Japanese

ongaku

fmp0011 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:24:00 -0400

Just curious as to what, if any, Japanese music anyone is listening to. I'm currently listening to Asian Kung-fu Generation. These guys rock. I've got most of their albums and so far there isn't a bad one. I also like The Pillows, Scandal, and Stereopony just to name a couple more. You can check out most of this stuff on youtube.

Transitive & Intransitive Verb Pairs

Sakura — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 14:37:43 -0400

In the last post, I talked about how to use the particle "o". To recap, we use the particle "o" to mark the direct object.

I further talked about transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. Transitive verbs take direct objects, while intransitive verbs don't.

Here's a link to the post if you haven't checked it out yet!
Direct Objects and the particle 'o'

Today, as promised, I will talk about those English verbs which have both transitive and intransitive versions, and how they translate into Japanese. Can you come up with some examples?

Here are some common English verbs with both transitive and intransitive functions:

open
close
begin
start
stop
end
break
gather
boil

What's special about these verbs? All of these verbs can be used either in the 'Subject-Verb' pattern or in the 'Subject-Verb-Object' pattern. Let's see examples:

I opened the door. ('open' used as a transitive verb)
The door opened. ('open' used as an intransitive verb)

I closed the door. ('close' used as a transitive verb)
The door closed. ('close' used as an intransitive verb)

The teacher began the lecture. ('begin' used as a transitive verb)
The lecture began. ('begin' used as an intransitive verb)

The artists started the show. ('start' used as a transitive verb)
The show started. ('start' used as an intransitive verb)

The man stopped the car. ('stop' used as a transitive verb)
The car stopped. ('stop' used as an intransitive verb)

The producer ended the show. ('end' used as a transitive verb)
The show ended. ('end' used as an intransitive verb)

I broke the vase. ('break' used as a transitive verb)
The vase broke. ('break' used as an intransitive verb)

I gathered people interested in the anime club. ('gather' used as a transitive verb)
People interested in the anime club gathered. ('gather' used as an intransitive verb)

I boiled water. ('boil' used as a transitive verb)
Water boiled. ('boil' used as an intransitive verb)

Do you see the pattern above? The two sentences in each pair are basically describing the same phenomenon but the first one indicates who caused it while the second one does not say.

In any case, so far we have learned that there are verbs in English which can be used as a transitive or intransitive like in the above examples.

Now, what about Japanese? How do these verbs translate into Japanese?

Unlike English, there is no verb in Japanese which can be used as both transitive and intransitive. In other words, every Japanese verb is either transitive or intransitive. This in turn means, there is a Japanese verb which corresponds to the transitive version of 'open'; and then we have another verb which corresponds to the intransitive version of 'open'. However, not surprisingly, transitive and intransitive versions are sort of similar to each other; i.e. they definitely sound like they have the common root.

Let's now look at the Japanese verb pairs.

あけます akemasu ('open' - transitive)
ドアをあけました。
Doa o akemashita.
'I opened the door.'

あきます akimasu ('open' - intransitive)
ドアがあきました。
Doa ga akimashita.
'The door opened.'

しめます shimemasu ('close' - transitive)
ドアをしめました。
Doa o shimemashita.
'I closed the door.'

しまります shimarimasu ('close' - intransitive)
ドアがしまりました。
Doa ga shimarimashita.
'The door closed.'

はじめます hajimemasu ('begin/start' - transitive)
せんせいがこうぎをはじめました。
Sensei ga kougi o hajimemashita.
'The teacher began the lecture.'

アーティストがショーをはじめました。
Aatisuto ga shoo o hajimemashita.
'The artists started the show.'

はじまります hajimarimasu ('begin' - intransitive)
こうぎがはじまりました。
Kougi ga hajimarimashita.
'The lecture began.'

ショーがはじまりました。
Shoo ga hajimarimashita.
'The show started.'

とめます tomemasu ('stop' - transitive)
おとこのひとがくるまをとめました。
Otoko no hito ga kuruma o tomemashita.
'The man stopped the car.'

とまります tomarimasu ('stop' - intransitive)
くるまがとまりました。
Kuruma ga tomarimashita.
'The car stopped.'

おえます oemasu ('end' - transitive)
プロデューサーがショーをおえました。
Puroduusaa ga shoo o oemashita.
'The producer ended the show.'

おわります owarimasu ('end' - intransitive)
ショーがおわりました。
Shoo ga owarimashita.
'The show ended.'

