bmotime asked: I don't know (though it doesn't seem like) if you're still active on this Tumblr but I have a question. Basically, what does 場所がどこかわかりますから、一人で行くことができます。 mean? It was in a N4 book and... I believe its something along the lines of knowing a location and going there alone. I have little clue though.

Hello!  The sentence means:

Because I know where the place is (located), I can go [am able to go] by myself.

In this case, the particle 「か」is used after the 「場所がどこ」to indicate that the who/what/where/when/why question is an object of the following verb (here it’s 「分かる」 • 「わかる」 • to understand).  In terms of location it’s not a yes or no situation, but if it were, 「かどうか」 is often used in place of the solitary 「か」.

I hope this is helpful!  Let me know if you have any other questions or need any other help (:

tomoyohime asked: Thank you so much!! *o* This really helped me, I was desperate!! ToT Yes, I would like to know the other ways please :)

Can you help me with this one too?

怖がらないでください。
こわがらないでください。
Don't be afraid, please.

I'm not sure about the ください in this

And how do you say: "You're not alone"?

Thank you!! <3

で＋ください　is totally acceptable.  But that’s like super duper formal, so probably you would say:

恐れるな

おそれるな

osoreru na

which is a much more colloquial way of saying “don’t be afraid” :D

And there are probably about thirteen thousand ways to say　”You’re not alone.” Here are the two things I immediately think of:

（あなた／XXさん）だけじゃない

（Anata/XXsan) dake ja nai

（あなた／XXさんは）一人じゃない

(Anata/XXsan wa) hitori ja nai

Also, if you decide that you want to say “You are” as opposed to “you’re” (more formal), use ではない (dewanai) in place of じゃない (ja nai).

Hope this helps! <3

tomoyohime asked: こんにちは！
Could you help me to check if this phrases are correct please? It's supposed to be that I'm an intermediate japanese student but I still have problems making phrases

先生は私の大好きな人についての発表をすることを私に言いました。
せんせいはわたしのだいすきなひとについてのはっぴょうをすることをわたしにいいました。
The teacher told me to do a presentation of my favorite person.

私はあなたについてを話しました。
わたしはあなたについてをはなしました。
I talked about you.

私はあなたを誇りに思います。
わたしはあなたをほこりにおもいます。
I'm so proud of you.

:)

The first one sounds kind of strange.  In Japanese, you rarely ever say something directly like that if someone told you to do something - it’s impolite!  In this case, you actually probably want to use causitive passive form and (e.g. “I was told/made to do this by __”) say something rather than directly stating “He/she told me to ___” (which you almost never hear):

先生が私に大好きな人について(の)発表をさせられました。

せんせいがわたしにだいすきなひとについて(の)はっぴょうをさせられました。

(I was told/made by my teacher to do a presentation about my favorite person).

In the second one, you don’t need the を - it should just be 私はあなたについて話しました。

The third one is fine as is, but I can think of other ways to say that if you want variety :D  Let me know!

Hope this helps!  Let me know if you need help with any other phrases (:

jojocrackers-deactivated2013031 asked: I've searched all around for this in Japanese, but I can't find it... may you be able to help me?

"Even if there is no God or Buddha, there is [X]!"

Thank you ~

神様も仏もいないとしても、「x」は（あります／います）！

かみさまもほとけもいないとしても、「x」（はあります／います）！

kamisama mo hotoke mo inai to shitemo, [x] wa (arimasu/imasu)!

if [x] is an inanimate object you use the first (あります／arimasu) ending, but if [x] is an animate object use the second (います／imasu).

Hope that helps! <3

moths-eidolon asked: Thank you so much! You have been such a big help. I will surely start memorizing. Thanks again!

どう致しまして！頑張ってね〜

Good luck! <3

campbellsoup927 asked: thank you so much for your translation before! ^^
uh, just one last thing... do you think you could maybe translate this, as well?
"A true friend doesn’t pester you until you tell them what’s wrong.

A true friend knows when to give you space to figure things out.

Being best friends doesn’t necessarily mean you know each other inside and out.

Being best friends means you understand and respect the fact that everyone has secrets they only keep to themselves.

Friends don’t walk behind each other.

Friends walk side by side."
Thank you so much x'D

Again, I can’t promise that these are the most accurate/natural translations, but they are my best guesses!　Also they are kind of formal (polite), ‘cos I didn’t know if you wanted them to be informal or not.  I’ve provided back translations in parenthesis - I hope they are helpful!

真の友達なら、自分の問題を聞くためにせがみません。

shin no tomodachi nara, jibun no mondai wo kiku tame ni sagamimasen.

(A true friend doesn’t pester you until you tell them your problems.)

(問題がある時)、真の友達はスペースを与えた方がいいとと知っているはずです。

(mondai ga aru toki), shin no tomodachi wa supeesu wo ataeta hou ga ii to shitteiru hazu desu.

((When you have a problem), a true friend knows that it’s best to give you space to figure things out.)

「一番仲がいい友達」と言えば、友達の内外を全部分かるというわけではありません。

「ichiban naka ga ii tomodachi」 to ieba, tomodachi no naigai wo zenbu wakaru to iu wake de ha arimasen.

