Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I know this is dangerously close to a translation question, but bare with me.
Today I found out a co-worker of mine is studying Japanese as well. And at the end of the conversation I wrote: Jikan wa deru koto desu. Which, as far as I know, means: It's time to leave. One, is this correct? Two, when translating infinitives from English to Japanese is the proper conversion: to [verb] -> [verb] koto?
Jikan wa deru koto desu
If it is written in Japanese, 「時間は出る事です」. We don't say it.
One, is this correct?
No. If you mean It's time to leave, 「もう出る時間です」 should be fine.
Two, when translating infinitives from English to Japanese is the proper conversion: to [verb] -> [verb] koto?
Not always. In addition to 名詞的用法, there are 形容詞的用法 and 副詞的用法. For more information: http://www.geocities.jp/gyouseikowa/eigo/futeisi.html
From the source (ヘッチャラ英語学習 http://www.geocities.jp/gyouseikowa/eigo/futeisi.html):
私は音楽をきくことが好きです。 I like to listen to music.
Here koto is used as 名詞的用法.
私は彼女に会えてうれしいです。 I am glad to see her.
Here it is used as 副詞的用法 and translated to て.
彼にはやるべき仕事がたくさんある。 He has a lot of work to do.
Here it is used as 形容詞的用法 and translated to べき.
could one leave out the やるべき and get a similar sentence in meaning? -- Yes, I think so. 「彼には仕事が沢山ある」 is almost the same meaning as 「彼にはやるべき仕事が沢山ある」. But 「やるべき仕事」 is clearer since 「仕事」 has several meanings including an occupation. With 形容詞的用法, in most cases, 「～するため」 is considered its meaning and 「～するべき」 is used as a kind of a free translation(意訳). I'm curious as to "He has a lot of work he should do" having a similar meaning to "He has a lot of work to do." in English since most Japanese would translate them to the same meaning. But it's gonna be an English question.
should also has a meaning of obligation (duty). Anyway it seems they both have a similar meaning in English also.
1) Jikan wa deru koto desu means "Time is leaving". If you want to say "It's time to leave", just say 時間です. The "to leave" is kind of implied depending on your situation. But if you want to explicitly add it in, you can say
（もう）出る／出かける／帰る 時間 です／になった。 → (It's already (become)) time to leave/go/go out.
2) To translate infinitives, just use the dictionary form of the verb (辞書形)
- 行く → To go
- 見る → To look/watch
- 遊ぶ → To play
Adding 〜こと after it nominalizes the verb, i.e., turns it into a noun. 出ること means "(the act of) leaving". For more info on this, see What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?
You are not mixing up こと with ころ as in:
いま、帰るころ(です)｜It is (now) time to go home
?
