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[test_account]

Can anyone try to explain to me what the diffrence between desu and imasu/arimasu? Here is one example:

Kuruma wa doko desu ka

Kuruma wa doko ni arimasu ka


Cant both mean "where is the car?"? I guess the difference has something to do with the context of the question, but can someone explain a newbie on how to tell them apart and when its correct to use desu and imasu/arimasu? Thanks in advance

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

imasu is for living things
arimasu is for non-living things

in your example, yeah, both mean where is the car.

 

[Kagari]

imasu is for living things
arimasu is for non-living things

in your example, yeah, both mean where is the car.

I had something all typed up, but you beat me XD

 

[ten5ive9ine]

Where is the car?

Where does the car exist?

It's like the difference between those sentences, minus the fact the second isn't likely to be asked in English.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Where is the car?

Where does the car exist?

It's like the difference between those sentences, minus the fact the second isn't likely to be asked in English.

Right.

Imasu/arimasu is used to describe if something exists. (There is a dog)
Where Desu is used to describe something that already exists. (That dog is scary)

 

[sprsk]

I would say "doko ni arimasu ka" is probably a little softer in tone.

 

[zoku88]

desu is more like, "it is" in english while arimasu is something about existence. I have a hard time putting a translation w/o example

Uhm

Muzukashi desu ka. (Is it difficult?)

There's no way you could put arimasu in that sentence.

 

[test_account]

imasu is for living things
arimasu is for non-living things

in your example, yeah, both mean where is the car.

Thanks, but i know the difference between imasu and arimasu I guess i should have written that, sorry. I wonder whats more correct thing to use between desu and arimasu in my example. What are the difference between the 2 sentences although the can mean the same thing.

 

[Blackace]

But you would use aru/iru for have..


for example:

anata ha kuruma ga arimasuka

is

do you have a car?

anata ha kuruma desuka

is

Are you a car?

 

[Blackace]

I would say "doko ni arimasu ka" is probably a little softer in tone.

I would just say "desu ka" actually I would most likely just say "dokokai?"

 

[zoku88]

But you would use aru/iru for have..


for example:

anata ha kuruma ga arimasuka

is

do you have a car?

anata ha kuruma desuka

is

Are you a car?

:lol :lol :lol

That's a perfect example.

 

[test_account]

Thanks for the help everyone! One more question. If you're moving to a town and you're going to ask if there is i.e a drugstore there, but you dont know for sure if a drugstore excist in this town, do you use desu or arimasu then?

 

[Baraka in the White House]

*Head explodes*

Shit, I thought Spanish was tough...

 

[Blackace]

Thanks for the help everyone! One more question. If you're moving to a town and you're going to ask if there is i.e a drugstore there, but you dont know for sure if a drugstore excist in this town, do you use desu or arimasu then?

aru

like in my example the sentence would be "does this town have a drug store?"

 

[ten5ive9ine]

kusuriya ga arimasuka?

 

[vas_a_morir]

*Head explodes*

Shit, I thought Spanish was tough...

Spanish is 1000 times harder than Japanese. There is nothing difficult about what is being discussed here.

 

[test_account]

kusuriya ga arimasuka?

aru

like in my example the sentence would be "does this town have a drug store?"

Ok, thanks If you had used "desu" how would that have changed the meaning? Would the question be like you knew that the town had a drugstore, but you wondered where it was?

 

[ten5ive9ine]

Ok, thanks. If you had used "desu" how would that have changed the meaning? Would the question be like you knew that the town had a drugstore, but you wondered where it was?

Then you'd have to ask Kusuriya ha doko desuka.
If you just asked kusuriya desuka it simply means is it a drug store?

 

[Fireblend]

Spanish is 1000 times harder than Japanese. There is nothing difficult about what is being discussed here.

Seriously? For a spanish speaker as a first language, that is so false D: I might give japanese a try now.

 

[typhonsentra]

What about "Anata no kurama wa doko desuka?"?

 

[Blackace]

Ok, thanks. If you had used "desu" how would that have changed the meaning? Would the question be like you knew that the town had a drugstore, but you wondered where it was?

