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PublIC Llbr.ry 01
(. I nc I rln~tl Ha-nlltOII

Co

FIL

yourself

teach

Iapanese
CQ'!$gory

goal

all-around confidence

language

content • learn to speak and understand japanese • progress quickly beyond the basics • explore the language in depth

teach yourself

japanese

teach yourself

japanese
h. j. ballhatchet and s. kaiser

FOr over 60 years, more than 40 million people- have leamt over 750 subjects the- teach yourself Wc1/, with impressive results. be INhere you want to be with teach yourself

how 1.0use this book


For UK orner enquiries: please contact Bookpolnt Ltd, 130 Millon Park,Ablngdon, Oxon OX14 458. Telephone: +44 (0) 1235 82n2lJ. Fax: +44 (0) 1235 400454. Lines are open 09.00-18.00, Monday to Saturday, with a 24-hour message answering service. DetaIls about our Iltles and how to order are avallaille atwww.leacbyourstlltoc.uk For USA order enquiries: please contact McGraw-Hili Customer Services, PO Box 545, BIaEklick, OH 430M-lJ545, USA. Telephone: 1-800-722-4726. Fax: 1-614-755-5645. For Canada order enquiries: please contact McGraw-Hili Ryerson Ltd, 300 Water S~ Whitby, Ontario L1N 9B6, canada Telephone: 905 430 5000. Fax: 905 430 5020. Long renowned as the au1hotita1lvesource for se1f-guided learning - with more than 40 million copies sold worldwide - the teach YOIllS1lHseries incl udes over 300 "Hes In !he fields of languages, crafts, hobbles, business, computing and education. British Library Cataloguing in Publication DaJa: a calaIQ)lue record for th ~ title Is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Ca1JJ/og card NumMr. on file. Arst published in UK 1989 by Hodder Arnold, 338 Euslon Road, london, NW1 3BH. First published In US 1992 by Contemporary Books, a Division of the MoGraw-Hili Companies, 1 Prudential Plaza, 130 East Randolph Strem, Chicago, IL 60601 USA. This edition published 2003. The leach youmll name Is a registered trade mark of Hodder Headllne Ltd. Copyright © Isa9, 2003 H. J. BaUhatchet and S. K. Kaiser In U~ All rig hts reserved. Apart from any perm itted use under UK copyrightlaw, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, induding photocopy, recording, or any Information, storage and retrieval system, with out parmissi on In writing from the pubHsher or under licence fro m the Copyright UcensingAgency Umited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency limited, of 9{) Tollenham Court Road, London WH 4LP. In US: All rights restlrved. Except as perm itted under the United Stales Copyrig ht Act of 1976, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a daiabllse or ratrieyal system, without the prior written permission of Contemporary Books. Typeset by Transet Limited, CWentry, England. Ptinted ln Great Britain for Hodd&r Arnold, a division of Hodder Headline, 338 Eosion Road, London NW1 3BH, by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire. Hodder Headline's policy is to use papers thai are natural, renewable and rlJCYr.lnblu products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. Tho looolilll lind manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental reQuloll(JlI~of IIIII country of origin. Impression number Year 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 2009 2008 2lJ07 2006 2005

ix xii 1

introduction

01

kanal desu this is my wife basic Japanese sentences, introductions and forms of address, simple Questions, countries and nationality resularan wa loi clesu ka? is the restaurant far? questions about where thhlgS are, adjectives, everyday greetings shi di ga lakusan arlmasu ne haven't you got a lot of compact discs! there is and I have, arlmasu for objects and

02

13

113

24

imasu for living things, set phrases when entering

04

someone's house biflJ demo nomlmashO ka? sball we have a beer or something? 32 ordinary verbs, some new particles and more on wa, language for wining and dining

05

Rondon de kale

hikimashifa

I caught

a cold in London

44

past experiences, verbs of motion, time expressions, joining sentences, giviRg souvenirs,

06

feminine sentenee endlngs yube wa zuibL,ln nooda desha? you had quite

a lot last night, didn't you?


plain negative verb forms, uncertainty, probability and reason with plain forms, counting, telling the time, showing off!

56

vi
n

07

yakyu

mi nl iklmasen ka? won't you

a COlJr"Sef action, saying what you are o

3III ~
S'

come and see the baseball? 1urth eruses of parnc Ies, explan atary statements, public holidays

71 15 80

able or unable to do neru mae nikono kusuri robed clauses involving time (including when and before), must and must not, it ~eems and apparently, being ill in Japan
0

vii
1:)

nonde kud~

please take this medicine before you go

!
169

3-

08

jusu ga hoshii I want some juice wishes and requests, likes and dislikes, train journeys, informal speech and given names

S'

09

kono chairo no enpltsu wa ippon ikura desu ka? how much is one of these brown pencils? prices and costs per unit, counting items, colours, shopping

16 95
17

tetsudaHeagemashO ka? shall I help you? imperatives, indirect requests, 'giving' and 'doing' favours, addressing and referring to members of the family Suzuki-san wa hik6ki nl noriokure.so',desu it looks as jf Suzuki-san will miss the plane

184

10

biru mo wain mo reizoko nl Ireta? did you put both the beer and the wine in the fridge? uses of wa, ga and mo, linking nouns, entertaining guests

197

108

expressing intention and

convtctron, more

uses of the ·Ie form, indirect questions, more sentence endings with the idea of seems, airports and air-travel

11

Yamada-san ga matte im Yamada-san is wafting ccnnnous action, uses of the -te form of the verb, working In Japanese companies

118

18

irasJlIte Itadakemasen dashO ka? might you be able to come? honorific and humble speech, expressions of contrast and purpose, parties

.214

12

wareta n' ja nakute, watta n' desM? it didn't get broken, you broke it, didn't you? intransitive and transitive verbs, impersonal sentences with ·Ie aru, emotions. Japanese sound symbolism

133

19

moshi o-kane ga attara, Iglrisu e itte milal wa If I had the money, I'd like to go to Britain expressing hope and regret, another use of -te mo, various ways of sayjng only, the weather and the Japanese yearly cycle

231

the conditional, giving and requesting advice,

13

Jiru-san wa do omoimasu ka? what do you think, Jill? 144 reporting what people say, giving your opinion, asking how to say something in Japanese, more on the ·Ie form of vertis and the conjunctive forms of adjectives, marriages in Japan, congratulating people

20

Waseda ka Kelo

ukesaseru tsumon desu 247

we intend to get him to take the entrance exams to Waseda or Ke/o maklng or allowing people to do things, more in/out group expressions, a female way of ending sentences

14

watashi wa sorosoro kekkon shita h6 ga II desu I ought to be getting married soon forming the equivalent of English relative clauses in Japanese, allowing or recommending

157

viii

21

baku wa salfu 0 toraremashita

five had

s a
m
::!

my wallettaken
the passive and causative passive, another way of (}xpressing reasons, the police and crime in Japan

258

iii'

22

chotto tetsudatte yo won't you?

f}fIi'fJ

me a hand,

272
dialects and

informal Japanese, revision and expansion of Imownstructures, common insults appendix 1: numbers anil counting appendix 2: basic noun and adjeeUve forms appendix 3: basic verb fOnTIs appendix 4: basic -uverbpaHems

key to the exercises


blnts for further study Japanese-Engllsh expressl'ons Engllsb-Japanese structures vocabulary· vl)eabulary

290 292 294 296 297 306 307 323 326 339

You are advised to read the Inzroduction with care as it contains information that will be useful in learning the language, including an outline of how japanese sounds are pronounced. You may find it useful to keep referring back to it as you work through the first few units.

e
UJ
(I)
PIt-

Contents of a unit
Each unit starts with a brief description of what it contains.

Dialogues
Set in a wide variety of everyday situations, the dialogues (kaiwa in Japanese) form the core of each unit. They are generally divided into two or m.oresectio~s, each pre?eded by a few sentences to set the scene. For the first four units, these sentences are in English, and after that in non-conversational Japanese. This will provide you with an opporturu'o/ to develop an understanding of this style, too, and a basts .on which to go on to study written Japanese should you decide to do so.. English translations accompany the first two dialogues toea~e you into the Japanese text; thereafter, only new vocabulary IS given, with cross-references to explanations of Dewstructures and language and society information.

:::T UJ

_.
cO
~

Acknowledg:ements
We would like to thank Ms Tomoko Aoyama of the University of Queensland for her help and advice; responsibility far any mistakes, however, lies with- us.. . The publishers and authors would also like to thank the following for granting permission to reproduce material in this book; p. 72 Tokyo Yomiuri Kyojin Gun; p..93 Teito Kosokudo Kotsu Eidan.

True or false?
These serve to test your understanding of the dialogues; do Dot attempt them until you have a good grasp of the dialogue. If you find that your answer does not match the key. try working out where you went wrong by going over the dialogues again.

Structures
In order to get an idea of the points covered in a new unit, you may wish to read through this section first of all, but you will probably find it easier to look up structures as you are referred to them in the vocabulary boxes follow ing the dialogues. New .. structures are often given in pattern form: for example, A wa B desu (A is B). An explanation will foHow, telling you about things like the relationship between A and B, what kinds of words can be used in these positions, and how to form the negative of the new pattern. This approach is adapted here because of its suitability in illustrating differences in word order to Western students of Japanese. You will also see structures expressed in the form of, for instance, [noun] 0 kudasai please give me [noun]. Among other things, this is again useful for illustrating differences in word order between English and Japanese. When example sentences are very straightforward, we have not given an English equivalent.

beginning, as they lay the foundation for a good pronunciation - mistakes are difficlut to correct later on! When starting a new unit, it is perhaps best if you listen to the dialogue once or twice to get a very general impression of the new material. Theu you should read the explanation of what the unit contains, work out what the setting is (given in Japanese from Unit 5), and read through the vocabulary, Structures and Language and society sections before going back to the recording. Repeat this process until you have a good grasp of the new unit. Try to check your command of the new material by first speaking along with the recording, then stopping it at the relevant points to take over a dialogue part yourself. Do not attempt the true or false questions or the recorded practice material until you have mastered the new unit. Finally check your understanding by doing the exercises.

xi

Exercises and the Key to the exercises


The exercises (renshfi) provide you with an opportunity to produce your own sentences on the basis of structures mastered in the unit. Checking your results against the key will help you to identify any problems in your understanding of new structures.

Language and SOCiety


The language of a people is intimately connected with its social organization and way of thinking, customs and habits; these are especially imp.ortant for the understanding of a culture like that of Japan. which does not share a common heritage with the West. In this ~ection, various pieces of information relating to the way of life of the Japanese people are given, often in combination with phrases or expressions that will be useful in such situations. Attention is also drawn to uses of language and non-verbal behaviour (body language), enabling you to grasp the meaning implicit in the ways people react in the dialogues and acquire an insider's use of the language. '

Use of this course with the recording


The recording available with the course contains pronunciation exercises, the dialogues of all units, plus some practice material. Pay particular attention to the pronunciation exercises at the

o
e o

..,
:l

r+

... _. o

c.

sentence may consist of a verb only (mita can mean 1 saw him/her/it etc.), It is therefore fair to say that Japanese depends more on the context than English. Word order differences deserve special attention in the Japanese equivalents to English relative clauses and comparative sentences. Thus, Yesterday I saw a man who had red· trousers turns out something like the following in Japanese word order: Yesterday red trousers had man saw. He is bigger than I usually has the order of he ~han.1 bigger is. Note, however, that except for the verb (which is Iways at the end of a sentence), Japanese word order is more flexible than English word order. Japanese is not a difficult language to learn, especially at the basic level. To begin with, pronunciation is easy, which makes it eminently suitable for self-study. The language is best suited to explanation based on sentence patterns or 'structures'; these are especially useful for the learner since new sentences can often be formed simply by substituting other words or expressions. This is possible because in Japanese you need not worry about making words agree in terms of distinctions between masculine/feminine Or singular/plural as in languages such as French or German. New structures are listed in the vocabulary after each dialogue with a cross-reference if a further explanation is given.. The following abbreviations are used: S = Structures, 15

xiii

i
D.
C


:;I

Particles
Relationships between parts of speech, which in English and other European languages are indic~ted by mean: of. cas,e endings or prepositions, are expressed m Japanese by particles', which are attached directly after the word they mark .. In the structure notes this is indicated as, for instance [place] e to [place], which gives three pieces of information in ~s instance: (l) e is equivalent in meaning to to; (2) to comes 10 front of a noun in English whereas e is attached after the noun in Japanese; and (3) the noun used with e in this structure mdicates a place.

Speech levels
Japanese uses different forms of verbs (and, occasi~nally, other words) for formal and informal levels of speech. Units 8, 16 and 18 specifically deal with this, but relevant information is given in various other places too, as this is an area that requires special attention from English speakers.

= Language

and society.

Japanese compared with European languages


Japanese is unrelated to Indo-European languages, so naturally there are a number of basic differences. It will facilitate your study of the language if you keep such differences in mind; you should therefore read the following with .special care.

Writing system
The system of romanized script used in this book 1S usually called the modified Hepburn system, which is better suited for English speakers than the kunrei system officially used in japan. although the differences are not great. A few words on the nature of the Japanese writing system may be useful for the learner: japanese is written in a mixture of Chinese characters (imported some 1,500 years ago) or kanji, as they are called in japan, and kana, two syllabaries derived from kanji. Roughly speaking, kanji are used for those parts of ~e language that convey meaning, while hiragana (the cursive

Word order
In English, verbs precede their objects (I saw 0. man), but in Japanese they normally follow their object, coming last in a sentence. Subjects (1.in the English sentence above), and even objects (man) are often optional in Japanese, 0 a Japanese

.xiv

g:
::I

variety of kana) are used for elements indicating the {unctions of words. (particles, tense-endings and such like). The second, square-looking set of kana (katakana) is used in a way akin to our italics to give prominence to words. Katakana are particularly common for words of Western origin (for words of Chinese provenance, kanji are, of course, used), words depicting a sound (Japanese has a rich inventory of these - see Unit 12), and, traditionally, the texts of telegrams. H you want to learn more about the Japanese script, look out for Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Script, which will give you a step-by-step introduction to reading and writing simple Japanese.

consonants, which are either used to double the consonant (other than n, m) in a non-initial syllable (to-te-me -+ to-t-te-mo), or 'syllabic -n', which is used to double the consonants n and m, but also occurs at the end of another syllable or between other syllables without doubling them: sa-~, sa-n-kai (~ee the section on consonants below for pronunciation of syllabic -0). The following table contains the basic Japanese syllable structure:
vowel consonant + vowel a i
D

xv

syllabic -n
ta da na ha
ill

Ita

ga
gi

sa

za

pa

ki
leu
ke ko

shi ji gu su zu
se ze

chi
tsu

Pronunciation and syllable structure


The impression created by the sounds of Japanese on Western ears, often described as 'monotonous' or 'staccato', is largely caused by a combination of two factors: there is no dearly perceivable stress on sections of words or sentences, and syllables are uttered at equal length and speed. YokoHAAma or SuZUUki ace English versions of Japanese words that sound quite different in the original, which, in careful pronunciation, is more like Yo-ko-ha-ma and Su-zu-ki, without any section lengthened or stressed. (However, see p. xviii about Japanese accent.) These segments are, in fact, Japanese syllables.

e
0

ge go

re
to

so

zo

mu yu ru nu de ne he pc be me re do no ho po bo mo yo co

hi pI bi fu pu bu

ba rna ya ra rni ri

wa

-n

consonant + glide + vowel kya gya sha ja

kyu gyu shu ju


kyo gyo sho jo

cha rou cho

nya hya pya bya my a nyubyu pyu byu rnyu nyohyo pyo byornyo

rya ryu ryo

Vowels
Japanese vowels are pure and clipped; the strong contraction of the throat that takes place .at the beginning of English words starting with a vowel is almost unnoticeable in Japanese ".Loog vowels have the same quality as short ones; they are Simply longer in duration. '

Short and long syllables


Japanese differentiates between long and short syllables, and in order to make yourself understood it is vital that you distinguish these carefully in your pronunciation; aU syllables in the above examples happened to be short, but this is not so, foe instance, in the placenarnes Tokyo and Kyoto, which may be cut up into To-o-kyo-o and Kyo-o-ro. In slow, careful pronunciation a long syllable takes twice as tong to pronounce as a short syllable (although at higher speeds the ratio is more like 60% longer). A short syllable in Japanese may be regarded as a basic unit of pronunciation.

Consonant.s
Most consonants are similar to English consonants, although k, g, s,Z, t, d, p and b are all pronounc~d without .the noticeable puff of air that accompanies the English sounds ":"'- ccentuated a position. Special attention is needed for the syllabic -n, As the consonant in a consonant + vowel combination (na erc.), n causes no difficulties, however, syllabic -n requires some attention as its pronunciation changes according to the sound following it: • Before p, b, m it is pronounced m: an-pi [pron, ampi) an-bai (pron. amhai) an-rna (pron. amrna)

Syllable st.ructure
A Japanese syllable consists of a vowel alone (a, i, etc.), a combination of a consonant + vowel (e.g. ka, tal, or consonant + glide + vowel (kya, cha); these syllables can in principle be lengthened by doubling the short vowel. There are no syllabic

xvi

• •

i
D. C

Before t, [51 d, n, ch, j it is pronounced n. (the same sound as in na etc.): antei, annal, encho Before k and g it is pronounced ng (as- in English singer): ginko,shingo Before all other sounds, or at the end of a word, it is pronounced as a nasal n, This sound is like the nasal French 'Jean', but as it constitutes a separate syllable in Japanese the preceding vowel is not nasalized. "Before vowels and y. this syllabic nasal is marked by an apostrophe to distinguish it from the n in na, no, etc. Compare the following pairs: kani kana
kanyu

(yes),) Pronounce the following

sets of words with long and


seiki (NB pronounced sekil

short vowels: asa kita sulci asa kiita saki seki loko koko

xvii

!l
0o

koko

Whispered vowels
In Standard Japanese, which is based on the Tokyo dialect, a short i or u occurring between unvoiced consonants (k, s, t, h, p) becomes unvoiced too, making it scarcely audible (like a

kan'i kan'6
kan'yu

Syllable combinations to watch


Sound combinations that are difficult todistinguish speakers include the following: • for English

whisper), or even k{i)sha sh(i)ki ch{i)kara h(i)koki p{i)ttari

appearing to be totally absent: train k(u)sa grass the seasons s(u)koshi a little strength ts(u)ki moon aeroplane f(u)ton futon exactly p(u)rin pudding (creme caramel)

kiya versus kya etc. Whereas ki-ya is a combination of two syllables pronounced consecutively, kya is a single syllable. Pronounce the following pairs: kiyaku kyaku biyoin byoin shiy6nin shonin riyaku ryaku jiyuka jiika riyoshi ryoshi Single versus double consonants Doubling means 'holding' the consonant fat a syllable's length. Compare the following pairs: a-ka Ma-sa-o ma-ra i-chi
Despite

Unvoicing of the same vowels often takes place at the end of a word as we1l, although it is optional: h(i)tots(u)lh(i)totsu £(u}tats(u)/f(u)tatsu ntitts(u)/mittsu yotts(u)/yottsu its(u)ts(u)/itsuts(u) ikimas(u) Hade des(u) one two three

four
five

1 (etc.) go. This is (Mr) Herd.

a-k-ka ma-s-sa-o ma-t-ta i-t-chi

a-na a-IDa ta-ne-n

a-n-na a-n-rna ta-n-ne-n

Foreign words
Japanese has a large stock of words that were originally introduced from China, the so-called Sino-Japanese vocabulary. Many terms associated with modern technology, such as demva (telephone) and hikoki (aeroplane) are of Chinese coinage. The bulk. of Sino-Japanese words) however, were brought to Japan long ago and may be said to playa role comparable to words derived from Latin or Classical Greek in present-day English. For example the difference in usage found between English words such as to begin/to commence or of the flight/nocturnal has its parallels in expressions like hajimerulkaishi suru and yoru no/yakan no? the second word being used in formal language or as a technical term.

the spelling convention, tch represents simply a doubling of ch.

Single venus double vowels Recall that a double vowel is a syllable longer. In the romanization used in this book, macrons are used over the short vowel for doubled a (a), a (0) and u (u), whereas the double e-sound is written ei, and double i, ii. (In loanwords from English and other Western languages, however, e and i are used; e is also used for the few items where ee occurs in japanese spelling, such as e

~
c:

.a:

0.

In the wake of the impact of West em civilization on japan, there has been an influx of words from European languages like Dutch, Portuguese and German over the past few centuries (e.g. pan. bread from Portuguese; biro., bl'!et from Dutch; and karate, (patient's) card from German), but since the Second World War foreign loanwords have been taken almost exclusively from American English. It is important to make a habit of pronouncing these in the Japanese w.ay, if communication is not to be seriously impaired. For example, suteki steak konpyiita computer supIka loudspeaker Often shortened forms are used:
biru building dejikame digital camera

Particles attached to these W01'ds will be at the same level of pitch as the last syllable. Different endings attached to verbs and adjectives may bring about a change in acce':lt (although the younger generation now tends to leave the adjacent accent on the same syllable), for examples
ta ra shi a- -_.. -i

xix

a a
0.

c:

is new

a- .

ta-ra- ..

a o
.:::1

shi-ka-t-ra

was new

Many English-type expressions are actually coined in Japan, often using truncated forms of English words in new combinations (pansuto 'panty stocking', i.. panty hose). e. Loanwords are generally adapted to Japanese syllable structure and sounds by inserting vowels between consonant dusters and after final consonantsc Christmas ku-ri-su-ma-sn lamp ranpu mat ma-t-to Tom Tomu Exceptions are words or names ending in -n and ~tz.g, which become (nasalized) -n in Japanese:

the Japanese accent may be said to provide a natural sentence melody rather than distinguish items-of vocabulary; failure to apply it correctly will not normally impede communicati~n. While the higher/lower relations are. almost exactly opposite between Standard Japanese and the dialects of Western Japan, this does not greatly seem to impede mutual understanding. In this boek, no accent markings are given, but many dictionaries indicate the accent of individual vocabulary items according to various systems .. Although accent will differ greatly by area in Japan, do try to attempt to develop an ear for the subtle ups and downs in the speech of native speakers when~ver you have the chance: this will give your Japanese the final

polish.

Jane
tongue

Jen

tan (in food sense, used at the butcher's,

in restaurants, erc.)

There are some syllables (not contained in the table') that are restricted to use in Western loanwords, such as je Gen, Jane) and ti (ti, tea).

de

ji ka me (wrttte n in kalaka ha)

a ta ra shl i (written in hil'tlgana)

Accent
The Japanese accent consists of differences in pitch, that is to say somesyllables are relatively higher or lower than others. To our ears, these differences are rather slight in comparison to the quite marked stresses of English, and therefore difficult to pick up. Below are some examples of Standard Japanese accent (in dialects, you will often hear different accents for the same words): Kyo-o -to Y.o~ko-ha-m:a .-ho NI -n
sa

List of people in this book


The Herd family Tom Herd, a middle-aged British businessman in charge of the

Tokyo end of a European trading company; Jill, his American wifewho teaches English at a Tokyo language school; Ken, their sixteen-year-old son, attending an international school in Tokyo.
The Anzai family Anzai-san, Tom Herd's dentist, a middle-aged Japanese; his wife, currently engaged in looking after the family full-time;

-yo-o-na

-ra

xx

f
o

Michiko-san, their sixteen-year-old daughter, attending a Tokyo high school; Taro-knn, their ten-year-old son, attending a Tokyo primary school. Yamada-san,
twenties,

go
:I

Tom Herd's secretary, a woman m her late

Tanaka-san, a former pupil of employee in her early twenties.

Jill

Herd. a female company


I

Suzuki-san, a senior employee of Yamanaka Maketingu, a Japanese firm based in Sendai, a middle-aged man who is a long-time business associate of Tom Herd. (This list is given to clarify the sex, age, status and interrelationships of the various characters in the book, since this affectstbe sort of Japanese which they use to each other.]

J\
Ha
~~ An

t"
do zai

~A
To

~)V
J!

?- /'
Ke n

mu

ru

r+

Jir
Michl ko

~a~

zr
(f)

tlJ83
Varna da

83er
Ta

naka

~*
Suzu
Id

Ta

rO

-"
en
--+0

'<
CD

m 3 ::l m ~. _.
~

a
LS
5 lit.

Symbols and abbreviations


This indicates recording.
Structures

that the following

section is on the

language and society literally

C. CD til C

In this unit you will learn • how to fonn some basic Japanese sentences • how to introduce and address people • how to identify things • how to ask simple questions • how to talk about countries, nationality, etc.

DDialogues
Tom Herd and his wife have gone into a Tokyo coffee shop. Tem thinks he recognizes someone sitting at a table reading a newspaper.
Tom Anzai Tom Jill Anzal Tom Jill Tom Anzai Tom Jill Anzai Tom Jill ala
To kyo

Elgo English (language) - LS4 sense.i teacher· ~ so desu that is so (sentence] k.a? - $2· Iglrisujln British (person) [sentence] ne - 83

okusan /your/his) wife [noun] mo - S4 Tlelle no de wa arimasen negative of desu AmerikaJln Amerl~n (person)

3 g
iif
iii'
'<

o ......

