Response to "Watashi wa nomu no ga suki, *demo*...."


How would you response to the "demo"? "I like to drink, but...." I was
thinking about: demo... ni? Like "But... what?




Japanese people often end sentences in this way in order to avoid giving a
reason for decisions or actions. This is part of the indirect nature of the
culture.

Here's an example sentence: 普通｛ふつう｝は肉｛にく｝を食｛た｝べないのですが。。。 "Normally, I don't
eat meat, but..."

The real meaning of this sentence is "Normally, I don't eat meat, but this
time, I will eat meat. I'm also not going to tell you the reason why I am
doing this, because either (A) I expect you can infer it from context, (B)
It's not important, or (C) I don't want to tell you."

Japanese very much allows for "soft" sentences like this where large amounts
of information are left out and the listener is expected to figure it out from
context. That's something you'll have to get used to when interacting with
Japanese people. It's a big part of the culture.

That is to say, most Japanese people would simply not press the issue, and the
conversation would end here.

For your question specifically, if you are friends with the person or you
really want to find out the reasons behind their decisions, the simplest
response would be でも・・・何{なに}？ Quite literally meaning, "But... what?"

In my experience, however, assuming I am friends with the person and I want to
get some more information, the more common response would be to finish the
person's sentence for them. でも・・・今回{こんかい}は飲{の}まない？"But this time, you're not
drinking?" This keeps the conversation going if you really want to probe for
the underlying reason.




Japanese people often end sentences in this way in order to avoid giving a
reason for decisions or actions. This is part of the indirect nature of the
culture.

Here's an example sentence: 普通｛ふつう｝は肉｛にく｝を食｛た｝べないのですが。。。 "Normally, I don't
eat meat, but..."

The real meaning of this sentence is "Normally, I don't eat meat, but this
time, I will eat meat. I'm also not going to tell you the reason why I am
doing this, because either (A) I expect you can infer it from context, (B)
It's not important, or (C) I don't want to tell you."

Japanese very much allows for "soft" sentences like this where large amounts
of information are left out and the listener is expected to figure it out from
context. That's something you'll have to get used to when interacting with
Japanese people. It's a big part of the culture.

That is to say, most Japanese people would simply not press the issue, and the
conversation would end here.

For your question specifically, if you are friends with the person or you
really want to find out the reasons behind their decisions, the simplest
response would be でも・・・何{なに}？ Quite literally meaning, "But... what?"

In my experience, however, assuming I am friends with the person and I want to
get some more information, the more common response would be to finish the
person's sentence for them. でも・・・今回{こんかい}は飲{の}まない？"But this time, you're not
drinking?" This keeps the conversation going if you really want to probe for
the underlying reason.

