Getting a text invitation

Hey everyone,

Niko here. Let’s make some Japanese sentences!

This week’s prompt

Your friend texts you to invite you to a 飲み会 [のみかい] (drinking party) next weekend. You’re free that night, but you don’t really want to go.

＊ You can submit a response in Japanese here. ＊

Please try to submit your response within 48 hours of receiving this email. Since our subscriber list is still small, you’re welcome to submit multiple answers, or even a question, if you’d like. ^_^

Corrections will arrive in your inbox next week.

Last week’s corrections

You're in a serious relationship with a Japanese significant other, and you're meeting their parents for the first time. During dinner, the father asks how long you plan to stay in Japan.

Rei’s father passed away two years before I met her, so sadly I never got to experience a situation like this. I’ve often wondered what it would have been like trying to navigate this sort of cross-cultural relationship.

From what I’ve heard of her father, I think we would have hit it off!

Anyway, here are the answers that I personally came up with, along with Rei’s corrections of them:

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Submission:
伶[れい]さんによります。(Rei being the girlfriend.)

Correction:
まだわかんないです。伶さんによります。
まだ　わかんない　です。　れいさん　に　よります。
I don’t know yet. It depends on Rei.
Literally: still + don’t understand + です. + Rei-san + に + depends

Comments:
伶 [れい] is how you write Rei’s name in Japanese. It means something like “musician” or “person who plays music.” You won’t really see it used outside of names, unless you’re looking at some rather old Japanese, perhaps. Japanese people often incorrectly assume her name is written as 玲.

Anyway, Rei was super confused by this answer at first. I was confused why she was confused, probably because saying, “It depends on Rei” sounds pretty natural in English. Apparently it would be helpful to be more clear when saying this, which is why there is that first sentence to explain why it depends on Rei.

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Submission:
少[すく]なくとも2年間[ねんかん]いたいです。

Correction:
少なくともあと２年はいると思います。
すくなくとも　にねん　は　いる　と　おもいます。
I plan to stay for two years at the very least.
Literally: at least + two years + は + be + と + think.

Comments:
Man, I botched this one. I didn’t include 間 [かん] after 2年 [にねん] at first, then I went back and added it! What was I thinking?! I’m also sad I didn’t think to use は in the way she did in her correction. Adding these more subtle nuances has been a big focus of mine the last few years.

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Here’s my attempt at a long answer:

Submission:
いつまで日本にいるのかは決めてないんですけど、アメリカに帰る気は全くないです。

Correction:
いつまで日本にいるかは分かんないんですけど、アメリカに帰る気は全くないです。
いつ　まで　にほん　に　いる　か　は　わかんない　んです　けど、　アメリカ　に　かえる　き　は　まったく　ない　です。
I’m not sure how long I’ll stay in Japan, but I have no intention of ever returning to the U.S.
Literally: when + until + Japan + に + be + は + don’t understand + んです + but, + America + に + return home + spirit + は + completely + there isn’t + です.

Comments:
I wrote か, then I changed it to のか. Then back to か. Then のか again. Of course I chose the wrong option in the end. Agh!

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Submission:
そうですね．．．決[き]めてないです。

Correction:
まだ決めてないです。
まだ　きめてない　です。
I haven’t decided yet.
Literally: "still + is not deciding + です".”

まだ決まってないです。
まだ　きまってない　です。
I haven’t decided yet.
Literally: “still + is not decided + です.”

Comments:
What? What’s wrong with saying そうですね to buy time because I don’t know exactly what I want to say yet? Well, nothing. But it sounds kind of weird because if I haven’t decided, why do I need time to find the words to say I haven’t decided?

In contrast, saying そうですね．．．before, for example, the earlier option with 少なくとも．．． would have been fine. I’m buying time with そうですね because I’m trying to work out the answer to a problem.

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Here’s my attempt at a simple one: