# long hair



## Yuukan

Hello!
I want to say in Japanese: "your hair was long".

My try:

Anatano kamiganagakatta desu.


or 


Anatano kamiganagai deshita.

I'm confused with the past tense using "i" adj.
Sorry, but I can't write kana with this computer.

Please correct me.

Thanks a lot!


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## Derselbe

長かったです (nagakatta desu) is correct
長いでした (nagai deshita) is wrong

I believe
長くありました
could also work. But don't quote me on that. Actually I've never heard it.


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## Wishfull

あなたの髪が長かったです。
あなたの髪が長いでした。
長くありました

あなたの髪は長かった。
あなたは長髪（ちょうはつ）でした。

あなたの髪は長かったですよね。

長かったです　is unnatural.

I think "your hair was long" is difficult to translate, if I have to translate it in polite Japanese.
I think it is because there are no expression in Japan.


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## Starfrown

Would it ever be appropriate to use the form なごうございました?


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## Derselbe

Is 長かったです　wrong grammar or is it just not idiomatic.
E.g. how about sentences like:

ここまでの道は長かったです。　or
ここまでの道は長かったですね。

Because I've been taught that the polite past of i-adjectives is ～かったです all along. Or am I confusing something?


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## wathavy

Starfrown said:


> Would it ever be appropriate to use the form なごうございました?


Yes.
But it is not heard in our daily life. It is hear in movies and heard from noble people than standard ones.


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## wathavy

Derselbe said:


> Is 長かったです　wrong grammar or is it just not idiomatic.
> E.g. how about sentences like:
> 
> ここまでの道は長かったです。　or
> ここまでの道は長かったですね。
> 
> Because I've been taught that the polite past of i-adjectives is ～かったです all along. Or am I confusing something?


Correct, I think.
You could also say, 
今日一日は長かったです。眠くて、眠くて、どうしたら起きていられるか、困りました。
It's been a long day, since I was so sleepy and I wondered how I could make myself awaken, it made me almost sick.


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## Wishfull

Derselbe said:


> Is 長かったです　wrong grammar or is it just not idiomatic.
> E.g. how about sentences like:
> 
> ここまでの道は長かったです。　or
> ここまでの道は長かったですね。
> 
> Because I've been taught that the polite past of i-adjectives is ～かったです all along. Or am I confusing something?


 
Hi.Derselbe.
ここまでの道は長かったです。　is OK.
The context is different.

And if I talk to another context,
彼女の髪は長かったです。　is still OK.
for the translation of "her hair was long."

The most important problem for me of the translation of "your hair was long" is the point that it is "the second person";you or your hair.
NOT her hair but YOUR hair!!
In this scenario, you're talking to the second person face to face.
You're talking in person.
(Or writing a letter or e-mail, or video letter.....)
 Anyway,
面とむかって言うときに、
（あなたの）髪は長いです。
（あなたの）髪は長かったです。
は、ネイティブの使う日本語ではないと断言できる、と思います。

ネイティブならば、
髪が長いですね。
髪、長いね。
(The translation of "your hair is long".)

髪、長かったろう。
髪、長かったよね。
髪きったの。もっと長かったよね。
(The translation of "your hair was long.")
と言うと思います。

I'm sorry if this forum is for the beginners.
I'm trying to covey my thought to the advanced learners.

In English, we can use the same sentence structure regardless "person".
"Her hair was long" and " your hair was long".
BUT
In Japanese, we have to choose the different sentence structure according to "person".

If you are a beginner, please forget about what I said.
I don't want you to confuse.
Don't worry. You will learn naturally, step by step, if you continue to study.


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## Wishfull

Starfrown said:


> Would it ever be appropriate to use the form なごうございました?



I imagine that is the style spoken by 芥川龍之介　or 岸朝子.
I agree with wathavy.
Some old women, especially noble person, might use it still today.
But ordinary, we don't.


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## Derselbe

Wishfull said:


> The most important problem for me of the translation of "your hair was long" is the point that it is "the second person";



This might actually be one of the rare cases where Japanese and western languages match.
The sentences "Your hair was/is long" is indeed a strange sentence because it implies that the person does not know his/her own hair's length. In such situation you would usually say 
"Hey did you cut your hair? Last time we meet it was longer, wasn't it?"

To me the sentence "You hair was long." would only make sense in a context like:

A: Hey, I forgot when I went to cut my hair. Do you know if I still had long hair in July or did I cut it before?
B: No, in July, you hair was long.

Aさん：　髪を切ったのはいつだったけ。7月にまだ長かっただろう。
Bさん：　そうです。7月はまだ長かったです。

Or something like this. But still it is a strange sentence, I agree.