Shitsurei desu ga ... A, HMoooSan!Shibaraku desu ne. (to Anzai) Sensei (gestures in Jill's dlrectiof)) - kanai desu. Jlru to rncshlmasu. Hajimete a-me nikakarimasu. Anzai desu. Hajimemashite. Anzai-sensei wa baku no ha-isha-san desu. Doza yaroshiku.
Excuse me, but ... Well, Herd-san! It's been some- time since we've met. Sensel- my wife. My name is Jill. How do you do. I'm Anzai. How do you do. Anzai-sensei I's myde-ntist. Pleased to meet you. [noun] wa - S1 shlbaraku desu ne • Unl.t 2 LS2 boku I boku no (noun] my {noun] (used by men only) . [noun] no [nounl - S6 ha-Isha dentist (ha tooth + isha doctor) dozo yoroshlku • LS1

True or false?
t Anzai-sensei wa T omu-san no ha-isha desu, 2 Jim-san wa Eigo no sensei de wa arimasen. J Jiru-san wa Igirisujin desu .

a
Jill

o ......

They all get up to go, leaving the newspaper on the table. Tom notices an umbrella on the floor and picks it up ..
Tom Anza] Anzal Tom Annl Jill Anzai

(to Anzai) Kore wa sensei nokasa desu ka? Hal, watashi no desu. DOmo. Shlnbun mo sensei no desuka? lie,. sore wa watashi no de wa arimasan,
fsn'tthis your umbrella? Yes, It's mine. Thanks, Is the newspaper yours too?
No, that's not mine.
this. 55 domo thanks

weill, ahl [namel-san form of address

.LS2

sensei kanai

(here) form of address

J,

- LS2

desu

(my) wife - LS2 is - 51

k.ore

kasa

umbrella

Jlru to moshimasu. Hajimete o-me ni kakarimaslI.f H"Jlmemashite. • LS1

hal 'yas watashl /; watashl no [nOlln] my {noun} (used by both

shlnbun newspaper sore that (by you)

men and women)

Tom and
Tom Anzal Tom Tom Anzal Tom

Jill

join Anzai-sensei, and they talk a little.

Kanat wa Eigo no sensei desu.

A, sO desu ka. Hado-san walgirislIjin dssu ne. Okusan rno Igirisujin desu ka? lie, Igirisujin de wa arimasen. Amerlkajin desu. My wife Is « teacher of English/English teacher. aht is that so? You're (a) British (person) aren't you, Herd-sen? Is your wife British too? No, she isn't British. She ~s(an) Amen"can.

Tom and Jill then take Anzai-sensei to a special fair of imported goods which Tom. has helped to organize at a nearby exhibition centre.
Arlzai Jill Anzai Jill Anzal Jill Anzai Sore wa doko no chizu desu ka? Korn· desu ka? Kore wa Furansu no chTzu desu. Sore kara, are wa nan desu ka? A, are wa Igirlsu no jamu desu, Nan no jamu desu ka? Ichigo no jamu desu. Zenbu tabemono desu ka?

.-

'~

l'

4 g

Tom
Anzal Anzal

A.

lie, so de wa arimasen yo. Hera, arel Rorusu-roisu desu ne.

ii"

Jill
Anzai

~
ID

Jill
AnzaJ

Jill
AnzaJ

0
~

Tom Anzai

Where is that cheese from? Do you mean this cheese? This is cheese fro m France/ French cheese. And then, what Is that? Ah. that's jam from Britain/BritIsh Jam. What sort of jam is It? ft's strawberry jam. Is it all food? Oh no, that's not so. Look at thatl Why, ft's a Rolls-Royce.! Jamu jam Ichlgo strawberry zenbu all tabemono food horal lookl {informal w ayof getting someone to 10ok at something)

The negative equivalent of this pattern is formed by replacing tlesu with de wa arimas en. Alternative forms are ja arimasen, de wa nai dcsu,and ja nai desu. All are commonly used and you should be able to recog mze them. . I

..

Kore Watashi.

wa
wa

kasa

dewa
arimasen.

Am erikajin

dewa arimasen.

This is not an umbrella.. 1 am not (an) American.

Furansu France doko? where?/what place? do~o no (noun) [naun) af what place chizu cheese are that (over there) nan? what? Igirlsu Britain

Whcn [A] wa is underst ood, it is frequently omitted to avoid unnecessary repetition. F or example, see the following sequence nf sentences, both statem ents about A, with warashi wa omitted III the second sentence:
Wataslu wa Amerikaji10 de wa arimasen. Igirisuj in desu, I am not (an) American.

I am British.

2 The question particle ka?: A wa B desu ka?


>

True or false?
4 Anzai-sensei no shinbun desu ka? Hai, so desu, 5 Doko no chizu desu ka? Amerika no chizu desu, 6 Nan no jamu desu ka? Ichigo no jamu desu,

A statement of the type seen in 1 can be made into a question hy attaching ka? to the e nd of the sentence. In speech, questions rre normally accornpani ed by rising intonation similar to that used in an English questi on. (Note that no change in word order
IS

necessary in Japanese,

unlike English.)

Sensei wa Amer.ikajin desu. Sensei wa Amerikajin d:esu ka?

The teacher is (an) American. Is the teacher (an) American?


a,s it

Structures
1 A wa B desu A is B
the particle WI

This type of question is often called a 'yeslno question', calls for an answer beg'inning with yes (hai) or no [iie).
Hai, (sensei wa) Arne rikajin desu, lie, (sensei wa) Ameri ikajin de wa arimasen.

Things or persons are identified in Japanese by using this pattern, which means A is B. The particle wa marks th e thing-or person (A) which is identified by means of B; desu (is) then completes the sentence. Kore
Watasbi Sensei wa wa .kasa Igirisuiin Amerikajin

IA] wa

will again be a mitred in an answer.

the particle 1m

3 Thesentence-fi nal particles yo and ne


Both of these are attac hed to the end of sentences to provide emphasis. Yo is used to alert the listener to the situation indicated by the sentenc e to which yo is attached, very much like an exclamation mark in English (the intonation in Japanese can be either rising, as in a question, for weak emphasis, or falling, but not as much as in E nglish, for stronger emphasis):

wa

desu, desu, desu,

This is an umbrella. I am Britts h. The teach er is (an) American.

,
- .....

:.~

Watashl desu yo. Kore wa jamu desu yo. So ja arimasen yo.

It's me! This is jam! Oh no (that's not so)!

rhus, if you enquire .about an item that is on the salesperson's "Ie of the sales counter you would ask: Sore wa nan desu ka?
What is that? (lit. That is what?)

Ne is used to solicit agreement from the listener, rather like isn't it in English (intonation can be slightly rising, or falling; especially in its lengthened form ne). Kore desu ne, Okusan wa 'Igirisujin de wa anmasen ne.
You mean (it is) this (one), don't you? Your wife isn't British, is she?

Ir the salesperson wants to confirm which item you referred to hy sore, he might sometimes point at it [or pick it up) and ask
1 hI' k~

----~
(You mean) this one?

Kore desu ka?

Combining nouns with no: A wa X no B desu


Nn can be used to extend our basic pattern A wa B desu, \ :mnpare the followings pairs of sentences.
Kore

......
C)

4 The particle mo: A wa B desu. C mo B desu


Consider once again our basic pattern:
Yamada-san wa sensei desu, Mr Yamaaa is a/the teacher.

o ......

Kotc
K rnai K(mai
Kore Kore

wa wa wa wa wa wa

Igiri su

no

jamu [amu sensei

desu. desu. desu, desu,


desu,

This is [am. This is British


jam. My wife is a

If you want to go on to substitute another person, C, for A, wa is replaced by rno (too. also). YOu can make this statement into a question by adding ka?
Watashi Okusan rno .mo sensei sensei desu, desu ka?

Rig 0

no

sensei

My wife is an
English teacher. This is an umbrella. This is my umbrella.

teacher.

kasa wat ashi

r am

a teacher, too. Is your wife also a teacher?

no

kasa

desu.

The answer to the question could be the following: Hai, (kanai rno) sensei desu. lie, kanai wa sensei de wa arimasen. Note that with the answer Yes, the repeated LA] mo is optional; when the answer is No, [A] rno cannot be used and it is usual to give [A] wa.

5 Words used to point at things (or sometimes persons) Where we use the words this or that in English, Japanese has
three words - kore, sore and are: Kore for items closer to the speaker than the listener: this Sore for items closer to the listener than the speaker: that Are for items at a distance from both: that over there

In the second sentence of each pair, the noun (X) before no is providing further information about the noun after no. No can join any two nouns, leading to various English equivalents depending on the types of nouns involved: Where X stands for a person, no will indicate either ownership, ifB is a thing, or, ifB is a person too, it will indicate n personal relationship between X and B: Watashi no Rorusu-roisu My Rolls-Boyce Tomu-san no sensei Tom's teacher (it might help you to get used to the wor~ orde~ if yon ~ of no as equivalent to's in English, though its use J.S much wider.) b If the first noun is a place noun, it shows. the place of origin of the second noun Furansu no jamu Igirisu no kasa
French jam An English umbrella

c If X IS any other type of noun, it will describe the contents or make-up of B where B is a thing, or B's area of specialization where i.t is a person: Nihongo no shinbun Ichigo no jamu Eigo D.O sensei A Japanese newspaper Strawberry jam A teacher of English

Again using the list, produce sentences in a similar order plying what each person teaches. (Assume that they all teach

III ir respective native languages.)

Example: Hido-san wa Eigo no sensei desu. Here are some more of the teachers: Mexico [ohn Brown Australia Pablo Torres Ka rl Schmidt Austria l'rnduce pairs of sentences similar to the following examples, m,lng first wa, and then mo. Example: Yamada-san wa Nihongo no sensei desu. Tanaka-san rna Nihongo no sensei desu . b
II

o ......

The difference between a, b and c becomes clearer when A wa X n~ B desu type sentences become information-seeking questions. The place of X is taken by the questions words dare? (who?)., doko? (where?), and nan? (what?), becoming respectively dare no? (of who. whose), doko no? (from where, where from), nan no.? (of what): a b
c

o ......

KOI:ewa dare no kasa desu ka? Whose umbrella is this? Kore wa doko no jamu desu ka? Where is this jam from? (lit. This is jam from where?) Yamada-sensei wa nan no sensei desu ka? What does Mr Yamada teach? (lit. What I"S Mr Yamada a teacher of)

Hade-san Gureza-san
Santosu-san

t At the trade fair there are also the following items: German l 1meras, Italian handbags, British umbrellas, and strawberry rcc-cream. Complete Anzai-sensei's questions and Jill's replies.
Anzal

In the case of a and b only, and where the second noun (8) is not a person, 8 is commonly abbreviated where-understood: Talking about cheese: Talking about umbrellas: Kore wa Furansu no desn, Sore wa watashi no de wa
anmasen,

JUI Anital Jill


A,nzal
Jill Anzai

Exercises
You will need to read through the Language and society section before working through exercises 1, 2, 3 and 5. Here is a list of some of the teachers employed at the language school where Jill Herd works, giving their names and countries of origin;
Michel Barre Jill Herd Lucia Verde

Jill Tom
Michel

Sore wa (a) no kamera desu ka? (b) desu ka? (c) __ no desu. Are wa Igirisu (d) handobaggu desu ka? lia, (e) wa Igirisu (1) handobaggu (g) . Itaria no (h) _ Kasa (I) l!aria no desu ka? lle.Rasa wa Igirisu U) desu. Sore wa (k) no aisukurTmu desu ka? (I) alsukurirnu desu.

S Give the japanese equivalent for this conversation.


This is my French teaoher.
My name is Barre. How do you do. I'm Tanaka. How do you do. Mr Tanaka is a GenTIan teacher. Pleased to meet you .

France America Italy

Helmut Glaser MaXun


Carla Santos

Germany Spain China

Tanaka Tom Michel

Language and society


1 Introducing people
As you will have noticed from the conversation passage, the (A wa) 8 desu pattern is used for introductions: Kanai desu. This is my wife.

1 Using this list as a basis, complete the following to produce

sentences giving the nationality of each teacher. Example (rei): Hade-san wa Amerikajin desu. a Barn-san d Berud -san b Gureza-san e Ma-san c Santosu-san

This may be preceded by the name of the person to whom B is being introduced, just as we say in English: Tom - meet my wife.

Tomu-san - kanai desu,


In reply, the set phrase hajimemashite (or its more formal equivalent bajimete a-me ni kakarimasu, both literally meaning 1 meet you for the first time) is used bY' the person introduced, normally afrer repeating his/her own name. Jim desu, Hajimemashire, Jim to moshimasu, Hajimete a-me ni kakarimasu,

Okusan is another wor.d that can be used for both address and r( ference. Depending on who is being addressed (the wife herself 01' her husband), the following sentences can have two meanings: Okusan wa sensei desu ka.r

Are you.a teaeheri! Is yor,Jrwife a teacher?

I am Jill. How do you do. My name is Jill. How do you do.

Alli a question about a third person it could also mean Is his wife teacher? t )kusan clearly incorporates -san, Just as -san cannot be used to
II

refer to members
II

of one's

husband with reference to his own wife. Kanai is used only

i'amily, so oknsancanaot

be used by

......
40

The phrase dozo yoroshiku can be used after hajimemashite etc., or in its place; it may also be used to reply to the introduction. The above expressions are accompanied by bows (where Westerners are involved, often handshakes and bows). Between professional people of any kind, an exchange of narnecards (meishi), which are again tendered with a bow, is extremely common; such people are advised to have namecards made, preferably with a Japanese version of their name and position on one side and the English on the other.

when talking about one's own wife, although it, too, would not he used by a husband when addressing his own wife directly . Fur this purpose he would use his wife's given name (often without -san), omae (you there). or perhaps kimi (intimate you), while wives generally call their husbands anata (you).
hi Japanese,

.....
40

2 Forms of address and .ref·erence


The Japanese equivalent of MriMrslM1;IMiss is -san; this is always attached to someone's name (surname or given), it cannot be used on its own. Neither can -san be used with one's own name or in reference to members of one's family.

given names arc used much less than in English; rnstead, surnames are used, normally with -san attached (except when referring to a member of one's family or group, when the surname is used on its own: wives sometimes refer to their husband as Anzai, etc.), On the other hand. you will Dote a tendency to use the given name of foreigners rather than their Male friends use -kun to address/refer to each other rather than DO; -knn is also used in the case of boys, and when men address or refer to men junior to them .. Junior members of a family are generally addressed/referred to by their given name (Taro etc.), sometimes with the diminutive -chan attached.

sumarnes.

Teachers, medical doctors and MPs are customarily addressed and referred to by -sensei (teacher) attached to their surname
(teachers of any kind enjoy a very high social starusl), Sensei can also be used on its own to address persons of the above description in the sense of you: Rare wa sensei no kasa desn ka? Is this your umbrella?

3 Countries,peoples andlanguagecs
If you add -jin (person) to the name of any country, you get the name for a person from that country; if you add -go (word! la,lguage), you get the name for its language (note exceptions such n~ Australia, where the language is obviously English; incidentally, AustTalian English would be called Osutoraria-Eigo).
Australia China
France Osutoraria 'Osutoraria [in

You has no direct equivalent in Japanese; instead a variety of words are used, depending on the relative status levels and degree of intimacy of those involved. The problem of which word to use can, however, be avoided by using [namej-san and [namej-sensei in situations where one has to express the idea of you as in the sentence above, and otherwise, by quite legitimately abbreviating that part (A wa) of the sentence:
Hade-san desn ka?

Chiigoku
Furansu Doitsu

Are you Mr Herd?

Germany Italy Spain

ChUgokujin Furansuj.iI) Doitsujin


Itariajin Supeinjin

Eigo Chugokugo Furansugo Doitsugo


Itariago Supeingo

ltaria Supein

12

Note: especially the f-ollowing:

I I
o .....

Britain

I I~isul Eikoku
Nihoa/ Nippon

Ig4:isujinlEikokujin NilionjinlNipponjin

Eigo
Nihongo/Nippongo

:
~

Japan

Lastly, for foreign countries, foreigners and their languages in general: gaikoku gaikokujin/gaijin gaikokugo

en .......

:f

CD
"

sac.s::r+ ~ CD
VI

01 CD .~A

~ (I)
r+

Pi' ...

,_

0
Q)
~

...

.~ ::-;Q)~

.--.) <;; Q)

In this unit you will learn • how to ask and answer questions about where things are • how to use adjectives in Japanese • how to use everyday greetings

• 14

a D.ialogues
Jill has been invited out to lunch by Tanaka-san, a friend who is also an ex-pupil, They meet as arranged.
Jill
Tanaka Tanaka-san, konnichi wa ..O-genki desuka? Hai, o-kaqa-sama de. Sensei wa? Totemo genki dasu, Demo, Nihon no natsu waatsui ne.

loko over there/that place (over there) • 54 olshl.1 del/cious; good (of restaurants, etc.)

[.noun)·ya shop etc. dealJng professionalJy In [noun] - lS3 ryorlya eating place, restaurant

15

Jill Jill
Tanaka

desu

True or false?
.1 ranaka-san wa genki desu, Ano Nihon-ryoriya we oishii desu,

Jill

Tanaka-san, hel/o. Are you well?IHow are you? Yes, thanks for askingll'm fine, thank you. And you, sensei? very well. But aren't Japanese summers hot!

rm

IlJill and Tanaka-san


I

.Ind are now eating. Suddenly, Jill's face takes on a strange


xpression.
Sensei - daijobu desu ka? Kono hen na mono wa nan desu 'ka? Tako desu. Ikaga desu ka? Tako! Amari olshlku arimasen ns .... O-tearai wa doko desu ka? Sugu soko desu.

have decided on the Japanese restaurant

konnlchl wa

.LS2

hel/o/good day

genklna healthy, well - S1, 2 o-gonk1 desu ka? - LS1 o-'kage..sama de thanks for asklng

towmo vel)'. 52 ,demo but, however (at the beginning of a sentence) natsu summer atsu.i hot. S1, 2

Jill

T naka
Tonaka

Jill

(In a low

voIce)

Tanaka

afeel very hungry. As set off to


they
Jill

in the direction of the restaurant,

Jill begins

Tanaka

Tanaka
Jill

Tanaka
Jill

Resutoran wa t.ol desu ka? lie, ano takal biru no tonari desu. (rather unenthusiastically) Furansu ryon desu ka? E. ... Ja, Nihon ryori wa lkaga desuka? Asoko wa totemo oishii Nlhon-rydrlya desu. Is the restaurant isr? No, it's next to that high building. Is it French cuisine/a French restaurant? Yes ... Well then, how about Japanese cuisine? Over there i$ a very good Japanese restaurant. ryoi'l cooklng,culslne e yes (less formal than hai) laljilde wa, ... (a,tthe beginning of a sentence) well thenl If that's so, ... Ikaga? IIOW? i[noun] WIll Ikaga desu ka? How about/Would you like (noun]? .

Jill Dnaka Jill Tanaka

Sensei - are you all right? What's this strange thIng? It's octopus. How Is it?!How do you like It-? Octopus! It's not veJY tasty, is it'? Where is the ladies' toilet? It's just there. amarl [negative] [not] very

Tanaka
Jill

dalj6bunaal/ rigf'lt kono [noun1 this [noun] henna. strange mono thing tako octopus

o-tearal toilet. LS4 sug.u immediately/just scko there/that place (by yuu)

.52

Tanaka

True or fal.se?
3 jiru-san wa daijobu de wa arimasen, 4 Tako wa oishii desu,

resutoran restaurant (specializing In Western-style food) tool far ano [noun] that [noun] (over there) - 53 taka.i high biro building [nour~l:no tonan next to, nejghboun'ng [noun] - 55

Structures

shi

1 A wa [adjective] B desu A is [adjective1 B


N; in English, adjectives can go either before or after the noun they are describing. First we will look at adjectives before nouns.

16

Kore wa oishii

Sore wa hen na rabemono desu.

chizu desu,

This is delicious cheese. That is strange food.

2 A wa [adjective] desu A is [adjecUve]


L

17

There are two types of adjective in Japanese, ODe which ends in -i before nouns, and one which ends in na before nouns. We will caU these i and na adjectives, and they will be identified in
vocabulary lists as in the following examples:

Nute what happens to each type of adjective when. it comes at he end of a sentence in normal polite speech:

'Tanaka-san wa wakai desu,


Suzuki-san wa hansamu desu,

Tanaka-san

is young.

Suzuki-san is handsome.

-i adjective: atsu.i

na adjective: genki na

While the i- adjective remains exactly the same, the na adjective drops na before desu,
L

Other common -i adjectives include:


atataka.i
samu.i tsumeta.i o!cij chiisa.i waka.i atarashi .i warm (aunospheric] cold rold (to the touch, or emotionally)

rile two types of adjective also behave differently when forming he negative:

i adjectives. To tum an ~i adjective into the negative, for r .... imple in order to say that British summers are not hot, you IIwe to actually change its form: .
.1

furu.i
1.1

waru.i haya.i

oso.i

big small (used for: young, i.e, small, children) young (teenagers, adults) new old (opposite of ararashii, not of wakai) good, all right bad quick,. early slow, late

Nihon no natsu wa atsn i i desu, lgirisu no natsu wa atsu ]ku arimasen, Oishiii desu lea?
lie, oishi! ku arimasen.

Japanese summers are hot. British summers are not hot. Is it tasty?/Does it taste good? No, it isn't/doesn't.

·i desu is replaced by -ku arimasen, or alternatively -kunai desu:


Igirisu no natsu wa atsu: kunai destr, Oishi j kuaai desu, Ihere is only one exception to this. ii desu becomes: yo] ku arimasen, yo I kunai desu,
b na adjectives. To turn a na adjective into the negative, for example in order to say that Yamada-san is not pretty, all you Heed to do is put desu itself intothe negative: Tanaka-san wa kirei desu,

Many na adjectives are of foreign, primarily Chinese, origin. Common ones include:
henri na
shizuka na shins etsu na yilrnei na

convenient, ~eful quiet, peaceful kind

famous
pretty, clean, neat. important

kirei ua taisetsu na raihen na


hansamu na

serious, aw~1 handsome

Yamada-san wa kirei de wa arimasen/ja arimasen,


NOTE.:. i Before nouns, two -i adjectives, and chiisai, commonly have alternative na forms - 010 na and chiisa na i.e, you can say either om resutoran or oki na resutoran; chiisai 0tearai or chiisa nao-rearai,

am

Na adjectives taken from Western languages such as English and French axe often used co enhance the vocabulary of the advertising copy-writer: ereganto na .resutoran shikku na burausn
411

a due blnuse

elegant restaurant

li Totemo, and the less colloquial taihen (here acting as an ndverb not as a na adjective), can both precede a positive ndjective to mean very:

18

Igirisu no jamu wa totemo oishii desu, jiru-san wa taihen shinsetsu na sensei desu, Fukuda-sensei wa amari wakaku arimasen, Kore wa amari benri de wa arimasen,

British jam is very tasty.

Similarly, we can indicate where B IS: Asoko wa yiimei na resuroran desu, Over there is a famous restaurant. Where

Jill

is a very kind teacher.

When an adjective is in the negative, however, amari must be used:

If you

are not sure where you are, rou might ask:

Fukuda-sensei is not

Koko wa doko desu ka?

very 'Young. This is not very useful.

we?

is here?!Where are

Ihere is another series of words referring to place which you win hear. These are kochira, sochira, acbira, and doehira? They ,U.. t either as a more formal equivalent 0.£ koko etc., or to mean this way/in this direction, O-tearai etc., according to context:
UJay.

kono, sono, ano

3 Words to indicate which thing/person:

wa kechira desu,

The toilet is here/this Who is this? (on the telephone) This is Kimura-san.

While kore, sore and are always stand by themselves, kana, sana and ano have a similar meaning, but are always in front of nouns: kana jamn (this jam); sana Rorusu-roisu (that RollsRoyce, by you); ana sensei (that teacher; over there); ana hito (that person [hito],over there; he/she) ..

Ihey call also be used to address or refer to people politely: Dochira-sama desu ka?
Kochira wa Kimura-san desu,

Kono [amu wa taihen yiimei desu, Ana shinbun wa date no desu ka?

