<verb>てもいいですか and <verb>てもらってもいいですか

KayronWed, 17 Nov 2010 22:16:10 -0600
みんなさん、こんいちは。
ぼくのなまえはカイロンです。よろしくおねがいします。

Hello. I was wondering if I correctly understood a grammar concept that I came across in a lesson I looked at today. If I remember correctly, it was 2.2.

The usage of <verb-in-TE-form> followed by もいいですか? is meant to ask "can (verb) be done?" ("ここでみずをのんでもいいですか?" - can (I) drink water here?) . When you change it to もらっても, you are asking if the action can be done for you. ("このドアをあけてもらってもいいですか?” - could you open this door (for me)?

Is the above correct usage? This is a different role for the word "mo" which means "more" ("もはやくうんてんしてください” - please drive faster)Are all of these spelled the same - も?

ありがとう、
カイロン
Sayaka MatsuuraFri, 19 Nov 2010 04:50:58 -0600
カイロンさん、
こんにちは!

Yes, you are correct in the usages of ~te mo ii desu ka? (Can I do [verb]?) and ~te moratte mo ii desu ka? (Could you do [verb] for me? - for my benefit?). Excellent.

However, in regards to the word も which is a particle translated as "also; as well" - it is not correct to place も as you have in the sentence もはやくうんてんしてください - here you need the word もっと (motto) to suggest "more". So, the correct sentence would be もっと はやく うんてんして ください。 (Motto hayaku unten shite kudasai) which literally means "Please drive more fast" or more naturally "Please drive faster.

- さやか
KayronFri, 19 Nov 2010 11:02:47 -0600
さやかさん、ありがとうございます。
わかりました。

The reason I thought that using も would be correct in my last example, was based on one of the earlier lesson's example - もすこしゆっくりおねがいします - in this example, も is enough to suggest "more than", so that confused me a bit.

Thanks.
コッドTue, 23 Nov 2010 16:38:47 -0600
カイロンさん、こんにちは!

I think you misunderstood the difference between も(mo) and もう(mou - read with a long o). In the example わたしも (watashi mo) it means "I too", while in もうゆっくり(moU yukkuri) it means more slowly.

In conclusion:
も=too
もう=more.

Hope this helps .
KayronTue, 23 Nov 2010 17:29:45 -0600
コッドさん、ありがとう。

That was the answer I was looking for. That's why I asked if they were spelled the same, but now I see the difference. Thanks
コッドThu, 25 Nov 2010 07:15:43 -0600
どういたしまして!

Now I have a question for Sayaka-sensei. You told us in the sentence:" もっと はやく うんてんして ください。 (Motto hayaku unten shite kudasai)", to use もっと (motto) to suggest faster. Well, the question is: is it correct to use もう instead of もっと to suggest this ?
ex: もうはやくうんてんしてください!
In case you say both are correct, then what's the different between them exactly ? The situations in which they are used ?

Thanks in advance,
Coddo
デレクFri, 26 Nov 2010 15:54:47 -0600
もう、惜しいな!
(Oh, so close!)

"もう" and ”もっと” are used a bit differently... Like in most cases ”もう” is used to express exasperation of some action. Almost like the equivalent of "OMG" in "OMG, can we get this project over with!?" or for example, もう、疲れた!(I'm SO tired...)... Although, in the example I used above to say you were so close, I was emphasizing how close you were by adding もう. So もう can be used to add emphasis to some things as well. It really varies per the context, but in most situations its going to be exasperation.

In the example: もう早く運転してください!

If I were to translate that in English as is, I'd probably write it as (Drive faster damnit!) although if I were translating to a more G rated scene (Hurry up and drive faster!) or something. Overall if you said this to a taxi driver or something they'd think you were extremely impatient or something... or so I think.

However, もっと would work in this situation. もっと早く運転してください! would be a bit softer than the previous example and would give a taxi driver the impression your in a hurry but they probably wouldn't think you're an impatient person or something. もっと almost always will mean "More of X"... if you want more rice when someone is filling your rice bowl you could say もっと and they'd give you more, but if you said もう they'd probably give you less rice as it would seem as though you are tired of eating rice.

That's not to mention the particle "も", もう and も are actually two different things (just to make it harder for you ). も is used to say something is as much as something else or that something is true for something else and etc. like 私も means "me too" but 私もう really makes no sense to me atleast... Another example is like lets say you dislike homework 私が宿題あまり好きじゃないんです。 your friend could say 皆も if "everyone" does too or if its only you and 3 other people then they could say Aさんも、Bさんも、Cさんも宿題あまり好きじゃないんです。 "A-san, B-san, C-san, [and you] all don't really like homework"...

So if we were to shorten this all up,

in MOST cases:

もっと = more
もう = statement of exasperation
も = also

hope I helped...

-Derek
コッドFri, 26 Nov 2010 22:56:14 -0600
I got the idea here. Derek-san, i would like just to ask you a little favor: next time you write with kanji, please do write the romanisation of sentaces. I happened to know how to read all the kanji you used here, but I was also thinking of those who don't know them.
Well, at least now I almost understand the difference between these 3 words.

ありがとうございました!
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