prepositions in a Japanese sentence

[rayman.the.one.and.only1_498570]

So every time I go to write a sentence with the preposition 'about' in Japanese I freeze up because I can't figure out where to put the word 'yaku' in the sentence. For instance if I wanted to say 'I thought about my life' in Japanese I know the words I need to use 'watashi no jinsei', 'yaku' and 'omotta'
So my question is the preposition come before or after the noun? like would I write 「私の人生約は思った」 'Watashi no Jinsei wa yaku omotta' or would I write 「約私の人生は思った？」　'Yaku watashi no Jinsei wa omotta' Thanks for your help - Yoroshiku. ^_~

[mmmason8967]

I think 約 means "about" in the sense of "approximately", as in 約１０人, yaku juu-nin, about 10 people. I also think that 思う might be the wrong kind of thinking; it's more to do with believing or perceiving than with reflecting on something　(と思います ). The verb you probably want is 考える, kangaeru, to consider, to reflect on, to think about (so you don't need a word for "about" after all). The end result would be:-

私の人生を考えた。
watashi no jinsei wo kangaeta.

マイケル

[rayman.the.one.and.only1_498570]

Ok thanks that's weird cause when I looked Yaku up it said it could be either just like the english word about. Thanks though you wouldn't happen to know where prepositions do go in the sentence though (for future reference if I need to use a preposition.) arigato gozaimasu.

[mmmason8967]

Ok thanks that's weird cause when I looked Yaku up it said it could be either just like the english word about.

Well, I'm only a beginner and so not necessarily right about it.

I've got a Japanese dictionary (for Japanese schoolchildren) which gives three meanings for 約:-

（１）　ちかい。ちぎり。
　　　　chikai. chigiri.

（２）　短くちぢめる。
　　　　mijikaku chijimeru.

（３）　だいたい。およそ。
　　　　daitai. oyoso.

I understand these as (1) about in the sense of nearby (e.g. "I think she's about here somewhere"), (2) to reduce or distil (I think), and (3) about in the sense of approximately. That's the definition for 約 but the dictionary shows three other kanji pronounced やく, so I guess it's possible one of the other kanji might mean "about" in the sense of "concerning".

... you wouldn't happen to know where prepositions do go in the sentence though (for future reference if I need to use a preposition.)

Mostly straight after the nounｓ they modify, I think. You can find a nice set of examples at Time Sensei's site ==>.

マイケル

[rayman.the.one.and.only1_498570]

Ok thanks. ^_~