.1I1d Society L)

(For another

use of -sama with people,

see Unit 16 Language

4 Indicating place: koko, soko, asoko


These words are parallel in meaning

5 Words to indicate position: tona,; etc.


111 japanese, these words aetas nouns .. Where in English we would say next to X, in Japanese you say X 110 tonari. Other common position words are: chikaku mae naka usluro
ura
lie

to kore, sore and are:

koko for places closer to the speaker than the listener: here/this place soko for places closer to the listener than the speaker: there/that place asoko for places at a distance from both: over there/that place over there To ask questions, doko?, meaning where?/whatplac£?, is used. With the help of these and other place words, we can extend our basic A wa B desu pattern to indicate where A is. Forexample: Hoteru wa koko dewa arimasen, Fukuda-sensei wa doko desu ka? . (Pukuda-sensei wa) resutoran

The hotel (hoteru] is


not here. Where is Fukuda-sensei? He is in the restaurant .. Is Jill there too?

shira
Resuroran jiru-san

nearby in front inside baak, behind (i.e. behind buildings, people, etc., rather than in front of them) reverse/other side. behind (i.e. behind in sense of rear side, of buildings, etc. but not of people) on top, above undeine(lth wa kissaten no no The reetaurant is near the coffee shop (kissaten). Jill is behind Tom. Jill is behind/at the back of the coffee shop.

desu.

chikaku desu.
wa Tomu-san

jiru-san

rno- soko desu ka?

(NOTE~ Here soko refers to' the place associated with/mentioned by the listener rather than physically closer to him/her. This is another function of the so- words.)

ushiro desu, Jim-san wa kissaten no


ushiro/ura desu,

20

Note that next to this/thr.tt thillg,eu:. is kono/sono not kore no/sere no ronari, for example: Shinbun wa ano zasshi no shita desu, Shinbun waano shita desu.

tonari, etc.,

The newspaper is under that magazi~le. The newspaper is under that thing over there/under there.

umbrella which. takes an hour to open with the over-enrhusiastic jazz band • the coffee shop with the ditty tablecloths
I

rhe automatic

d rhe restaurant

21

lit

Practise the position words by explaining the location of objects your room, and of shops, etc. in your local shopping centre.

FlCmnple: Jamu wa (I elm ru) .

tebOIu no ue desu, The jam is on the table


and answer form with a friend: (It's)
next

Exercises
1 Complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks from the choices you are given in the box below. a kissaten wa Tanaka-san wa _ Nihonjin

II possible, do this in question

1':k;1mple: Kissaten wa doko desu ka? Where is the coffee shop?

Jndc-ryoriys no tonari desu.

to the Indian

restaurant ..
"un will find some relevant vocabulary in Language and Society I. Other words which might come in useful are enpitsu (pencil), tudana (cupboard), yiibinkyoku (post office). ~ Give the Japanese Tom Suzuki Tom uzuki rom lJl:ukj equivalent for this conversation. Where Is the hotel? It's that way. Is it far? No, it's not very far. It's near the station (eld). Is it a famous hotel? Yes, it's very famous.

C)

b
d e

(; .

.__wa

desu. kasa desu, wa na hoteru desu, no sensei wa taihen . B yfunei C kana D kirei E ano Igirisujin

A taihen atarashii

F sore G shinsetsu desu H aseko

Iokii desu J wakai

2 Use the words given to make short conversations as in the example, replying positively first, and then negatively. Do this with a friend if possible. Example: Asoko, oishii, resutoran,
---J

Language and society


ekl

Asoko wa oishii resutoran desu ka? Hai, taihen oishii desu, lie, amari oishiku arrmasen.

1 The use of 0- in front of words


This makes a word polite, and will generally be found in front of certain words, such as those for traditional items of food and drink, or for things which were traditionally regarded as unclean, such as money: o-rearai o-kane a-sake

a Sore, shizuka na, hoteru. b Are, furui, Roruse-roisu. c Koko, yiimei na, kissaten, d Kore, atatakai, supu (soup). e Sore, hayai, kuruma (car).

toilet
tnoney

kurlJma

sake/alcohol

3 You are in a bad mood. Complain about the following, using


the negative Example: desu, forms of adjectives.
-Jo

Women tend to use o~ in this way more than men, particularly i.E they want to emphasize their femininity:

the jam you are eating

Kana jamu wa oishikunai

o-niku
o-sakana

meat

fish

b the handsome

a the cool beer (biru) you have ordered Frenchman you had a blind date with

In polite speech, 0- is also found in front of a wider range of words to indicate that they are connected to the person being spoken to, or (more rarely) to some third person of.high status: o.. a:mae n o-shigoto o-tegarni

3 The use of -ya after nouns


This usually indicates the shop where the noun is. sold, or the person who sells it;
nikn] ya sakana i ya

23

o-hanashi

your name your work, business the letter (you wrote; or which I am going to write to you) the talk (which you gavel/the conversation (1 had with you)

saka]

ya

butcher's shop/butchers fishmonger's shop/fishmonger wine shop/wine merchant (note the change in the final vowel of sake,

Similarly; note that 0- is only used in the following exchange to refer: to the health of the person being spoken to, not to the speaker's health: O-genki desu ka? Are you well?/How are you? Hai, genki desu. Yes, I'm fine. With some words you will1ind go- used instead, with the same effect: go-shujin go-han
go-jusho

l~yoriya (restaurant), formed using ryori (cooking), is slightly different from this basic pattern, (as is, for example, snshiya, a restaurant specializing in sushi). Note that ryoriya is the word used when you want to specify that an establishment produces a particular national cuisine: Nihon-ryoriya Indo-ryoriya Furansu-ryorrya Also note that there are exceptions, such as kissaten.

C)

your husband your book your address

hon

4 Words for 'toilet'


As in other languages, there are several words for this in Japanese, of varying degrees of delicacy. Benio would only be used by men and is nowadays regarded as- a rathet unrefined term, having been replaced by toire, Women would probably use either o-toire or o-tearai, It is not unusual for public lavatories to lack both paper and hand-drying facilities, but you can buy small packets of tissues (tisshu}, and may well be given them, by your bank for instance.

This go- is also the first syllable of gohan, the word used for both a meal and for rice in its cooked state, as opposed to 0kame, the uncooked state in which youactuaHy buy it.

2 Everyday greetings
The' greetings in this section are normally used by acquaintances on meeting. Ohay6 gozaimasu. Good morning. This is used by people when they meet for the first time in the morning, at home, on the way to work, or as the working day begins. Bar hostesses will therefore use it to greet each other as they come to work in the evening. Konnichi wa Konban wa Good aay (used from mid-morning and during the afternoon) Good evening (used after it begins to grow dark) (konbao this evening,tonight)

1£ it is some time since you last met, you may add Shibaraku desu
ne or the more feminine o-hisashiburi desu ne, with the meaning It's a long time since we met, a ccurs in the kaiwa in Unit 1.

Dialogues
MIl'hiko~san has met Ken at the station. I hL'Y are now on their way to her house ..
Kin NUchlko

,
ie

25

KG" Mlclliko

Daibu arlrnasu ka? lie, sugu desu. Asoko ni tabakoya ga arimasu na? Sono ura desu yo. (After tutningtwo comers) Are ga watashitachi no Ie desu. Rippa na Ie desu ne. lie, tonde me nal.

I'll",uooenter the entrance hall (genkan).


Mlcl1lko

OkU8an
Mlchlko


(J)

0...

zr
CD :J ...
~ ~

'<

co
0)

0 ~ 0 .-to 0 -f'I 0

... :::r _. -. 3 C. m -. en cc
UJ

Oku8on

ken

Okuaan

Ken

Tadaims! O~kaeri nasai! (Mrs Anzai comes to the entrance half) Okasan, kochira wa. Ken~san desu. Hajimemashlte. Yol<u irasshalmashita. Ken desu. Yoroshiku. Dozo. o-agarikudasaL O-jama snlrnasu, tadaima I'm home • LS1 o-kaerl nasal! we/come, back oki-san mother (form of address) _ Unit 16 L$1 yoku In!lsshaimashlta fhank you for coming o-agarl kudosai please come in

dalbu a great deal lIr1masuthere Is. 81, 2;. to


exist; to have. to go?

dalbu arlmasu ka?

em
:1

.... CD m
C
~

t.bak.oya tobacco shop (_ Unit 2 LS~) watashl-tachl no our. 54 Inounl ga _ 82 1111 house I1lppa na fine, Impressive tondo me nal not at all (expression of modesty)

Oit.

Is it tar Is there. a great deal?)

83

o-Jama shlmasu

set phrase used when entering someone's house

True or false?
I. Michiko-san no ie wa tabakoya no tonari desu, 2 Michiko-san no ie wa chiisai desu,
In this unit you will learn • two similar patterns to express the idea of there is and / have • the verb arimasu for objects and imasE! for livin<gthings • set phrases used when entering someone's house

"'0 0.>

:3

o r""+

en

a Michiko-san is showing Ken about the house - now they are going up the stairs to the second floor,
Ken Mh~hiko Ken Mlchlko-san no heya. wa? Watashl no heyawa nikal nl arimasu yo. Soko ni oti5to no heya gaarlmasu. Ofofo-san wa lrnasu ka?

:1

Michiko K.en Michiko

lie, lrna uchl nllrnasen. Kare 9a watashi no heya desu. Kawaii heys desu ne. A. shl dT ga takusan arimasu ne. Wa.tashi wa senna nl takusan arimasen. Ototo we motto arimasu yo ..

l lonya wa soko

desu, ni arimasu,

(lit. The bookshop that place)

is

27

(Ken is looking down into the garden from Michiko-san's Ken Michiko
Naporeon Ken

window) Watasru no heya wa nikai

(lit. The bookshop is located in. that place) The bookshop is there. desu, ru anmasn. (lit. My room is first (loor) (lit. My room is located on the (irst floor)

Michi.ko

Are we inugoya desu ne ... o-taku ni we inuga imasu ka? Ee, k.swaii pijdoru desu yo. Naporeon .. .1 Wan! A, honto nl kawall desu na. Petta we hoke nl imasu ka? 119, imasen. Inu dog
dog

My room is on the first floot:


Nunce that only a literal translation can capture the difference an idiomaticEnglish translation wilt !lttcn be the same.
bl'l ween the two versions;

heya room nlkaifirnt floor, upstairs

oloto
Ima

now '

younger brother

padoru poodle Naporeon (Napoleon)

uchl (my/our) house; the InsIde kawaU lovely, cute !ihi di (CD) compact disc takusan many,. a lot sonna nl so, that much, etc. • Unit 4 S€i motto more • Unit B 57 In I.Igoya dog's hoase, kennel o-tak.u your house

wan

name woof bente nl (= hontO nl) In addition Imasu arlmasu

really

pe.Uo pet hoka III apart from this,

When A is inanimate (a thing 0.[ plant), arimasu is used, while unasu is normally used instead of arimasu if A is animate (a person, animal or insect): Otoco wa nikai ni imasu . Inu wa niwa ni imasn,

there Is (but used with living things only) .$1,2,3

My brother is upstairs. The dog is in the garden.

2 Indicating location with B ni A ga arimasu


It is possible to have the location (B ni) at the beginning of the ~cf)tcnce; in this case. A wa is changed to A ga, as A wa tends to hI! confined to the beginning of a sentence, whereas A ga has no suchrestriction, Compare the following pairs of sentences: Tabakoya wa asoko

True or false?
3 Michiko-san 4 Michiko-san
no ototo-s;m wa ima uchi ni imasen. wa petto ga. rakusan imasu.

ni arimasu, Asoko ni tabakoya ga arimasu,

The tobacco shop i« Over there is a tobacco


shop. The dog is in the garden. There is a dog in the garden. over there.

Structures

the particle nI

1 Indicating location with A wa B ni arimasul imasu


In Unit 2 we saw that A wa B desu, where B is a place, tells you the whereabouts of A ..Desu identifies A with the place indicated by B, in the same way that it identifies two things or two
persons when B is not a place. For indicating location! there is an alternative pattern, involving the verb arimasu. Used with ni (at/in/on), it has the meaning of to be atlin/on. Compare the following pairs of sentences:

Inu wa niwa ni imasu, Niwa ill inu ga imasu, As can

be gleaned from the differences in the translations wa is attached to an A that is already known or understood (either in the form of common knowledge, or because it has been mentioned earlier on in the conversation), whereas ga is attached to an A that the speaker notices for the first time. (For A ga B desu, see Unit 10 Structures 4a.)

(the/a),

Where the situatiop implies a contrast between two different As, then wa in A wa B ni arimasU/imasu can additionally signal the notion of contrast, even if only one A is actually mentioned. (See also Unit 10 Structures 4b.) Inu wa niwa ni imasu, Neko wa ie ni imasu, Inn wa niwa ni imasu,
6" ...
Q

n will not always be a person; it could be a place, as in the lollowingexample


Kana hoteru wa tenisu-koto ga arimasu ka?

29

Does this hotel have a tennis court?

o
eN

The dog is in the garden. the cat is in the house. The dog is in the garden (wherever the cat may be).

4 A kind of plural: [noun} ... tachi


rachi can be attached plural: to certain personal nouns to indicate the

3 existence/possession with B (ni) wa A ga arimasu/B (ni) wa A ga imasu


These patterns literally mean as far as B is concerned, there is an A, or B has an A.

warashi
kanojo

hiro

she person, persons

watashi-tachi kanojo-tachi hiro-tachi

tile

they

persons

that all the elements except arimasu can be omitted):


Arimasu.

When B is a person,

possession or ownership

is indicated

(note

When attached to people's names meaning is somewhat different:

(with -sanl,

the resulting

(I) have (some).

Anzai-san-rachi Ken-san-tachi

ShI dI ga
Watashi wa sill
di_

Takusan takusan takusan

arimasu. arimasu. anmasu. arimasen,


arimasu.

ga

(1) have a lot. There are many CDs/(l} have many CDs. I have many CDs. (I) don't have much money. (My) brother has lats.

Mr/Ms Anzai and those with him/ber (often the Anzai family)

Kim and h.is group

Exercises
I Change the order of elements and the particle as shown in the example in order to change the meaning from there is an A there lu the A is there. Example: Asoko asoko ni arimasu. ni tabakoya ga arimasu,
-I'

O-kane ga, amari O[oto wa

taJ.;:usan

Tabakoya

wa

When A is a person too, the idea of having friends (tomodachi), relatives, etc. is expressed. Notice that arimasucan be used as
well as imasu, even though instead of wa. Watashi (ni) wa Watashi lni) wa Watasbi (oi) wa B is animate. Ni wa can

be used

a. Koko ni hon ga arimasu, b Niwa ni inu ga imasu, c Soko ni watashl no shl di ga arimasu, d Doko ni Michiko-san ga imasu ka? 2 Produce sentences as shown in the example by building up the clements given, and adding the appropriate particles (you should practise each sequence several times, keeping in mind that all the sentences you produce in this exercise, whether short or long, will be considered complete sentences in japanese).
Ex.ample:arimasu; takusan; o-kane; watashi -+ Arimasu, Taknsan arimasu; Oskane ga takusau arimasu; Watashi wa 0kane ga takusan arimasu,
3

toraodachi ga tomodachiga

taknsan arimasu, amati

(l) have
many

arimasen,

ooom

gil

imasu,

friends. I don't have many friends. 1 have a younger bmther.

imasen; amari; tomodachi;

ototo

b arimasu, takusan; shi di; heya c arirnasn; nikai; heya; watashi no d imasu, niwa; inu; old na

30

3 Say the following in Japanese, paying attention to the choice between wa and ga, and arimasu and imasu. a There is (some) money here. b The tobacco shop is here. c The books are over there. d
e

Over there is a dog. Michiko-san is over there.

expected, so people arriving without being escorted by a lilt 111ber of the family will often open the genkan door and call Ilut for attention: gamen kudasai! (the standard reply to that is normally just hail).
I

,.1p inese
r

entrance doors are often kept unlocked when guests

31
3< ,,111
III

8i

a~
e.g

=t

4 With a friend, practise the various phrases used when a entering and b leaving people's homes as their guest (read the relevant sections in Language and Society first).

Entering a Japanese house


.1

gcg

Language and society


1 Greetings between family members leaving and returning home
b Remaining family mernber(s): Itte irasshai/itte'rasshai, c Returning person: Tadaima. d Person(s) at home: O-kaeri nasai.
c is normally said (or exclaimed if no one is within sight) as soon as the returning person has stepped inside the house at the front or back entrance. The order of a and b, and c and d can be reversed, as it may be the person at home who notices someone return, prompting him to say d, to which the reply then would be c. Visitors sometimes partake in this exchange together with the relevant family members. a Outgoing person: is more polite).

lower level than the rest of the house, so that you have to step lip io order to enter the Jiving area (o-agari kudasai literally lilt. ns Please step up). If invited in, you take off your shoes and your host(ess) will strategically place a pair of slippers so that yuu can step up into them as you enter the house proper.

1111= genkan or entrance area in a Japanese bouse is generally at

- ...
III

Itte kimasu or itte mairimasu (the latter

A Japanese dream ho use

2 Greetings between visitors and hosts on arrival and departure


Arrival: Host
Guest Guest

Dozo, o-agari kudasai. O-jama shimasu/shitsurei


O-jama shimashitalshitsurei Shimashita.

shimasu.

Departure:

Host
Guest

Mata d6zo. (Please come again.) Arigat/!) gozaimasu. (Thank you.) Ja, shltsurel shimasu. (Please

excuse me; good-bye.) Host


Sayonara.

Dialogues
111111 has just finished a long discussion wtrh Suzuki-san, a business associate Ii 111\1 Sapporo.

10m lIzukl: 1om . uiir.ukl

demo nomimashi5 ka? un, nomimash6. Doko ka ii tokoro 9a arimasu ka? ~, chlkaku ni totemo ii nomiya 9a arirnasu . Ja, soko ni shimasha.

Sa ... ,biru


nomi

'33
ya

! /'fJjj'J arrive and sit down at the b.ar)


M rna-san
10m

Ul.ukl TOm M mil-san


(J)

rom & Suzuki


II

Irasshaimase .. Nan ni snlrnasu ka? So desu ne. (To proprietress) Bfru 0 kudasal, Boku mo bTru da, Wakarimashita ..... (produces beer and begins to pour) Hai, dazo. (raising their glasses) Kanpai!

::T
Q)

<D
~

s
::T

we.11 (often used, as here, a preliminary to inviting someone to do somettilng) [noun) demo [noun] or some.thing _ Unit 10 53 nom.u (nomlmasu) to drink

as

nan/nani ni shimasu ka? What will you have? mama-san proprietress (of a bar)
lra.$$taalmase stock greeting used to a customer entering a shop, bar etc .• LS (noun] 0 kudasal please (give me) [noun] • 53 and Unit 855 Boku mQ biro da That'll be beer for me too wakarimashita lit..I have understood _ Unit 5 LS3 Hal, dOzo Here you are (often used when giving, people what they have asked for)

.51

<D

nomlmash6 nomimash6 un

ru

drink? _ 52 yes (only used in fairty

let's drink ka? shall we

0<D' CD --.:;;

Informal situations) doko ka somewhere. S8 lokoro place

nomlya

drinking place, bar, pub

o --.:;;

• Unit 6L52 auru (shlmasu)

to do [noun] nt sum to decide ani have [noun] • Unit 8 52

kanpall

cheersl

C/)

CD ......
(Q -...,)

:3

::T :J

In this unit you will learn • a wide range ·of ordinary verbs - some new particles • more on wa • some wortlsand phrases which will be useful in Wining and dining

rue or false?
.1;

I Nomiya wa chikaku ni arimasu. Suzuki-san wa bi.ru 0 nomimasen,

.D SL!zJ,lld
Tom Suzuki Tom

...
e

Suzuki Tom Suzuki Tom Suzuki Tom Suzuki Tom Suzuki Tom Suzuki Tom Suzuki

Maiban koko de nomimasu ka? NI lie, senna jikan we arimasen yol .. Sonna nf isogashii dssu ka? ~ non (ctJmplaining almost to himself) Isogashii, isogashiil Hiruma wa katsha de hataraku. Yoru wa uchl de Nihongo 0 benkyo suru. go Sore wa taihen dasu ne. .. Ma, tobun wa shlkata ga arlrnasen, SlJzuki~san wa? Mama desu. Kondo wa itsu made Tokyo nl lmasu ka? RaishO made desu. Ja, mata aimasho. Hoteru no denwa bango 0 oshiemash5 ka? Hal, o-negalshlrnasu, (producing card with details of the hotel printed on it) Kore desu. (searchlng in al/ his pockets) Are? Penga nal na ... Baku no pen de dozo, A, domo. (writes down numper, and automatically puts pen in his pocket) Ana ... , sore wa baku no pen desu ga ...

True or false?
1 Tome-san we YOn:;L kaisha de benkyo shimasu, .1 Suzuki-san wa raishu made Tokyo ni imasu,

35
·111 III

0:7

11_

""1'"

::Ii!.

Structures
1 Verbs
So far, the only verbs you have met are arimasu and imasu, In the conversation for this unit we introduced several more verbs,

il::r
...;I!l1:

!ti. ;till
CD III

C'
(II

!II ... e ...

malban evel}' evening • Unit 5 56 : (place] de53 senna [noun]: that sort of [noun]
(by you/that

'kondo
itsu

this time when? [time] made until [t/mel

(The present plain forms of arimasn and imasu are ar.u and i.ru, and of desu, da.) This form is the simplest form which a japanese verb can have, and is the one that is us~d to list verbs III dictionaries. Polite (-masn) forms such as anmasu are the norm in ordinary adult conversation, and we would advise you 1'0 use such forms, except when talking to children {o.r to yourself}..In both of these cases, plain forms, such as aru, would he appropriate; they will also be found in the nonconversational Japanese which is used to set the scene of the dialogues from Unit 5 onwards. More information on formal nnd informal Japanese occurs throughout the book. In the meantime, it .is a good idea to learn both the plain and the -masu form whenever you encounter a new verb. Almost all Japanese verbs fall into one of two groups. The first F;wuP. which we. shall call -iruz-era verbs, have a..pr~serit. ~lain form ending in either -iru o.r -eru, Their -masu form LS obtained hy dropping the -ru and adding -masu. In the vocabulary lists they are therefore identified by means of a dot before the -ru, Some common ~iru!~eru verbs are:

.md gave their present tense plain form in the vocabulary lists.

• Unit 783

Jlkan

·S6

you 011"9 thinking of)

time

hatarak.u (hataraldmasu) to work, labour YON night~time!at night [noun] 0 • 53 ben~yo study/work Onlhe sducatlonal sense) benkyosuru to study/work
well (here an expression resignation) tobun for the rime being

isogashlJ busy jlsogashii, Isogasbiil - 84) hiruma daytime/during the day kalshacompany/the office

ta.ishu next week mataagaln a.u(a.lmasu) to meet denwa bango telephone number oshle.ru (osQiem2!su) to

te.achlinform o-'negal shimasu

rna.

of

stock phrase used when making a request lilt. ./ humbly request) • are? Whets this? nel plain negative of an.! - S4 [sentence] naina informal variant of ne, used primarily by men

sa

oshie.ru
tabe.ru i.ru rru.ru

oshiemasu tabemasu imasu


mimasu

teach, i.nform

eat
there is (animate), see stay

tabun w.a, shlkata ga

arimasenthere's
inevitable It's so-so

• 55

no

Boku no pen de dozo Please (write it) with my pen [instrument] de .83 ano... excuse· me ... (device for
getting: someone's attention)

mama

alternative/It's

The second group, which we shall call ~U verbs, obtain their -masu form by dropping the -u and adding -imasu, In the vocabulary lists they are therefore identified by means of a dot before the -u. Some common -uverbs are:

desu

36
~!§. 3!7!1.

;i"
~:r
_·eII

.,)~

CD III I:;t CD

...
CD

....

0
~

ar.u wakar.u owar.u kir.u nom.u yom.u hatarak.u kak.u oyog.n a.u ka.u

arimasu wak:arimasu owarimasu kirimasu nomimasn yomimasu hatarakimasu kakimasu orogimasn aunasu kaimasu

there is (inanimate) understand finish


cut

It tis h ii. mata kakimasu.

I am gojng to write again

next week.

he suggesting form of the verb: -masho


!IllS

drink read work (i.e. labour) write sunm meet


buy

i used when suggesting a course of action: We"'. let's eat. Let's talk again next week.

'-In, rabemasho, Raishu mata hanashimasho.

I ollowed by the question particle ka, .it occurs when i~ English ( w uld use either Shall I ... or Shall we ... ?, according to the ? , nntcxt:

Note that kir.u looks like an -iru/-eru verb but is not, as the position of the dot shows. Also note that -u verbs ending in -su and -tsu obtain their -masu form as follows: hanas.u mats.u hanashimasu machimasu speak, talk wait for

Shall I wait? Machimasho ka? Shall we stopi () warimasho ka? I hl5 is a polite form, but there is a plain form too, which we will , lime across in Unit 13 Structures 6.

