simple words

Please translate in Japanese (romaji & kanji) - "Please use simple words and talk a little slower." Thanks

yasashii tango wo tsukatte, sukoshi yukkurimeni hanashite kudasai.
易しい単語を使って、少しゆっくりめに話して下さい。

AK,

Is there another word in Japanese that means "word"? You used Tango for word. Also, is there another word for slowly, other than what you mentioned?
As for other questions, here goes:
To express 2 simultaneous actions, one would use, Verb + Nagara. What form of the verb do I use? Do I just use the root form of the verb?
Also, with the sentence, Tegami o kaitari, what verb tense is this? What is the construction? Is it the plain past form of a verb? And more importantly, what exactly am I saying here? (I lost my notes on this one)
Thanks.

Sumimasen + Yukkuri / Yasashiku / Mo Ichido

Slowly / Simple words / Once again, please.

- Another word you can use for "word" is "kotoba."
- I used "sukoshi yukkurime" meaning "somewhat slowly." You can use words like "yukkuri" = slowly, "motto yukkuri" = more slowly, etc. Is there any word you had in mind other than those?

On "...nagara":

- Terebi wo minagara yuugohan wo tabemasu. (I eat dinner while watching television.)
- Ongaku wo kikinagara jogingu wo shimasu. (I jog while listening to music.)

Remove "masu" from the "...masu" form to arrive at the form that connects to "nagara." e.g., kikinagara, minagara, tabenagara, yominagara

On "....tari":

- Yasumi no hi wa, hon wo yondari, eiga wo mitari shimasu. (On my days off, I do things like reading books and watching movies(, maybe among other things).)
- Repooto wo kaku no ni, toshokan de hon wo shirabetari, sensei ni hanashi wo kiitari shimashita. (To write my report, I did things like looking into books at the library and listening to my teacher, etc.)
This is used to describe a range of things you do/did, just an indefinite number of actions or events, as shown in the example above. (This one does not have any meaning like "One after another" or "while doing..." at all.)

The form is "...tari," and it is "ta form" + ri.
Yomimasu - yondari, kakimasu - kaitari, etc.

Thanks for the explanations on ...tari and ...nagara.
I have another question.
I would like to use the, "When/If/In Case I want to do something" sentence pattern, which I believe is,
...ta form of a verb + kereba.
Would you kindly provide a couple of example sentences? I'd be very greatful.
Thanks a bunch.

Can anyone help me out with my post of Feb 3rd?
Thanks

- Sono furui eiga wo mitakereba, bideo-ya wo sagasanaito ikemasen. (If you
want to watch that old movie, you'd have to search video shops.)
- Tsukiji ichiba wo mitakereba, asa hayaku okinaito ikemasen. (If you want
to see the Tsukiji market, you have to get up early in the morning.)

I was going to write out more sentences last week, then came down with the flu... :( But anyway just two sentences for you to look at.

For the form, take the "....tai" (want to) form, drop the "i," then add "kereba."
It's not exactly that it is the +ta form + kereba, but it is the root of the "....tai" form connected to +kereba. THat's why it may look like it is the "ta form," but if you think about it is not...
.
tabetakereba (if you want to eat), ikitakereba (if you want to go), mitakereba (if you want to see/watch), yomitakereba (if you want to read), nomitakereba (if you want to drink)

Thanks for your reply, AK. I'm sorry to hear that you have the flu. I hope you're feeling a little better by now.
I have another question. I believe it has to do with my understanding of "having to do something."
You wrote the sentence, "Tsukiji ichiba wo mitakereba, asa hayaku okinaito ikemasen."
I thought that "having to do something" was similiar to this:
tabenakereba narimasen
(have to eat)
yominakereba narimasen
(have to read)
Can you clarify the difference between the two?
Forever grateful,
Lil

For "have to do something....," you can use either construction:
(a) nai form + to narimasen/ikemasen
or
(b) (drop the last "i" from nai form) + kereba + narimasen/ikemasen.

