69245
Let's say I see a wallet on the ground and a person I suspect dropped it. In
English I would naturally ask" Excuse me. Is this your wallet?" A direct
Japanese translation would be"すみませんあなたの財布ですか" but time and time again I hear
that using "あなた" is rude. How then do I get around this in case the person a
complete stranger?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-03T12:29:26.383
69238
2019-07-03T16:18:26.280
30141
question
second-person-pronouns
How to ask if a dropped object belongs to someone?
Ask without あなた (Avoid direct translation).

Japanese expressions will work without the pronoun in one-to-one
conversations. If I actually saw a person dropped a wallet, then I would reach
the person and say in statement form:

> あの、すみません、財布おとしましたよ。  
>  Um, excuse me. [You] dropped [a/your] wallet.

Then again, if I _suspect_ the person dropped a wallet, or if I am not sure
who dropped it, then I would reach whomever I saw near by and say in question
form:

> あの、すみません、財布おとしましたか？  
>  Um, excuse me. Did [you] drop [a/your] wallet?

No need for the pronoun, use either the statement form or the question form.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-03T16:18:26.280
69245
2019-07-03T16:18:26.280
69238
answer