How can I ask what it is in Japanese?
In a particular language
When you want to add a language being used for an action or for a given name, so used like a tool,
Language + で (de)
is typically used.
For example,
愛は英語でLoveです。
ai wa eigo de rabu desu.
“Ai” is “Love” in English.
Asking what something is in a particular language
If you want to know something in Japanese (or other languages),
Xはlanguage + で何ですか。
X wa (language) de nan desu ka.
What is X in Japanese?
is typically used.
For example,
A:
これは日本語で何ですか。
kore wa nihongo de nan desu ka.
What is it in Japanese?
B:
鉛筆です。
enpitsu desu.
It’s “enpitsu (a pencil)”.
A:
Earthは日本語で何ですか。
Earth wa nihongo de nan desu ka.
What is “earth” in Japanese?
B:
地球です。
chikyuu desu
It’s”chikyuu (earth)”.
Tips
A language is marked by
語
go
Language
There are 2 ways to have a language name:
Nation name + 語
日本語
nihon go
Japanese
タイ語
tai go
Thai
ブルガリア語
burugaria go
Bulgarian
フランス語
furansu go
French
トルコ語
toruko go
Turkish
A particular name + 語
英語
eigo
English
ヒンディー語
hindhii go
Hindi
ウズベク語
uzuneku go
Uzbek
スワヒリ語
suwahiri go
Swahili
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