こわします kowashimasu ('break' - transitive)
かびんをこわしました。
Kabin o kowashimashita.
'I broke the vase.'

こわれます kowaremasu ('break' - intransitive)
かびんがこわれました。
Kabin ga kowaremashita.
'The vase broke.'

あつめます atsumemasu ('gather' - transitive)
アニメクラブにきょうみがあるひとをあつめました。
Anime kurabu ni kyoumi ga aru hito o atsumemashita.
'I gathered people interested in the anime club.'

あつまります atsumarimasu ('gather' - intransitive')
アニメクラブにきょうみがあるひとがあつまりました。
Anime kurabu ni kyoumi ga aru hito ga atsumarimashita.
'People interested in the anime club gathered.'

わかします wakashimasu ('boil' - transitive)
おゆをわかしました。
Oyu o wakashimashita.
'I boiled water.' (lit. I boiled hot water.)

わきます wakimasu ('boil' - intransitive)
おゆがわきました。
Oyu ga wakimashita.
'Water boiled.' (lit. Hot water boiled.)

Do you see how each of the above pairs share the same beginning? This tells you that they are semantically related. The endings differ, but you can tell that '-emasu' ending is common for transitive verbs and '-arimasu' is a common ending for intransitive verbs, although there are some exceptions.

You don't have to memorize all these verbs yet, but if you can at least remember the following two points, that's golden!

1. Every Japanese verb is either transitive or intransitive; i.e. no verb can be used both ways.
2. There are transitive & intransitive verb pairs in Japanese which correspond to the English 'open', 'close', 'begin', 'break', etc, and each pair shares the same root with different endings.

I also hope that transitive/intransitive distinction is clear by now. When you learn a new verb, just pause for a second and ask yourself if you can tell the verb is transitive or intransitive. If you are not sure, feel free to post your question here!

Direct Objects and the particle 'o'

Sakura — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 12:26:05 -0400

Question: When do you use the particle 'o'?
Answer: We use the particle 'o' to mark a direct object.

Were you able to answer the question? Do you know what a direct object is? In English, a direct object is a noun (noun phrase to be exact) which usually comes right after a verb (transitive verb to be exact).

For example, 'sushi' in 'eat sushi' is a direct object; 'tea' in 'drink tea' is a direct object; 'a computer' in 'buy a computer' is a direct object.

On the other hand, when you see nouns following prepositions such as 'to', 'from', 'into', etc, those nouns are NOT direct objects.

For example, 'the park' in 'go to the park', 'music' in 'listen to music', 'college' in 'graduate from college' are not direct objects.

Now, let's go back to Japanese now. In Japanese, we use -o to mark a direct object.

sushi-o tabemasu
'eat sushi'

ocha-o nomimasu.
'drink tea'

konpyuutaa-o kaimasu.
'buy a computer'

This isn't so bad right? In English, 'sushi' in 'eat sushi', 'tea' in 'drink tea', 'a computer' in 'buy a computer' are all direct objects. So in Japanese too, they are direct objects and they should be marked by the particle -o.

Those verbs which take direct objects are called 'transitive verbs'. So 'eat', 'drink', 'buy' are all transitive verbs. On the other hand, those verbs which do not take direct objects are called 'intransitive verbs'. So 'go', 'come', 'listen', 'graduate' are all intransitive verbs, at least in English.

I said, 'at least in English', because some intransitive verbs in English are transitive verbs in Japanese. This does not happen often, and you can normally just use your English knowledge to decide whether or not to use the particle -o to mark a noun. However, it is very useful to know the few exceptions.

The following phrases are the most common examples where the verb is intransitive in English but transitive in Japanese.

basu-o machimasu
'wait for a bus'

ongaku-o kikimasu
'listen to music'

daigaku-o sotsugyoushimasu
'graduate from college'

Do you see that the nouns are marked with the particle -o in Japanese (showing that they are direct objects), but the same nouns follow prepositions in English (showing that they are not direct objects). So, while 'machimasu', 'kikimasu', and 'sotsugyoushimasu' are transitive verbs in Japanese, 'wait', 'listen', and 'graduate' are intransitive verbs in English.

It's very useful to remember the above three phrases as exceptions. Otherwise, you are mostly safe assuming that your English knowledge about what is transitive and what is not works!