(Saying/being “best friends” does not necessarily mean that you know each other inside and out.)

一番仲がいい友達では、皆が秘密を守っているということが敬って、分かっているという意味があります。

ichiban naka ga ii tomodachi de ha, minna ga himitsu wo mamotteiru to iu koto ga uyamatte, wakatteiru to iu imi ga arimasu.

(Being best friends means that you respect and understand that everyone has secrets that they keep to themselves).

友達はお互いの後ろで歩きません。

tomodachi ha otagai no ushiro de arukimasen.

(friends don’t walk behind each other(’s backs)).

友達は並んで歩いています。

tomodachi wa narande aruite imasu.

(Friends walk side by side.)

moths-eidolon asked: Hello~^^ I was wondering if you could help me with verb conjugation. I know that the -masu form is usually taught because it is the polite form. But I was wondering or rather, I would like to know other verb conjugation such as -ing. For instance, I am walking. I am reading. I am studying, etc.
Thank you!

Since you are already acquainted with -masu form, this should be easy!

The form of conjugation you are looking for is the present tense, which in Japanese is conveyed with te-form + imasu (or informally, te-form + iru). Te-form is an important thing to learn because it is used often and in many different grammatical structures.  We learned a te-form song in Elementary Japanese 1 that was a lot like this (song starts at like 0:27 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvTkfUUmd3Q) which really helped with memorization.  あの人はちょっと変人っぽいけど•••

Making a verb into te-form is easy if it’s an ichidan verb - simply drop the “ru” at the end and add “te” (e.g. taberu —> tabete). If the verb is a godan verb, the conjugation is based on its ending and is as follows:

• u / tsu / ru —> tte
• bu / mu / nu —> nde
• su —> shite
• ku —> ite
• gu —> ide
• suru —> shite
• kuru —> kite
• 行く　ーー＞　行って (iku [to go] is the most notable irregular verb in this conjugation - rather than iite which it should be following the rules, it is itte)

To simply use the present tense you add iru or imasu (imasu is more polite / formal) to the end of the te-form verb:

• パンを食べている (pan wo tabeteiru) [I am eating bread]
• お茶を飲んでいる (ocha wo nondeiru) [I am drinking tea]

So in short, to capture the present tense (e.g. ~ing) in Japanese, you take the dictionary form of the verb, change it to te-form following those rules of conjugation, and add iru or imasu.

campbellsoup927 asked: could you possibly translate "The past is just the future with the lights on." into Japanese? Thank you so much! I would do it myself, but my Japanese is still kind of... well, terrible x'D

There are probably eleventyseventhousand ways to say this but my best guess/the most natural way I can think of is this:

過去は電気をつけた将来（だけ）です.

かこ　は　でんき　を　つけた　しょうらい　（だけ）です.

kako wa denki wo tsuketa shourai (dake) desu.

the dake here implies the “only” that you are looking for, but you can omit it and the meaning is pretty much the same.

Also, denki colloquially means “light/lights” but technically means “electricity,” so you can replace denki with raito in カタカナ（ライト）

Also colloquially, according to one of my professors in Japan, 昔（mukashi) is sometimes considered to be a more popular word meaning “past” than 過去 (kako), at least in literature and such.  So you could also say 「昔は電気をつけた将来（だけ）です」, which sounds more natural to me… but either is fine :) 

Alternatively, you can say 「昔はたった電気をつけた将来です」（mukashi wa tatta denki wo tsuketa shourai desu). This is the less direct but most natural-sounding way I can think of to convey what you want to convey!

o926 asked: Awesome! :)

Thanks ;n;

I hope this is helpful to people!

Anonymous asked: Can you help me translate this? Since it's a pic, I can't really use google translate
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lle74stx4b1qi30i7o1_500.jpg
My Japanese is still level 1 XD thanks in advance :)

Here’s my best shot．Apparently, one of the members of AKB48 (“Kojiyuu”) is being interviewed about her relationship with her friend and bandmate Oshima Yuko (“Kurisu”):

“(We’re) sorry, Yuu-chan, for the love ring that was not bought!”

Recently, fans of “Koji Yuu” have begun to shout. “Hahaha (laughing). After all, we are good friends. And we are more frequently doing things together. People keep saying that this is because Yuu-chan (Oshima Yuko) has plateaued*. Recently, Yuu-chan did buy a ring that seems excessive, by herself. Also, she took me to the store with her and said, “I don’t want to wear alone, so you should by the same one,” but I didn’t buy it (laughs). As for myself, I don’t like things that are excessive. Even if I say things like that, we (Yuu-chan and I) are still good friends (laughs). Oh, oh! The other day, I received a form that looked like a wedding certificate from Korea. Uhm, the paper seemed really formal, and inclosed with it was a picture of Yuu-chan and I holding hands, and it seemed like a pledge or something. There was a stamp written in Korean script (Hangul) pasted on the outside (laughs).”

Did that make you happy?

“Happy…? It’s really more strange than it is happy.  I was pleased, but it’s definitely strange.”

*this could also be saying she is pregnant (安定期　anteiki) also means this, but contextually I’m not sure which is correct because I don’t know who this is about

But keep in mind that this is just a rough translation.  If there are any parts that you want more detail about, let me know!