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I apologize if this question is too basic, but I was doing some beginner exercises on an app (no, not that app), and it marked this as incorrect:

あのアメリカ人はラーメンをフオークで食べていますね。

The correct order, it insisted, should be:

あのアメリカ人はフオークでラーメンを食べていますね。

However, on the linked video found on this question, both should technically be correct, right? Is the app wrong to mark it incorrect, or am I misunderstanding the flexibility of Japanese sentence structure?

If it's not technically incorrect, what would the first order imply or indicate that the second, which I gather is the standard order, wouldn't?

cmw
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    Both orders are correct. There can be small difference in emphasis. See https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/19433/, https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/91410/ – Arfrever Aug 06 '23 at 00:08
  • @Arfrever Thanks! I had searched for this topic, but I guess I didn't use the right search terms. I appreciate the links. – cmw Aug 06 '23 at 00:12

1 Answers1

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Both sentences are perfectly correct and natural as far as the word order goes. In this case, neither is more natural than the other.

But let me point out these:

  • It's フォーク (fork), not フオーク (fu'ohk).
  • ね is for light confirmation. If this sentence is more like "Hey, look at that American!", you should say this instead:

    あのアメリカ人はフォークでラーメンを食べていますよ。

naruto
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  • Thanks! The first was a typo (I'm actually not sure how to type ォ on Linux yet, but I will try to figure it out). The second is great to know, but unfortunately, I had to work with what the app had suggested. But your correction doesn't inspire confidence in the app now! – cmw Aug 06 '23 at 00:12
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    @cmw In software which I use, x + ... creates small characters (e.g. xo for ぉ/ォ, xtu for っ/ッ). – Arfrever Aug 06 '23 at 00:15
  • @Arfrever ありがとうございます！ – cmw Aug 06 '23 at 00:37
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    @cmw To input ォ by itself, you can use xo, but you can just use fo to input フォ. The small-o is typically used with フ, so it's worth remembering (and shouldn't be hard to remember). – naruto Aug 06 '23 at 00:39