|
How Do Questions Work in Japanese
Now suppose two Japanese, Mrs. Watanabe and Mr. Tanaka, are having the same conversation.
| Keiko: |
Tanaka-san, keiko desu. kondo no Nichiyoubi wa jikan ga arimasu ka ?
(You have time this Sunday, am I right ?) |
To answer in the affirmative, a Japanese might say: |
| Tanaka: |
Hai, arimasu.
| (you're right, have) |
Hai.
| (you're right) |
| Ee. | (you're right) |
or many other expressions. These three we just mentioned are all polite. There are, of course, many less polite ways of speaking. As you're a gaijinn, you don't really want to know them, but we'll mention that some Japanese might answer the same question with arimasu or aru (which mean "there is (time)") or unn (which means "you're right, that's so"). Our Mr. Tanaka won't say aru or unn to Mrs. Watanabe, because these would sound too rude to her (you shouldn't say these words to any Japanese, just in case).
If Mr. Tanaka hasn't any free time this Sunday, he might answer
| Tanaka: |
Zannendesuga arimasen.
| (literally: "though it's a pity, there isn't"), |
Hokano yoteiga arimasu.
| ("have other plans, sorry"), |
| Iie. | ("that's not so"). |
Not all of these answers are equally polite. Our Mr. Tanaka would be rather unlikely to answer Mrs. Watanabe's question with Iie. This would sound RATHER rude, unless Mrs. Watanabe was a very close friend. Note that Mrs. Watanabe here is using the magic words "masu" and "desu" all the time. This means that she wants to be nice to Mr. Tanaka, and maybe she wants to become a friend of him eventually, but at the same time it means they are not very close friends, at least not yet.
Exactly the same thing happens in English. Two young men won't talk very politely; if one told the other something like "I'm sorry, but I already have other plans", you'd think that they are not close friends (or that something funny is going on). For two fifty-year-old ladies, however, saying "I'm sorry, but I already have other plans" is just plain language.
| Keiko: |
Ohanami jouhou dewa watashitati no chikaku wa kondono nichiyoubi ni mankai ni naru mitai desu.
(According to the blooming forecast, this Sunday the sakura is likely to be in full bloom.)
Taroo to watashi to tomodati de iku tsumori desu.
(Taroo and I and some friends are going to see it.)
Issho ni ikimasen ka ?
(Won't you come with us ?) |
A Japanese might answer such a question like this, if he wants to go: |
| Tanaka: |
Iidesune.
| (OK) |
|
Ikimasu.
| (I'll go) |
| Hai. | (Yes) |
If he didn't want to go, he would say instead: |
| Tanaka: |
Zannendesu ga, ...
| (It's a pity, I'm really really sorry, but...) |
|
Goshinsetu ni arigatou, demo...
| (Thanks for your kindness, but...) |
|
Sekkaku desu ga ikemasen...
| (I'm sorry you've taken such a trouble to invite me, but I can't go) |
| Mousiwake arimasen, demo... | (I have no excuse, but...) |
All Japanese are VERY unlikely to refuse an invitation from anybody with a short answer (like, say, Iie). Doing so would clearly show contempt.
Note that few Japanese would answer to this particular question with Ikimasen, which means literally "I'm not going, sorry", but implies "because I don't want to go". The expresion Ikemasen ("I can't go, sorry") is much more polite.
| Keiko: |
Kuruma ga arimasen ka ?
| (You don't have a car, true?) |
| Tanaka: |
Hai.
| (You're right, I don't) |
| Keiko: | Wakari masita. Dewa, sokoni densya de ikutame no chizu wo fax shimasu. | (OK. I'm faxing you a train map.) |
In this case, Mrs. Watanabe believes that Mr. Tanaka doesn't have a car and is asking just to make sure. That's why she has already drawn a train map.
If Mr. Tanaka doesn't have a car, no problem. An answer of Hai means "you guessed right", namely "you're right, I have no car".
On the other hand, if Mr. Tanaka does have a car, we have a situation. Mrs. Watanabe believed that Mr. Tanaka had a car, but he actually doesn't, so she guessed wrong or is misinformed. Now Tanaka has to let her know that she guessed wrong. And he wants to do it without sounding angry.
To do that, he would answer the question Kuruma ga arimasen ka ? with something like Gomen, itte inakatta (Sorry. I didn't tell you.). He'd say he's "sorry" because he gave her the wrong impression that he didn't have a car when, in fact, he did have one (he won't really feel sorry, though; after all, he's just told her that he's better off than she was thinking).
Note that the word Gomen means basically "sorry, but..." and implies here "things are not as you say". With only the Gomen, any Japanese will understand that you do in fact have a car but you're too polite to say explicitly that you do.
Technically, an answer of Iie is supposed to mean "that's not so, I do have a car". But our Mr. Tanaka won't say Iie because that would give the impression that he's angry.
What if Mrs. Watanabe can't guess
whether Mr. Tanaka has a car or not?
She'll ask Kuruma ga arimasen ka, just in case she might causie Mr. Tanaka to "lose face".
"Losing face" is a very important concept in Japanese culture.
To summarize
The two questions Ikimasen ka ? and Ikimasu ka ? have exactly the same meaning as English "won't you come?" and "will you come?", and they're not properly speaking questions, but invitations.
Both may be answered the same way. To accept the invitation, the Japanese say Iidesune, or Ikimasu, or even Hai. To politely refuse, they use some excuse such as Zannendesu ga ..., Arigatou, demo..., Sekkaku desu ga... They never refuse an invitation with a short answer (unless they are very, very angry).
Questions which are not invitations do not work the same way.
The guess Kuruma ga arimasu ka means "I think I remember you have a car, am I right?". But the guess Kuruma ga arimasu ka has the opposite meaning, namely "I think I remember you have no car, am I right?".
The japanese answer right guesses by saying Hai or by repeating the verb. Wrong guesses are always answered by giving some excuses.
The basic idea here is that telling certain people that they've guessed wrong is not proper. Suppose that a guess has missed: Mrs. Watanabe guesses that Mr Tanaka is 43 years old, but Mr. Tanaka is in fact 42 years old. It is clear here that at least one of the two has done something wrong. If Mr. Tanaka has a minimum of politeness he'll blame himself for having led her to think he's 43 years old. A failure to do so would be rather rude, because that's like telling her directly that she's wrong. That's why some word such as Gomen should be used.
What happens when you tell a Japanese that
he's wrong without adding some excuses
If you do that (in any language) to a Japanese, he'll think you're angry. That's why they always add excuses when the guess was wrong. Many of them will do the same when they speak English.
(Learning a foreign language is hard, but getting used to another culture is far, far harder.)
Close friends
What we said above does not apply at all when the speakers are very close friends, and in some other situations. When two Japanese become familiar with each other, they begin to drop the excuses, the Gomen, the desu and the masu, and they eventually use words like Chigau or Iie as freely as they use Hai, and as freely as a native English speaker uses the word "no". Some people call this way of speaking "informal Japanese".
A Japanese will speak informally to a Japanese who is not a close friend only when he's really really angry. In American culture, informal language is often used to people you barely know to show you're friendly and in a good mood. The Japanese do exactly the opposite thing.
That's why you should never be afraid of sounding "too formal" when trying to speak Japanese. In Japan, when you speak with people you don't know much, sounding too formal is never dangerous. But sounding too informal might get you into real trouble. Please be warned.
|