Next time, I will talk about those verbs in English which can be both transitive and intransitive; and how those verbs translate in Japanese. Stay tuned!

Where to find accurate audio translation

Kinh — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 03:00:53 -0400

I want to expand my vocab using the words in the glossary.
What's the most accurate eng to jap translator. I notice some of them like google pronounce the words differently to each other or add an extra syllable or something.
Just paranoid about learning a whole bunch of new words incorrectly.

The romaji pronunciations in the book either dont match up correctly or dont express the sound of the vowels, for example short o vs long. Be good if they had the accent symbols above the letters.

Measure words

Kinh — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 22:48:42 -0400

There are different measure particles for books and cars/machines. There's also native Japanese measure words for general objects (yet they only go up to 10).

I was wondering what is the most commonly used practice for measuring an object given that most objects you'll associate a number to wont be cars or books. In other words, is it acceptable to just use the hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu, etc... to describe all quantities of object?

If yes, then what happens when you want a quantity above 10?

Also, are these general object words only associated with small, round things, furniture and rooms? What about big, sharp things and trees and flowers and birds, etc?

Thanks

Do male and female pronunciations differ?

Kinh — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 22:35:12 -0400

I notice on the CDs the pronunciation is a little different for the "to have" particle. (Lesson 3G).
"There are five teachers": On the recording she doesn't pronounce the G in ga to say "sensee ga". (Sensee ga gonin imasu). She actually says "sensee a". In fact none of the phrases she says G on the 'to have' particle. Yet the male recording does pronounce the G quite clearly.

Questions and intonation

Kinh — Sun, 29 May 2016 21:29:38 -0400

In lesson 2F some of the spoken questions dont have ka on the end, just a question mark. The audio is the same.
Was wondering with certain questions such as these is it normal for there just to be a slight pitch rise to indicate a question like English instead of using ka or are these examples the way they are because it's a written exercise. So what I'm asking is can you speak that way too?

Wa and Ga....when to use?

JenniferB — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 15:48:32 -0500

I am having difficulty figuring out when I am supposed to use ga and when I am supposed to use wa. Just when I think I have it figured out I enter it in and get it wrong :( any help would be appreciated.

Desu

Quickspare — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 22:31:02 -0400

What exactly is desu for? Why is it in a sentence like onamae wa nan desu ka.

eTutoring tips

Sakura — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:37:44 -0400

In case you missed it, we have a forum titled eTutoring. You’ll find some good tips in there, so please check it out!

Meanwhile, there are several things that I particularly want to ask all my lovely Japanese students. It would be great if you can take your time to read through the following!

Please use a headset.

Here are what happens if you use the built-in speakers and microphone on your computer: it catches a lot of background noise which may disturb other participants; your voice may not be heard clearly; other participants’ voices can echo back to themselves. In order to create an optimum learning environment, I’d appreciate if everyone could use a headset. Even a cheap one will do!

Please don’t use your video.

I’m NOT saying that I don’t want to see you! This is rather because there were more than a few occasions where we experienced a connection slow-down due to students’ turning on their videos. It doesn’t happen all the time, but there’s a good chance that it does. Living Language never asks students to turn on their videos during an e-Tutoring session anyway, so I think it’s simple and easy if we just say, “No students turn on their videos”.

Please have your last name show up on the attendee list.

Since we use our last names to call each other, it really helps me if I see students’ last names on the GTM panel. So far I’ve been pretty successful at recalling everyone’s last name even when I only see the first name. But as more students start to enroll, it might get harder for me to keep track of everyone’s last name, especially when there are multiple people named “John”, for example. You can have either just your last name, or full name show up on the attendee list. Thanks for your help!.

Please study the lessons thoroughly beforehand.

There are a few notes regarding this topic on the main eTutoring forum. So please take a look when you have a moment. But here are the main points:
- eTutoring sessions are there for you to review the lessons you’ve studied;
- If you take a session which you’re not ready for, it will be frustrating and unfair for other participants who are fully prepared;
- It is fine if you forget a few words or make a few mistakes. Nobody is perfect! But you should at least be very familiar with all the grammar points, and should have memorized most of the vocabulary in the lesson(s).

If you have any questions regarding the above, or anything else about eTutoring, feel free to post your comments below!

Thanks everyone, and I’m looking forward to talking to you at your next eTutoring session!

