0

I am taking a Japanese course and I was told to write a composition about a place I like. I have currently just finished the first book of Minna no nihongo, which is up to lesson 12. I am thinking of: このさくぶんの中で好きなところのことを話します。 Can anyone tell me if this is correct?

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
2

I think that 場所 is more appropriate than ところ for your sentence because ところ means not only "place" but also "point" such as "それが彼のよい所なんだ。(That is his good point.)"

Improve this answer
2

I would personally phrase it in the following 2 ways:

１：この作{さく}文{ぶん}の中{なか}で、（私{わたし}の）好き{すき}な場{ば}所{しょ}について話{はな}していきたいと思{おも}います。- I would like to talk about the place I like in this "essay".

or

２：この作{さく}文{ぶん}の中{なか}で、（私{わたし}の）好き{すき}な場{ば}所{しょ}を紹{しょう}介{かい}していきたいと思{おも}います。- I would like to introduce (to the reader) the place I like in this "essay".

I think both are fairly used. I will try to breakdown one of the sentences so you understand how all the bits work.

この作文の中で - In this essay - Pretty straight forward.

(私の)好きな場所 - The place I like - It is ok to omit the "I" in Japanese.

について - About - Nothing to add here.

話していきたい - I want to talk / I want to go and talk - it has the nuance of going to(していく). It is the たい-form of 話していく（していく).

と思います - I would like to - したいと思います is polite way to say that you want to / will do something.

Now for the second sentence, the only difference is we are changing 話す for 紹介する, which means to "introduce" and it is used a lot in those situations where you are talking about something you know, but your audience does not. In that case we will just change について話す for を紹介する (していきたいと思います).

Improve this answer
4
  • Is it really OK to use 話す to refer to what someone does in a 作文? I can't say for certain that I've never encountered 話す with the meaning of "write about," but it seems very counterintuitive to me, to say the least. For that reason, I much prefer your alternative with 紹介する. (Then again, as a native speaker of English, I'm also very resistant to using "talk about" in this context. Most educated adults would avoid it, though of course "discuss" would be fine.)
    – Nanigashi
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 17:52
  • 3
    @Nanigashi 作文で「今日は～～について話したいと思います。」とか書いてもまあいいと思いますが、「～～について書きたいと思います・書こうと思います」とかでもいいかなと思います。（「述べたいと思います」でもいいですけどちょっと硬いですね）
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 2:07
  • @Nanigashi Yeah, it depends a lot in the language. In my native language we say a lot "This book talks about..." and while most teachers wouldn't say you are wrong for saying "I would like to talk about the place I like in this essay" or something, using "discuss" or "write" would be slightly better. Chocolateさん、 説明したり、ふりがなを訂正したりしてくれてありがとうございます！
    – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 15:47
  • Thanks for the replies, @Chocolate and Felipe Oliveira!
    – Nanigashi
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 17:37
0

好きなところについて話します／話す or 好きなところに関して話します／話す

The other guy is right, you can also use 場所 instead of ところ but I personally don't think it makes much difference in a conversation.

Improve this answer
0

In the question you stated that I am going to talk, however, in your Japanese translation you simply state this fact, i.e. 話します - I will talk. In Japanese there are two structures which you could use, namely

話したい - I want to talk
話すつもり - I intent to talk

Next, if you want to talk about something I think that について is more appropriate

について話すつもり (you could refer to https://www.italki.com/question/270533)

Finally, I would say that your sentence might look like this

この作文には好きな場所について話したいです

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    この作文は好きな場所について話したいです would mean 作文 wants to talk. however, in your Japanese translation you simply state this fact, i.e. 話します 「話します。」（または「書きます。」）でもまあいいと思いますが。In Japanese there are two structures... 「話そうと思います。」も使えますよ。「話したいです。」より「話したいと思います。」のほうがいいですね。（または「書こうと思います。」「書きたいと思います。」)
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 1:40
  • @Chocolate thanks for the review, taking the context into account that it is a person who speaks, wouldn't この作文は... mean as for the composition..., or is it better to state 私、僕、あたし explicitly? Or この作文には? Using 話そう (let's talk) does sound good to me
    – mihails.kuzmins
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 8:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .