Japanese questions Options

[Mata]

I saw your username on the registration email and I just knew you'd be in this thread. Thanks for the info, as always. It's very interesting to know the details of the phrases that I'm learning!

[Pikasyuu]

i have fairly simple questions compared to all the sentence structure discussion here.

first of all, 'daijobu' confuses me a bit. i think daijobu means 'i'm alright' and daijobu yo means 'are you alright?', but i've seen it used in several different ways and the word is apparently very versatile. anyone know the rules on it?

second, yon being used as four. is it just another way of saying four, which i commonly thought was 'shi'? hmm.

[Apollyon]

i think shi is the original word for 4, but since it is part of the word for death, it is considered bad luck to use shi, and people have mostly switched to yon. Same goes for 7, which was originally shichi but now because of superstition is nana.

As for Daijobu, I have no idea.

[Tantei Sayumi]

i have fairly simple questions compared to all the sentence structure discussion here.

first of all, 'daijobu' confuses me a bit. i think daijobu means 'i'm alright' and daijobu yo means 'are you alright?', but i've seen it used in several different ways and the word is apparently very versatile. anyone know the rules on it?

second, yon being used as four. is it just another way of saying four, which i commonly thought was 'shi'? hmm.

Yes, both ways are for "four." "Shi" is the original Chinese pronunciation.

I would like to note that it's "daijoubu."
Yes, it can be used in different cases. It can mean "all right" physically, mentally, for a situation, for something non-human, and sometimes just as an expression, as in "Everything's all right").
Time to look at the kanji.
大丈夫
大 - big, a lot
丈 (take) - stature; measure; all (capability) + 夫 - husband (that is, male--men are supposed to be tough...) =
丈夫 (joubu) - sturdiness

Edit:
"Daijoubu yo" means "It's all right!," "He/she/you are all right!," or "I'm all right!" If you want to ask if someone's okay, say "(Anata/kimi wa) daijoubu (desu/da) ka" or just "Daijoubu?"

And for the superstitions about numbers--"ku" (nine) is also unlucky (as in "kurushii," painful). So is 13 (even though a lot of Japanese aren't Christian...). 8 is lucky (looks like a cornucopia).

[Cookieflair]

Oh wow! I just started to read this forum today it is really interesting! Is anyone fluent in japanese?

[Tantei Sayumi]

Oh wow! I just started to read this forum today it is really interesting! Is anyone fluent in japanese?

I am.

Only conversational level (like my Chinese :guilty:), though... :/
Maybe "textbook level"... or "helper/explaining level." XD Like in my last post. (LOL.)

[Cookieflair]

I think that is so cool! I am so envious of people who are bilingual (is that how to spell that?).
Did you learn from your parents or did you learn at school or something?

Then when you go to another country it wont be so daunting as you actually understand the train maps and street names!