OK, I simply must jump in for a moment. Excuse me...
>From: sacha ghozzi <ghozzis@...>
>
>Well japanese grammar is very different from ours. I m almost sure of what
>I say. Just...
>
> "tabete" I m not sure, but I know that other imperative forms come with
>"te" at the end! "Matte"
("wait!") I m sure for example, but once again, this may not be the form you
have in your list...
"Matte" is followed by a (sometimes understood) "kudasai" or some such verb
of request.
For instance 'setsunakute jurai jiken' (a distressing and cruel event). Or,
in the case of wife saying "Ne, anata, doresu katte mo ii?" (Honey, can I
buy a dress) it is more of a present present participle.
-te is not, per se, an imperative. When it is, it is because there is
another verb (like kudasaru) either spoken or understood, on which it
depends.
> ShiNDE iru= he is dying
(I can't imagine any native speaker EVER saying this. Some hotels don't even
have 4th floors). Iru indicates a changing state. While the translation is
good, shinde is NOT an (verb)ing sense.
> tabeRU is the infinitive, this I m 100% sure, but its also the present,
>you are right
Actually, there isn't an infinitive in the IE sense. You might say "taberu
koto" or "taberu mono" or just "taberu no", but in all three cases, taberu
is really more like an aorist preset (uh...I can't think of another way to
say it...but that is pretty close). A more literal translation might be "the
i-you-he-she-it-eats thingamabob". Remember, japanese "verbs" and
"adjectives" (quotes because the classes are not parallel) are often the
same things, at least for the native (non-chinese) forms.
>Somebody help us?
>
Hope that helps...
Exu
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