Yeah you'd use "doko" for that, but like the sentence you first said you can use both, because the subject of the sentence would be "drug store" just like the subject of your first sentences were "car"

 

[Blackace]

What about "Anata no kurama wa doko desuka?"?

where is your car?

also you can say anatanokuruma ha doko ni arimasuka?

 

[ten5ive9ine]

What about "Anata no kurama wa doko desuka?"?

Where is your kurama?

Was that a serious question? Surely you can't be that slow?

 

[sprsk]

KURUMA HA DOKODAAAA

Is okay too.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Seriously? For a spanish speaker as a first language, that is so false D: I might give japanese a try now.

I am a native English speaker, and I have learned both. I thought Spanish grammar was so fucking insane. Still do. No me gusta.

 

[zoku88]

I am a native English speaker, and I have learned both. I thought Spanish grammar was so fucking insane. Still do. No me gusta.

That's interesting, at my school (as in university,) must of the 4th semester spanish students are pretty fluent in spanish.

The same isnt true for the 4th semester japanese students.

 

[typhonsentra]

Where is your kurama?

Was that a serious question? Surely you can't be that slow?

Huh? Are you commenting on my misspelling or me not being familiar with Japanese? Either way, I'd say you're a dick but I'm still curious.

 

[test_account]

Ok, just so i've understood it correctly: Desu is used when you know something excist and imasu/arimasu is used when you're not sure that the things excist? Right or wrong?

If i understood that right, i have another example, if you want to ask for i.e where the keys to your car are. Is it "kuruma no kagi wa doko ni arimasu ka" or "desu ka" then? I mean, you do know that your car keys excist. What is the diference in this example?

 

[vas_a_morir]

That's interesting, at my school (as in university,) must of the 4th semester spanish students are pretty fluent in spanish.

The same isnt true for the 4th semester japanese students.

Hmm, I say that's true.

I think the major difference for me is that I already had learned Spanish before, so I understood how language works, so the second language is far easier to learn. To be fair, at the end of my Spanish education, I was able to hold a 15 minute conversation in Spanish. Now... I've forgotten everything out of misuse.

 

[Fireblend]

I am a native English speaker, and I have learned both. I thought Spanish grammar was so fucking insane. Still do. No me gusta.

I do agree english is way simpler in the grammatical aspect. My spanish teacher in school also used to teach foreigners, and it seems all the grammatical times make them go insane. Japanese on the other hand looks and sounds as if it was designed by deaf-blinds with their hands tied.

 

[ten5ive9ine]

That's interesting, at my school (as in university,) must of the 4th semester spanish students are pretty fluent in spanish.

The same isnt true for the 4th semester japanese students.

A huge advantage of spanish is the vocab has similar roots as English, so it's really easy to remember, or even figure out words you've never seen before. This is especially true if you have any background knowledge of Latin.
With Japanese you have to pretty much relearn every word in the language. Even half the words based on English have changed the meaning around.

 

[zoku88]

Hmm, I say that's true.

I think the major difference for me is that I already had learned Spanish before, so I understood how language works, so the second language is far easier to learn. To be fair, at the end of my Spanish education, I was able to hold a 15 minute conversation in Spanish. Now... I've forgotten everything out of misuse.

Oh, that makes sense then. I've heard of similar things in the past. Like, you only need to learn how to read for one language. Once you get the concept down, you don't really need to learn how to read for other languages, you just need to learn how to read the characters.

 

[scottnak]

I am a native English speaker, and I have learned both. I thought Spanish grammar was so fucking insane. Still do. No me gusta.

God the subjunctive... and whatever the other one was... top miserable class moments ever. Ugh.

 

[temp]

arimasu = where does the car exist?

imasu = OMFG HOLY MOTHER OF MARY IN HEAVEN I CANT BELIEVE IT WTF WHERE ARE MY SEDATIVES AAAAHHH

 

[ten5ive9ine]

Huh? Are you commenting on my misspelling or me not being familiar with Japanese? Either way, I'd say you're a dick but I'm still curious.