So for "taberu/tabemasu" and "yomu/yomimasu,"

"(you) have to eat":
- tabenaito narimasen
- tabenaito ikemasen
- tabenakereba narimasen
- tabenakereba ikemasen

"(you) have to read":
- yomanaito narimasen
- yomanaito ikemasen
- yomanakereba narimasen
- yomanakereba ikemasen

For "okiru/okimasu" (to get up),
- okinaito narimasen
- okinaito ikemasen
- okinakereba narimasen
- okinakereba ikemasen

AK,
Thanks for the answer. I didn't know you could use narimasen or ikemasen interchangbly for "having to do something."
Let me ask you this. In your opinion, which is more popular in daily use?

tabetaito narimasen
tabetaito ikemasem
tabetakereba narimasem
tabetakereba ikimasen

Is it the "tai" form plus
"ikemasen" or "narimasen"
or
the "ta" form (without the "i")plus "ikemasen" or "narimasen."
Thanks

Please be careful with the form!!!! Look at the spelliing and the forms EXTREMELY carefully:


To say "you have to eat," you say:
- tabenaito narimasen/ikemasen (a) "nai" = negative form + to narimasen/ikemasen
- tabenakereba ikemasen/narimasen (b) (drop the last "i" from the "nai" = negative form) + narimasen/ikemasen

"NAI" negative form is used here. The reason why "nai" = negative form is used is because the sentence is literally saying "it doesn't go/work if you don't eat," or "it's no good if you don't eat" (= "You have to/must eat.") That's why the "nai" negative form, or a part of it, is used in this "you have to..." structure.


COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the above,


To say "if/when you want to eat" (from your earlier question on Feb. 3) you say:
- tabetakereba...

In this case, the form is: from "tabemasu/taberu" you take the "tai" = want to form, drop the last "i", and add kereba.

but I must have been really tired last night when I asked you that question about "having to do something".
The question I should've asked is, from these two ways to say the same thing,

(a) Tabenakereba narimasen
(b) Tabenaito narimasen

Which form is more widely in use?

Also, this might be a stupid question, but I have to ask.

Tabenaito narimasen/ikemasen

I am assuming that narimasen and ikemasen are used interchangable. Is my assumption correct?

Thanks, again.

Well I realized later that there was a striking similarity among some of the expressions .... :)

Back to your questions:

(1) Between those two forms.... I'd say both are used quite equally commonly.

But I might add that possibly (a) sounds a bit more "official," in a way, that when speaking in "familiar" speech (with friends and buddies), then a variant of (b) might be used a bit more. For example, "Yasai wo tabenai to dame dayo" ("You have to eat vegetables, OK?"), replacing the last "...to narimasen" part with "...to dame da (It's not good if...)." But it is yet true that (a) can be changed its form slightly and used in familiar speech just as well.

(2) Yes, when I wrote
"Tabenaito narimasen/ikemasen,"
I meant that you can EITHER say "Tabenaito narimasen" or "Tabenaito ikemasen."

Thanks for the clarification on the "having to do something" type sentences.
I have one more question (for now)
I understand the "wanting to do something" sentence structure.
Mizu o nomitai des

However, how would I say that someone else wants something?

He would like to drink water.

She would like to see the menu.

I await your reply. Thanks.

For "someone else wants to do something," you'll have use:
- ... tagatte imasu = "(someone else) is acting like he want to do ... = "he is showing that he wants to do..."
It comes from "... tagaru" = acts like (he/she) wants to do...," and its te + imasu form is used to convey this meaning.

For example,
He would like to drink water.
- Kare wa mizu wo nomitagatte imasu.

She would like to see the menu.
- Kanojo wa menyuu wo mitagatte imasu.

Or, as completely different alternative expressions, depending on the situation, the following might be more suitable.

If you are conveying someone else's wish on his/her behalf (you heard that someone wants to do something), you might say:
- ...tai sou desu = "he says he wants to..." "I hear he wants to..."

- Kare wa mizu wo nomitai sou desu. (He says he wants to drink water.)
- Kanojo wa menyuu wo mitai sou desu. (she says she wants to drink water.)

Or, if you are observing that he/she wants to do something, and you are guessing his/her wish, then you might say
- .. tai you desu" = he seems to want to..."

- Kare wa mizo nomitai you desu. (He seems to want to drink water.)
- Kanojo wa menyuu wo mitai you desu. (She seems to want to see the menu.)

Sorry, in my earlier post, the sentence:

- Kanojo wa menyuu wo mitai sou desu. (she says she wants to drink water.)

...should have been:
- Kanojo wa menyuu wo mitai soudesu. (She says she wants to see the menu.)

AK,

If I was in a restaurant, and I wanted to say, "My husband wants/would like some water"
Would I say,

Watashino shujin wa mizu wo nomitai sou desu?

...tagatte imas

Is this pattern used mainly to talk about other people?

Ie: I'm with a friend and observe a group of people looking at the movie section in the paper. Would I use this form to say,

Karera wa eiga o mitagatte imas

I'm a bit confused because I heard someone use the ...tagatte imas form to tell someone that their wife wanted something.

I appreciate the futher clarification.
Thanks