So I'm noticing a theme running through your questions...
です is not a verb, it's a copula. Hence, it doesn't behave like a verb. I would explain what a copula is, but I suck at grammar terms, so wiki. Although I caution that that may not help.. it's a little confusing.
As for this one, さくらはどこですか is simplified to どこです. 猫はどこにいますか is simplified to どこにいます.
I'd love to blanketly say that if you use desu, you don't use ni, but that's wrong and I have to go cancel my health insurance now, so I'll come back later and see if I can make this clear. (Honestly, I'm not 100% positive why myself; I get the feeling it'll come clear when I start trying to explain.)
This is precisely why it is torture for me to learn a language. If I were like the normal person I'd be satisfied with memorizing vocab, memorizing random useful phrases, and then drilling that stuff in set out sentence patterns without asking why or looking for things that stray from the pattern.
Then learning the theory and why's only after having a sufficient base to go off of. Darn my obsessive compulsive learning style.
Darn, there has to be a way to edit a reply to a comment. That second to last "sentence" is really bad. I need to learn to edit before posting.
I think it should be "Only after this is it possible to learn the theory and explanations to the phrases, since you have built a basis for understanding." Eh, still weird, but closer.
I do the same thing with Chinese - I get frustrated when I don't understand why things are the way they are, and then I can't get over that and learn new stuff, and it really slows things down. But on the other hand, if you don't have at least some handle on the rules, then you can't actually make grammatical sentences, so... balance is needed.
Comments 7
です is not a verb, it's a copula. Hence, it doesn't behave like a verb. I would explain what a copula is, but I suck at grammar terms, so wiki. Although I caution that that may not help.. it's a little confusing.
As for this one,
さくらはどこですか is simplified to どこです.
猫はどこにいますか is simplified to どこにいます.
I'd love to blanketly say that if you use desu, you don't use ni, but that's wrong and I have to go cancel my health insurance now, so I'll come back later and see if I can make this clear. (Honestly, I'm not 100% positive why myself; I get the feeling it'll come clear when I start trying to explain.)
Reply
Then learning the theory and why's only after having a sufficient base to go off of. Darn my obsessive compulsive learning style.
Reply
I think it should be "Only after this is it possible to learn the theory and explanations to the phrases, since you have built a basis for understanding." Eh, still weird, but closer.
Reply
I do the same thing with Chinese - I get frustrated when I don't understand why things are the way they are, and then I can't get over that and learn new stuff, and it really slows things down. But on the other hand, if you don't have at least some handle on the rules, then you can't actually make grammatical sentences, so... balance is needed.
Reply
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