I was just taking the piss over your spelling.

What I was being a dick about is the fact the question your asked was identical to the OP, except you simply added 'your' to the equation, which wouldn't change anything about the grammatical structure in question. It's like asking what "where is the car?" means followed up immediately with "where is the red car?" as if it's going to have some whole new grammactical meaning.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Oh, that makes sense then. I've heard of similar things in the past. Like, you only need to learn how to read for one language. Once you get the concept down, you don't really need to learn how to read for other languages, you just need to learn how to read the characters.

I was a low-A and B student in Spanish. I didn't get it. SInce I became a Japanese student for serious learning, I have never got anything below 100 percent on anything. I do agree, you can reason most words in Spanish. In Japanese, you have to memorize a lot more. Also, Kanji is the least practical writing system ever.

(note: My name is Spanish)

 

[NaughtyCalibur]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232671

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Spanish is 1000 times harder than Japanese. There is nothing difficult about what is being discussed here.

Well alright then, you've humbled me?

 

[test_account]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232671

Nice, thanks for the tip, i havnt seen that thread before (I didnt search before making this thread, i didnt think a thread where i could ask my question were made, sorry about that). I'll try to use that thread the next time i got some questions about the japanese language.

Again, thanks for all the help everyone

 

[VindicatorZ]

I think Spanish is more difficult for English only speakers to learn, due to all the weird conjugations for past, present, future, etc. It's very weird, but as a native spanish speaker, it's completely 100% natural. Yo comi, tu comistes? El comio? Etc Etc, I can see why it would be hard.

Something about Japanese is inherentely easier. Most verbs have the same conjugation. Tabemasu/Tabemashita, Nomimashita, Mimashita, etc. While this can be shortened, it stays the same for every use of the word, Anata wa Tabemasu, Watashi wa Tabemasu. This is why Japanese is easier for some people. I also think that Japanese is cool to memorize certain words and its fun to learn the different Kanji's for them. Japanese is an interesting language, but one that I find to be counter intuitive. I just think the way english flows is so much easier, there's so many ways to say things in english, whereas in Japanese everything comes out the same. Sou Desu nee! Waa sugoi!! Kawaii yo!! It's all great, but it's more strict than English. Also the sentence structure of Japanese makes perfect sense in Japanese, but the way english and spanish and almost all other languages flow is a bit easier IMO. Kuruma wa doko desu ka? The Car where is? Makes perfect sense in Japanese, but, It's a mindfuck to have to reverse your brain all the time to speak!

 

[zoku88]

I was a low-A and B student in Spanish. I didn't get it. SInce I became a Japanese student for serious learning, I have never got anything below 100 percent on anything. I do agree, you can reason most words in Spanish. In Japanese, you have to memorize a lot more. Also, Kanji is the least practical writing system ever.

(note: My name is Spanish)

I suck at jpn. I've never gotten close to 100 on anything... T_T I was a lot better at french...

 

[Zoe]

Ok, just so i've understood it correctly: Desu is used when you know something excist and imasu/arimasu is used when you're not sure that the things excist? Right or wrong?

No... imasu/arimasu has nothing to do with certainty.

 

[Shouta]

KURUMA HA DOKODAAAA

Is okay too.

I read your post as "KURUMA WA DOKKOIDA!" =|

 

[USD]

Spanish is 1000 times harder than Japanese. There is nothing difficult about what is being discussed here.

In most aspects, I put Spanish and Japanese at about the same level (quite easy), slight edge to Spanish because of its similarity to other Western Languages (of course this is coming from who started with English). When you consider the Japanese writing system, everything gets thrown off. Learning kanji isn't really hard, but it's a riduclously huge layer you have to conquer, one you don't see in other languages. Unless you're okay with being illiterate, then Japanese is super easy.

 

[Zoe]

I don't know if this will help you, but technically "desu" isn't a verb.

