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: 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

chimeras-flame 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!

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!

Anonymous asked: Hello~ ^^ I actually have a question about the word "koto." I've been seeing it a lot lately and I don't quite understand. For example, I have seen a sentence like this : Anata no koto wo matteimasu. And dare mo watashi no koto ga suki ja nai. I just don't understand the meaning/useage for koto. Please and thank for your help!

“koto” in Japanese is the word for an intangible thing (e.g. “dansu wo suru koto” (a dance) or “kangaeta koto” (something you thought); “mono” is used for tangible things (e.g. “tabemono” (food/foodstuffs).  In both of those examples the “(no) koto” can be omitted and the sentence will hold the same meaning (the first one being “I will wait for you” and the second “nobody likes me”) but using the “(no) koto” denotes that it is a somewhat nebulous thing that the person is talking about and makes it sound more natural.  Also, using “(no) koto” here makes it less strictly about the person; for example, in the first sentence which means “I will wait for you” if you were to simply say “anata to matteimasu” you would mean literally “I’ll physically wait for you (e.g. while you go to the bathroom, do your hair, etc.)” whereas by saying “anata no koto wo matteimasu” you are implying that you will wait for them physically or mentally.  In the second examply, the “(no) koto” changes the sentence from “nobody likes me” to hold a meaning closer to “nobody likes the things that I do/the way that I am/everything about me.”  It’s really a subtle difference in these cases, so I hope this explanation makes sense!

Hit me with your best shot!

こんばんは！

手伝ってあげたいけれど、誰かがご質問があるかどうか分からない•••

Good evening!

I want to help, but I don’t know if anyone has any questions…