3 Uses of de and

The only 'irregular' verbs are sum, shimasu (to do), and kuru, kimasu (to come). A number of 'action' nouns, like benkyo, can be turned into verbs with the addition of suru. Others are ryoko (travel), kenhutsu (sightseeing), and kaimoao (shQPping). Almost all the nouns which work like this care of foreign origin, either Chinesederived like the ones above (with the exception of kaimono], or Western-derived, such as dansu (dance) or tenisu (tennis). Tbey will be identified in the vocabulary lists by the addition of suru in brackets. form, Japanese verbs stay the same whatever the subject, and the subject is often left out if understood. We have already had the negative of the -masu form (e.g. arimasen); the negative present plain form is introduced in Unit 6 Structures 1. In terms of tense, verbs ending in -masu or in the present plain form refer to habitual actions; genera] truths, or the definite future, according to the context: Tomu-san wa maiban benkyo shimasu, Yokohama wa Tokyo no chikaku ni arimasu, Torn studies every evening. Yokohama is near Tokyo.
As you have already seen, whether in the plain or the -masu

() indicates that the noun which it follows is the object of the verb, or of kudasai/dozo: Jill reads the newspaper jiru-san wa maiban shinbun every evening. o yomimasu. Shall we drink some coffee? Kohi a nomimasho ka? [Noun] 0 kudasai (or, more formally, o-neg~ shimasu) ~sused when asking for something; when offering something to someone else, dozo should be substituted: Pen a kudasai/ o-negai shimasu. Shinbun 0 dozo. Note that matsu takes 0: Michiko-san 0 machimasho,
On the other hand, au takes

A pen, please. Please take a look at the newspaper. Let's wait for Michiko-san. Tom will meet Suzuki-san again next week.

ni:

Tomu-san wa raishti mata Suzuki-san ni aimasu.

In the dialogue, we introduced two uses of the particle de. ~he first use is after place nouns, when it indicates where the actlO~ uf the sentence occurs. Ni is also used after place nouns, but this is only with a very limited number of verbs, most commonly aru and iru, which are concerned with static location rather than with action:

36

Tanaka-san wa doko ni imasu ka] Tanaka-san wa doko de kaimono shimasu ka?

Where is Tanaka-san? Where does Tanaka-san

Kore wa taisetsu yo.


111

This is iinportant. (female speaker)

39

shop?

Note that verbs such as an, matsu, and benkyo suru all work as verbs of action rather than of static location:

the case of the negative, the plain ending for both types of !lllt·ctive is nai. This replacesarimasen, and the -i adjective -nai III:~U alternative, and is in fact the plain form of arimasen (Unit h Structures I):
Kana hoteru wa amari yokunai. Ana nomiya wa shizuka ja nai, This hotel isn't very good. That bar isn't peaceful.

Eki de aimasho.

Let's meet at the station.

The other use is to indicate the instrument an action is performed:

by means of which

Foku de tabernasho. Keki 0 naifu de kirimasen ka]

Let's eat with forks (fokn), Won't you cut the cake (keki) with a knife (naifu)?
.1

The contrasting use of wa


I hl'

Linked to this function of de is its use to indicate a means of communication, as in the following:
Nihongo de hanashimasho, (as opposed to Nihongo 0 hanashimasho. Jim-san wa maiban shinbun de Amerika no nyusu a yornimasu, (as opposed to jiru-san wa Let's speak in Japanese. Let's speak Japanese ..) Every evening Jill reads the news (nyi1su) about America in the newspaper .. Every evening Jill reads the newspaper.)

'his use of wa, which is linked to its main function of indicating


topic of a sentence, was introduced briefly at the end of Unit Srructures 2. The contrast can be explicit: [ikan wa arimasu. Shikashi, a-kane wa arimasen, I have time; however (shikashi), I don't have money. the contrast is implied: Is tberea restaurant nearby? There are lots of bars (but no resttturants). It's inevitable for the time being (but things should get better in the futur.e).

When only one element is mentioned,

A Chikaku

maibanshinhun

yomimasu.

ni resutoran arimasu ka? B Nomiya wa takusan anmasu ga ...

ga

4 Plain forms of adjectives


Like verbs, adjectives have plain forms; they occur at the end of sentences whenever the use of plain forms is appropriate. (Adjectives before nouns have the same form whatever the level of speech.)

You also saw this in the dialogue: Tobun wa shikata ga arimasen,

In the case of -i adjectives, all that happens in the plain form is that desu is omitted, as when Tom was complaining to himself in the kaiwa, or as in: A, kawau! Igirisu wa samui,
How sweetf Britain is cold.

6 This/that sort of: konna, sonna, anna


they go in front of nouns in the same way as kono, sono and
mo. The question equivalent is donna: How about this type of handbag? I don't eat at places Uke that (associated with neither of us)! What sort of camera will Konna handobaggu wa ikaga desu da?· Watashi wa anna tokoro de wa tabemasenl Donna karnera a kaimasu ka? Again, these words are parallel in meaning to kore, sore and are;

Na adjectives use the plain form of desu, da, instead of desu itself; in informal spoken Japanese, however, da is frequently avoided at the end of sentences, especially in women's speech (Unit S Language and Society): Kore via taisetsu da.

This is important.
(male speaker)

you buy?

Konna ni, sonna ni, etc. are found with adjectives and indicate to this/that/what extent: A:tsui desu ne. Amerika no natsn wa kenna ni atsui desuka? Watashi wa senna ni

and verbs,

luubun
'11111

e nomu

(sea)

f miru
into gaps, as appropriate. biru (b)

41

hatarakimasen,

Isn't it hot! Are American summers this hot (hot to this extent)? I don't work that much (to the extent that you workJ that you think 1work).

1.111Ipldeby putting particles


IllIlIII l\'I111111105U

san wa maiban nomiya (a) pen (c) __ denwa bangf (e) __ jim-san (f) __

ka?

"'11111
I1III II

(d) __

. kakimasho, aimasu ka?

7 Nan/nani? what?
Nan and nani are different ways of pronouncing
The choice the same word, is quite irregular. Before ga, 0 and mo (Unit 6 Structures 8) for instance, nani is used, while before DO, de (and daldesu) nan is used. Before ka (Structures 8) and ni, both will be heard, although nani is preferred on formal occasions. Tokyo de nani 0 kaimasu ka? Kana keki 0 nan de rabemasho ka?

hiuhun (g) kudasai, I 1111 (hJ hanashimasho. (Note that there are two I" J, n/,/e answers.)
I

arc quarrelling with a friend. <?ne of you ~ootradicts ,thing the other says, using sonna OJ + the negative. IIlp\O! (koko) (totemo) (shlzuka oa)
!III

•,In wa rotemo shizuka desu ne, It's very quiet here, isn't
Ilc ,

sonna ni shizuka ja arimasen,


11110

No, it isn't that quiet.

biru] (totemo)

(tsumetai)

8 Question word combinations ka: dare ka, doko ka, nan(i) ka, itsu ka
This has an effect similar to adding some- in English, dare ka being someone, doko ka somewhere, nani ka something, and itsu ka sometime. Note that
0,

11" decide to go to a coffee shop. They both order burendo, a


hit ud of different types of coffee. Adapt .the first hal! of .the hdll~uc at the beginning of this unit to fit the new srtuanon, I I 111 out the kanpai!

\Mi hike-san) (taihen) (kirei na) I"rn-san] (yoku) (benkyo suru) (yoku well, often) (~lIwki-san) (a-sake) (takusan) (nomu] ~ hen Tom and Suzuki-san next meet it is the afternoon,

so

and usually ga, are omitted after [question word] ka:

Dare ka imasu ka?

Nani ka ta bemasho ka] Raishu mata doko ka


de aimasho,

Is there someone (anyone) there? Shall we eat something? Let's meet again somewhere next week.

(ave the Japanese equivalent for the following short dialogues:


I ka

Yin

moto

Do you study English every evening? No, I haven't the time! Is there a good butcher's somewhere? There is a good butcher's next to the wine shop.

Exercises
1 You are trying to cheer up a depressed friend. Join each noun in list A to a verb in list B, adding the appropriate particle, and putting the verb into the suggesting -shd form. Example: 1 + e: biru a nomimasho
1 2 3 4 A biru terebi (television) hanbaga Tokyo

JIll Mlchlko Mlchlko

Let's meet sometime.


Shall I tell you my telephone number?

nguage and society


F ting and drinking out in Japan
I h ire is a great variety of places where you can eat and drink in l.ipan, from. the very expensive and formal to the cheap and

B
a taberu b yomn c kaimono-suru d oyogu

informal. Many display incredibly realistic plastic versions of their wares. which will help you if you cannot read the menu, although in Western-style establishments knowledge of katakanaalone (and agood phonetic imagination) will get you a long way. Do not be surprised if you are greeted with a chorus of Irasshaimase (Welcome) from the staff as you enter; there is no need to mply, Here are some useful words and phrases:

43

If 41
-tl'
III Crobmeat

moningu ranchi
keki At a Japanese

mOrning} lunch cake

setto ('s.et' - spe~ial deal of food somethmg to dnnk)

... e
....
~'57a-t.fil <S77-(

:::::Io":r?' Croquette with Tomato Saiuce

¥2.000 2,000 2,000 1,900 2,300 1.400 1,300 1,500 1,3QO 1,400 1.500 1.500 1.2,00 1,400 1.800

restaurant, the equivalent of setto would be the teishoku. For instance, a tenpura teishoku would consist of tenpura + rice + soup + pickles + Japanese tea, To call for attention:
Waiter

$l'/(,$'Jt,.'.,./-A~X. I t,lod Pmwns with Tartar S~ce II} ) vX@J'\"S'-'..I"r7.1-U-Y?m:Q Sauteed R11stoJ Catfish Ga~lic :Butter

(Chotto) s.umimasen. } (Chotta) o-negai shimasu,

llQl~@771 frlod Sea Scallops with Tartar Sauce


Lobster and Sea Scallops ~.. atflIJlOJt!~7 Seafood Pilaff

Excuse me, please,

1J1"~;fl.ligc.fit;ttQ)?'.J-A"D;t '''--1'''r-AA.>:J
In 'PIe Case

Here are some possible dialogues: You


Walter Nanmei-sama desu ka? How many are you? Hltoriff'utari (etc.) desu. One, two, etc. (For counting people, see Unit 9 Structures 7) O-nomimono wa? What would you like to drink? Biru/kohil(o- )mizu/wain (0) kudasai. Beer/coffee/ water/ wine, please ..

~'·J.~-7~'5':?

~4. J\'I""~:5-{A

Beel Pllaf(ja.panes.e

You

. . ;m~O)::nv-

Mashed Baef with Rice b. ""~::"-;1:1I... .Chicken Cuny with Rice

the bill will automatically be placed on your table once your order has been fulfilled, and you should pay at the cash register (reji) near the exit as you leave. To ask for the bill, however. say:

At most establishments,

Shrimp Curry with Rice ....,.:!-7 nl/t (7;JJJ.....r.:la,.'\"")''''.Q;},:;;JI'It@\-e~1.~~) Beef Ourry with Rice (Ohutney Is "",aUabl" UP"" rnquesl)

::>U.11l1'l':riG!);.tlO;:?'-.!.'?' .....
SeafOOd Spaghetti

29. ;;UO;'7".;rr ..... E.-t-'..I-A


Spaghetti Bolognaise

a 10 Malson

Kanjo 0 o-negai shimasu, Ikura (desu ka)? O-ikura (desu ka)?

The bill (kanjo) please. How much? (male speaker) How much? (female
speaker)

30. AJ'~'YT""i
31.

Spaghetti with Chicken, Cold Tomato Sauce fi:2E(l.)C)AAl!\UIiJ1Itet .... 7t--ii&5t " Broll.ed Game Hens with Tomato

7-~:"'-A·I)*!Nt-.V"",/-A

Western-style menu

ialogues
I III ikn-san wa sengetsu Yoroppa e itta. Nishiikan gurai ryok6 I II. neotoi kaetta. Soshite, kesa Jiru-san ni atta.
Do deshita ka, Yeroppa wa? Totemo yokatta desu. O-tenki wa? Samukatta desu. Sore wa zannen deshita ne. Demo; kirel desu ne; toku nl Haria wa. So desu ka? Watashi wa Itaria e itta koto ga arimasen. I1U
tlU

01

last month

III I.e ] e to, in


!pI ee)

V'l)roppa

Europa
the diiection of

deshlta past form of desu .52 yokatta desu past form of i1 desu tenki weather Sore wa zannen deshlta ne That was a shame/What a
shame

U1

.51

.SS

c co

0)

0:0

::r ~

0> 0

0 0..
~

0 0
~

Q_

::J

3° Q):::J me.
Q)Q)

~e.

_.:::J

III plain past form of Ik.u (to r}O) .82 nl,hOkan gural for about two w eks • Unit 8 58 lllihllf,l-te form of suru - 54 111otol the day before yesterday

-S6 Ie .r.u

k..

'I

to go/come back, return (to the place where you liVe or otherwise belong)

zannen na disappointing zannen deshita past form of mnnen desu • S5 toku nl especially Watashl wa Itaria e Itta koto ga arlmasen Ihave never been [verb (past plain form)] koto ga aru .53
to Italy

ntenee] soshile, [sentence]


[sentence)

Lsentencej then/and this morning

06 dashita ka, Yoroppa wa? How was It, Europe I mean? - LS2

_. ....

'rue or false?
In this unit you will learn • how to talk about past experiences • how verbs of motion work in Japanese • various time expressions • two ways of jOining sentences • about souvenir-giving • about feminine sentence
endings-

:TeD
~

Tanaka-san wa sengetsu Yoroppa kara kaetta. jiru-san wa Itaria e itta koto ga aru. Tanaka-san wa Yorappa de shashin a takusan totta, \nshite, jiru-san ni sana shashin 0 miseru,
Jlru

oaka
Jlru

(I)

Kore wa doko no shashin desu ka7 Eta ... Roma no shashln desu. Roma wa sonna ni samukunakatta desu. (Tsugi no shashin 0 dasu) Koko wa doko datta kashira? (Jiru-san ni miseru) A, natsukashii wa. Rondon no yUmei na OkkusufOdo Dcri desu.

46
r-::I III
0(')

Tanaka
Jiru

a.C
OICI

:I;t
III

Tanaka

Omaidashimashita. Hateru kara basu de nte, o-mlyage a irairo kaimasnlta, Hendon wa do deshita ka? Tanoshikatta desu ga, mainichi ame deshita. Asoko de kaze 0 hikimashita yo, (sentence] wa (feminine) - LS4 Rondon London Okkusufodo Doli Oxford Street omoldas.u to remember, in the sense of to recall something
forgotten

II( II the action is directed at a person rather than a place, for 1IIIpi. in showing or giving things to people, ni .is used rather

47

til

111 ~.:

M hiko-san wa okasan ni "-en-san no tegami. 0

Michiko-san showed Ken's letter to her mother.

a:
$'

nnsemashita,

shashln photograph tor.u to take shashin 0 tor.u to take a


photograph(s)

c.n

[person] nito[parsonj. 51 mise.ru to show eto ... let me see ... Roma Rome samukunakatta desu past form of samukunai desu - S5 tsugi no [noun) the next [noOn] das.u to take out, produce datta plaln past form of desu kashi.ra? I wonder? - Unit 6 53 A, natsukashii wa This brings
back memories

I •• Indicate where an action comes from, kara is used: I umu-san wa itsu Kyoto When will Tom come back knra kaerimasu lea? from Kyoto?

omoidashimashlta past -masu form of omoldas.u [place] kara from [place] basu bus [vehicle) de by [vehicle] - 57 o-mlyage souvenir - L51 Irolro various, all sorts of malnlchl every day arne rain kaze 0 hlk.u to catch a coJd

P st form of verbs
, 11

-52

put any -masu form of the verb into the past, all you need to
turn -masu into -mashita:

U1

III I
L

rbc.ru

ik.u

suru

tabemasu ikimasu shimasu

tabemashita

ikimashita

shimashita

natsukashl.1 [noun]
good old [noun]

dear old/

'-IUZLlki-sanwa biru 0 rnkusan nomimashita. Nani 0 mimashita ka?

Suzuki-san drank a lot of beer. What did you see?

True or false?
3 Tanaka-san 4 Tanaka-san wa jim-san ni Roma no shashin wa Itaria de kaze 0 hiita.
0

miseta,

I 11(' past form of desu is deshira. Y o~ can put t~e nega~ve 1IJ.t~cn form of any verb into the past JUst by adding des~ta. , nnilarly, the past of de wa arimasen is de wa arimasen deshitar

nshie.ru

Structures
1 [noun] elnilkara: indicating direction of action
In Unit 3 Structures 1 and 2 we saw [place] ni being used with am andiru, verbs indicating a 'state', or the way things are, to specify a static location. With verbs indicating movement to or towards (rather than location in) a place, ni or e will specify the
direction of the movement: Tornu-san wa raishii Kyoto elm ikimasu. Ken-san wa itsu Igirisu elni kaerimasu ka?

ka.u kuru

oshiemasen kaimasen kirnasen

osbtiernasen deshlta kaimasen deshita kimasen deshita I didn't go to Kyoto. Jill didn't eat the octopus.

Kyoto e ikimasen deshita. lim-san wa tako a ra bemasen deshita. Sore wa Roma no shashin de wa arimasen deshita. I he past plain form
I

That wasn't a photograph of Rome.

Tom is going to Kyoto next week. When is Ken returning to Britain?

of -irnl-eru verbs is formed by substituting


mise.ru
oshie.ru tabe.ru i.ru
mi.ru

for

-ru:

miseta oshieta tabeta ita mita

48 .... 00 :lei
DID

Q.C:

The past plain .form of -u verbs, cOJ;lSo~ant preceding the '"U, as you gronpmgs: ar.u wakar.n tor.u kir.u nom.u yom.u atta wakatta totta kitta nanda yonda hataraita

will see from the following

however,

depends

on the

III Ih. l

I( It

.. i; and with arimasen rather than arimasn at the end, to


) have never ... :

in questions

it is equivalent

to English Halle you

49

:I;:r

(). ake a nonda koto ga


rimasu ka? U l lai, (nonda koto gal arimasu. lie, (nonda koto gal arimasen, M ichiko-san no otoro

Have you ever drunk sake? Yes, I have (drunk it). No, I haven't. Michiko-san's younge1' brother is handsome isn't he? It's a shame, but (= unfortunately) I've neuer met him.

ED

C;

5'

also asob.u asonda (to play) yob,u yanda (to call/invite) (note, however; the exceptional ik.n itta)

U1

hatarak.u kak.u hik.u oyog.n hanas.n das.u rnats.u

wa hansamu desu ne,

<:)

kaita
hUta

Zannen desu ga, atta keto ga arimasen.


(lit) I

U1

oyoida hanashita

dashira
marta

a noun meaning (abstract) thing. You will meet other ructions in which koto follows the plain forms of verbs in 111111 13 Structures 3 and Unit 14 Structures 1, 2 and 5.
1111 t

Verbs like a.u, which have a vowel in front of the -u rather than a consonant, go like this: a.u ka.u The two irregular

Joining sentences with the -te form and ga


I

rile -te form is made by changing the vowel at the end of the
t

I'

plain form from -a to -e: oshieta owatta nonda kaita

atta
katta

oshieze
owatte nonde kaite shite

verbs behave like this: suru kuru shita kita I he -te form of

shita

da is de.

The plain past form of desu is datta. The plain present and past forms of the negative will be dealt with in the next unit. Information about some particular uses of the past tense in Japanese is givenin Language and society 3.

I II ' -te form has many nses, and is similar to the -ing form of the I I b in English in that it has no tense and cannot form a full t lit nee by itself. A very common use is in joining sentences whrch form a consecutive sequence of events. Thus the sentences: Suzuki-san wa rnaiban nomiya e ikimasu. Nomiya de a-sake a takusan nomimasu.

3 Experiences in the past


The structure [verb (past plain form)] kota ga arimasu is used refer to experiences in rhe past. A Taka wa do desu ka? B Nihon ryoriya de tabeta koto ga arimasu. Oishikatta desu.
tIJ
I

111

be made into one by putting ikimasu into its -te form, itte: uzuki-san wa maiban nomiya e itte, o-sake 0 takusan nomimasu. Every evening Suzuki"san goes to a bar and drinks a lot o{.sake.

How (do) do you like the octopus? I've bad it at a Japanese restaurant, It tasted
good.

50

Similarly,
Tanaka-san wa shashin a dashimashira. ni misemashira. becomes Tanaka-san wa shashin a dashite, jiru-san ni misemashita, Note that the tense of the whole sentence is given by the verb at the end. b. This ga has already appeared in several dialogues. It 18. different from [noun} ga which was introduced in Unit 3 Structures 2, and in meaning is similar to the English but: Sumimasen ga, o-tearai wa dochira desu ka.r oishiku arimasen deshita. Shashin
0 Jim-san

III

,.,.It in a similar way . To indicate the past tense they therefore dcshita,. the past form of desu: This room is quiet. ~ uno heya wa shizuka desu. The hotel in Rome was Rmna no harem wa shizuka quiet. deshira.
III.tinrly, the negative de wa arimasen,
l{undoD no

51

past uses de walja arimasen

deshita:

IIno inu wa amari kirei basu wa amari


deshita, kirei de wa arimasen

That dog isn't very dean. The London buses weren't very dean, That restaurant is good .. The [oodin Itilly was good. Michiko-san'$ house is a long way away. The restaurant was a long way (rom the. station.

Q U1

Zenbn tabemashita ga, Note that the comma

Excuse me, but which way is the toilet? I ate it all, but it didn't taste good.

II contrast,

-i adjectives

actually change their form:

Auo resutoran wa oishii desu. H.lda no tabemono wa oishikarta desu, Michiko-san no nchi wa t oi desu. I{esutoran wa eki kara rokatta desu,
I .1~l1inan

comes after ga rather than before. In speech as well, any pause will come after the ga. rather than before.

Ga is also used where the first part of a sentence is setting the scene for the rest, and where but would not therefore be an appropriate English equivalent: Kesa Ken-san ni aimashita ga, hansarnu desu ne. Kore wa tako desu ga, tabeta koto ga arimasu ka? 1 met Ken this morning;

1\" you can see, -i desu is replaced by -katra desu, Note that ii desu
exception, having the past form of yokatta desu, are two arimasen form of becomes past form of -i adjectives there p'IN~ibilities. as with the negative present form. -leu l'I'l ornes -ku arimasen deshita. Since nai, the plain II hnasen, itself acts like an -i adjective, -kunai dew knnakatta desu:

wit·h the negative

isn't he handsome! This is octopus - have you ever eaten it?

Note also how, as at the end of the dialogue in Unit 4, it is possible to stop talking after the ga, Leaving your listener to wO.rk ou~ what you were going to say. This can be a useful way of implying, rather than directly saying, something which might offend yom listener: '

lu~hiku arimasen,
\110 IllNhikunai

\ Ill)

resutoran

wa amari

resuroran wa amari desu, .. }

That restaurant is not very good. Tbe food in Britain was not very good.

Sore wa 56 desu ga;..

You w~ sometimes ga at the beginning of a sentence, where it has the meanmg of but, however. Demo (Unit 2; dialogue) and the more formal shikashi (Unit 4 Structures 5) are more common in this position, though they cannot be used to join two sentences together as ga can.

fin?

That is so, but (I don't totally agree ... )

Il\IrJsu no tabemono wa amari mshiku arimasen deshita. 1~~lrisuno tabemono wa amari

tlilihikunakatta
ihove:

desu,

!'Ilc plain past forms of adjectives follow on logically from the

lin adjectives; i lJ.djectives;

wei da
kirei de walja nai oishii oishikunai

kireidatta

5 Past forms of adjectiVes


ill English, adjectives themselves do not change according to tense; tense is shown by is, was, etc. In Japanese, na adjectives

kirei de walja nakatta


oishikatta oishikunakatta

6 Expressions. of time in Japanese


We have already been using various expressions of them have been expressions of relative time, like sengetso last month, which means last month month, and will refer to March in April, April in are some common expressions of relative time: year of time. Most that is, words relative to this May, etc ..Here

xercises
'III~U) form, making
I
K

63
and put the verbs int~ th~ past (them positive unless otherwise militated. (a) (tabem) _, (a) de; tabemashita

I Supply the missing particles

rmple: Kino resutoran

3 a:
3'

month
sengetsu korigetsu raigetsu maigetsu (or maitsuki)

week .senshu
konshu raishu

day kino (yesterday) kyo (today) ashita

c.n

C)

this next
every

last

kyonen kotoshl ramen


mamen

(tomorrow)

{or rnaitoshi)

maishfi

mainicbi

Tomu-san wa senshu basu (a) . Narita (b) _ (iku). II Michilw-san wa kino Ken-san (c) Kyoto no shashin (d) _. (miseru). IliI A Kesa shinbun (e) (yomn) ka? U lie, (yomu negative) __ . III Kyonen (f) natsu doko (g) _. __~. (im) ka? . \II A Kino uchifh) __ nani (i) _ (benkyosuru) ka? B (Benkyo suru negative); (asobu), The Japanese like asking foreigners if they have had any urthentic 'Japan experiences'. Use the [verb (past plain form)] koto ga am construction to ask and answer about the following. (110 this with a friend if pessible.)
I

'"

These words can be followed by certain particles, by wa if some contrast is implied: Kino wa samukatta desn. Kyo wa il o-tenki desu ne, Usually, however, Ashita nani
0

for example

Yesterday was cold. Isn't it lovely weather 'today!

I' "ample: Seeing Mt Fuji (Fuji-san) Ifuii-san a mita koto ga arimasu lea? l l.ri, (mita koto gal arimasu. II,', [mita koto ga)arimasen .. Hating octopus/raw fish (sashimi or sushi) h Drinking sake/Japanese tea (o-cha) l Going to KyotolNara cI Seeing Nob/Kabuki drama t· Staying at a Japanese-style inn (ryokan ni tomar.u)
.1

they are not followed by any particles at all: shimasu

ka?

It is also worth noting at this stage that these relative expressions can act like nouns and be joined to other time words through the use of no: kino no yoru rainen no natsu

yesterdayn.ight next (year's) summer


expressions,

vvrb or the ordinary sentence final form and gao

1 Join the following

sentences

using either the -te form of the

There will be more information about time including how to tell the time, in Units 6 and 8.

Example: Yoroppa ni ikimashita .. Shashin 0 takusan torimashita, --+ Yoroppa ni itte, shashin a takusan torimashita. Yoroppa ill ikimashita, Kenbutsu shima sen deshita. . --+ Yoroppa ni ikimashita ga, kenbutsu shimasen deshita,
I Tomodachi ni aimashita ..Hanashimashita, h Tomodachi 0 yobimashita. Kimasen deshka. l Shashin 0 mirnashita ..Amari yoku arimasen deshita, d Shashin a mimashita, Rondon 0 omoidashirnashira. to jiru-san wa Nihongo de tegami 0 kakimashita ..Tanaka-san ni misemashita,

7 Means of transport
[Vehicle] de is used with verbs of motion as follows. This is a natural extension of the use of de to indicate the instrument with which an action is performed: Basu/densha de kaerimasho.

Let's go home by bus/train


(densha), uses the

Note that where English would sayan foot. Japanese -te form of the verb aruk.u{to walk), amite: Amite kaerimashita,

I went home on foot.

54 '

4 Put the following sentences in the past. Example: Roma wa atsui desu, a b c d e
-+ ROUl3

3 Special uses of the past tense of wakaru and


wa atsukatta desu,

kuru
In certain situations, the past forms of these verbs can take on a ~pedal meaning. When A, who is junior to B, bas been listening , 11 instructions or advice given by B,.the reply Hai, wakarimashita will imply not only that A has understood, but .dAo that he or she will carey out what B has said. (A more lnrrnal equivalent to wakarimashita in this context is keshikemarimashita. ) If you catch sight of the bus or train that you are waiting for, in English you say It's coming!. In Japanese, however, you say

55

Rondon wa amari atsukunai desu, Okkusufodo wa shizuka desu. haria no resutoran wa oishii desu, Ano kissaten wa amari kirei de wa arimasen, Tenki wa amari yoku arimasen,

Language and society


Q CJ1

1 O..miyage souvenirs
The Japanese love travelling and travel has inevitably become ritualized. Commemorative photographs (kinen shashin) must be taken, and o-miyage must be bought, fur one's neighbours, relatives and colleagues at school or work. If you go to Japan, particularly if you are going to stay with Japanese friends, or if someone is going to be looking after you in some way, you should arm yourself with a choice selection of o-miyage: from appropriately emblazoned keyrings to bottles of brandy and scarves at ties with famous designer names. When presenting a gift to someone, it is usu~lly ap~r?priat~ ~o say: Kore wa tsumaranai mono desu ga ... (ht.) .Thls 1$ a trtvlal [rsumarana.i) thing but ... In the case of an o-mryage, however, you would probably say: (Kore wa) Igirisu/ Amerika no 0mirage desu, Tsumarenai mono desuga, dozo ... This is a souv.enir from Britain/America. It is a trivial thing, but please (accept it). The happy recipient can respond in various wafs, most simply, of course, with Domo arigato gozaimasu (a polite
Thank you) ..

Kiruasbita! (lit. It has come). You may feel that this is a natural reflection of the greater speed and efficiency of Japanese transport systems .....

en.

4 The feminine sentence endings waand no


Differences between male and female speech are much more obvious in Japanese than in many oilier languages. In general, women tend to use polite endings more than men, and to use more honorific and humble forms, as we shall see. When women do use the plain form, with close friends, or when talking out loud to themselves, they will often soften it with a sentence ending. Wa is one of these, no another. (Note that they are unrelated to the wa and no which come after nouns and which we first met in Unit 1.) No is slightly more assertive than wa.; in questions it replaces ka, which women otherwise omit in informal speech: Well~I'm going home. I'm not cold. Where are you going? Note that in front of no, da becomes na:
Dajiobu desu ka?
---+

ja, kaeru wa. Samuku nai no. Doko e iku no?

2 Inverted sentences
You will come across these frequently in everyday spontaneous conversations. The speaker adds information as an afterthought to a sentence which is already complete, possibly to clarify the meaning or for emphasis. Handsome isn't be, Hansamu desu ne, Ken 1mean. Ken-san wa. We went from the hotel. Hoteru kara ikimashita, by bus. basu de. In London we had rain, Rondon wa arne deshita, every day. mainichi .. (Fat inverted questions, see Unit 22 Structures 1 .h.]

Daijobu

na no?

Are you all right?

You will hear men using no, mainly if they are asking a woman with whom they are On dose terms a question, and waas well, particularly if they are from the west of japan,

Dialogues
0 tsurete chikaku no nomiya Futari wa gozen niji sugi ni issho ni kaette, sugu neta. I.Inshite, ima wa nichiyobi no a-him chikaku cia ga, futari wa

57

rohe, Anzai-sensei wa Tomu-san

11Iitta.

f.uto okita •.. okusan Anzal to Tomu akusan Anzal to Tomu Osoi desu ns - yUbe wa zuibun nonda desha?
Ee ... itete .... (atama a osaero) O-furo nl hairanakatta desha? Sumimasen. Ha rna migakanakatta desha? Gomen nasal, Manto rna kesanakatta desha? sake K-kesanakatta ka mo shiremasen ... Komatta hltotachi desu. Sa, nani 0 meshiagarimasu ka? Gahan? Pan? Nani rno lranal ... o-cha dake kudasai. Sore kara, i.gusuri mol
didn't brush teeth,e.ithat gomen nasal Itwa am/ate sony

Okusan

Antal to Tomu Okusan Anza.1 to Tomu


Okusan

Anzallo Tomu

'<. '< 00

cc

...)

s:u o,
..0 CD Ol

:::y

0
:::J
Q)

:::J '<

;:::t:

C. CD
CD

c. cQ)

yObe last nIght t.;ur·e.'u to take, accompany futan two persons, the two
Dozen am .• S6 nlJI two o'clock. S6 (tIme] sugl aftet [time] • S6 Iliho nl togethar na.rlJi to lie down; sleep nlchlyobl Sunday o.hll'u lunch, lunchtime o-hlru chlkaku nearly lunchtime Ylltta finally, at length okl.ru to get up I.ulbun a fait deal, a lot I,onlenca) daro (deshO) • S2 Inou"]i to (noun] [noun] and tnoun] • UnitS S3 Ilote ouch 81ama hesd atamaoosae.ru to hold one's head (osae.ru to hold down) o-furo bath e-fueo nl hair.u to take a bath halranakaHa plain negative past tense form of "alr.u • 51 lumlmasenexcuse melus; I/wa
am/are sony.

hamo mlgakanakatta

• LSl montii outside light (often attached to gate post)

kes.u

to

switch off

0 ...-+
Ol

:e C.
tn N
:T C

en ...-+

[sentence) lea mo shlrenal (ka mo shiremasen) may; perhaps .53 komatta hite a troUblesome pers.on, a nuisance sa = sa • Unft 4 0 mashlaga'.u honorific equfvalent of tabe.ru • Unit 18 51c pan bread nanl mo [negative] nothing
1

co :::y
...-+

-o, O. c._.) C o,

::J

-.
:::J

ir.u

:::J

.-+

In this unit you will learn • about plain negative verb forms • how to express uncerta,inty. probabHity and reason with plain forms • how to count • how to show off!

e-eha (Japanese) rea [nounl dako only [noun] • Unit


1952 Igusurl 'stomach medieine', digestive pills

to need lranal plain negative present of Ir.u .51

·sa

ha 0 mlgek.u
teeth

LS1 to brush one's

58

True or false?
1 Futari wa amarinomanakatta. 2 Futari wa ha 0 migaita,

form, change -nai to -nakatta (recall the past tense formation of -i adjectives)! oki.ru tabe.ru mi.ru old inai tabe 100 nil [nai oki [nakarta mi nakatta

59

a Sanji han goro, Jim-san wa Tomu ..san


Jiru
Okusan

mukae ni kuru.

tabe lnakatta

Jlru
Okusan

Gomen kudasail A, Jlru-sanl O-agari kudasai. o-eha wa ikaga? Itadakimasu. Ano futari wa osokatta desha kara, yube wa taihen datta desha? E:, demo, watashi wa said ni neta kara ... Sore wa yokatta desu. De, ano futari wa? Mata neta desha ka? lie, achlra no heya de mukaezake (isu kara ochiru)
0 ...

b With -u verbs, change the final -u to -a-, then attach -nai present tense, -nakarta for past: tor:n hanas.u nom.u ayog.u tara [nai hanasa noma j nai oyoga [nai

o
en

Jim
Okusan Jim

!nai

tara! nakatta hanasa j nakatta noma j nakatta oyogainakatta

han half past [t.lme]goro about [time) • 86 mukae nl kuru (come to) meet, plck up (mukae :: -masu base of mukae.ru to meet. Unit 7 82) itadakimasu yes please (when
offer of food or drink) taihen datta desho you must have had a difficult time sa.ki ni ahead of someone else, first [sentence] kara (sentence] and accepting

(sore wa) yokatta desu I (was) am gla.d (about that) (lit. it was de [sentence] and so (sentence] mukaezake a pick-me~up to
combat good)

Notice that verbs ending in -tsu change to -ta-, and verbs with a vowel before the -u, to -wa- (although awanai and other such forms sound in fact more like aanai in normal rapid speech): rnats.u a.u ka.u malta t nai a! wa!nai ka:wa[nai
rna 1 ta

achlra no heya de muk.aezake 0 ••• (nonde imasu, are drinking,


is understood • Unit 11 82)

hangover

Isu chair ochl.ru to fall, falloff

ka i wa nakatta

ai wa i nakatta

i nakatta

so -84

c The two irregular verbs sum and kuru work as follows: suru

True or false?
3 Anzai-sensei no okusan wa saki ni neta, 4 Jim-san wa o-cha a nomanakatta.

kuru

shi lnai ko lnai

shi !nakatta ko] nakatta

d Notice that ar.u does not have regular negative forms (aranai does not exist); instead, nailnakatta are used: O-kane ga nai. Hon ga nakatta, There isl1 have no money. The book wasn't there.

Structures
1 Plain negative forms of verbs
The plain negative form of verbs is obtained in the following manner: a With -irul-eru verbs, substitute -nai for -ru to obtain the plain present negative, and to obtain the corresponding past tense

2 Indicating probability with dam


Daro (an~ its polite equivalent deshO) means something like probably ishoas or is/was likely to (there is no fixed English equivalent).

60

Daro is attached [0 nouns, adjectives and verbs in their present and past affirmative and negative forms as seen in the following table: nouns Ano biro wa Nihonjin
datta ja nai ja nakatta

When the question is about something associated with the speaker, the implication is often one of showing off (in this use falling intonation is generally used): (photo of boyfriend) Hansamu desha? (home-baked cake) Watashi no keki wa oishii demo? 1£ ka? is attached after daro/desho, wonder if: (Knock at the door) Dare daro ka? Kono sukato wa takai desha ka? Ken-san mo iku desha ka? Don't you think he's handsome? My cakes are not bad, eh?! the meaning normally is I Who might that be? Is this skirt (sukato) expensive, I wonder? I wontkrif Ken is going. too?

61

desha.

That man probably

is Japanese. was
isn't wasn't desha. I expect this room is quiet. was isn't wasn't Summer must be hot. have been hot. be cool (not hot). have been cool (not hot). She probably will go. went. won't go. didn't go.

o 0)

na adjectives

Kono heya wa shizuka dana ja nai ja nakatta


-; adjectives

Q)

When desha is used instead of desu in a question (with normal question intonation), it results in a very polite question:
Ii desu ka? Ii desha ka?

Natsn wa

atsu] i atsu- : kana atsuku- i nai I aesuku- ! nakatta

desho

Is it all right? Would it be all right?


Where

verbs

is the cloakroom? Where wOJ41d the cloakroom be, please? When said with a falling intonation, the speaker's doubt as to the validity of the assumption expressed in the question is expressed:
Ii desha ka?

O-tearai wa doko desu ka? Ovtearai wa doko desho ka?

Kanojowa

ikju
it-] [a ika-inai ika-] nakatta

desha.

Kya wa hontoni daro ka?

nichiyobi

I wonder if it's all right? Is today really Sunday, I wonder?

3 {sentence} kashira? and [sentence} ka rno shirenai" indicating uncertainty


Ka mo shlrenai/shiremasen literally means there is no knowing whether; it is used instead of daro where the speaker is less certain about the likelihood of an action or state occurring. Ka rno shirenai is attached to the same forms as daro/desho. Note the differences in meaning when compared to the sentences given in the table overleaf:

Note that so behaves like a noun (so daro/desbo), In questions ending in daro/desho?, the speaker signals to the listener to confirm the assumption presented in the question: Yiibe wa zuibun nonda desha? O-furo n.i hairanakatta desha? Ha mo migakanakatta desha? You had quite a lot last night, didn't you? You. didn't take a bath, did YOtt? You didn't brush Y014r teeth either, did you?

62

An,o biro

wa Nihonjin

kama shiremasen,

Kana heya wa

shizuka datta ikanakatta

Natsu wa atsukunai Kanojowa

... might/may be a Japanese. ... may have been quiet. ... may not be hot. ... may not have gone.

In normal polite speech, kara is more likely to be attached to the plain forms of the verb and adjectives rather than to desul -masu forms . Note that the subject of the whole sentence (marked by wa) may come at the beginning of the sentence, or in the second half after kara. If the subordinate sentence has a different subject (heya ga shizuka datta), it is generally marked by ga (see Unit 10). This applies equally to sentences where the overall subject is understood, such as the first example given on p. 62. In full this would read as follows: Tenki ga ii kara watashi-tachi wa ikimasu. In English it is possible to say Because Michiko-san didn't (go) in reply to a question such as Why didn't you go? Similarly, sentences consisting only of the part indicating the reason are possible in Japanese, too: Michiko-san ga ikanakatta kara.

63

o en

Kashiraj came up in Unit 5; as mentioned there, it is restricted to female speech in standard Japanese (although men use it regularly in certain dialects, such as those spoken in the Kyoto! Osaka area). With a meaning similar to desha ka? (and the more masculine daro ka?), kashira? is attached to the same forms as ka mo shirenai, Some more examples are given below: Dare kashira] Kana sukato wa takai
kashira?

en

Kono hoteru wa shizuka kashira? Ken-san rna iku kashira? Kesa no shinbun wa konakatta kashira?

Who might that be? Is this skirt expensive. I wonder? I wonder if this hotel is quiet? I wonder if Ken will go, too? Am I right in thinking that the paper didn't come this morning?

5 How to count
Japanese has two sets of numerals, an indigenous set and one imported from China. The Japanese set is used only for numbers up to and including 10. Number Japanese hito-tsu
futa-tsu mit-tsn yot-tsu itsu-tsu Chinese (alternatives) ichi
DI

1
,

4 Unking sentences with kara


In Unit 5, we saw the use of the -te form and ga to link two sentences in the sense of and and but. In the sequence 51 kara S2. kara links two sentences in the sense of because. Note that in Japanese the reason is always given in the first (or subordinate) sentence, whereas in English the reason sentence can come second as well as first (recall the differences in basic word order

3 4
5 6

San

shi
go

(yon) (nana)

7 8
9

between the languages).

10

mut-tsu nana-tsu yat-tsu kokono-tsu

roku shichi
hachi

to

kyuIku
jii

T enki ga ii kara ikimasu. Futari wa osokatta kara sugu nemashita, Heya ga shizuka datta kara, warashi wa yoku nemashira, Jiru-san ga kimashita kara, issho ni o-cha 0 nomimashita,

We will go because the weather is fine. The two went straight to bed because it was late. I slept well because the room was quiet. Because Jill came, we drank tea together.

The alternatives to the purely Chinese words, yon and nana, are derived from the Japanese set, and are more common than shi and shichi, On their own, the Chinese numerals are used to count from 1to 10, 1 to 100 and so on, for example in doing arithmetic. For counting things, it is normal to combine them with specific counters. (See Structures 6 about counting hours and minutes,

64

~nd ...l]nit 9 for more info~mation.) The Ja.panese s~t 0.£. numbers IS also used to count things, but generally only m the case of objects which have no specific counter assigned to them. One couldsay that vtsu is the counter for such objects .. After 10; tbe tens are indicated by atrachingni, san '" before jii, while the ones are made up by attaching ichi, ni .,. after jii (note that yon and nana are again used as common alternatives):

6 Telling the time


The hours are indicated by adding -ji (meaning o'clock/hours) to the (mainly Chinese) numerals 1 to 12, or in formal nnnouncements,O (rei) to 23:

65

12 juj ni "- t 13. )u:sa.D


14 15 16 18

11 jii! ichi
jll! shilyon jiiigo jii!roku jii i shichi/nana iii! hachi

20 30

40
5Q

ni ill san jii shi/yon jii.

en

17

19

iu! kyiilku

60 70 80 90

go j-u roku jii


shichi/nana [ju hachi ju kyiilku j j fi

ni I ji I·: san i)1 yo! ji go Iji ku I .. ro ! J1 rei! ji

ichi

iji

1 o'clock

2 o'clock 3 o'clock
4 o'clock 5 o'cku;k 6 o'clock

shiehl i ji hachi I·· i Jl 1 •• ku ;I )1 ..


jiiichi j ji jiini i ji

7 o'clock

jii

ip

8 o'clock 9 o'clock
10o'dock 11 o'clock 12 o'clock lD hours

jUku i Jl

I ..

o hours (midnight) 19 hours

niju
nijiisan

I'·

1)1

en.

iii

23 hours

The same principle applies with hyaku (a hundred) and sen (a thousand): thus the year 1984 would be sen kyUhyaku hacl1ijii yo-nen (&D€n = year; this is also the Japanese title of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty~Four), and 2001 nisen ichi-nen. Certain combinations undergo phonetic change, thus sanbyaku (not sanhyaku), roppyaku (not .rokuhyaku), happyaku (not hachihyalrn). Check Appendix 1 for a list of common phonetic changes. The basic unit for large numbers is not 1,000 but 1,0000 (ichiman); calculate by remembering that there are four noughts, not three, as with thousands:

Where necessary, the a.m.lp.m. distinction can be indicated by putting gozen {a.. .. or gogo (p.m.) in front. Thus, gozen ichiji m) IS one a.m.

!tal( past is indicated by adding han \halfl; sanji han (half past three). Alternatively, YOIl can say sanji sanjuppun (three thirty).
The minutes are expressed by combinations of the numerals 1-59 in combination with -fun/-pun (see Appendix 1 for combinations) ..

Horns and minutes are generally combined


Shichiji gofun Sanji jugofun Kuji nijuppun Jiiji sanjuppunJhan

as follows:
yoniiigofun 1.S0 4.55

3.. 5 1 9.20 10.30

7..05

Hachiji

Ichiji gojuppun
Yoji gojiigofun Jiiichiji gojiihachifun the minutes

8045

11.58
past

20,000 50,000 70,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000

nii man I gal man shiehilnana i man jii! man

(not ichi':!, sen , man)

hyakuj man is.senl man

(2,0000) (5,0000) (7,0000) (10,0000) (100,.0000)

It is possible to attach sugi (Past/a{ter)co hour: sbicbiji gofun sugi live past seven.

the

After the half hour. it is also possible to give the minutes to the horn by adding mae (before).: Kuji jii.gofun mae Goji gofun mae Niji juppun mae JUniji nifun mae

F.i{teen minutes to nine Five minutes to five


Ten minutes to two Two minutes to twelve

(lOOO,OOOO)

For approximate times, goro (abmifj,chikaku (nearly) and sugi (past/after) can be used; while chodo (just/exactly) i:s attached before the hour:

66

Shichiji goro

Shichijichikaku Shichiji sugi


Chodo shichiii desu.

Seuenish, about seven o'clock Nearly seven ~ After seven It's just on seven.

-ji

Dare rna kimasen deshita, Dare IDO yobimasen. I are ni rna aimasen deshita, oko (ni) rna ikimasen deshita,
Nani
IDO

For asking the time, nanji (what time/hour) is used.

irimasen,

No one came. I shall invite no one. I didn't meet anyone. We didn't go anywhere. [ don't want anything.

67

7 Hi with expressions of time


In this use, ni indicates that you are doing something at a specific time. It is therefore attached to specific times such as the hour of the day, the day of the week or month, and the month, year, etc. (These expressions are similar in that they indicate a point on a scale/dial/calendar and so on - see Language and society 2 and Appendix 1 for dates, the days of the week and the names of the months.) Kesa rokuji ni okimashita,

Note that itsu rno cannot be used with negative forms; it is, however. commonly used with positive forms in the sense of altllays (Unit 7): Itsu rna shichiji ni kaerimasu. [Ihe always rl'furn!s at seven.

Exercises
I Tell the time in Japanese as indicated (give two versions where possible).

en

Sanji ni ikimasho, Gozen niji sugi ni kaerimashita.

I got up at six this morning.

Doyobi ni kaimono shimashita.

Let's go at three o'clock. They came back after 2 a.m. I did some shopping on Satuniay.

On the other hand, it cannot be used with relative times (recall Unit 5 Structures 6): Mainichi biru 0 nomimasu, Kino eiga a mimashita,
I drink beer every day. I saw a film (eiga)

yesterday.

Other expressions of time are either specific or general in meaning; these can be used without ni in a general sense, or with ni to give them a more specific feel. This distinction does not exist in English - if in doubt use these expressions without ni Asa (morning) Gogo Fuyu (winter) Sanji goro (nil (ni)
(ni) (ni)

denwa shimashita, ikimasu,


kaerimashita, Roma ni ikimasu.

2 Answer the [question word] ka questions by [question word]

roo [+ negative] answers as shown in the model: Example: Dare ka kimashita ka? ...... dare rna kimasen deshita. lie,

8 [question word] rno (dare mo, doko mo, nanl


mol

I+

negative]

a Doko ka ni ikimashita ka? b Nani ka rabemashira ka] c Dare ka ni aimashita ka?

This combination is similar in meaning to no- or not any- in English, dare mo being no one or not ... anyone, doko mo nowhere or not ... anywhere, and nani rna nothing/not ... anything. Particles ga and, usually, 0 are omitted; others such as ni combine with rna (preceding it). With iku, however, nile can be left out.

d Nani ka kaimasu ka?

68

3 Show off about the .followillg.


Example: (girlfriend; pretty) -+ Watashi no garufurendo wa kirei

"urelci na purezento
.umimasen.

desho?

a (car; fast) h (room; big) c (blouse [burausu], pretty) d (jam; tasty) e (dog; cute) 4 Put these English sentences into Japanese.
<:)

Kino wa domo shitsurei

Iibe wa sumimasen deshita,

shimashira.

Thanks for the lovely (suteki na) present. Sorry about last night. I do beg your pardon a:bout yesterday.

69

( l'hc last two do not necessarily imply some grave social blunder II may be that you were late for an appointment, or simply v(HIred someone out of the blue!)

en

a I bought it because I had the money. b Because Ken went, I went too. c I got up early this morning because I went to bed early last night.

7F.1318
2 Giving the date
I he

-aatsu

-nichi

o en

Language and society


1 Saying 'sorry' in Japanese: su(mJimasen, ddmp, and gomen nasa;
Sumimasen (often shortened to suimasen) can be used (sometimes with gal to attract people's attention in the sense of excuse me: Suimasen! Sumimasen - toire wa doko desu ka? Suimasen ga, ima nanji desho ka? Excuse me! (calling the waiter, etc.) Excuse me, where is the toilet? Excuse me, what is the time, please?

specific (the larger unit to the lesser): kesa rokeji, gozen niji, ~nnji gofun, etc. The same order applies with dates (year, month, day rather than vice versa). 15 December 1990; 1990 (sen kyuhyaku kyii:ju)-nen 12 (jUni)-gatsu 15 (jiigol-nichi -nen is attached to the years, -gatsu (month) to the months, and -nichi (day) to the days. The months have no names, but are numbered from 1 to 12. The year can also be indicated by the somewhat flowery name given to the era of an emperor's reign. If you ask someone when they were born, they will normally give you the relevant era rather than the year according to Western reckoning. The first year in an era is known as gannen. The current era is Heisei (achieving peace), while the previous era was Showa (enlightened peace). Heisei gannen corresponds to 1989, while ShOwa gannen is equivalent to 1926, Showa ninen to 1927, and o on. Heisel years can therefore be converted into Western calendar years by adding (19)88, and Showa years by adding (19)25. Showa SS (Sho'Wa gojiigo-nen), for example, is 1980, and Heisei 20 (Heisei nijiinenlnisenh.achi-nen), 2008. The days of the week areas follows: Cetsuyobi Kayobi Suiyobi Mokuyobi Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Kin'yobi Doyobi Nichiyobi Nan'yobi
Friday

III Japanese, the order of time expressions is from the general to

In the sense of I am sorry, both (domo) sumimasen and gomen nasai (the latter tends to be used by females) are used in a wide range of situations: you may have trodden on someone'sfoot, caused a traffic accident or got caught by a police officer for not carrying your foreigner's registration card - in all these cases, sumimasen is the thing to say. More informally, domo is used by itself.

(Domo) sumimasen is also used to acknowledge people's kindness when receiving gifts or favours, and in its form su(m)imasen deshita it can refer to misdeeds or blunders committed in the past. Shitsurei shimashita can be used in the same situations.

Saturday Sunday What.day?

You will hear people omitting the final -bi,

70

3 Jap.anese drinking habits


There is a great deal of drinking in Japan, unbridled by licensing hours, It forms an important part of the semi-official end of work or business negotiations (see Unit 4, dialogue], but is also rampant without any such excuse. Entertainment of friends and customers generally takes place outside the home, and you will therefore find establishments of all descriptions (and pricesl) from the humble ippai nomiya (small drinking places where locals have a drink at the counter) or yakitoriya (specializing in barbecued chicken and/or pork offal) through the more respectable ba (bar) to various types of restaurants, and establishments offering female companionship, such as kyabare (cabaret). The constant round of social drinking explains why there is such a wide range of tonics, digestive aids and hangover cures on offer. Some of the better known brands are Mamushl dorinku, Seirogan and Panshiron, respectively.

en:

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en

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In this unit. you willieam • further uses of some particles • how to make explanatory statements • about public holidays

DDialogues
Michiko-san wa Ken-san to issho ill Shinjuku e asobi ni iku. Nichiyobi wa itsu rno hokosha-tengoku da. Sore de futari wa dow no rnannaka 0 aruku ...
Michiko Ii o-tenki desu oe ...

True or false?
I Michiko-san-tachi wa yama ni iku, 1 Ken-san-tachi wa moguri ni iku,
Mlchlk.o Delllo, Yligata Tokyo Domu e yakyO 0 mi ni ikimasen ka? Kippu ga am n' desu, Doko to doko desu ka? Kyojin to Hanshin desu yo. Ii desu ne .,' Sono ato wa dlsuko ni odon ni ikimashO ne! Sekkaku desu ga ... mongen ga jOji. na n' desu! dlsuko disco odori, -masu base of odor,u sekkaku dasu ga...
that's very kind of you but.,. (phrase used to decl!ne an invitation orofler) mongen '/ock",up time', time one has to be home by

73

Ken
Mlchlko

E., totemo klmochl ga ii

desu.

sugoi hlto

Ken
'M.ichiko

.......

Ken
. lchiko M

Ken
Mlchlko

:Ken

desu nel Nichiy6bi we ltsu moke na n' desu yo. He ... ratshu wa garuden uiku desha? Sono toki wa motto sugoi desha ne, Demo, minna umi yayama e dekakeru desha, So ka ... Michiko ..san-tachi mo desu ka? watashi-tachi wa urnl e moguri ni iku n' desu . Yokattara, lssho ni ikimasen ka? Damo ari.gat6 .•. demo, watashi-tachi mo dekakeru n' dssu, Ara, dochira e? Karulzawa. desu. Yama 0 aruku n' desu.

Ken Mlchlko
Ken Mlchlko

e.,

yQgata evenIng Tokyo Domu 'Tokyo Dome', covered baseball stad.ium in


Tokyo, home of the Kyojln team

to dance

82

yakyu

ml, -masu base of mi.ro .82 klppu ticket Kyojln,. Hanshln farnous rival professional baseball teams, based In Tokyo and Osaka respectively

baseball

[noun] to Issho ni with [noun] • Unit 853 Shinjuku one of the downtown
'Tokyo centres a50bl, -mesu base of asob.u play, engage Inactivities other than work • 52

ko like this • 86 [sentence] n' desu - S5 heB,xclamation indicating

to

itsu mo always hok6sha-tengoku 'pedestrians' paradIse', road temporarily closed to vehicles, e.g, on
holidays

surprise gli.ruden uiku 'Golden Week', term used to refer to the string of public holidays
Which occurs between late April and early May - L8 mln(n)a all,everyone yama mountain, hill umI ya )'<Ima the sea and the hills (ya • Unit 10 81)

True or false?
3 Michiko-san wa yakyii no kippu ga aru, 4 Furari wa disuko ni ikanai.

Structures
1 The use of iku and kuru
These two verbs are used in a somewhat different way £rom English come and go. In English, come and go are used loosely in expressions such as I'll come with you or 1 can't come tomorrow when we actually mean I'll go with you or I can't gD tomorrow; Japanese makes a more rigorous distinction: iku refers only to movement away from the speaker/the domain of the speaker, and kuru to movement toward the speaker. 1 2 3 4 Ashita ikimasu. I'll come/gD (to your place) tomorrow. Ashita kimasu, I'll come (to your place) tomorrow. Issho ni ikimasen ka? HDW about coming/going with us? Issho ni kimasen ka? How about coming with us?

sore de [sentence] so, therefore [sentence] doro road mannaka middle, ceotr« [noun] 0 along [noun1 - S4 kimochl feeling klmochl ga II 'feeling is good', I.e. one feels good sugo.t terrible, formldable 5Ogol hito a formidable
[num,ber of] people, a huge crowd

dekake.ru to set/go out mogur.u to dive (skin or scuba) yokattara if it's 13/1 n'ght with you, how about ... (phrase often used to lntroduce an invitation)
- Un'1119 81 of surprise Karuizawa famous summer resort in the mountains northeast df Tokyo

ara exclamation

The first example may be said au the telephone, or written .in a letter, i.e, when the speaker is away from the listener; b,y contrast, the second sentence is only possible if the speaker is at the listener's place. The distinction between the third and fourth sentences is less clear-cut, but the implication in 4 is that the speaker asks the listener to join him/her to go to a place that is perceived as his/her domain, either by virtue of ownership (e.g. the speaker's country cottage) or habit (we always go there in the summer).

Shinjuku e asobi ni ikimasu, Umi e oyogi ni ikimasu, Disuko ni odori ni ikimasu,

I am going out to

Tornodachi no ie ni tomari ni ikimasu.

Shinjuku. I am going to the ocean for a swim. I am going dancing at a disco. I am going to a friend's place to stay the night.

75

2 [-masu base] ni ikulkuru: indicating direction


or purpose
The -masu base of verbs is what remains when -masu is taken
off:

3 Kara and made


words in the sense of until. In fact, both can be used after time or place words, just like from/after and to/until in English. Like t he English prepositions, they are often found .in pairs:

......

lhese have come up already in the dialogues of Units 4 and 5, I ara after a place word meaning from, and made with time

tabe
nu

norm
kai

(masu)

shi These forms may be understood as the noun-form of verbs, since the -masa base of some verbs can act as an independent noun, e.g. oyogi swim(ming), asobi p/ay(ing), odori dance/dancing.
Ni can be attached

Gersuyobi kara kinyebi made hatarakimasu, Asa kara ban made- terebi o mimashita. Kaisha kara Okkusufodo Don made arukimashita.

I work from Monday to Friday. I watched TV from morning till evening. I walke4 from the office to Oxford Street.

4 0 with verbs of motion


In Unit 4, we saw how de was used to indicate the place of action; with verbs indicating motion such as aruku or oyo8O, 0 is often used instead of de to indicate the area over which the motion takes place: I have walk.e.dalong this Kono michi 0 aruira koto street (michi). ga anmasu. I walked (sanpo/suru) Koen 0 sanpo shimashita. through the park (koen). Hyaku metoru 0 oyogimashita. I swam 100 metres.

to the -masu base of most verbs in combination with a following iku or kuru; the meaning is very similar to ni expressing the direction of an action, although by force of context the implication is often one of purpose. Compare the following pairs (note that e cannot he used to indicate purpose): Sbinjuku e/ni ikimasu, Oyogi ni ikimasu. Sensei ga uchi e/ni kimasu. Sensei ga now ni kimasu. I am going to Shin;uku. I am going swimming. The teacher is coming to our house. The teacher is coming to have a drink.

De will still be used, however, it the meaning of covering a


distance is not implied, or if the action takes place aimlessly:
Keen de sanpo shimashita.

I took a stroll in the park.

This structure can also be used when verbs have an object:


Eiga
0
0

5 [sentence] n' daldesu: adding emphasis


N' da/desu (and its more formal variant no da/desu) may be regarded as an emphatic equivalent of da/desu. Note the forms [hat nouns, adjectives and verbs rake in front of n' desu:

Eiga

mimasu, I am seeing a film. mi ni ikimasu. I am going to see a film.

Where directional elni and ni indicating purpose are used together, direction always comes first (to avoid repetition, e is sometimes preferred to nil:

76

nouns

Ken Mlchlko na

Igirisnjin

n' da/desu.

datta ja nai ja nakatta


na adjectives

Reis British, you see. was isn't wasn't It is quiet, you see. was isn't wasn't cold, you see. It is was isn't wasn't I am going! did go! am not going! didn't go!

Sugoi hlto desul What a crowdJ Ooyobi we ltsu mo ko na n' desu yo. On Saturdays it's a/ways like this! Yokattara,

77

Mlchiko Ken

lssho ni ikimasen ka? How about ccming with us? Domo arigeto ... demo, watashi-taGhi mo dekakeru n' desu. Thanks, but we are goIng away as we/lf

Shiznka

na
datta
janai

n'da/deso.

Explanatory statements may also be attached by the same speaker to something he himself has said:
Mlchlko Ken
Ara, dochira e? Oh, where to? Karuizawa desu. Yama 0 aruku n' desu. To Karu/zawa. We are going hill-walking.

.......

ja nakatta
-; adjectlves Samu-li

......

n'da/deso.

6 Koz so,

a indicating

the way things are

lkatta ikunai !kunakatta


verbs

These words are parallel in meaning to kore/sore/are: ko means this way, while so means that way (a is rarely used). Doyobi wa itsu mo kb desu. On Saturdays it's always like

Ko shimasho.
n'da/desu. So shimasho. So desu ka?

Ik-! n

u-] ta

Ika-l nai Ika- [nakatta


NOTE:

Let's do it this way. (i.e. as follows) Let's do that. (Sore a sbimashQ is not idiomatic Japanese) Is that sor

this.

so behaves like a noun (so na n' da/desu). The n' desu form has anexplanatory/highlighting force (it's a matter of ... ) that is most typically seen in question-answer exch~ges ~etween two speakers. As you may gather fr:om the English equivalent t-o the answer, the meaning is not as strong as be"!use ... (for that, kara is available); instead it may converuentlr: be thought of as equivalent to you see, or perhaps an exclamation mark:
(Doshite] ikanai.n' desu ka? (Why) aren't you goingr O-kane ga nai n' desu. { I haven't got any money (you see). 1 haven't got the money!

Exercises
1 Answer the questions using the n' desu form. Example: Doshite konai n' desu ka? (1 am busy) __.Isogashii n' desu, a Doshite eiga 0 minai n' desu ka? (1 have work to do, lit. there is study) b Doshite ikanai n' desu ka? (1 have no time) c Doshite disuko ni ikanai n' desu ka? (1 have to be back by 9.30 - use mongen) d Doshite kakanakatta n' desu ka? (1 didn't have a pen!) e Doshite shashin a totta n' desu ka? (It was pretty) f Doshite seta (sweater) 0 kita n' desu ka? (Itll was cold)

!lere,an explanation is called for in the question, and is given m the reply. Stat~ments ending in n' desu are not necessarily answers to questions; explanatory statements occur in other contexts as well:

2 After a domestic discord, you are in an obstinate mood and threaten to go out by yourself (use either [noun] ni iku or ([nounI 0) -masu base ni ikn). Example: I'm going to see a baseball match! .....Yakyu a b c d I'm going to the pub! I'm going to see a filml I'm going to a restaurant to eat! I'm going to stay overnight at a friend's place!
0

November 3 November 23

BUDka no hi (Culture Day) KinrO k:aiIsha no hi (Labour Thanksgiving


Day) Tenno tanjobi (Emperor's Birthday)

mi ni ikul

.......

3 Tell a japanese friend about what you did in Shinjuku yesterday, using kara or made, or beth, as indicated by the arrows. Example: a b c d e

Ie....
II(

S~juku~eki

de gohan 0 taberu. .. Tomodachi no ie; amite iku. Yoji : tomodachi no ie de asobu, Yom no jiiji .... ... jfiniji; disuko de odoru.

NIJI

... ; depato no resutoran

.. eki; aruku: Ie kara eki made arukirnashita. depato; takushi (taxi) de iku.
...

When any of the above falls on a Sunday, the following Monday i~treated as a holiday (fnrikae kyiijitsu transfer holiday). During Muruden niku (the week between April 29 and May 5), which contains three public holidays, most employers grant a week's holiday. Any day other than Sunday between May 3 and 5 also becomes a holiday. Offices and banks are generally closed for a three- to five-day period over the New Year (O-shogatsu), whereas shops are closed on 1st (and often 2nd) of January only. Shops and department stores are usually open aU day on Saturdays and undays (they are normally closed on one weekday instead). Banks, post offices and government offices are now dosed on iaturdays.

f*
.

Language and society


Kyiijitsu holidays
Japan has the following public holidays January 1 January (second Monday) February 11 March (spring equinox)

(shnkujitsu):

a-

kyo

Gantan (New Year's Day)

Seijin no hi (Coming~f-age Day)


Keokoku kinenbi (National Foundation Day) Shunbun no hi (Vernal Equinox Day) Midori no hi (Greenery Day) KenpO kineobi (Constitution Day) Kodomo no hi {Children's Day} Umi no hi (Marine Day) Kc:iro no hi (Respect-for-the-aged Day) ShiibUIi no hi (Autumnal Equinox Day) T aiiku no hi (Sports Day)

April 29 May 3
MayS July (third Monday) September 15 September (autumn equinox) October (second Monday)

Dialogues
Y,mo goruden _uikuni n~tta: Anzai-san-tachi wa eki ~ iru. Kore ni notte umie iku no da keredomo, nonoknreru ka lllO shirenai ... 1"1'6 Boku wa uohi de tornodachi to. asobitai n' da.

81

I MU, densha

Mlchlko

Urni e ikitakunai. Watashi rna so lkitakatta wa.

yo..

Ken-san

to.

issho ni Karuizawa

OkUS8n

·CfJ

(Taro-k1Jn to Michiko-san nil likagen (Anzai-sensei ni) Kippu wa?

nl shi nasal yo!

Anzai
Okusan Mlchlko

Koke ni aru. Shimada-yuki wa nanbansen kashira? Juji-han-hatsu we sanban yo. Otesan, okasan, hayaku. ha¥aku! Me nijugofun sugi da wa.

o
ext

nar.u to become. 8.2 kore kara ·aftar thfs, now densha train. L8.1 nor.u to get on train, etc. (NOTE: [vehicle] ni noru) k.eredomo but, however [vehicle] nl noil-okure.ru late for [vehic/e1- L8.2 [noun] to - 53 (-masu basel·tal

I-masu

(functions like ga • Unit 5 84) to be

Shimada seaside city on tip of Izu peninsula [place)-yuld (the train/bus) bound for/terminating at [place] nan bam,en ? what platform? _ Unit 9 S7 on counters [timefplace]-hatsu (the
train/bus) leaving at (tlme]/starting from !place] sanban(sen) platform 3 oto-san (ather (form used fer addressing) - Unit 16 L8.1 hayaku quickly. 8.1 ma already - Unit 11 8.6

base] nasal - S5

c:~ 0 ....
CD

:3 CD

,,,

[verb].84 Watashi rno so, yo Note omission of da - L8.3 II kagen ni shi nasal yol Behave yourselves/

to want to

o til :T _. -.

:T

True or false?
In this unit you will learn • how to express wishes and requests • how to express likes and dislikes, including liking some things more than others • some useful words and phrases for train joumeys in Japan • about inforTTlall speech and

1 Anzai-san-tachi wa kore kara Karuizawa e iku, 2 Jftji-han-hatsu ni noriokureru ka rna shirenai,


Anzai-san-tachi hornu ni iku, wa kaisatsuguchi de kippu
0

misete, isoide

Anaunsl.l

Mamonaku sanbansen ni densha 9a mairimasu. Abunai desukara, kiiroi sen no uchigawa e o-sagari kudasai.

given names

Michiko Okusan

Chado rna ni atta. Demo, hitoga 6j ne. Yaharl, shltelseki a kane yokaHa wa. Sa, norlmasho.

True or false?
Michiko-san wa remon-jiisu ka rna shirenai, " Anzai-sensei wa ringo-jiisu ga kirai
0

83
nonda.
ri n

Sf!ki Taro

:rnitsukete, suwaru.. An$i-sensei

wa nimotsu

tana ni

noseru. Okusan Baku, nodo 'kawaita. JOsu ga hoshii. Mo nomltaku natta no? Shimada made sanllkan kak~rimasu yo .. Okasan, jnsu dashite! Hal, hal, (Ua .kara fukuro 0 orosuJ Orenji to remon to ringo to palnappuru '9a aru keredo, dare 9a hoshii? Baku wa orenji ni suru, Remon to ringo gakirai da kara, Michik.o wa reman desha? lie, reman yori ringo no he ga ii wa. {Anzaj-sensei nil Anata wa? Boku wa shlzuka ni hon 9a yomltai ne. Boku, nodo kawalta. Note omission of w.a and g8- LS3 nodo ga kawaku to become
thirsty (lit throet gets dry)

go

Structures
1 Adverbial forms of adjectives
Many Japanese adverbs, such as sugu and takusan, are- fixed in their form. As in English, however, it is possible to turn ndjectives into adverbs, With na adjectives, na becomes ni; with -j adjectives, -i is replaced by -ku, p-roducing the form which you have already met in turning -i adjectives into the negarivee

Taro Okusan

ree
Okusan Mlchlko Okusan

Q CO

Anzai

A train will be arriving shortly at platform 3. It is dangerous, so please stand back from the yel/ow lines o-[-masll base] kuda.sai please [verb] .85 rna niau be in time {[noun] ni rna nlau be in time tor [nounD o.i many' 86 yahari after all/Just as I thought shltelseld reserved seat sekl seat/one's place katte yokatta I'm glad th.at we bought (them) - Unit 13 S4 mltsuke .. u to find r suwar.u to sit nlmotsu luggage ta,na shelf nose.ru to place onlload

kaisatsuguchi ticket barrier isolde hurrfedty (-te form of isog.u to hurry) homu platform anaunsu announcement Mamonaku sanbansen ni densha ga malrimasu. Abunal desu kara, kUro! sen no uchigawa e o-sagarlkudasai Stock station announcement:

jiru-san wa taihen shinsetsu ni Eigo 0 oshiemasu,


Ken-san wa hayakn

Jill

teaches

arukimashita.
Note that the adverbial Yoku benkyo shimashital Asoko e yoke ikimasu ka?

Ken walked last.

kindly.

English very

jilsu juice [naun] ·gaheshl.l (I) want [noun) '86 sanjlkan (for') three hourS • sa kakar .. u to lasl (of lime) dashitel -teform for Informal requests '85 fukuro bag oros.U to take o.fflunload orenjI oranfJ!3 [noun] to [noun] I[noun] and [noun]. II 83 remon lemon ringo apple painappuru pineapple keredo coltoqulal abbreviation of kered'omo dore? which? (out of three or more things) [noun] ga klral da (I) hate
than [Y] • S7 (NOTE: II (here) Indicates choice/preference • Unit 9 84 shlzuka nl quietly. 81 prefer [A] to/rather

form of ii is yoku.:

You studied weU! Do you go there a lot!


often?

The adverbial forms of some-i adjectives can act like nouns and join together with particles .. Chikaku (Unit 2 Structures 5) and oku are found in both A and B position in A no B patterns: chikaku no nomiyaa nomiya no chikaku 6ku no Nihonjin Nihonjin no oku the following common phrases: hayaku kara from early on taku kara from far away

near the bar mOEtlnumy Japanese the majority of Japanese

nearby bar

The others (furuku, hayaku, osokn, and toku) can be found in furuku

bra from olden times


until late

osoku made

IY1 yorl

[noun}

• S6

[AJ no ho ga II

(f)

2 Nouns and adjectives with narulsuru


If yOU want to link a noun or an adjective to naru or suru in order, for example, to talk about something becoming cold, or about making something hot, you must do the following:

noun
na adjective -i adjective

noun na
-I

m m

-1m

lu sentences naru/snru

iNNho

m:

like the last one, it is in fact possible to ikimashita,

to leave out

85

Tanaka-san

I went with Tanaka-san.

:e
o
.111

III III

Note the similar use of to with some verbs, such as asobu and II masu, in tbe same way as with in. English: Taro-kun to asobimasho, Suzuki-san to Let's

a en
III

Jim-san wa sensei ni narimashita. Uisuki ni shimasho ka?

Jill

became a teacher.

o (XI

Tomu-san wa sugu genki ni naru desho. Heya 0 kirei ni shimasho, Samuku narimashita ne] O-fura 0 atsuku shimasho Note that time words English would probably

ka?

Shall we have whisky (nisuki)? I expect Tom u/illbecome well/recover very soon. Let's make the room clean! Let's tidy the room. Hasn't it goteald? Shall T make the bath hot?

hanashimashits ka?
(Compare the latter with: Suzuki-san ni hanashimashita ka?

Did you ta.lk with Suzukisan?


Did you talk to Suzuki-san?)

play with Taro-kun.

4 Expressing wishes: [noun] ga hoshi.iand l.. asu base] ~ta.i m


'" The -1 adjective hoshii is used in expressing wishes for concrete things. Note that the basic pattern is. A wa X ga hoshii, A being the person with the wish, and X the thing tbey wish for: Watashi wa koru ga hoshii desu. lieu-san, nani ga hoshii desu ka? Nani mo hoshikunai desu, Tomu-san wa biru ga bOSM desbo, I want some Jill, what do I don't want I expect Tom coffee.

are often found use come:

with ni Dam where

Yatto haru ni narimashita. Niji ni narimashita,

ka?

Ikimasho

Spring (haru) has come at last. Two o'cJock has come/It's two o'clock. Shall we go? uses of naru in Unit 9 dialogues.

you want?
anything. wants a

There are some further 'idiomatic'

beer.

3 [nou.n} to: for joining nouns


To is used to join nouns (but not verbs or adjectives) in the same way as and in Engllsh. Note, however, that even when joining more than two nouns, to must be used between each word, and you will sometimes even find it after the last noun as well: sake to biru Igirisu to Nihon to Osutoraria jamu to chizu to aisukurimu (to) See how to works with the noun issho, used botb witb desu, and adverbially with nit Watashi wa tomodacbi to issho desu, Tanaka-san to issho ni l'am with a friend.

b In order to express the wish to do something, rather than the wish for a concrete thing, you add the -tai ending to the -masu base (Unit 7 Structures 2) of the appropriate verb. The -tai ending has negative and past forms just like other -i adjectives: Watashi wa hayaku kaeri i ta i desu. I want to get b.ackearly. Michiko-san ni ai ita! kunai desu ka? Don't you want to mee·t Michiko-sani! Ken-san wa Shimodae iki ta karta desha. I expect Ken wanted to go to Shimada.

!!

Note that A wa XQ sum can become either A wa X A wa X ga shieai (compare A wa X ga hoshii): Watashi wa Nihon de kamera gala kaitai desu, Jiru~san wa tako ga/o tabetakunai desho.

shitai, or

Ikimashita.

I went -WIth Tanaka-san.

I want to buy a camera in Japan. I expect Jill doesn't want

to eat octopus.

86

to express the feelings of the speaker or, in questions, to ask aboutthe feelings of the person being spoken to. They ace not normally used to describe the wishes of third persons, unless in reported speech, or in sentences with endings equivalent to it seems or apparently (Unit 15 Structures 1,3; Unit 17 Structures 6;. also see Unit 14 Structures 4 )..

In spoken Japanese,

hoshii and the -tai ending are normally used

l'he verb form in front of kudasai is really a negative equivalent of the -te form (Unit 17 Structures 5). Note that betweenfriends and within families you will hear the
positiv,: an~ negative.-te ..forms being used alone, without kudasas, as informal, friendly requests. Shinaide yo!

87

Chotto matte!

Wait

Don't do it! (feminine)

a bit/

5 Expressing requests using kudasai and nasa;

CO

We have already met the structure [noun} 0 kudasai as a method of asking for concrete things (Unit 4 Structures 3). Verbs can be linked to kudasai in two ways in order to ask people to do things:

6 Likes and dislikes: more on wa - ga patterns


l'he adjective sulci na (used for likes) and its opposites kirai na and iya na (which is mote specific and forceful) work in a way

-re fotm
o-j-masn base)

kudasai
Please speak more slowly

Motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai. Soko ni go-jushoo o-kaki


kudasai.

