# I know you are thinking about



## ballota

Hi,

Is there a phrase in kana and romaji I can learn to say "I know you are thinking about your (noun)", so I can just add friend/family/holiday etc as the noun?

Thanks in advance!


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## Wishfull

友達・家族・休暇のことを考えているんでしょう。
tomodachi/kazoku/kyuuka no koto wo kangaete irundeshou.
ともだち・かぞく・きゅうか　の　こと　を　かんがえて　いる　の　でしょう。
ともだち・かぞく・きゅうか　の　こと　を　かんがえて　いる　ん　でしょう。
ともだち・かぞく・きゅうか　の　こと　を　かんがえて　いる　の　ですね。
ともだち・かぞく・きゅうか　の　こと　を　かんがえて　いる　ん　ですね。


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## ballota

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. Is it possible to write 'kyuuka no koto wo kangaeteiru?', just like how 'i miss you' is anata no koto wo kangaeteiru?' What is the meaning of 'kangaete irundeshou'?

Thank you and sorry for the trouble!


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## Wishfull

ballota said:


> Hi,
> 
> Thank you for your reply. Is it possible to write 'kyuuka no koto wo kangaeteiru?',
> *→Yes, it is. Good!*
> 
> 
> just like how 'i miss you' is anata no koto wo kangaeteiru?'
> 
> 
> What is the meaning of 'kangaete irundeshou'?
> *
> "Kangaete iru-ndeshou?" is a polite version of "kangaete iru?"
> Both have the same meaning.*
> 
> Thank you and sorry for the trouble!


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## Nikoniko

Hello!!!

Since you were asking for the sentence 'I KNOW you're thinking about...',
I think a more literal translation could be:

あなたは家族のことを考えているってことわかっています
あなたは友達のことをかんがえているのがわかっています

In this sentences the last part WAKARU means 'I know'.

Wishfull's sentences are great too but for me the translation for these would be:

tomodachi/kazoku/kyuuka no koto wo kangaete irundeshou.
You're thinking of your friend/family/ holiday, aren`t you?

Maybe it has a different nuance???? :5


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## ballota

Hi,

I am not sure, but I will learn both. Thank you!


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## Wishfull

Nikoniko said:


> Hello!!!
> 
> Since you were asking for the sentence 'I KNOW you're thinking about...',
> I think a more literal translation could be:
> 
> あなたは家族のことを考えているってことわかっています
> あなたは友達のことをかんがえているのがわかっています
> 
> In this sentences the last part WAKARU means 'I know'.
> 
> Wishfull's sentences are great too but for me the translation for these would be:
> 
> tomodachi/kazoku/kyuuka no koto wo kangaete irundeshou.
> You're thinking of your friend/family/ holiday, aren`t you?
> 
> Maybe it has a different nuance???? :5


Good point.
Yes. What you said is correct, literally.

For learners, literal translation is a very important thing.
I agree.

My aim is beyond literal translation.
There are a lot of expressions to mean a certain concept.

In this context, the speaker guess what he/she is thinking about, by his/her attitude. Probably he/she doesn't focus on the speaker, and he/she seems to think something different. And the speaker wants to confirm that the guess that he/she thinks something different instead of the speaker is correct or not. And the speaker worries about him/her and maybe wants to offer any support.........
How do you describe such concept in your native tongue?

I think the preference, of which sentence structure should be chosen, differs in each language.
So literal translation sometimes sounds unnatural and awkward.

I don't think traditional Japanese has "I know~"-sentence-structure.
あなたは家族のことを考えているってことわかっています　is 翻訳体　or 翻訳口調.

I can understand the Japanese, but I think it is not traditional Japanese.
Native Japanese do not speak in such a way, usually.

In a process to learn a second-language, some awkward sentences might be necessary evil.


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## Nikoniko

You're right Mr. Wishfull.

The sentence I wrote is completely literal, long and a bit weird and maybe no one uses it in an ordinary conversation but I thought it would be a good idea to write it that way so that Ballota could understand the whole structure . 
I think the でしょう can express the idea of 'I know' because the person is asking for something whose answer he/she already knows, or that's what I infer from the sentence.

To be honest I didn`t think that structure was that weird, I was a bit surprised, but it's ok because whenever I write something in japanese I'm never sure if it's completely right or not because I'm not a native speaker  As you said, when people are learning a new language they tend to depend too much on literal translation. I think it's good in the beginning but the idea is to learn to think in that language and to talk the way a native would do it, naturally.

Thank you, I'll follow your advice from now on.


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## nhk9

The problem with a sentence like this is that the foreigner introduces the concept of seeing through the minds of another.  In Japan, that's usually not the case (although there are exceptions like miemie).  Notice how if you say "he wants to do something", the Japanese use "~tagaru" and not "~tai".  This is because the speaker can only say about something that he can see (such as the body language), and not anything about the mind of the person.


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## nhk9

To learn nuance differences like these, it's best to just read and read many NOVELS in Japanese


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