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Kai
Giving unique directions in Japanese.
Hello everyone,
I'm trying to refine my ability to give directions in Japanese and came to a roadblock when trying to express unique directions other than the normal ones given in the textbook. I tried to say,
"Keep going straight for about three minutes." and came up with
約3分間にまっすぐ行き続けてください。
I'm not sure if this is grammatically correct or if it is understandable to a native-Japanese sense.
I also tried to express,
"Keep going straight until you see the library."
"図書館を見るまで、まっすぐ行き続けてください。"
Again, not sure if this is correct or not. Any help would be appreciated! :D
Thank you,
Kai
Jun 11, 2014 4:27 AM
Answers · 2
2
The two sentences you said are grammatically correct.
However, I would say as follows as natural expressions in Japanese people.
>"Keep going straight for about three minutes."
>約3分間にまっすぐ行き続けてください。
3分くらいまっすぐ行ってください。
3分くらいこのまま歩いていってください。
3分ほど~
We Japanese people have learned keep ~ing=~続ける as its direct translation.
I guess however, its nuance in Japanese conversation is like the above.
"for about xxx minutes=約3分間" Yes, I think this is also grammatically correct
but to me, 約3分間 in conversation is kinda businesslike.
(It's like instructions of manuals or something)
>"Keep going straight until you see the library."
>"図書館を見るまで、まっすぐ行き続けてください。"
図書館が見えるまで、the same as the above after that.
Hope it helps.
June 11, 2014
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Kai
Language Skills
Chinese (Other), English, Japanese, Other
Learning Language
Japanese
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