quick question about the use of ni wa in my lessons

[jeffreymgibson]

I was listening to a Japanese Audio course and I came across something that somewhat confuses me.

mearii san ni wa mijikai desu. (the lesson translates to it's short for Mary.

I understand everything in the sentence perfectly except for the use of ni after Mary's name. I don't really understand what the ni is suppose to do in this sentence and the lesson doesn't explain it at all. If you took the ni out wouldn't it still mean as for mary, it's short. In case it matters, they are talking about how long she will be staying in japan for the sake of context. If anyone could explain the use of ni here, I would be gratefull.

Thanks,
Jeffrey

 

[~dreamer~]

The に is actually important in the sentence, and removing it completely changes its meaning. Here are two sentences that mean essentially the same thing (though different emphasis): it rains a lot in June. Notice the sentence pattern.

1. 雨は六月に多い with respect to rain, there's a lot in June
2. 六月には雨が多い in June there's a lot of rain

another, more complicated example
たくさんのボートと人は湾にいる。
湾にはたくさんのボートと人がいる。

In your incomplete example,
メリーさんには「日本に居座る時間が」短いです。
with respect to Meri, her time of stay in Japan is short

If you simply remove the に and say simply
メリーさんは短いです。
it means that Meri is short (that is, she has a low height)

 

[jeffreymgibson]

So far, the Japanese I've learned the more simple uses of NI such as direction marking and such. I thought I would study more about it and ni seems to be much more complicated that I had originally thought. I read that you are suppose to use Ni to mark an indirect object when it proceeds the direct object. That just seems so complicated because when I speak English, I'm not thinking about things like here comes an indirect object, I better mark it with ni. Can anyone recommend a good website or even a book that explains it in a more friendlier way. I've been to tons of websites, but most of them just provide definitions but don't really explain it in a way that's easy to understand.

 

[kainreaver]

1. 雨は六月に多い with respect to rain, there's a lot in June
2. 六月には雨が多い in June there's a lot of rain

Just to check if I understand this the right way,

In order to make it even simpler, Could we say something like this to prevent the use of に?:
六月の雨は多い
and for the initial example:
メリーさんの「日本に居座る時間が」短いです。

It should also means "the rain in june is heavy" even though the use of the の particle gives a stronger emphasis on how the rain we are talking about belongs to June.

 

[FinalPyre]

I am of the opinion that the first sentence sounds odd, but I think it works.

Second one looks fine.

 

[GlassNoodles]

Alright, I'm not the guy to be going to for Japanese advice, as I'm still learning my gana.

buut I figured I'd drop this here: according to the website I'm using to learn Japanese written by some crazy Chinese dude, に "can be translated into English to mean "in", "to" or "from" - or other prepositions depending on context."

Now I'm not sure if that is the only way it's used (or even correct) but that's what the site said. If I copied that down right anyway..

 

[~dreamer~]

@ GlassNoodles
There are several usages for the particle　に, which can be either fun or a pain, depending on how you see it. The one you're talking about is when you're referring to a place, and you're talking about motion or that someone lives in a particular place.
ex.
ドイツに行きたいと思います。I want to go to Germany.
ドイツに住んでいます。(I) live in Germany.

There's also the particle で, which is used when you're talking about action in a particular place.

ex.
図書館で勉強しました。I studided in the library
note that using に here is incorrect

It can also be used to expressess intention

ex.
海へ泳ぎに行こう。 Let's go swim at the beach.
(lit. Let's go to the beach in order to swim)

Now, に can also be combined with other particles, to form a combined particle with a completely different meaning.

@kainreaver yea, you could do that too.

@FinalPyre in retrospect it looks a bit strange, but is correct as far as im concerned. maybe because i used kanji instead of just number..?

 

[Kagomeko]

I was listening to a Japanese Audio course and I came across something that somewhat confuses me.

mearii san ni wa mijikai desu. (the lesson translates to it's short for Mary.

I understand everything in the sentence perfectly except for the use of ni after Mary's name. I don't really understand what the ni is suppose to do in this sentence and the lesson doesn't explain it at all. If you took the ni out wouldn't it still mean as for mary, it's short. In case it matters, they are talking about how long she will be staying in japan for the sake of context. If anyone could explain the use of ni here, I would be gratefull.

Thanks,
Jeffrey

メアリーさんは短いです。 → Mary-san is short. Short in time or length, not height. This sentence doesn’t make any sense.
The sentence is about Mary-san.

メアリーさんには短いです。 → For Mary-san (something implied) is short.
The sentence is not about Mary-san herself, but about something else, which in relation to Mary-san, is short.

*edit*

Wait… 2013?