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Kylecito
answering the 'dou iu imi desu ka' question... DOU or TO?
In this audio lessons i have, they say 'what does that mean?' is said:
'sore wa dou iu imi desu ka'
i can understand that well... but then the answer is like:
'FOUR DAYS to iu imi desu'
using 'to iu' instead of 'dou iu'.
I'm kinda confused... is it 'TO' or 'DOU?'
Thanks in advance!
2008년 7월 20일 오전 3:51
답변 · 1
5
Hi.
DOU literally means "how", (or in your context, "what" as in "what does it mean"). But as in English, in Japanese we don't normally say "that's what it means" but rather, "it means". So it is not necessary to say DOU. So TO is used instead of DOU. Ok, technically, English, one can say "FOUR DAYS is what it means" but in Japanese, we never say something similar like FOUR DAYS DOU IU IMI DESU. In other words, DOU is used only in questions, not in answers or statements.
Cheers,
- Yan
2008년 7월 20일
아직도 답을 찾지 못하셨나요?
질문을 남겨보세요. 원어민이 도움을 줄 수 있을 거예요!
Kylecito
언어 구사 능력
영어, 일본어, 스페인어
학습 언어
일본어
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