Reported Speech, Part II
Well cheer up, baby.
Because in casual Japanese, we don't need no hoity–toity razzmatazz.
Allow me to elucidate, ください...
Imagine we have three people...
...or, uh, animals...
Specifically, we have:
Person A:
Person B:
Person C:
You may have picked this up already, just looking at those photos, but yeah:
★ ★ In casual Japanese, you can: ★ ★
1) Ask a question just by saying VERB? (<--Person A)
2) Answer that question by saying VERB. (<--Person B)
3) Report someone's answer (#2) by saying ANSWER って. (<--Person A)
4) Show that you are surprised and/or interested in that answer by saying ANSWER んだ. (<-- Person C)
Simple examples galore...
Is Raccoon going to the party?!
A:
パーティー行く？
パーティー いく？
You going to the party?
Literally: "party + go?"
B:
行く。
いく
Yeah, I am.
Literally: "go."
A:
行くって。
いく って
He said he's gonna go.
Literally: "go + って"
C:
行くんだ。
いく んだ.
So he is going to the party.
Literally: "go + んだ"
Note: The nuance is that Panda is surprised and/or interested to learn that Raccoon is going to the party... like maybe he didn't expect Raccoon to go.
Will Raccoon eat some cake?!
A:
ケーキ食べる？
ケーキ たべる？
Do you want some cake?
Literally: "cake + eat?"
B:
食べる食べる。
たべる たべる。
Yeah, definitely.
Literally: "eat + eat"
Note: By saying 食べる twice [rather quickly, mind you] makes it sounds like he is happy and or excited to eat some cake.
A:
食べるって。
たべる って
He said he'll have some (cake).
Literally: "eat + って"
C:
食べるんだ。
たべる んだ.
So he will eat some cake, then.
Literally: "eat + んだ"
Does Raccoon like to dance?!
A:
ダンス好き？
ダンス すき？
Do you like dancing?
Literally: "dance + liked?"
B:
好き。
すき。
Yeah.
Literally: "liked."
A:
好きだって。
すき だ って.
He said he likes dancing.
Literally: "liked + だ + って"
Note: 好き is a na-adjective, not a verb, so we add だ, saying 好きだって.
C:
好きなんだ。
すき なんだ.
Ah, so he likes dancing.
Literally: "liked + なんだ"
Note: 好き is a na-adjective, not a verb, so we add な, saying 好きなんだ.
Does Raccoon read the newspaper?!
A:
新聞読む？
しんぶん よむ？
Do you read the newspaper.
Literally: "newspaper + read?"
B:
読む。
よむ。
Yeah, I do.
Literally: "read."
A:
読むって。
よむ って.
He says he reads the newspaper.
Literally: "read + って"
C:
読むんだ。
よむ んだ.
Ah, so he reads the newspaper.
Literally: "read + んだ"
Can Raccoon speak Japanese?!
A:
日本語出来る？
にほんご できる？
Can you speak Japanese?
Literally: "Japanese + can do?"
B:
出来る。
できる。
Yeah, I can.
Literally: "can do."
A:
出来るって。
できる って.
He said he speaks Japanese.
Literally: "can do + って"
C:
出来るんだ。
できる んだ.
So he can speak Japanese, then.
Literally: "can do + んだ"
Wow, man.
Raccoon does like everything.
Jokes aside, though, I hope this helps you build up a bit more courage for diving into some casual Japanese conversations ^_^