Gomenasai

alnokta

As in the title .. anyone russian here?
I wonder if s/he could tell me what this word means? or it is even russian as the dictionaries I've found don't know it ... I will add the context in which I found this word in it.. I think it is a name or something but why will you use a name as a verb ? (i.e. Gomenasai till the end)
What I thought wasn't mine In the light Wasn't one of a kind, A precious pearl When I wanted to cry I couldn't cause I Wasn't allowed Gomenasai for everything Gomenasai, I know I let you down Gomenasai till the end I never needed a friend Like I do now What I thought wasn't all So innocent Was a delicate doll Of porcelain When I wanted to call you And ask you for help I stopped myself Gomenasai for everything Gomenasai, I know I let you down Gomenasai till the end I never needed a friend Like I do now What I thought was a dream An mirage Was as real as it seemed A privilege When I wanted to tell you I made a mistake I walked away Gomenasai, for everything Gomenasai, Gomenasai, Gomenasai, I never needed a friend, Like I do now Gomenasai, I let you down Gomenasai, Gomenasai, Gomenasai till the end I never needed a friend Like I do now

bigshow

Gomenasai is actually Japanese - it means "I'm sorry"

alnokta

Thanks a lot ..it was driving me mad!

bigshow

no worries :)

barl0w

And the words are actually "gomen nasai", as opposed to "gomenasai"

ごめんなさい = hiragana version.

alnokta

So 'gomen' means two words in Japanese "I" and "am"? By the way .. the hirgana? version seems very difficult...

barl0w

Actually no. Gomen means "sorry" and "nasai" is a modifier that basically says you are "humbly"; thus together it reads something like, "humbly sorry". The "I" and "am" are implied.

If you are interested in learning Japanese, I found it very helpful to also study hiragana. It was one of the first things I was taught, and it helped me visualize the words I was speaking and gave me a better sense of pronounciation (although I am _still_ working on that!). So here you can see the breakdown phonetically:

go = ご
me = め
n = ã‚“

na = な
sa = さ
i = い

It's actually quite fun and facinating. It also helps to know it when using a hiragana-based Japanese to English dictionary!

Anyhow - people learn different ways, and that is just what helped me in my case when I started out. It also helped a great bit to live there for many years and make many attempts to speak the language no matter how frustrating it got

Thanks!

Scott

Jazzman

Moshi moshi!