# I am currently in my car



## ryanshanabarger

Hello all. Are any/all of these correct for that sentence? Please respond using hiragana (haven't learned kanji yet. been studying japanese for 5 days haha). 

1。わたしわいまわたしのくるまにいます。

２。いまわたしのくるまいます。

３。わたしわくるまにいます 。

Okay so:

1. Has all the words.
2. Leaves out the subject (but im worried it might need context. will the reader/listener know without context that "im" in my car versus "my friend" is in my car"?)
3. Leaves out the possession. Again, is context needed? Is there a difference between how a japanese native would say "I'm in a car" versus "I'm in my car"? 

Thanks for your help!!!


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## 涼宮

Hello!

First, the particle は is always written は despite of being pronounced as わ. 

You can say: (わたしは)いま、(わたしの)くるまのなかにいます。 (if the context is clear you don't need to specify that the car is yours or that the subject is you).

なか= inside

の=of (in this case)


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## ryanshanabarger

Okay, I understand　わたしはいま、わたしのくるま......います。

but can  you explain what comes in between? (のなかに）

1. You said なか means "inside", but why is it in between の and に?

2. Why is なか better than using the "subject+place+in (い) verb" model? (わたしのくるまにいます。）


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## Schokolade

（わたしは）いま、（わたしの）くるまのなかにいます would make sense but I'd rather say （わたしは）いま、（じぶんの）くるまのなかです。


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## ryanshanabarger

Schokolade said:


> （わたしは）いま、（わたしの）くるまのなかにいます would make sense but I'd rather say （わたしは）いま、（じぶんの）くるまのなかです。



I can't find じぶん in the dictionary. also, can  you explain the use of の after　くるま? The other helper added の in a similar place...


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## 涼宮

You didn't find じぶん？ What kind of dictionary doesn't have such word? It means one's own or -self. I recommend you to use this dictionary: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

You'll find most words there, it has a feature for glossing texts, examples, etc. Of course, it will always give kanji but it always gives the reading of such kanji in hiragana.

の means 'of' in this case as I wrote in my first post. It is used to connect なか with くるま. Take it as 'of' or as 's, e.g. ははのくるま = mother's car

じぶんのくるま= my car/my own car


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## ryanshanabarger

涼宮 said:


> You didn't find じぶん？ What kind of dictionary doesn't have such word? It means one's own or -self. I recommend you to use this dictionary: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C
> 
> You'll find most words there, it has a feature for glossing texts, examples, etc. Of course, it will always give kanji but it always gives the reading of such kanji in hiragana.
> 
> の means 'of' in this case as I wrote in my first post. It is used to connect なか with くるま. Take it as 'of' or as 's, e.g. ははのくるま = mother's car
> 
> じぶんのくるま= my car/my own car



(わたしは)いま、(わたしの)くるまのなかにいます。

Okay, so the first の is making the car my car.... And the second の is connecting the "inside" (なか) to that car? What is that に still doing there before います?


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## 涼宮

As Schokolade said it'd be better のなかです in this case. のなかにいます means that something is _located inside_ something else. に, in this case, is used to express the location of something. In Japanese you use particles to express specific nuances. に can express the location of something. You could translate it as: in/at.

For instance:

We are in the forest わたしたちはもりのなかにいます (our location is inside the forest)


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## The Mad King

If I wanted to tell someone I couldn't talk to them because I am currently driving, I'd say 「今、運転中(うんてんちゅう)です」, but I'm not a native speaker.


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## Flaminius

The Mad King said:


> If I wanted to tell someone I couldn't talk to them because I am currently driving



If that is the message the OP wants to convey, 車(の中に)いる is inappropriate.  運転中 is fine but we can also say,
今、車です。


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