 

[Link1110]

In most aspects, I put Spanish and Japanese at about the same level (quite easy), slight edge to Spanish because of its similarity to other Western Languages (of course this is coming from who started with English). When you consider the Japanese writing system, everything gets thrown off. Learning kanji isn't really hard, but it's a riduclously huge layer you have to conquer one you don't see in other languages. Unless you're okay with being illiterate, then Japanese is super easy.

Kanji is the only real difficult thing about Japanese. Take it from someone who got grades > 20 on Italian tests in high school, european languages are really hard, with Japanese being extremely easy in comparison, except for the Kanji, but you can learn that seperate from the language itself, save it for last, or as has been said, skip it altogether if you only want to speak, or can get by with the kana.

 

[USD]

Kanji is the only real difficult thing about Japanese. Take it from someone who got grades > 20 on Italian tests in high school, european languages are really hard, with Japanese being extremely easy in comparison, except for the Kanji, but you can learn that seperate from the language itself, save it for last, or as has been said, skip it altogether if you only want to speak, or can get by with the kana.

Really? I thought Spanish was really easy grammarwise and vocabwise, and I've heard similar things about German, French and other languages. I do think Japanese is easier to listen to/speak than Spanish. But that might because I took Spanish in high school, and the teachers put little to no emphasis on speaking the language. In Japanese, I'm well beyond my (high point in) Spanish in that regard. But I tend to look at language from a reading/writing perspective, because that's what I'm usually better at those.

I've told myself I'd relearn Spanish, but I haven't yet. I've lost a lot of my Spanish knowledge. Though I can still read it pretty competently. I can't recall words, but I can still recognize them.

EDIT: Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that Japanese (minus kanji) is easier than Spanish. Relative to English (and even Spanish, which I though was pretty simple), it's ridiculously simplified, relying on context more than anything else. I'd still say that both languages are easy though.

 

[Vaux]

I think Spanish is more difficult for English only speakers to learn, due to all the weird conjugations for past, present, future, etc. It's very weird, but as a native spanish speaker, it's completely 100% natural. Yo comi, tu comistes? El comio? Etc Etc, I can see why it would be hard.

Something about Japanese is inherentely easier. Most verbs have the same conjugation. Tabemasu/Tabemashita, Nomimashita, Mimashita, etc. While this can be shortened, it stays the same for every use of the word, Anata wa Tabemasu, Watashi wa Tabemasu. This is why Japanese is easier for some people. I also think that Japanese is cool to memorize certain words and its fun to learn the different Kanji's for them. Japanese is an interesting language, but one that I find to be counter intuitive. I just think the way english flows is so much easier, there's so many ways to say things in english, whereas in Japanese everything comes out the same. Sou Desu nee! Waa sugoi!! Kawaii yo!! It's all great, but it's more strict than English. Also the sentence structure of Japanese makes perfect sense in Japanese, but the way english and spanish and almost all other languages flow is a bit easier IMO. Kuruma wa doko desu ka? The Car where is? Makes perfect sense in Japanese, but, It's a mindfuck to have to reverse your brain all the time to speak!

I also agree with this. I spoke nothing but spanish when i was kid, although my spanish is a little rusty now. So I dont find japanese to be too hard cause it does have some similarities to spanish.

 

[Y2Kev]

Spanish is 1000 times harder than Japanese. There is nothing difficult about what is being discussed here.

No way. At least not for a native english speaker.

The state department says Japanese is the hardest language an American can learn...takes like 88 weeks of 40 hours per week training to be considered "fluent".

 

[cvxfreak]

I also think the ease/difficulty of learning a foreign language depends on one's strengths and abilities.

Retaining vocabulary is one of my weak points, which pretty much negates the advantage a European language would have over Japanese. No matter what language, vocabulary will always be hardest for me, so I don't see this as a lowpoint for learning Japanese.

Like-wise, I'm discouraged by hard to pronounce languages like Mandarin or German. I even find Korean difficult to pronounce, even though I'm sure learning it wouldn't be too different from learning Japanese. Japan and Spanish are very good in that regard (for me) and I've been complemented on my pronunciation of Japanese numerous times in the past.