachi' but a little bit of googling taught me that this implies that you consider the object a 'person'. So my guess is you're correct, but it depends on context.
