How can I say in Japanese that my friends have all gone to Japan?
Difference between 全部 / みんな (zenbu / minna: all)
There is one big difference between 全部 / みんな (zenbu / minna: all):
- For human: みんな, 全員 (minna, zen-in: all, everyone)
- For not human: 全部 (zenbu: all)
全員(zen-in) is more formal than みんな (minna).
Watch out that the pronunciation of 全員 is not “zenin (like ze-nin)” but “zen-in”.
How to use 全部 / みんな (zenbu / minna: all)
When used alone, 全部 / みんな (zenbu / minna: all) is an adverb.
And it indicates the words having been used.
So for example,
わたしの友だちはみんな日本へ行きました。
Watashi no tomodachi wa minna nihon e iki mashita.
My friends have all gone to Japan.
In this example, みんな (minna) indicates わたしの友だち (watashi no tomodachi: my friends).
As you may know, Japanese nouns generally do not have the difference between one or more, this adverb みんな (minna) sends information that the number of 友だち (tomodachi: friend) is not one but several.
Let’s see also an example with 全部 (zenbu: all).
うちに車が３台あります。全部わたしのです。
Uchi ni kuruma ga san dai ari masu. Zenbu watashi no desu.
I have three cars at home, and they are all mine.
Like this, 全部, みんな (zenbu, minna) can be also used in the following separated sentence.
So here in this sentence, 全部 (zenbu) in the second sentence indicates three cars in the previous sentence.
What is the difference between 全部, みんな(zenbu, minna) and 全部で, みんなで (zenbu de, minna de )?
If a particle で (de) is added to 全部, みんな (zenbu, minna), the meaning changes in terms of the number information.
- 全部 (zenbu): all
- 全部で (zenbu de): in total
So,
全部１００円です。
Zenbu hyaku en desu.
It’s all 100 yen.
全部で１００円です。
Zenbu de hyaku en desu.
It’s 100 yen in total.
See also:
Difference between みんな、みなさん、みんなさん (minna, mina san, minna san)
First of all,
みんなさん (minna san) is NOT USED.
It’s a very common mistake of Japanese learners.
And
- みんな (minna) : casual, neutral
- みなさん (mina san): polite
Is the difference between the others.
So, think about the difference between
わたしの友だちはみんな日本へ行きました。
Watashi no tomodachi wa minna nihon e iki mashita.
My friends have all gone to Japan.
お友だちはみなさん日本へ行きましたか。
O tomodachi wa min san nihon e iki mashita ka.
Have your friends all gone to Japan?
The second phrase is oriented toward someone. So if we want to show some respects, it’s better to used みなさん (mina san) just like we speak to someone politely by adding さん with their name.
*お友だち (otomodachi) is a polite way of saying 友だち (tomodachi: friend).
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