what does this japanese mean?

Question

watashi wa gakkoo de tabemasu
and whats the difference between

watashi wa gakkoo de tabemasu
and
watashi wa gakko de tabemashoo

thanks!
oh another question,
can you have two verbs in a sentence?
[ex. watashi wa gakkoo de tabemasu desu?]
jww.

Answer 1

"Watashi wa gakkou de tabemasu" means "I'm eating at school" or "I'm going to eat at school".



"Watashi wa gakkou de tabemashou" doesn't make sense as the "-shou" ending translates more or less to "let's ~verb". Thus, the sentence would translate to "I let's eat at school". Removing "watashi wa" (meaning "I") would make it "Let's eat at school".



"Desu" translates to "to be". It is the "is" or "are" verb used in most sentences. For example, "Watashi wa Mixi desu" meaning "I am Mixi". or "Kore wa isu desu" meaning "This is a chair".



It is also used by most young people to make sentences informal sentences polite. This is slang Japanese and is considered correct, but is not gramatically correct Japanese. It's like saying "I've gone to the store". It is accepted as correct English but the more grammatically correct form is "I have gone to the store".



An example of this is "Watashi wa gakkou ni iku desu" meaning "I am going to school". The informal/casual form is "Watashi wa gakkou ni iku" while the grammatically correct form is "Watashi wa gakkou ni ikimasu". By adding "desu" to the informal form it gives it a sense of politeness.



As for having to verbs in a sentence, this is possible. For example, "Watashi wa gakkou ni itte tabemasu" meaning "I will go to school and eat". This shows one action that follows another. "Iku" (to go) comes before "taberu" (to eat) to show the subject will "go" before "eating". The ~te form is used with the verbs that precede the final verb which is in infinitif form.



There is also ~nagara form which gives one verb being done at the same time as another. ie. "Watashi wa tabenagara gakkou ni ikimasu" meaning "I am going to school while eating".

Answer 2

watashi wa gakkou de tabemasu = I eat at school.



watashi wa gakkou de tabemashou = doesn't really make sense.



if you change the verb 'tabemasu' to 'tabemashou' it carries the meaning 'let's', i.e. gakkou de tabemashou = 'let's eat at school. But if you're saying that then you don't need the the watashi wa bit.. think about it in english.. something like "I let's eat at school". Doesn't make much sense.



Desu is not a verb.. it's a strange kind of word actually.. basically added on the end of sentences to make things polite. Becuase you used the fairly polite -masu form of the verb, you don't need desu as well. so either "watashi wa gakkou de tabemasu" or "watashi wa gakkou de taberu desu" is fine. Hope it helps.



Edit: to the answer below.. desu is neither the verb 'to be' nor gramatically incorrect. I can see why you could think it translates as that though, but actually it doesn't really have any meaning. It is not incorrect to use it. not trying to shoot your answer down or anything, just though it would be good to clarify.