Japanese iOS APP

Lotharen — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 09:58:25 -0400

First off, I am really loving the Japanese course. I purchased the Platinum Edition and so far I'm really happy with it. I've been studying for about a week now (Have attempted learning Japanese over the last few years) and think I have learned more with this course than any others combined.

The App is a great addition. However, I think it could be so much MORE. I have a few suggestions and I hope you might considering implementing these idea's.

1. The ability to Randomize the flash cards in a lesson. Keeping them in the same order has helped me learn the material but now that I'm getting good scores I would like to randomize them to really test what I've retained and not just memorizing what comes next in a fixed stack.

2. Add a Hiragana/Katakana flash cards. Allow the user to select which hiragana/katakana they wish to study either by user grouping, syllable group or entire set. Also have the ability to type the answer with romaji or select the answer in a timed fashion from multiple choice.

Those are a few of my suggestions that would add value to the app and the course itself. The randomization of flash cards would be the easiest to implement while the Hiragana/Katakana section would require more to get into the app.

Also, and this is not related to the app. Consider making the forums open to anyone who has purchased the program. Forums are a great way to help and you could have advanced students assisting other and would increase your traffic flow. Its disheartening to pay for a program to find the forums as dead as these when they could be so much more active. Just my opinion.

Thanks for a great program and I look forward to reaching the end of the course.

What book do I start with?

Tekura — Wed, 27 May 2015 18:04:45 -0400

Okay... Sorry to be that guy, but I have no clue what book to start with "Reading & Writing" or "Essential"...

I just started with Living Language but I am already confused.

thepianist — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 16:48:56 -0400

I have finished half of the textbook Genki I, then I got bored and decided to try Living Language.

I have 2 questions:

In the second lesson it says that the own mother in Japanese is haha, while somebody else's mother is okaasan.

But I had a manager in Japan and her daughters would call her "okaasan", not "haha".

Is there any explanation?

Then, there are phrases like gaksei dewa arimasen. The Genki textbook says that this is very formal and actually written style. According to the book, and to what I heard also in Japan, one would say "gaksei jiya nai desu".

This is really confusing... Can anyone give me an explanation for these two issues?

Progress

seabreeze — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 10:09:22 -0400

How do I see what lessons I have completed. Main scree shows that I am 45% complete with estentials. But none of the stars on the screen that shows the 10 lessons are colored in. Also how do i know what badges represent. I see several colored in and several that are not. When i click on one that is not colored in it says card shark dont forget to complete this one but does not tell me where to go. I am frustrated. I think I have completed the first four lessons but cannot tell where I stopped when I log in.

Random Sentences

ShineeSujuExo — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:34:35 -0500

Konnichi wa

I've been reading Japanese using TV guides and song lyrics, using that as a Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji study martial. in addiction with Japanese words of the day, I'm trying to create sentences using the words I've learn. I've compiled these sentences and would like to know if they are grammatically correct and if there is any formal/informal way to say them.

I want to ask: 'what does that/this message say?' nan ga messeeji desu ka?

is this formal or informal: What's going on!

なんだよ 
should there also be 'ka?' or would this be based on the 
conversation 

I don't know if this is written because of the way the computer 
wrote this or if this is something special(found in a manga)
あっ 'Hey!' 'a' then a lower case 'tsu' how does that work without 
the double letter after the 'tsu'  

thank you for any help

Expansion

fmp0011 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:02:16 -0500

I was wondering if there were any plans to expand this course at a later date. Maybe some more games, which for me, is one of the most helpful tools, or more vocabulary. Just curious.

A couple of questions about the Romanization

Visioneer — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 19:42:40 -0500

I just purchased the Platinum Edition of Living Language Japanese, and as I kicked off the lessons, I noticed a few things that popped out at me immediately.

1.) No clearly visible documentation of a 1 year limit of lesson accessibility: This bothers me MOSTLY because I spent about 30 minutes looking for documentation relating to access periods or time limits. This also bothers me a bit, simply because I am nostalgic for the days of buying a software, or language course, and having access to it as long as you could run the software. Don't get me wrong, in today's subscription based online climate, I understand why it is done, I'd just like to see it specified a little clearer.

2.) The romanization of the Japanese kana are off a bit. I believe it is for the sound, but I can't be sure. An example is "Arigatou" ありがとう which is romanized through the lessons as "arigatoo," which if not read with phonetic context, could be interpreted as being pronounced "ah-ri-gah-too" (as in, the sound shared by to, and two) versus the more accurate "ah-ri-gah-toh." Additionally, doesn't doing something like this do a disservice to those that use this program to study basic Japanese, that are also learning to read and write kana?