(yukkuri) ..

Similar to hoshii: Watashi wa Nihon no biru ga suki desu, Ano sensei ga iya desul Taka ga amari saki de wa nai n' desn ka?

Q CO

llihe

Japa1~ese beer.

I hate that teacher! Don't you like octopus very much?

Please there.

write your address

The second way is the more formal. Also note the following, even more polite, alternatives: Sh6sh6 o-machi kudasaimase,
O-namae
0

Perhaps Sir/Madam would wait a little (shosho) ..


Would you be kind enough to write your name?

kaite

kudasaimasen ka? Kudasaimase is a more

Kudasaimasenka? is polite because the request is framed indirectly, as a negative question (lit. 'Wouldn't you please .... ?).

formal

version

of

kudasai,

So also do jozu na/heta na, which deal with being goodl~ad at particular skills such as a language or sport, and the slightly overlapping tokui naluigate na, which deal with havingllac~g confidence in oue's ability in general areas, such as academic subjects as well as sports, etc. Note that you would never use jow to refer to your own prowess at something, while tokui would be perfectly acceptable. Michiko-san is good at Michiko-san wa Eigo ga English. [ozu desu.. Aren't you good at Nihongo ga o-jozu desu nel
Japanese! (note the honorific 0-; see o-genki desu kat Unit 2 Language and society 1) Ken is bad at tennis. Ken-san wa tenisu ga Watasru wa siigaku ga nigate desu.

T~e structure .using the. l-masu base]. ~as~ is mor:~ ab~pt; you will be most likely to hear mothers using it to their children:
Hayaku tabe nasail Eat it up quickly! However, note that the phrase O-yasumi nasai, which literally means Rest!, is the Japanese equivalent of Good night and uot at all abrupt.

heta desu,

I am hopeless at maths
(sugaku).

The most straightforward way of forming negative requests, that is, of asking people not to do things, is as follows: [present plain neganvej-de kudasai Kuruiza wae ikal nai ! de kudasai, Please don't go

A similar structure is used asa basic way of giving more information about any noun A, particularly in describing people. This is really an exte~sio~ of. our very first pattern, A wa B'desu, to A wa B ga [adjective] desu:
wa me ga kirei desu, Rondon wa tenki ga warui Michiko-san desu, Michiko-san has pretty eyes (me). The weather in London bad.

Mil: nai [de .

to Karuizawa.

kudasai,

Please don't look.

is

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The following
atarna

set phrases fall nicely into this pattern: tall/short (se stature) dever/stupid

Jule that although

these are the basic structures,

a wide number

se ga takailhikui

.11 variations are possible. For example: [iru-san wa Ken-san yori


hayaku okimasu,

89

ga ii/warui

Jill gets

up earlier than, Ken.

Tomu-san wa se ga takai desu, Jim-san wa atama ga ii desu-. Note also the behaviour sukuna.i few: of the -i adjectives

o.i many,

and

[Adjective} ho works out as equivalent lngllsh: Yasui

to the [adjective]-er one in

ho a kaimasho,

Let's buy the cheaper (yasu.i) one.

Tokyo wa koen ga sukunai

Igirisu wa ame ga oi desu, desu.

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Britain has a tot of rain. Tokyo has few parks. (koen park)

II!

Motto, equivalent to more, is used to reinforce comparisons, make a comparison cleat when Y is not stated: Tokyo wa Shidorii yori motto okii desu, Motto shizuka ni hanashite kudasai,

and

It might help you [0 grow used to this kind of wa - ga pattern if you think of it as meaning literally As for A, B is ... (wanted, liked, disliked, pretty, many, few, etc.). More information on such patterns wiU be given in Unit 10 Structures 4.

Tokyo is bigger than Sydney. Please speak more quietly.

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7 Comparisons
Since adjectives in Japanese have no special comparative forms, comparison is indicated through the use of sentence structures based on the following: Comparing two things, A and Y

Comparing three or more things (A to B to ... Z no naka de) (Out of A, B, ... and Z) A A ga ichiban [adjective] desu is the [ad;ective]-est ..

lchiban is equivalent to English most.


Rondon to Pari to Roma no naka de Roma ga ichiban furui desu. Out of London,

Paris and Rome, Rome is the oldest.

i A wa Y yori [adjective] desu A is [adjectiveJ-er than Y


In this pattern, A is described through comparison is a particle equivalent to than in English. with Y. Yori

If you are singling something out from a general category Q rather than from among specific alternatives, Q no naka de Is sufficient:

jiru-san wa Tomu-san yori shinsetsu desu.


Rondon

.Jill is kinder than Tom.


London

Ginza no naka de koko ga ichiban takai desu.

This is the most expensive


(taka.i) place in the Ginza area. are possible: Jill is the first of the Herds to get up in the morning.

samukarta desu.

wa Rcrna yori

Rome.

was

colder than

With this structure too, many variations Hado-san-tachi no naka de Jim-san ga asa ichiban hayaku okimasu.

ii Y yori A no ho ga [adjective] desu A is [adjectille]-er than Y


This gives us exactly the same information as the first pattern. but we are comparing A to Y rather than describing A by means ofY. Hi) is a noun meaning side/direction, and is therefore joined to A by using no: Tomu-san yori jiru-san no ho ga shinsetsu desu. Roma yori Rondon no h6 ga samukatta desu. The factual content is the same, but rather than describing Jill's personality, or the weather in London, we have been talking about the relative qualities of Tom and Jill, Rome and London.

8 ExpreSSing length of time


In Unit 5 Structures 6 and Unit 6 Structures 6, 7 and 8, you encountered various expressions concerned with the time at which things are done, that is with points of time. Here we are looking at expressions to do with how long things take. For instance, -fi is used to denote the hour at which something is done, while -jikan denotes the number of hours which something takes:

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Ken-san wa yube ichijikan denwa de .hanashimashita.

Ken talked on the phone for an hour yesterday evening.

suki

~
rako
jUsu

tom tenisu
gitii'1.

nigate Fumnsugo ryon ragubf piano

tola.tdW (special
characteristics) nagai karni' se ga takai okii karada" kirei na me

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No particle is needed with expressions of Jength of time, but gurai/kurai can be attached to give the idea of about, just as gorolkoro is used with expressions of point of time:
Nijikan gurai machimashita, 1 waited for about two hours.
dOM

Jit u
lomu k.en Michiko

kohT bir.u Michiko Ken

Note also that to ask about length of time you should use gurai/kurai: Dono gurai kakarimasu ka?

benkyo yakyu niku Eigo

How long does it/will it last?

See Appendix 1 for more expressions of length of time, and details of how they combine with numbers.

'k.uni hair 2gitii guitar "ragubi rugby "karada body

=
40

Exercises

-ji

lean

1 You are busy getting r-eady for an outdoor party and your rather nosy next-door neighbour, hoping to be invited, offers to help. With a friend if possible, supply both parts of the conversation, first accepting, then refusing. Example: o-sake a akeru (ake.ru to open) Neighbour: Ossake a b c d
0

akemasho ka? You; Hai, akete kudasai. lie, akenaide kudasai.

IJs > the A wa X ga [adjective] desu constructi?n .to make five entences about each of them, and then make similar sentences "bout yourself. II ampler jiru-san wa kohl ga suki desu; rako ga kirai desu~ ienisu ga tokui desu, Furansugo ga nigate desu; sore kara karru ~' nagai desu. \ Using the same table, work out their respective re.sponses to rhe question Nani 0 shimasho ka? (N?~ .(here) te~su(etc,) 0 SliCU play tennis (and other sports); gita/piano 0 hiku play the 1{uitarlpiano) . Example: (Jill) W.atashi wa kohl gala nomitai desu or Watashi wa tenisu galo shitai desu, 4 Again using the table, work out the probable response to each [uestion of the person specified in brackets.
Hxample: Biru ga sulci desn ka] Uill)

teburu 0 dasu kyabetsu 0 kim (kyabetsu cabbage) chizu 0 kai ni iku koppu a aran (koppu glass) (ara.u to wash)

2 Here is a table showing the likes and. dislikes and other pieces of information about some of our characters.

. lie, biru yori kohl no ho ga suki desu,

It Kohl ga suki desu ka? (Tom) b Ragubi ga tokui desu ka? (K~n). c Furansu e ikitai desu ka? (Michiko] d YakyU ga mitai desu ka? am)

S Put the following dialogues into polite-style Japanese: nA B bA B How long do yOll study every day? Three hours. At what time are you meeting Michiko-san? At 5 o'clock.

92

c A Apples ate the fruit (kudamono) I like the best. B I like oranges rather than apples. d A Hasn't it become warm! B r expect you're glad we came to Shimoda.

93

Language and society


1 Train journeys
tok

kyu
Nil train journey in Japan would be complete without the 11I1I'chase of a packed lunch (o-bento] at the station or on the u.iin, In the summer, you might try the packs of frozen III. ndarin oranges (mikan).

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The train is a vital form of transport in Japan, not only for commuting but also for going on holiday. If you are planning to travel by train during the peak season (at New Year, during Golden Week, and in August), it is advisable to book seats well in advance. These reserved seats are called shiteiseki; there are always carriages containing unreserved seats, jiyUseki, but you would have no chance of getting one of these unless you arrived very early at the station from which the train starts. When going by train, the general term is densha de iku, the underground, or subway, is chikatetsu. Kyiiko denotes an express train, and tokkyU, a super-express. In 'Japanese English' the latter is confusingly known as a 'limited express'; this is short for 'limited-stopping express'. And, of course, we must not forget the shinkansen, Japan's famous 'bullet train'. Tickets for normal journeys (kippn or joshaken) can be purchased from automatic machines. H there is no romanized price chart, ask someone how much your ticket will cost: X made ikura desu ka? How much is it as far as X? Tickets for long distances, and the special tickets for travelling by express, etc. (kyukoken, tokkyiiken) which you need in addition to your joshaken, must also be purchased either over the counter or by machine. You might find the following phrases of use. (Note that tickets are counted using -mai.) Kyoto made ichimai Shinkansen de Morioka made sanmai kudasai, Ofuku desu ka? lie, katamichi desu, One to Kyoto. Three to Morioko by shinkansen please. Is that a return (ofuku)? No. it's one way (katamkhi) only.

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map of Tokyo underground

2 Verb combinations such as noriokureru


Noriokureru, to be late for a train, is formed by adding the -masu base of nor.u, to get on a train, to okure.ru, to be late. Many similar such combinations exist. Some examples include:

94

hanashi-au tori-dasu

omoi-dasu

to talk together; discuss (a.u meaning to match/harmonize, not to meet) to take out, produce to remember (in the sense of take something (Jut of your memory - omo.n to thin.k, feel)

3 Some notes on informal speech


As a foreigner, you may not have much opportunity to use informal speech yourself, but you will hear it all around you., and may develop friendships with people of your own age and status, with whom its use would often be appropriate. Within the family, of course, the Anzais speak informally to each other. This involves using the plain. forms of verbs and adjectives at the ends of sentences, although, like Mrs Anzai, the WOmeD in particular will use polite forms as well, and certainly say desho rather thandaro, Da at the end of sentences will be avoided by women, even before yo, or softened by adding wa (Unit 5 Language and Society 4). In informal speech, both males and females will sometimes omit the particles wa, ga and a: Kore wa wei deshol --t Kore kirei desha! Nodo ga kawakimashita, --t Nodo kawaita, Gahan 0 tabemashita ka? _. Gahan tabeta? (For more information on informal speech, see Unit 22.)

o
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zr

::J, ~

r.n3

4 Given names in' J.apanese


As we saw in Unit 1 Language and society 2, Japanese adults are addressed and referred to by their surnames rather than by their given names. When addressing or referring to a child, however, the given name is normally used. Common endings for girls' given names are -ko, ..e and-mi (Yukiko, Kazue, Mayumi); for boys' names -to, -o,-ya, and -hiko Giro, Kazuo, Shinya, Haruhiko} .. Note that in Japanese it is customary for the surname to precede the given name: Anzai Michiko rather than M.ichiko Anzai,

." c ()
:::r
(j)

o
:J

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o -n
.-+

:::r
CD
(j)

CD 0-

s :J

In this unit you will learn • how to ask prices and costs per unit • how to count items .' colour terms • how to go shopping in

Japan

DDialogues
Ken-san wa Michiko-san to issho ill kaimono ni iku. Futari wa Ginza de chikatetsu 0 orite, chikakn no depato made amite iku. Depato ni haitte, sedan SUIU.
Michiko Ken Michiko
Ken-san, donna mono ga kaitai desu ka? So desu ne ... lrolro arimasu ga, mazu mitai desu. So desu ka? Ja, ikkai kara mimasu ka?
depito

o-tsuke shlmasM

sukoshi

ka? Would you like me to attach it (to your watch)? -S5 Ichlman-en de o-tsurl 0 kudasai please give me change from V1O,OOO- S6 Itomakal no 'small one' (= komakai o-kane small change) gozalmasu formal equivalent of

o·azukari shlmasu - LS6 o-matase shimashlta sorry to have kept you waiting (- Unit

97

2051 on causative verb forms) nanasen nlhyaku-en no o-tsurl

desu

here

is your

change of

!f7,2oo

i, chotto...

aru

- Unit 16 52 I am afraid not

en

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kaimono shopping Ginza famous shopping area in Tokyo; station on the Ginza, Marunouchi Bnd Hibiya underground lines orl.ru to climb down; get off

sodan (suru)

department store to consult (each

- LS4

<:)

otheIj so desu ne.~ let me see ... mazu first of aI/ ikkai ground floor - L51

CD

True or false?

·51

D {Tokei-uriba
Ken Michiko Ken
Tan'in

a
de)

I Ken-san wa aka no banda 0 kairnashita. 1 Baudo Will ichiman-en deshita, (Bunb6gu-uriba de)
Sumlrnasen ... kano chairo no enpitsu wa ippon ikura desu ka? Hyaku-en desu. Kono gurin no wa? Sore we hyaku hachij~n desu. Doitsu-sel de gozaimasu. Chairo no de II na. Sore de wa, chairoi no 0 san bon kudasal. Sore kara, kokOyo no binsen to tot() ga arimasu ka? Hai, gozaimasu. Kochira ni narimasu ga ... FOta waichimai ikura desu ka? VanjO-en desu. Ja, kono ptnku no binsen 0 hltotsu to, kono fmo 0 jOmai kudasai. Zenbu de ikura desu ka? Chado sen-en nl narimasu. Hal, sen-en. cneco itadaklmasu. Maida arigato gozalmasu.
0

Kan Tentin Ken Ten'in Ken

Ken Ten'ln Ken


Ken

tokei ga arimasu ne ... Banda dake aru ka na? Arimasu yo, kltto ... Hora, koko ni takusan arimasu yo. Kono akai no wa totemo ii desu ne ... Sumimasen, kono aka no bando wa ikura desu ka? Hal. Kare desu ka? Nisen happyaku-en desu ga ... A, kore ga ii. Kore a kudasai. Kashikamarimashita. O-tsuke shlmasho ka? E. o-nagai shimasu. Ja, ichlman-en de o-tsuri 0 kudasai. Komakai no wa gozaimasen ka? E, chotto ... Ichiman-en o-azukari shimasu. ShoshO o-machi kudasai. O-matase itashimashita. Nanasen nihyaku-en no o-tsurl desu. Arigata gozaimashita. aka noun-form of akaJ - 52 ten'ln salesperson, shop assistant hai at your service, Sir/Madam
en yen kore ga II

Te.n'ln Ken Ten'in Ten'in

ran'ln Ken Ten'ln Ken Tentin Ken Ten'in

tokel watch, clock urtba sales counter, section banda strap, belt [sentenoe] ka na? I wonder If {sentence] (Informal male equivalent of kashlra) kitto no doubt, surely; definitely
red - 52 kono akal no this red one

Ken-san-tachi wa hoka ni tishatsu kaimashita.


bunbfigu stationetY chairo brown Ip·pon Ikura desu ka? how much is each? (lit. how much for one?) - 57 and 8 gurin green [nounl-sei made in/of [noun] chalro no de ii the brown one(s) will do - 59

nimai

to

jisho

issatsu

- L55

this Is the right one vetY well,

aka.l

-53

kashikomarimashlta Sir/Madam - LS2

-S4

de go.zaimasu fo.rmal equivalent of desu - LS2 (see also Unit 18 S2) k6kQ-yo no binsen air (mail) letter paper! pad flita envelope kochira nl narimasu this is It, this Is the type(s) we have Ichl-mal one (flat object) - 57

pinlw

pink

z:~nbu de sen-en nl

VI,OOD

narimasu

altogether,

it comes

In alJ

to

chOdo itadakima.su thank you, Sif/ Madam (lit I have receIved

the exact amount) hai, sen-en hete Is ¥1,OOO ~it here- you are, ¥1, 0001

maida anga.to gozaimasu thank you,. Sir/Madam (lit. thank you each time) tishatsu T-shIrt jisha dictionary ls-satsu one bound object, one volume - 87

l Iere is a list of some common colour terms and 'any alternative


furms they have, adjective aka.i
30.1

noun

English equivalent

aka
kuro

•(Q

True or false?
3 Gurin 1),0 enpltsu wa ippon hyaku-en desu . 4 Ken-san-tachi wa tishatsu 0 nimai kaimasbita ..

kuro.i sruro.i kiiro.i chairo.i

aD

sh:ir~

Structures
1 Verbs with a choice between 0 and kara
Verbs like ori.ru and de.ru (to come/go out, leave) commonly take a to mark their object, i.e, the place one alights from, or comes/goes out of: Kyoto de densha o orimashita, Futari wa Michiko-san ie 0 dernashita, no

ki(iro) cha(iro) kon{iro) midori(iro) murasaki (iro) orenji(iro) beju(iro) buru gure gurin

red blue/green black white yellow brown navy blue green pu,rple orange beige blue green

o c.o

grey

Aoi/ao is a notoriously

We got off the train at Kyoto. The two left Michiko-san's house.

Instead of 0, kara also can be used in these sentences; the difference being that the idea of out of is emphasized with kara, so if you tell someone to get out of your room. kara is the one to use for maximum effect! Watashi no heya kara dete yo!

vague term, being used for colours such as that of the sky, the sea, the green of traffic lights, the pale green of young leaves, and even the paleness of a face. Midori is also used for colours normally observed in nature such as fully grown leaves and evergreens, while gorin and burii (and most other English-derived terms] are mainly used for the colour of dresses or shoes. When describing the colour of some o bjecr, the adjective form is used where available; when a choice of colours is made (Ken:'-s aka no banda), or something is described which has two colours or more, the noun form is used. Kana shatsu (shirt) wa akai desu, Kana shatsu no iro wa aka desu. Kanojo wa itsumo shiro a kimasu.

Get out of my room!

2 Colour terms
Words indicating colour may be -i adjectives (aka.i, kUro.i) or nouns (chairo, gurin) .. All colour adjectives have alternative noun forms (lacking the final -i), while not all nouns indicating colour haveadjective forms. Thus the adjective aka.i has the noun form aka, whereas no adjective form is available for midori (the final i here is not an adjective ending) or heju (see following list). Some noun colour terms have two forms because iro (colour) can optionally be attached to them, e.g. both midori and midori-iro are used.

Shingo (traffic lights) wa


aka deshita. Kon to aka no nekutai ga kaitai desu,
(tie)

This shirt is red. The colour of this shirt is red. She .alwaY$ wears white. The traffic lights were at red.. I want to buy a red and blue tie.

100

3 Use of no standing in for other nouns


as akai no, no stands for bando, functioning ill much the same way as one in English (e.g. the red one). Ken is able to avoid repeating bando as it is obvious what he is referring to.
~ expressions.such

lowering your own, Such offers or statements are formed by irtaching shimasho ka or shimasu instead of kudasai to o-I-masu base]. The implication is that the action is to be fl -rformed for the benefit of the listener:

101

O-tsuke O·mocbi O-yomi O-machi

shimasho ka? shimash6 ka?


shimasu. shimasu,

When the salesperson later on says komakai no, it is clear from the context that no refers to a-kane, even though o-kane has not actually been mentioned. Adjectives preceding no in this sense take the same form as when preceding nouns.
Sa.lesman Kono nekutai wa How about this tie? Haven't you got anything nicer? Aren't there any cheaper ones?

Shall I/would you like me to attach it? Shall I hold (mots.u) it for you? l shall read it for you. I shall wait for you.

40
CD
CUstomer OR

ikaga desu ka?


Motto k.irei na no wa

See Unit 18 for more information on humble expressions; see • Iso Language and Society 2 and 6 in this unit.

arimasen ka?
Motto yasui no wa

6 De with amounts of money


Here, de really indicates the instrument by means of which an action is performed (see Unit 4 Structures 3), in the sense of the action of buying (or selling) something for an amount of money:
Ichiman gosen-en de kaimashita, I bought it for 15,000 Yen.

arimasen ka?

4 Wa and ga with ii
Besides meaning it is good, ii can also mean it's all right/] don't it. (Thus ii desu is often used to refuse an offer of something: Kohl 0 nominasen ka? - lie, ii desu.]
want

Note that you can have two instances of de in a sentence, with the other one indicating the location of the action of buying. Kono shatsu wa deparo de sanzen-en de kaimashita. I bought this shirt at a department store for
3,000 Yen.

Compare the meaning of the following identical except for wa and ga: Kore wa ii desu. Kore ga ii desu.

pair of sentences,

De is also used in giving the total sum of money from which one wants change: Gosen-en de o-tsuri ga arimasu ka? Do
YOli have change from 5,000 Yen?

distinctive focus (see Unit 3 Structures 2 and Unit 10 Structures 4) provided by wa (as far as this one is concerned, it's OK) and
ga (this is the one that's good).

Said by a customer to a. salesperson, these two sentences will have a .rather different effect: while the wa sentence means I don't want this one, the ga sentence means This is what] ~ant (i.e, I'll take it; recall that ii can indicate choice or preference, Unit 8). The difference in meaning is largely due to the

7 Counters
In Japanese, most nouns are counted with the use of specific 'counters'; English only does this with some nouns, for instance bread, which is counted in either loaves or slices: one loaf/slice of bread. Counters are normally attached to the Chinese set of numerals, although alternative forms using Japanese numerals are commonly used fOJ: the numbers 4 and 7. In some combinations, numerals and counters will assume slightly different forms due to phonetic change: thus -hon becomes -pon or -bon. See Appendix 1 for a list of common combinations. (Counters which begin with the same consonant almost always undergo similar phonetic changes.)

5 'Humble' offers and statements with o-lmasu


base1 suru
In Unit 8 we saw that kudasai (mase) can be used after -oj-masu base] to make a [very) polite request. Making 'humble' offers or statements is another way of being polite to people, as in effect you raise the listener's position by

102

Many counters are not restricted to use with one particular noun, but combine with a variety of nouns referring to things of common shape or type. Thus, -hon is used for long, thin, and often cylindrical, objects such as pencils, cigarettes, bottles; trees, legs and bananas, Belts, ties, and even wrinkles are also counted with -hon. Flat things like sheets of paper, CDs, paper money, stamps, tickets and some items of apparel (fiat in their folded state), like shirts and kimonos, are counted with -mai, For bound matter, like books, magazines and notebooks, -satsu is used.

I'IIt" first two sentences mean: 1111 re are three cats at home. \\1;1 • shi wa jinzu (jeans) o a Ringo o Korn Biru
I 'he first l ~nunters

There are many cats at home; ni-hon


mit-tsu/san-ko

103

kaimashita, kudasai. kudasai. kaimasho ka?

nihyakugurarnu

a nan-bon

sentence means: I bought two pairs of jeans.

