0

I'm unsure how to write the sentence "That (near you) is a pencil." in Japanese. Is it "Sono pen wa desu." or "Sore wa pen desu." ? Or are both of them right/wrong? I'm a beginner so I can only read and write in hiragana at the moment (haven't started with kanji and katakana yet).

Apreciate your help!

Improve this question
1
  • 3
    Well, ペン (pen) doesn't mean pencil, firstly... – Leebo Feb 8 '19 at 23:37
1

"Sono pen wa desu" breaks down for 2 reasons, one grammatical, one logical:

  • 'desu' needs a predicate (see mamster's example): for mere existence you need 'arimasu'.
  • As soon as you write "sono pen" you take it for granted that it's a pen, just as in English you cannot start a question with 'this pen' to ask whether it's a pen.
Improve this answer
0

それはえんぴつです。

Means "That is a pencil." The other sentence is ungrammatical, but you could make it grammatical by adding a word, such as:

その[ペン]{ぺん}はあかいです。

"That pen is red."

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    英語の "That pen is red." って、「そのペンは赤です・それは赤ペンです」って意味？ それとも「そのペンは赤いです。」(←見た目が赤い)って意味？それとも両方アリ？ – Chocolate♦ Feb 9 '19 at 2:49
  • 1
    @Chocolate Just saying 'the pen is red' in English is ambiguous. The meaning would come from context, but I think most of the time it would refer to the ink colour. – user3856370 Feb 9 '19 at 8:38
  • おお～ ありがとうございます ＾＾ @user3856370 – Chocolate♦ Feb 9 '19 at 8:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.