I just think it would be helpful to introduce the "students" to the phonetic sound ladder exercise to be able to get a handle on pronunciation and identifying Hiragana and Katakana. (The exercise of "ah ii u eh oh" and so forth) with the true romanization of the characters, rather than the voiced ones.
Example:
hiragana: あ　い　う　え　お
roman: a i u e o
sound: ah ee oo eh oh

3.) I'm really not wanting to sound like I'm complaining, I'm really enjoying the courses so far, I am just a bit curious why some of the choices were made to favor that direction. I hope all you LL folks keep doing a great job.

JLPT - Advanced lessons

JesuYui — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 18:22:03 -0500

Hello. I was just wondering what JLPT level would I be able to pass after finishing the advanced lessons?

English speakers in Japan?

Hydric — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:42:24 -0400

Is it true that most Japanese citizens know English? I heard that English is learned through school and that the majority of Japanese citizens know English fluently. Is this true?

Names in Japanese?

Hydric — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:23:04 -0400

I have a few questions to ask.

-How come names are said differently in Japanese?

-How exactly do you translate the name to be said in Japanese?

For example, Smith is pronounced Sumisu in Japanese. How is that translated into Japanese and why?

Expressing your feelings

Zach0215 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 17:09:57 -0400

I was wondering how might you say that you like or love someone in Japanese? I do understand that there are many different ways and the tone in some is lighter/heavier in meaning so I would like both sides of it. I want to know both ways with "I like you." or "I love you." Also if there was a name in the text where might it go? I can guess where it goes, but I want to make sure. Any answers/support would be nice.

ありがとうございます！

JLPT

Frankie3 — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 16:07:54 -0400

After completing the advanced course would it prepare me for the JPLT Level 5 test? If not what is a a good recommendation for after completion?

Quiz: How do you say "Goodbye! / See you!" in Japanese?

Sakura — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:02:35 -0400

Show off your knowledge here! Which Japanese expressions correspond to "Goodbye!", "See you!", or even "Later!"? There are many!!

Just a few questions I had... [Any/all explanations appreciated!]

AriTheOtaku — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 17:35:16 -0400

It's hard to put my current thought pattern into words, so I'm just going to skip the formalities and get down to brass tacks:

First, why are there two forms of basic Japanese? [i.e. What was/is the purpose of Katakana?]
Second, why does the Japanese language not use [or "lack"] the "space" between "words" like in Roman-based languages? [like English, German, etcetera]
Third, why is there only one character whose sound does not end in a vowel?
Fourth, what is a really good way to help associate the kana with their respective pronunciations?
Fifth, what are the appropriate usages of "- kun", "- chan" and "- senpai"?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated! I hope I haven't asked any obvious/ridiculous questions! Thanks in advance!

Questions about わ & は and reading Japanese.

Frankie3 — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 23:02:43 -0400

I just completed the Essential Japanese course. I had a few questions.

First, when reading Japanese is there any clear way to tell if the はis pronounced Ha or Wa? Right now I just sound out the word and that leads me to the correct sound.

The second question is when reading Japanese, what are some tips? Since there are no spaces, it is hard for me to read it right away, with out going slow and sounding everything out.

Thanks for any help!

Language Keyboard

Zach0215 — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:38:06 -0400

I was wondering, how you can change the settings on the computer to have the keyboard to type in Japanese?

Keyboard

Zach0215 — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 19:47:03 -0400

I was wondering if I was to purchase a keyboard for Japanese, what brand or type of keyboard or device I should buy and how much it would possibly cost? I would like some advice on this please to get a good device that helps write and translate(in some way) Japanese.

The origin of the word "Japan"

Sakura — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:14:25 -0400

If you have studied Japanese for a little while, you know that Japan in Japanese is nihon. Japan doesn’t sound anything close to nihon, does it?! So where does the word Japan come from?

It is commonly believed that the word Japan comes from how an Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324) called the country in his book, “Il Milione”.

He writes, “People on the Island of Cipangu have tremendous quantities of gold.”

So he called the country Cipangu, and this is said to be the origin of the word Japan (or Giappone in Italian, Japon in French, etc...). But why did Marco Polo call it Cipangu? Where does that come from?

