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"ha" and "wa" Japanese

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EagerLearner
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Canada
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Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French
Studies: Japanese

 
 Message 1 of 9
12 May 2009 at 8:12pm | IP Logged 
Hello,
I'm wondering if someone who is fluent in Japanese could explain a bit about "ha" and "wa". (the Hiragana ha and wa). I've seen people using は while the Romaji translation says "wa". I'm wondering why they mix the two up instead of just using は for ha and わ for wa. I'd really appreciate it if someone could explain the details to me !!

Edited by EagerLearner on 12 May 2009 at 10:51pm

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Volte
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Switzerland
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Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian
Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 2 of 9
12 May 2009 at 8:29pm | IP Logged 
Short version: they're not mixing it up. は is pronounced 'wa' when used as a particle (my Japanese is too rusty to say if this is sometimes or always - sorry).

The good news: Japanese has very, very few quirks like this. The hiragana are generally pronounced as they're written.


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Yukamina
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Canada
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Studies: Japanese, Korean, French

 
 Message 3 of 9
12 May 2009 at 9:09pm | IP Logged 
The particle は is pronounced 'wa', so it's written that way in romaji.
The particle へ is pronounced 'e'.
The particle を is pronounced 'o'.

Those are the only ones I can think of. They are extremely common, you'll catch on quickly.

By the way, れ is 're'. 'Wa' is わ.
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EagerLearner
Triglot
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Canada
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 Message 4 of 9
12 May 2009 at 10:50pm | IP Logged 
Oh sorry the site I was on had "re" written instead of "wa"
Anyways thanks a lot ^^
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Amaki
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Japan
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 Message 5 of 9
13 May 2009 at 4:49pm | IP Logged 
From Japanese wordplay:

ははははははははのはははははははとわらう 。
Two of "は"s are particles, so pronounced "wa".

母は「ハハハ」、母の母は「ハハハハ」と笑 う。
haha wa "hahaha", haha no haha wa "hahahaha" to warau.
(Usually we say "obaasan" or "sobo" in stead of "haha no haha", but this is a wordplay)

uraniwaniwaniwaniwaniwaniwaniwatorigairu.
The sound "niwa" can have a lot of meenings.

ura-niwa niwa niwa, niwa niwa niwa niwatori ga iru.
裏庭には2羽、庭には2羽ニワトリがいる。
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EagerLearner
Triglot
Newbie
Canada
Joined 5441 days ago

9 posts - 10 votes
Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French
Studies: Japanese

 
 Message 6 of 9
13 May 2009 at 11:25pm | IP Logged 
Quote:
ははははははははのはははははははとわらう 。
Two of "は"s are particles, so pronounced "wa".

母は「ハハハ」、母の母は「ハハハハ」と笑 う。
haha wa "hahaha", haha no haha wa "hahahaha" to warau.
(Usually we say "obaasan" or "sobo" in stead of "haha no haha", but this is a wordplay)


Wow that's tricky lol
Thanks for letting me know.

By the way, would this sentence be correct ??

あなた は やさしい
Assuming that "ha" replaces wa as the particle.
I'm a noob so I write with spaces and 95% in Kana xD

Edited by EagerLearner on 13 May 2009 at 11:34pm

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Amaki
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 Message 7 of 9
14 May 2009 at 9:58am | IP Logged 
あなたはやさしい。(anata wa yasashii.)
Yes. This is 100% grammatical (correct).
And in this example it is impossible to use "ga" instead of "wa".

The following constructions would sound more naturally:
あなたはやさしいんですね。(anata wa yasashiin desune.)
あなたはやさしい人ですね。(anata wa yasashii hito desune.)

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EagerLearner
Triglot
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Canada
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Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French
Studies: Japanese

 
 Message 8 of 9
14 May 2009 at 6:00pm | IP Logged 
Awesome thanks a lot ^^



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