Hi,
There is a typo for the Audio Lesson 6.1 Page
[i wish it was so]
:lol: [attachment=0:2yya26zt]<!-- ia0 -->RJ Typo.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:2yya26zt]
Typo
Psymon
February 1, 2009
Sayaka-Matsuura
February 4, 2009
Psymon -san
Arigato Gozaimasu!
Apologies from the Rocket Japanese Team! We will make sure to get it right!
Thank you again,
:D
ihatomi
August 27, 2009
There is also a typo (I guess) in 1.4 Survival Phrases.
Anata wa nihongo ga hanase masuka. should be
Anata wa nihongo o hanase masuka.
Sayaka-Matsuura
August 27, 2009
Konnichiwa!
The use of the particles *GA* and *O* are often interchangeable. In general, *GA* Marks the Subject and *O* marks the Direct Object.
In lesson 1.4 Survival Phrases:
*Anata wa nihongo __ga__ hanase masuka* is correct in saying _"Can you speak Japanese?"_ - when the subject of _"Japanese"_ has not been mentioned previously in the context. - in the lesson, it is the first line of the dialogue, and thus, a newly introduced subject.
The subject is usually clear enough from the context that speakers don't always state it explicitly. But, when that's not the case - when the subject needs to be spelled out, it's marked by the particle *GA*.
You can say *Nihongo __wa__ hanase masuka* as well, if you want to put a focus on *nihongo* (as in, comparing it to other languages).
You can see the difference of *GA* and *WA* if you were to roughly translate the two ways as:
*Nihongo __ga__ hanase masuka* _"Can you speak Japanese?"_
*Nihongo __wa__ hanase masuka* _"As for Japanese, can you speak it?"_
-Sayaka :P
ihatomi
August 29, 2009
I agree but in the spoken dialogue you use "o" and not "ga" and to a twelve year old this is confusing without any explanation at the point of use.
Sayaka-Matsuura
August 30, 2009
Konnichiwa,
Yes, sometimes the direct object of a ___"can/able to"___ form of a verb *(hanaseru)* is marked with *'o'* - where *Nihongo* is the direct object of *hanaseru* _(can speak)_. But more typically, potential verbs occur with a *'wa'* and *'ga'* pattern. The *'wa'* tacks onto the subject - the person that is able to do the action - *(Anata wa)* and the *'ga'* follows the direct object - *(Nihongo ga)*.
I apologize if this has caused any confusion.
-Sayaka
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