Post by MidoriAbby on Jan 14, 2014 22:44:31 GMT
Jembru
Ah yes, let's talk about ちょっと (chotto), good idea!
It's translated to mean "a little bit" or "sort of" but it has a multitude of usages waiting to be unlocked. The more I practice my Japanese the more I hear it used. So for those of you who may not know, here are some of the common uses of the word 'chotto'.
1) It can just be used, of course, normally to mean "a little bit", e.g 数学はちょっと難しいと思います。(suugaku wa chotto muzukashii to omoimasu- I think math is a little bit difficult.) or それはちょっと変ですよね。(sore wa chotto hen desu yo ne... That's a little weird isn't it...)
It can also be used with verbs like 日本語がちょっと話せます。(Nihongo ga chotto hanasemasu- I can speak a little Japanese). (Sukoshi could also be used in this case.)
2) It can show reservation/be a polite way of refusing someone's offer without offending them. Often times instead of either saying something negative or outright declining someone's invitation, the word can be used to kind of end your sentence without actually ending your sentence... it's hard to explain so I'll just put an example below:
Example one:
陽子さん:明子ちゃん、あのスープ飲みたくない?好きじゃないの? (Akiko-chan, suupu nomitakunai? Suki ja nai no?)
Yoko: Akiko, aren't you going to eat (drink) that soup? Don't you like it?
明子さん:味がちょっと。。。(aji ga chotto...)
Akiko: The taste is a little.... (she doesn't finish her sentence but this implies that she was about to say something less than complimentary, it's a bit more reserved/polite this way.)
or Example Two:
鈴木さん:まりこさん、明日一緒に映画を見に行かない? (Mariko-san, ashita issho ni eiga wo mi ni ikanai?)
Suzuki: Mariko, do you want to go see a movie together tomorrow?
まりこさん:すみません、明日はちょっと。。。 (Sumimasen, ashita wa chotto...)
Mariko: I'm sorry, tomorrow's a little bit... (the rest of the sentence "inconvenient" "won't work for me" "I don't want to to tomorrow" is left off, but something of the sort is politely implied.)
In my experience with my Japanese friends, often times they will want to avoid a) criticizing b) saying something negative or c) outright declining an offer as they think they're going to be impolite. So in these cases "chotto" comes in handy.
3) When you are saying you want to do something or are going to do something and want to sound humble it can make your action sound humble or not boastful.
For example
よかったらちょっと英語の添削があるんですけど。。。
Yokattara chotto eigo no tensaku ga aru n desu kedo...
If you're okay with it I just have a little correction of your English...
This kind of makes the fact that you're about to teach them something seem more humble/polite. Often chotto can be used in asking permission for something to make this kind of nuance happen.
4) It can be used in speaking to say that what you're doing is a small action that won't take long. Like ちょっと用事があります。(chotto youji ga arimasu- I just have a little errand to do) or ちょっとトイレに行ってきます (chotto toire ni ittekimasu- I'm just going to go to the restroom real quick.)
SO yeah I'm certainly no expert on the nuances of Japanese but those are the main ways I've heard it used to my knowledge.
If any of you guys have thoughts to add (including you Jembru, I'd like to hear if you have any more detailed observations on this grammar as you usually have interesting comments on that kind of stuff) please feel free to do so.
Ah yes, let's talk about ちょっと (chotto), good idea!
It's translated to mean "a little bit" or "sort of" but it has a multitude of usages waiting to be unlocked. The more I practice my Japanese the more I hear it used. So for those of you who may not know, here are some of the common uses of the word 'chotto'.
1) It can just be used, of course, normally to mean "a little bit", e.g 数学はちょっと難しいと思います。(suugaku wa chotto muzukashii to omoimasu- I think math is a little bit difficult.) or それはちょっと変ですよね。(sore wa chotto hen desu yo ne... That's a little weird isn't it...)
It can also be used with verbs like 日本語がちょっと話せます。(Nihongo ga chotto hanasemasu- I can speak a little Japanese). (Sukoshi could also be used in this case.)
2) It can show reservation/be a polite way of refusing someone's offer without offending them. Often times instead of either saying something negative or outright declining someone's invitation, the word can be used to kind of end your sentence without actually ending your sentence... it's hard to explain so I'll just put an example below:
Example one:
陽子さん:明子ちゃん、あのスープ飲みたくない?好きじゃないの? (Akiko-chan, suupu nomitakunai? Suki ja nai no?)
Yoko: Akiko, aren't you going to eat (drink) that soup? Don't you like it?
明子さん:味がちょっと。。。(aji ga chotto...)
Akiko: The taste is a little.... (she doesn't finish her sentence but this implies that she was about to say something less than complimentary, it's a bit more reserved/polite this way.)
or Example Two:
鈴木さん:まりこさん、明日一緒に映画を見に行かない? (Mariko-san, ashita issho ni eiga wo mi ni ikanai?)
Suzuki: Mariko, do you want to go see a movie together tomorrow?
まりこさん:すみません、明日はちょっと。。。 (Sumimasen, ashita wa chotto...)
Mariko: I'm sorry, tomorrow's a little bit... (the rest of the sentence "inconvenient" "won't work for me" "I don't want to to tomorrow" is left off, but something of the sort is politely implied.)
In my experience with my Japanese friends, often times they will want to avoid a) criticizing b) saying something negative or c) outright declining an offer as they think they're going to be impolite. So in these cases "chotto" comes in handy.
3) When you are saying you want to do something or are going to do something and want to sound humble it can make your action sound humble or not boastful.
For example
よかったらちょっと英語の添削があるんですけど。。。
Yokattara chotto eigo no tensaku ga aru n desu kedo...
If you're okay with it I just have a little correction of your English...
This kind of makes the fact that you're about to teach them something seem more humble/polite. Often chotto can be used in asking permission for something to make this kind of nuance happen.
4) It can be used in speaking to say that what you're doing is a small action that won't take long. Like ちょっと用事があります。(chotto youji ga arimasu- I just have a little errand to do) or ちょっとトイレに行ってきます (chotto toire ni ittekimasu- I'm just going to go to the restroom real quick.)
SO yeah I'm certainly no expert on the nuances of Japanese but those are the main ways I've heard it used to my knowledge.
If any of you guys have thoughts to add (including you Jembru, I'd like to hear if you have any more detailed observations on this grammar as you usually have interesting comments on that kind of stuff) please feel free to do so.