Ok your confusion is more than just particles. :) > denki ga tsuite imasu
the -te imasu is a progressive form to say you're doing something. the above means, "I'm turning on the electricity" In my previous post, I said, > > > denki wo tsukeru > > turning on the electricity. I thought you were trying to contrast 'ga' with 'wo'. This is not a proper translation because I don't believe the japanese sentence was proper. tsukeru is potential form of tsuku. any verb that operates on 5 bases (godan) can be converted to potential ichidan verb by taking the conditional base and adding -ru. tsuku -> tsuke (conditional base) -> tsukeru the japanese sentence above should've said: denki ga tsukeru denki ga tsukemasu which means "( I ) can turn on the electricity" > denki ga tsukete arimasu This isn't a proper japanese sentence. It should be denki ga arimasu. Which means "there's electricity" or literally, "electricity exists." arimasu is used only for inanimate things. For animate things, you use imasu. watashi no kanai ga imasu "there's my wife." This 'imasu' is not the same as '-te imasu' above. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/9rHolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese_Language/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