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## lrosa

The context I imagined for "Your hair was long" was:

"We first met about three years ago, didn't we? *Your hair was long then*." I suppose you could say that the highlighted sentence is a little strange in the context, but it's not incorrect in any way. Maybe, though, you could say that the sentence is being addressed not so much to the addressee, but rather to the speaker himself, as a personal reflection. If this is the case, I can understand why Wishfull would have had a problem with 長かったです, since です is never used in the speaker's own personal reflections. 

Another context that sprang to my mind was of a voiceover in a film, where the main character speaks: "I first saw you across the dance floor in that dingy little club on X street. You were sitting alone under the pink lights. Your eyes were wide and innocent. *Your hair was long*."

In this context, what would be correct? 「あなたの髪は長かった」？ Is です not used in such voiceovers?


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## Wishfull

lrosa said:


> Another context that sprang to my mind was of a voiceover in a film, where the main character speaks: "I first saw you across the dance floor in that dingy little club on X street. You were sitting alone under the pink lights. Your eyes were wide and innocent. *Your hair was long*."
> 
> In this context, what would be correct? 「あなたの髪は長かった」？ Is です not used in such voiceovers?



Hi.
Thank you for your reply.
I would like to say, 「君の髪は長かった」, because the first person is a man in your scenario.
I think です is not used in such voice-overs. 
I think 敬語　or 丁寧語 is not used for self-reflection.


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## lrosa

Thank you for your reply, Wishfull. However, I think that the first-person here can also be a woman, even if it seems less likely


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## Derselbe

lrosa said:


> Thank you for your reply, Wishfull. However, I think that the first-person here can also be a woman, even if it seems less likely



I think that only matters for the question if he/she would use 君 or not - not for the question whether to use です or not.

However I still find it strange that it is okay to say the sentence as long as you don't use です. Oo


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## lrosa

Maybe what I was actually imagining was the speaker in the voiceover reading out a letter to this person with the long hair - after all, that would explain why the speaker is addressing this person as "you". So in this situation, where the speaker is reading a letter to his/her old lover, can it be natural to say "（君）あなたの髪は長かったです", since です is often used in letters?



Derselbe said:


> Aさん：　髪を切ったのはいつだったけ。7月にまだ長かっただろう。
> Bさん：　そうです。7月はまだ*長かったです*。



Wishfull, is this really not natural Japanese? Do we need to add よ at the end, or something?


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## Wishfull

Derselbe said:


> A: Hey, I forgot when I went to cut my hair. Do you know if I still had long hair in July or did I cut it before?
> B: No, in July, you hair was long.
> 
> Aさん：　髪を切ったのはいつだったけ。7月にまだ長かっただろう。
> Bさん：　そうです。7月はまだ長かったです。



Hi.
Now I think 7月はまだ長かったです is OK in this context.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
I wonder あなたの髪は長かったです　might be OK.
Gradually it became natural to my ear.
I think I've adapted to that expression.
・・・・・・・・・・・・
I　personally thought 長かった＋です　is very childish expression;「小学生の作文」.
It is easy to use です　in order to make a sentence politer.
But when it sounds unnatural, an adult tries to rephrase it.
Like
7月は、まだ長かったと思います。
7月は、まだ長かったと記憶しております。（too formal in this context)
・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Gradually my problem has changed from "second person" but to "adjective+ます”.
マリリンモンローは髪が長かったです。
マリリンモンローは意外と長髪でした。
マリリンモンローは長くて美しい金髪でした。
マリリンモンローは実は髪が長かったのです。

仲間由紀江は髪が長いです。仲間由紀江の髪は長いです。
This is grammatically OK, but I don't seem to read it in official documents, or newspaper article.
仲間由紀江は意外と髪が長いのです。
仲間由紀江は長髪です。
仲間幸江は長い髪をたずさえています。

雄ライオンのたてがみは長いです 
白雪ひめの髪はとても長いです
is OK because it is the description for children.

Sorry.
I don't want to confuse you.
It is me who was confused by myself.


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## lrosa

Wishfull said:


> I　personally thought 長かった＋です　is very childish expression;「小学生の作文」.
> It is easy to use です　in order to make a sentence politer.
> But when it sounds unnatural, an adult tries to rephrase it.
> Like
> 7月は、まだ長かったと思います。
> 7月は、まだ長かったと記憶しております。（too formal in this context)



I understand what you mean by this. Thanks for your detailed, helpful explanations, which could come only from a native!


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## Wishfull

Ｈｉ．
Sorry to bother you all, but I found another key.

A.仲間由紀江は髪が長いです  is wrong to me, but,
B.仲間由紀江*さん*は髪が長いです is OK.
or C.仲間由紀江は髪が長い is OK.

B is the correct polite expression. Both her name and verb are polite form.
C is correct plain expression.
A is wrong, because the name is not polite form but the verb is polite. There is no balance.

雄ライオンのたてがみは長いです is OK for a polite sentence, because we usually don't use polite form to non-human being.

雄ライオンさんのたてがみは長いです　might be OK for talking to children, but usually 雄ライオンさん　is unnatural.


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