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 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:44 pm
My grandpa traveled to Japan on business about 40 years ago. When he found out that I am interested in learning Japanese, he gave me the conversation-dictionary that he used during his visit. My question is, is the information in it still good? I'm guessing the language hasn't changed that much, but still, I don't want to accidentally insult someone because the meaning of a particular saying has changed, etc.
On a different note, when would one use "kedo," and when would one use "ga"? My Japanese Coach says that they both mean "but", but it doesn't explain when to use one or the other.
P.S.- If it makes any difference, the book is "English-Japanese Conversation-Dictionary" by Mr. and Mrs. O. Vaccari. It uses the Hepburn system.. is that still the most common one?
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:08 pm
This is just my two cents from my Japanese Teacher, but the language does change a bit in a few years. New terms are made up, some things become old, etc.
When it comes to "Kedo" and "Ga"...I've never heard "Ga" as the word for "but," but I know some places that define it as such. I've personally never used it like that. If it's confusing, I say leave it for later.
If you want "but," use "demo," or "kedo." There are other forms of "but/therefore," but sometimes it's best to only learn one at a time?
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:44 am
They're used more or less interchangeably, except I guess "ga" follows polite/long forms more often and "kedo" follows short/dictionary forms more often.
確かに出来ますが、それはしたいという意味がありません。 "I'm certainly capable of it, but that doesn't mean that I want to do it."
出来るけど、したくない。 "I could, but I don't wanna."
If you switch が and けど, not an ounce of meaning is lost or altered. It's just a preference thing.
There are other forms of "but" as well, like けれど and けれども, but those are more for formal/honorific use.
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:39 am
Thank you both for your responses. smile
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