# I hope the people are not that unfriendly



## lrosa

Hello

I'd like to find a natural way to say this. My penpal has said "東京の人はみんな冷たい", and since I am going to spend time there, I want to say that I am hoping that the people there won't be as cold as my penpal has said.

My attempt is: 東京の人がそんなに冷たくなければいいよ。

I added the particle よ because I wanted the sentence to sound forceful. In English, I would express this forcefulness by writing: "I hope the people in Tokyo won't be _that_ unfriendly!!!" but I am not sure if this is the best way to express it in Japanese... Also, I'm not completely sure whether I should use は or が after 東京の人.


Thanks in advance!


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## Demurral

karetachi ha (as thei are tema in this converstion) sonna ni tsumetakunai kana!

I think is correct!


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## wathavy

lrosa said:


> My attempt is: 東京の人がそんなに冷たくなければいいよ。
> I would express this forcefulness by writing: "I hope the people in Tokyo won't be _that_ unfriendly!!!" but I am not sure if this is the best way to express it in Japanese... Also, I'm not completely sure whether I should use は or が after 東京の人.



Basically, it is OK. But it will be better with な at the end instead of よ.
The reason why I said it's OK is because you're foreign speaker, and any native can reckon that instinctively. 

And you can use が　as well as は。The nuance will be different but again it works fine for this situation. And it depends on the context.

By the way, people in Tokyo is not that cold blooded. What you need is the small guts to ask what you need. Otherwise they won't tell you.
They are rather shy and not talkative. Unlike Kansai jin. (Westerners).

When I used to work as a guide in a mountain cable car, I used to ask two questions; one 'Kansai kara kita kata?' Then they answer by rising their hand saying 'Hai! hai! hai!'. While 'Tokyo kara kita kata?' no answer.

The reaction of Tokyo people are less emotional than Kansai jin.
But it does not mean that Tokyo jin is cold hearted. They are quiter than kansai jin that's all.

In other way of saying getlemen and fairladies stay in Tokyo.


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## lrosa

Thank you for the responses!



wathavy said:


> The reason why I said it's OK is because you're foreign speaker, and any native can reckon that instinctively.



Well, my goal is to try and make it harder for natives to recognise this! 

I had thought that both は and が might be acceptable. Could I be right in guessing that the use of が makes the sentence more personal and speaker-oriented, in contrast to は, which establishes 東京の人 as the topic of the sentence?

I guess this might be a cultural difference, but to me, the sentence-ending な doesn't sound forceful enough. The reason is that my penpal knows I am going to Tokyo, and despite this, has told me that the people there are cold. My natural reaction to this is to counter with a (friendly) response which makes it clear that I hope that what my penpal has just said will *not* be true (since I'm going to be spending time with the people). Maybe in Japanese it's less acceptable to directly contradict another person's statement in this way?


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## Flaminius

lrosa said:


> Well, my goal is to try and make it harder for natives to recognise this!


How about 東京の人がそんな風に冷たくないといいけれど (いいけど), then?

そんな風 is "such a degree as you say."  ないといいけれど or ないといいけど marks a sentence with the speaker's apprehension.



> I had thought that both は and が might be acceptable. Could I be right in guessing that the use of が makes the sentence more personal and speaker-oriented, in contrast to は, which establishes 東京の人 as the topic of the sentence?


I prefer _-ga_ because "people from Tokyo" has already been established as the topic of the conversation.



> I guess this might be a cultural difference, but to me, the sentence-ending な doesn't sound forceful enough.


I may be making a sweeping generalisation but _-na_ and _-yo_ are not only different in the strength of assertion.  Typically, _-yo_ is used for statements that the listener should take into account for their future actions.  In contrast, _-na_ emphasizes that the statement is the speaker's emotion or subjective opinion.  That's what makes the difference at least here.


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## lrosa

Flaminius said:


> How about 東京の人がそんな風に冷たくないといいけれど (いいけど), then?



Thank you, I am very, very pleased with this 



Flaminius said:


> I may be making a sweeping generalisation but _-na_ and _-yo_ are not only different in the strength of assertion.  Typically, _-yo_ is used for statements that the listener should take into account for their future actions.  In contrast, _-na_ emphasizes that the statement is the speaker's emotion or subjective opinion.  That's what makes the difference at least here.



I thought よ could be used to contradict what has already been said, as in:

A: あなたはペンを持っています。
B: これはペンじゃなくて、鉛筆ですよ！ 

I think this is why I thought of using よ for my sentence.


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## Flaminius

lrosa said:


> I thought よ could be used to contradict what has already been said, as in:
> 
> A: あなたはペンを持っています*ね*。
> B: これはペンじゃなくて、鉛筆ですよ！
> 
> I think this is why I thought of using よ for my sentence.



It sounds very awkward to use indicative pure and simple for a description of your interlocutor.  The ethos of using indicative is telling your interlocutor what he may not know.  As holding a pen is a very wilful act, it is difficult to discuss it as a piece of news for him.  Augmenting the statement with modality expressions for "I see that" or "I assume", "I have heard" is necessary.  Perhaps this applies to English too, albeit to a lesser degree.  Adding _-ne_ at the end is a typical way to indicate what one recognises about one's interlocutor.

The example above indeed uses よ for contradicting a previous utterance.  In the thread-starting sentence, however, nothing is being contradicted.  You are saying that you are loathed to think if a previous statement is true, but you are not saying it is untrue, hence no contradiction takes place.


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## Wishfull

lrosa said:


> Hello
> 
> I'd like to find a natural way to say this. My penpal has said "東京の人はみんな冷たい", and since I am going to spend time there, I want to say that I am hoping that the people there won't be as cold as my penpal has said.
> 
> My attempt is: 東京の人がそんなに冷たくなければいいよ。
> 
> I added the particle よ because I wanted the sentence to sound forceful. In English, I would express this forcefulness by writing: "I hope the people in Tokyo won't be _that_ unfriendly!!!" but I am not sure if this is the best way to express it in Japanese... Also, I'm not completely sure whether I should use は or が after 東京の人.
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance!


 
「東京人は冷淡だ」とよく耳にするけれども、私（僕）はそんなことは信じたくない*ね*。
「東京人は冷淡だ」とよく聞きますけど、そんなことないと思いたいです。

I wonder this is what you're looking for.


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## lrosa

Wishfull said:


> 「東京人は冷淡だ」とよく耳にするけれども、私（僕）はそんなことは信じたくない*ね*。
> 「東京人は冷淡だ」とよく聞きますけど、そんなことないと思いたいです。
> 
> I wonder this is what you're looking for.



Thanks Wishfull, but is this suitable in the context where I have only heard this statement once, and from my penpal?　

Maybe I could try：　「東京の人がそんな風に冷淡じゃないと思いたいです」　My only concern is that this might sound a little abrupt; would it be possible to soften this in some way?

Or maybe: 「東京の人がそんな風に冷淡だと信じたくないね」　- is that grammatical?


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## Wishfull

lrosa said:


> Maybe I could try：　「東京の人*は*そんな風に冷淡じゃないと思いたいです」　My only concern is that this might sound a little abrupt; would it be possible to soften this in some way?
> I don't think this sentence is abrupt.
> 
> Or maybe: 「東京の人がそんな風に冷淡だと*は*信じたく*ありません*。」
> 信じたくないね　sounds a little abrupt.


 
Another one;
「東京の人*は*そんなに冷淡じゃないでしょう？」


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