I swear there was a certain verb clause for the actions of someone else.
Eg how do I say "He thought it was good?"
Sorry for noobishness :3
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This looks like a straightforward translation request. What have you got so far? If you are looking for something beyond the obvious then you'll need to provide more/better examples so we can see exactly what you are getting at.– user3856370Commented Feb 13, 2016 at 17:41
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@user3856370 "he thought it was good", " he went running", "she is laughing"– ThunderHexCommented Feb 13, 2016 at 17:42
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@user3856370 verbs directed at someone else - when you're talking about someone else– ThunderHexCommented Feb 13, 2016 at 17:43
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So are you asking about the difference between "I am laughing" and "She is laughing"?– user3856370Commented Feb 13, 2016 at 17:47
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@user3856370 Yes, is it still **笑っている or is there a different verb clause for when referring to others– ThunderHexCommented Feb 13, 2016 at 17:49
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2 Answers
For action verbs like in your examples I'm not aware of any need to change the verb form to match the pronoun:
(私は)笑っている and (彼女は)笑っている
both use the same verb conjugation.
Are you perhaps thinking about expressing the thoughts and feelings of others? You cannot directly state what someone else is feeling because it is assumed that this is something you cannot know. So you can say:
(私は)犬がほしい
but not
*(彼女は)犬が欲しい
In the latter case you would need to add
がる = "show signs of"
to the verb, (for some reason I don't understand) change が to を e.g.
彼女は犬を欲しがっている
answered Feb 13, 2016 at 18:04
Extra information for those interested in dialects:
While Standard Japanese doesn't differentiate grammatically between first-person and third-person actions, some dialects do:
Saga Dialect
俺は走りよる (I am running [right now])
先生は走りよんさっ
The second of which is a contraction of 走りよんさる, which is a further contraction of 走りよりなさる, the なさる of which we recognize from very polite speech.
Nagasaki Dialect
俺は走りよる
先生は走りよらす
We see よる become よらす, which is more of a new conjugation that doesn't correspond to something from older court speech (i.e. the なさる from Saga Dialect).
Interesting note, these forms are usually used to refer to people above you in the social hierarchy. You'd never say your dog is 走りよらす.