Through his book, Marco Polo is known to have introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. He also wrote about Japan but he actually never went to Japan. He only heard about the country while he was in China. So the word Cipangu comes from how “the country of Japan” is referred to in Chinese.

In sum, the origin of the word Japan is Cipangu, which is an Italian phonological interpretation of the Chinese word that means “the country of Japan”. Who knew?!

Saying "many/much" in Japanese

Sakura — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 18:53:47 -0500

There’s a tricky adjective 多い(おおい ooi) in Japanese which means “many/much”. Why tricky? It’s because you cannot place a noun following this adjective.

For example, you CANNOT say,
X 多い人がいます。Ooi hito ga imasu. (Intended meaning: There are many people.)

This is pretty strange because you can normally place a noun following an adjective like the following:

これは赤い本です。Kore wa akai hon desu. This is a red book.

So, 多い ooi is a special case where “ADJ + Noun” doesn’t work. However, you CAN use this adjective in the “Noun がga ADJ ですdesu” format.

Example:
人が多いです。Hito ga ooi desu. (There are many people.)
(literal translation: “People are many.”)

So, what should you do if you want to say “many NOUN” such as “many people”, “many books” in Japanese? One way is to use a different form of the expression, which is 多く ooku. Another way is to use an alternative expression たくさん takusan.

Example:
多くの人がいます。Ooku no hito ga imasu. (There are many people.)
たくさんの人がいます。Takusan no hito ga imasu. (There are many people.)
多くの本を読みました。Ooku no hon o yomimashita. (I read many books.)
たくさんの本を読みました。Takusan no hon o yomimashita. (I read many books.)

Notice that you have to use the particle の no between 多く ooku and 人 hito; likewise between たくさん takusan and 人 hito.

What’s the difference between “ooku no NOUN” and “takusan no NOUN”? Simply speaking, the former sounds formal whereas the latter sounds casual.

Okay, now, here’s another tricky thing. たくさん takusan can also be used as an adverb (i.e. “a lot”). In that case, you don’t need の no following たくさん takusan.

Examples:
たくさん食べます。Takusan tabemasu. (I eat a lot)
たくさん勉強しました。Takusan benkyooshimashita. (I studied a lot.)

It’s interesting how たくさんtakusan and the english “a lot” is similar. In English, you cannot say, “a lot books”. Instead, you say, “a lot of books”. In Japanese too, you cannot say たくさん本 takusan hon. Instead, you say, たくさんの本 takusan no hon. On the other hand, there is no problem saying “I eat a lot” or たくさん食べます Takusan tabemasu.

Just one final note on the adjective 多いooi for advanced students. There are cases where a noun appears to follow 多いooi. That’s when you have a relative clause.

Example:
人が多い町に行きました。Hito ga ooi machi ni ikimashita.
I went to a town where there are a lot of people.
間違えが多い書類を見ました。Machigae ga ooi shorui o mimashita.
I looked at a document which had a lot of mistakes.

You should be able to see why the above examples are fine. For example, the first one is not talking about “many towns”; rather, it’s talking about “many people”. So, even though the noun 町 machi (town) follows 多い ooi, the adjective does NOT modify 町 machi. Since there’s no modification relationship, there’s no problem putting the adjective and the noun next to each other.

Some questions about some sentences

Tiller — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 05:35:40 -0400

Hello!

I've a paper to write for my school where I have to describe my town, and I'm looking for someone who would be nice enough to tell me what they think of some sentences!
I'm not putting every sentences I have, just the ones I'm not sure about!

Toulouse (a town) is in Midi-Pyrénées (a region)
Toulouse wa Midi-Pyrénées no naka ni arimasu
(I think arimasu is wrong here)

Midi-Pyrénées is well located in France
Midi-Pyrénées wa ii chiikiken desu
(I didn't how to turn this one, so I stayed with "Midi-Pyrénées is a good region")

There are 2 metro-line
2 chikatetsu kouro ga arimasu
(I'm not sure about the "kouro" and I think there is something missing after the "2")

There is about 430000 people living in Toulouse
- Toulouse wa yaku 430 000 ri no juumin ga arimasu
- Yaku 430 000-ri ga Toulouse ni sondeimasu

There are 50km between Toulouse and Revel (a town)
Revel kara Toulouse made, 50-kiro ga arimasu

So yes, if you could tell me what you think of those 5 sentences, it would be great!

Thanks :)