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Other useful counters include -hai for cup-, glass- and spoonfuls and such like; -dai for machines and appliances such as computers, cars, and TV sets; -wa for birds and fowl; -hiki for animals and insects, and, last but not least, -nin for the human species (note the irregular forms hito-ri and futa-ri for one and twO persons respectively). Some more abstract nouns (plans, problems, lectures and the like) lack specific counters; for these, -tsu (see Unit 6) is used with the japanese numerals 1-9. Thus, 9 lectures would be counted as kokono-tsu, 10 as to, and 11 onwards with Chinese numerals (jUichi, juni ... ). -tsu (or alternatively -ko) can also be used with some concrete objects like apples, pears, oranges, boxes and other things of varying shape. If you can't recall any specific counter for a noun, it is always worth trying -tsu! Things like cigarettes and pencils can also be counted in packetor boxfuls ('-hako), and bottles in casefuls (-kesu). Weights, measures and currency units are also. used like counters: kim (kilogram/kilometre), guramu (gram), en (yen), doru (dollar), pondo (pound of weight/sterling). Counters are most commonly used in basic structures such as (A nil B ga aru/iru and (A wa) B 0 sum; in either structure the combination numeral-counter occupies the same position that adverbs of quantity like takusan would occupy; they are also similar in that no particles are attached. Uchi ni Dehi ni neko (cat) neko Nihonjinno tomodachi Wain Kami (paper) Kogi (lecture) ga takusan ga san-biki ga ga ga ga . shichi-nin ni-hon nan-mal iku-tsu imasu.
ll1l3SU.

are also commonly added to the enumerations. Note Ih, to and ga are normally added to all items but the last. Tlshatsu to jisho a kaimashita. Tishatsu 0 nimai to jisho a issatsu kaimashita. Banana to reman to orenji ga arimasu. Banana ga sanbon to reman ga ikkolhitotsu to orenji ga sanko/mittsu arimasu, A part from being used after the nouns they count, counters are also found before nouns, with no attached. This is especially common in titles of books or films, and other situations where a scene is being set: Shichinin no samurai. The Seven Samurai. Futari no Amerikajin ga Two Americans got off the chikatetsu 0 orimashita. underground. If understood from the context, the noun (and any attached particle) preceding the counter is omitted, leaving the combination numeral-coanter on its own (again without particle): - Watashi mo sanmai - Kyo shi d:i: a kaimashita, kaimashita yo. - I bought three, too. - I bought some CDs today. Note that bitori, futari ... are also used as nouns, with particles attached: The two/both drank a lot. Futari wa takusan nonda.

8 Cost per unit


In combination with the numeral one only, counters are used to indicatecost per unit in the following way. desu, Kana meron wa hito-tsu/ik-ko sanzen-en (melon) happyaku-en desu. ichi-kiro wa Banana ikura desuka? ip-pai wa Korn

unasu,

arimasu, arirnasu ka? arimasu kat

104

(The meanings of the above sentences are as follows: These melons are ¥3,OOO each. Bananas are ¥800 a kilo. How much is a cup of coffee? (lit. How much is coffee per cupful?)

c d

9 De with ii
With ii (here used in its basic meaning is good), de indicates

h Kono manshon (<mansion' Kohi luxury apartment) Kodomo no sharsu Fuji-san no e-hagaki (picture postcard) Example Orenji wa hitotsu ikura desu ka?

105

sufficiency:

Tllis time, ask the question as before and then reply as indicated,

using no. (Do this with a friend if possible). Example: orenji (okii, ¥10D) A

Yasui no de ii desu, Ashita de ii desu, Sen-en de ii desu. Q CD

Nthe cheap one will suffiCe. Tomorrow will do. 1,000 Yen will be fine.

Q Orenji wa hitotsu ikura desu ka?


I

Okii no wa hitotsu hyaku-en desu. Fuji-san no e-hagaki (chiisai, ¥120) m Neko (sana genki na, Yi0,OOO)

Exercises
B ga [ntrmeral-counter] amnasu/imasu

1 Describe the contents of the picture below, using the pattern:

Shinbun (Furansugo, Yl,OOO) J ' Kan-biru (tsumetai, ¥600) k Kodoma no shatsu (Itariasei, ¥20,OOD) Example: Ringo a b c d e
0

3 Complete by supplying the appropriate counter: (4) kudasai Ringo


0

yottsu kudasai.

Supotsuka (sports car) 0 (5) kaimashita, Kitte 0 (10) kaimashita. Kino hon 0 (3) yomimashita. Maiasa tosuto (toast) 0 (2) to yude-tamago (boiled egg) 0(2) tabemasu. Sore kara, kohi 0 (1) nomimasu.
ill

4 How would you say the following difficulty, search the dialogue for clues.) a b c d e
f

Japanese?

(If m

Example: Isu ga mittsu arimasu, a Kodomo (child) b Neko cHon d Tori (bird) e Pen

Excuse me, but where is the camera sales counter? Do you have lenses (renzu) by themselves? How much is this small one? - This one? It's ¥35,OOO. How much are the apples? - ¥50 each. In that case, I'd like five please. - That will be ¥250. Yesterday, Taro-kun ate four hamburgers (hanbaga) and six ice-creams. Last night he fell ill (by6ki ni naru).

Then, in the same order, and preferably with a friend, practise asking questions about the contents of the picture, using the pattern: B ga [question word + counter] arimasu ka?/imasu kat Example: Isu ga ikutsu arimasu ka? 2 Ask how much one of each of the following items is: a b Shinbun Kan-biru (can of beer) f Aka-enpitsu g Neko

Language and society


1 Counting floors
Ik-kai (ground floor) literally means first floor, as Japanese follows American usage. When converting British English floor numbering into Japanese, it is therefore necessary to add one number, e.g, second floor becomes san-gai,

2 Speech levels
In japanese, levels of speech play an important role in differentiating people's status in society. Customers, for instance, are treated as superiors by sales personnel, who will use very polite language towards them. Conversely, some customers, ill particular rural males, will speak down to the perSOl15 serving them. Such a customer might use (not necessarily consistently] ikura? without the ending desu lea that is used between equals in normal polite conversation, whereas salespeople will often employ the very polite ending de gozaimasu instead of desu. Another example is the assistant's use of kashikomarimashita; this form would never be used by a customer. The difference in status is also obvious in that sales personnel will thank customers very politely for any purchase, while customers will not normally say 'thank you' at all; it they do, they are likely to use a less polite expression such as domo or arigaro, or perhaps the combination domo arigato,

B
"I'

Eiga ni ikimasen ka? Arigato gozaimasu.

How about going to see a film? Thank you: (for inviting me).

107

Jo decline the .J, but it is ff)~ cannot go kyo wa chotto

offer, one normallygives some excuse (isogashii, also very common, just to intimate vaguely that by using an unfinished sentence like: SUmimaseJ;l, ... (on chotto, see below).

4 E, chotto ... to soften a refusal


This is an unfinished answer. Ken's answer to the salesperson's negative question would in full be:

o
CD

E, chotto arimasen.
hotto (a bit; somehow) is commonly used in this way to down requests, invitations, etc. without being too abrupt.
tum.

o
CD

5 Uses of hai and naruhodo


Apart from its meaning of (formal) yes, hai is also used to indicate that one understands a question or follows what is being said. It does not necessarily SIgnal agreement, so beware, particularly in business negotiations! This use is especially common on the telephone, where it is not possible to rely on other signals of being 'with it', such as nodding. In informal conversation, e and (u)n are widely used instead of hai, again accompanied by frequent nods. Another way of chiming in with others' remarks is by saying naruhodo (1 see, indeed; see Unit 14, dialogue). It can be used instead of hai for the sake of variety. Hai (dozo) is also used informally in the sense of here you are when handing over things.

3 Negative questions and their answers


Komakai no wa arimasen ka? (Haven't you anything smaller?) is a question containing a negative (arimasen). In English, if the answer to such a question uses a positive verb, it will begin with Yes; if the answer uses a negative verb, it will begin with No. In Japanese, however, the use of Yes or No depends on whether the reply agrees, or disagrees, with the assumption behind the question: Question
Answer Answer

Komakai no wa gozaimasen ka? Haven't you any change? Haile, arimasen. Yes, you're right, I haven't (= No, I haven't). Iie, arimasn, No. you're wrong, I have (= Yes, I have).

6 The use of O-azukari shimasu: a formal acknowledgement in shops, eto.


This is a formal expression used to acknowledge that you take custody of some object or person. In particular it is used by sales personnel as a verbal confirmation that you have paid and that some change is due. Compare this to chodo itadakimasu, which is used to acknowledge that you have paid the exact amount.

Thus, if the answer also contains a negative [arimasen, etc.), it is introduced by hai (or the less formal e) in the sense of Yes, you are correct in what you suggest; if, on the other hand, the answer diverges from what has been suggested in the question, it is introduced by iie (No, what you are suggesting is not correct). Such answers are normally accompanied (or replaced) by nodding (hai, e) or shaking (iie) of the head, Invitations/offers that are made in the form of a negative question are answered differently:

Dialogues
1)oyobi no gogo, Anzai-sensei no kazoku wa Hado-san-tachi 0 hokuji ni shotai shita, Sore de, Anzai-sensei no okusan to MI hike-san wa ima yiihan no ybi ni isogashii.
OkU8an Mlchlka Okusan Mlchlka Okusan Mlchlka Okusan Mlchiko Okusan BTru mo wain rna reizako ni Ireta? Un, ireta wa yo. Hade-san-tachi wa e-sashimi ya o-sakana no shioyaki nado wa daijobu kashira? Daijobu yo, okasan. A, dezato ga nai desha! Ke,ki ga chanto aru ja nai desu kaliya ne, ok:§san, wasureta no? A, so datta wa ne. Yokatta ... Okasan hitoyasuml shite, o-cna demo nomanal? Sore ga ii wa ne. shloyakl

-·3 cCD
I

.... .... 0

O)'""t

·~~.3
NO
~~

kazoku family shokuji (suru) a meal .h6tal (suru) to Invite yOhan dinner, supper yol (suru) preparation Inoun) ni/deisogashl.l
busy with [noun] reiz6ko refrigerator

10 be

[noun1 mo [noun] mo both


{noun] and [noun] - S2

Ire.ru to put in, insert sashimi s/iceduncooked


seafood

8 dish of whole bro#ed coat of salt [noun] nado [noun] and the like, etcetera • S1 dezato dessert chanto properly aru ja nal dasu kal Come on, there is! - L52 Iya ne oh no/dear me (fern.) wasure.ru to forget hitoyasuml (suru) to take a little rest [noun1 demo {noun] or such like fish with

[noun] ya [noun] [noun] - 51

[noun] and

-53

True or false?

00)

_.

11'1 this unit you will learn • the various uses of the partloles wa. !iJa, and mo, including some new uses as how to say tg,th ... and and

1 Michiko-san wa biro rna wain rno reizoko ni irenakarta. 2 Dezato ga aru.

a Yoru ni natta ga, Hado-san-tachi wa nakanaka konai ...


Michlko Okusan Hado-san-taeht wa osoi desu ne. Do shlta n'deshO ... Michl ni mayetta no ka na? Tomu-san wa kita koto ga aru kara, daijobu yo . Sore nl sbite mo osoi wa yo. Ne, anata, denwa shimashO yo.

neither ... nor


• how to become famHlar with a way of linking nouns in the sense of among others • some infonnation about the way Japanese entertain their guests

Okusan Anut-sensei

.-+

eo

:::::r

Anzal-sensei

·Minna

Wakatta. yo, suru yo. (Denwa de) Moshi-moshL A, Hade-san desu ne. Anzai desu ga, mada irasshaimasen ka? E? Iya! kore washitsurei shimashita. Domo, uehi no kasan wa kioku 9a wa.rukute ne. Sore ja, raishu no doyobi ni o-maehi shlts lmasu. Sayonara. Okasan!! kore wa shltsurei shimashita I am so sorry about this uehi no kisan my wife (lit. our mother) less formal than kanal kloku (memol)1 ga warui to have 8 bad memory, be forgetful warukute conjunctive form of warul, here giving a reason Unit 11 S5 o-ma.chl shlte Imasu we will be waiting for you (. Unit t 1 52 for the-te imaeu form)

Tokyo ya Kyoto (nado)


nVe ikimashita. N do can also be used on its own: Biru nado 0 kaimashira, Orenji nado ga arimasu,

We went to Tokyo and Kyoto, among other places.


I bought beer, among other things.

There are oranges and such like.

2 More on

rna

(including summary 01 its uses)

<:)

......

nakanaka [negative verb] to be s/ow/late (In dOing something); [do something] with diffitll/ty do shlta n' desho I wonder what's happened miehl ni mayo.u to lose ones way, get lost som nl ehita mo even so, despite
fhqt

Unlike to, which can be attached to the last noun in a sequence, and ya, which cannot, rno must be repeated after each noun.

When rno is used after one noun only, it is equivalent to English


II/SO,

too in positive sentences (see Unit 1), whereas in negative sentences it means (not) either. Recall the following example
lrom the Unit 6 dialogue: Ha rno migakanakatta desha?

C)

......

·S4

denwa (suru)
moshl-moshi etc.)

telephone hello (telephone,

You didn't brush your teeth either, did you?

mada (not) yet • Unit 11 S6 irassharu honorific for kuru (. Unit 18 S1)

When rna is used with more than one noun. the meaning is both ,.. and in a positive sentence, and neither .. , nor in a negative

ne: Taro-Iron rno

Michiko-san rna

kimashita. kimasen

True or false?
3 Tomu-san 4 Anzai-san wa kita koro ga nai, wa Hade-san ni denwa shira,

deshita,

Orenji rna

ichigo mo

kaimashita .

Structures
1 [noun}ya [noun} (nado): linking nouns
In Unit 8, we saw that to implies that every relevant item has been men_tion:ed. ~ a also links nouns in the meaning of and, but the implication IS that not all relevant items have been mentioned. Ya does not come after the last item, which can, however, be followed by nado (and others) which serves to reinforce the meaning of va: ' Biro ya wain (nado) kaimashita.
0

kaimasen deshita, Mo replaces wa and ga and, usually, Watashi T omu-san Biru wa ikimashita ga kita. a katta. __. __. __.

Both Taro and Michiko came. Neither Taro nor Michiko came. We bought oranges as well as strawberries. We bought neither oranges nor strawberries.

0:

jiru-san Michiko-san Wain

rna mo rna

ikimashita, kita, kana.

De, ni etc, combine some examples: Rajio (radio) Michiko-san Yokohama Tomu-san de ni e kara

with mo as de rna, ni mo, etc. Below are mo rna rna mo kikimashita. I heard it on the radio, too. aimashita. I met Michiko-san, too. ikitai desu. denwa ga arimashita,

I bought beer, wine and

such like.

Orenji ya icbigo (nado) ga arimasu,

There are oranges, strawberries and other fruit.

Resutoran Doydbi

I de I rna
ni

ba rna nichiyobi

I de I rna
ni

biru a nomimashita, mo uchi ni imasu.

Recall also the use of mo after question words in negative sentences (Unit 6 Structures 8).

Tokyo ni wa itta ga, Kyoto 01 wa ikimasen deshira, 'J oleyo de wa mira ga, Rondon de wa mimasen deshita. yo to ni wa ikimashita.

I uieni: to Tokyo, but not Kyoto. 1 saw (some) in Tokyo, not in London. 1 did go to Kyoto.

but

3 [noun] demo to soften invitations and suggestions

(implying that there are places where you didn't go)

......

Demo is distinct from the combination de mo and can therefore be attached to other particles, such as ni (although it replaces wa, ga and 0). Demo has a similar effect to English expressions like or something, making an invitation or suggestion less direct: O-cha demo nomanai? How about a cup of tea or something? Doyobi ni demo ikimasho. Let's go on, say, Saturday.

kll1d of contrast in Japanese - perhaps there


U

is often found in negative sentences (negatives. expre~s so~.e IS an implicit 111trast to positive situations): Kino wa ikimasen deshira. I didn't go yesterday. Fako wa suki ja arimasen. I don't like octopus . Komakai no wa arimasen (Unit 9) Don't you have lea? anything smaller?
.1

4 Uses of wa and ga
Let us briefly review the uses of wa and ga that we have encountered thus far: a In the pattern A wa B desu, wa signals that B desu is a statement about A. Kore Kono shinbun Watashi no shinbun wa shinbun waNihon no wa Nihon no desu. desu. de wa arimasen.

We also met wa and ga in the patterns B (ni) wa A ga aru (Lillit 3) and A wa X ga hoshii (Unit 8), which ~dicate po' ession and desire, respectively. In either case the object of possession/desire is marked by ga, whereas the person possessing or desiring is marked by wa.
understands/needs

'lmilar to these is the pattern A (nil wa B ga wa~ar.u1ir.u ~ B' the object of understanding/need IS marked by ga, and the person understanding/needing by wa: Ken-san wa Nihongo ga wakarimasu, Watashi ni wa ana hito ga wakarimasen. Watashi wa o-kane ga iru.
NOTE:

Ken understands

Japanese. that

As we have noted in Unit 3, A is already known or understood; the focus is therefore on B desu, The pattern A ga B desu, on the other hand, focuses on A. Question-words like nani, dare cannot take wa, as this would contradict their role of asking about focal information, for example when talking about photos: Kore ga Michiko-san desu. Dare ga Tomu-san desu ka?
This is Michiko-san. Which one is Tom?

I don't understand
person. I need money.

'c also Unit 14 Structures 5 (A (ni) wa B ga dekiru), Whenever you have both wa and gao wa will always come first. d Another wa - ga pattern that came up in Unit 8 is A wa B ga Indjective] or A wa B ga [nann] desu, Here are some further examples: Uchi no kasan wa kioku ga warm desu. Mother has a Michiko-san Kono seta Kanojo wa wa wa me iro otosan ga ga ga okii desu, kirei desu, sensei desu.
bad memory. Michiko-san has large eyes. This sweater is a pretty colour. Her father is a teacher.

b In Unit 3, we saw that wa can also signal a contrast; this distinction depends on the context, in other words, another noun C, which contrasts with A, must be either present or implied. In this use, wa replaces ga or 0, while it combines with other particles as ni wa, de wa, etc. Wain wa aru ga, biru wa arimasen, Wain W;I katta ga, biru wa kaimasen deshita. We have wine but no beer. (replacing gal
I bought wine, but not any beer. (replacing 0)

These sentences are an extension of the basic A wa B desu pattern with B desu becoming B ga [adjective]/[noun] desu, In this pattern, B is something that belongs to A, and you might therefore expect no instead 01 wa: Uchi no kasan Kanojo no no kioku otosan wa wa warui desu. sensei desu.

\; hen there is a sense of contrast, however, wa is used: Rorusu-roisu wa takai kara, watashl wa kaimasen, Rolls-Royces (unlike some other cars I can think of) are expensive, so 1shan't buyone.

St'I'

also Unit 14 Structures 1 about the use of ga in relative

In fact, these sentences are acceptable, but the wa - ga way of putting this is more natural, idiomatic Japanese (see Unit 8, Structures 6).
e

1.111 es,

As we saw above, A wa signals that a considered statement/comment is about to be made (about A). If, for instance, you make a well-considered comment about Taro, having long been aware of his good looks, you would say:
Taro-kun

-xercises
I It's Sunday, but you don't feel like doing anything (including ~"ying at homel). Make unenthusiastic suggestions to your

wa hansamu

desu.

When some situation is, however, perceived spontaneously (by the five senses), ga is normally used; imagine, for instance, that it suddenly occurs to you that Taro (because of the light, the way he is dressed, etc.) is really quite handsome. If you pass this observation straight on to your friend, you would say:

Taro-kun ga hansamu desu nel


Recall also the following sentences, expressions: Kimochi ga ii desu, (Unit 7) Hito ga oi ne. (Unit 8) both spontaneous

f'.lrlfriend based on the cues: 'xample: Disuko ni ikimasho lea? ---t Disuko ni demo lkimasho ka? a Terebi 0 mimasho ka? b Ginza e ikimasho lea? cO-sake 0 nomimasho ka? d Yakyii 0 mi ni ikimasho ka? 1. You have been out shopping; tell your friend what you have bought by using mo, ya (nado) or to as shown in brackets to join the listed items. Example: binsen, futo, pen (rna) ---t Binsen rna fiito mo pen
rna kaimashita.

Adjectives Like sum na, kirai na and iya na, too, are generally concerned with the spontaneous expression of like/dislike, and therefore mostly take ga rather than wa. Here are some more examples: A, densha ga kita. Mizu ga tsumetai! Ana hito ga kirai desu. Oh, the train is coming. The water is cold! I hate that person.

a b

Remon, orenji, painappuru, ichigo (to) Zasshi, shinbun (ya) C [)lCU, wain, uisuki, igusuri (mo) d Tako,sakana(ya,nado) Fill in the blanks, choosing between wa and gao a Kino kaisha ni ikimasen deshita. b Okasan, tomodachi __ kimashira. cRandon keen oi desu. d Orenji _ katta ga, painappuru __ kaimasen deshira. e Ken-san se takai desu, f Kyo __ totemo kimochi __ ii desu.

f Ga and wa in subordinate sentences. Recall that ga is normally used in subordinate sentences if they have a different subject from the main sentence: Tenki ga ii kara, oyogi ni Rorusu-roisu ga takai kara, watashi wa kaimasen.

ikimasho.

Lers go for a swim because the weather is nice. The Rolls-Royce is expensive so I am not going to buy it.

Language and society


1 Entertaining guests in Japan
The Japanese go to great lengths to entertain guests. Partly because of the restricted space at home and the difficulties of preparing a proper banquet in the kitchen, most entertaining takes place outside in specialist establishments (sushiya, tenpuraya, etc.) or in Japanese. Chinese or Western restaurants. Occasionally, however, one receives the honour of being-invited to ~ Japanese hom.e. There one is likely to be plied with a great variety and quanttty of food and drink, all prepared by your hostess, although it is. als,? quite common to supplement the! home fare by home-deliveries (demae) of delicacies like sushi or unagi (broiled eel). When invited to a meal by someone, at home or in a restaurant it is normal to say itadakimasu before starting to eat, and gochisosama deshita as an expression of thanks directly afterwards! but, ~o again when leaving. When meeting your host next nme, It 1S customary to acknowledge the£avour again by saying, Yiibe [senjitsu] wa gochisosama deshita (thank you for last flight's [the other day's] meal), something that is easily forgotten by us Westerners as we do not have such a custom!

Negative questions used as emphatic t tements


JIIII~il1e that your husband/wife

Ilw Japanese equivalent of reactions like come on, don't be so lImy/surely it's all right will often take the form of a negative Illl'Ntion: Ii [a nai kal (lit. It's all right, isn't it?) )1 you might try and stop your partner from buying a new "lIlfit; the reply may well be a defiant: Y sui ja nail Oh really, it's not expensive!
uorfce the obvious, as when Mrs Anzai forgets that the dessert h I already been taken care of; it would also be used when uhvinus place:

uching a film on TV, whereas you think that it's perfectly OK.

tries to stop your child from

Ihe same pattern is often used when someone has failed to umecne is looking for his spectacles, when they are in a very

Tcburu no ue ni aru ja nail

Really, they're on the table, right in f!:ont of you!

Dialogues
'llbe Tomu-san wasbigoto no kankei de osoku made nondari, utattari shire ita. Sore de kesa nebo shita, Kohl i:ppai uonde kara isoide dekaketa ga, s_orede rna sanjuppun chikoku hita, Hisho no Yamada-san ga jimusho de matte iru,
LUll 0

119

ramu
Y rnada

lomu Y8imada ramu

Ohayo. Shachlldaij6bu desu ka? Shinpai shlte orimashita. Osoku natte warukatta ne. Kesa irolro taihen dana kara.

Yamada Tomu

So desu ka? Asa-gohan wa mada desha? O-naks ga itakute, nani rna tabete lnal. (Teche) 0 mfru) .1::10, kyo wa Yamanaka Maketingu no Suzuki-san ga kuru dara? M6 mieteimasu. Osetsu-ehltsu de o-cha 0 nonde
lrasshaimasu.

...... ......

Taihen dal
orimashita humble equivalent of Imashita • Unit 1851 Os'oku natte warukatta It was bad of me to be late • Unit 13 as~gohan breakfast (lit. momfngmea~ o-naka stomach Itakute conjunctive form of Ita.! painful .85 mada (nat) yet .56 techo pocket dlatylnotebook Yamanaka Miketingu Yamanaka Marke.fing (name 01
imaginary firm)

·kankei relation, co.nnection [noun] no kankel de in connection/relation with [f1oun} nendarl, -tali· form of nom.u drink (and do other things) • S1 uta 0. uta.u to sing fa song) .hltelta past form of -tEl Iru was (do)ing - 82 nabo (suru) to oversleep,. get up late [verbl"te kara after doing [verb]

54

.53

In this unit you will learn • how to express the idea continuous action the verb
• the conjunc1ive,form adjectives of

of

• other uses of the~te form of

sore de mo even so chlkoku (suru) to be late (kalshanichikoku suru to be late for the office) hlshe no Yamada-san Yamadasan, his secretaty • 54 hlsho. (personal) secr'etary Ilmushe one's place of work, office shachO head of a firm (here. used as a torm of address.) shlnpal (suru) worry [noun] 0 shlnpal suru to warl}' about {noun]

mo miete Imasu (hl;l) has already come - 56 mle.ru (here) honorific equivalent of kuru. Unit 18 51 osetsu-shitsu reception room il'.asshalmasu honorific equivalent of h:nasu • Unit 18 51

• about working in Japanese compEUlies

120

True or false?

'1111

a Tomu-san wawashorui a nomi-nagarakara osetsu-shitsuiru.ni matomete hairn, Suzuki-san o-cha shorui yonde
0

1 Yiibe Tomn-san wa uchi de Nihongo a benkyo shita, 2 Suzuki-san wa osetsu-shitsu de matte iru,

Iuucrion with nouns, see Unit 10 Structures 1.) Thus, in the I ntence earlier, the two verbs in the -tari form are examples of luu I did; they represent the sort of activities in which I was lIIyulved, but are not an accurate and exhaustive list. It is l'u~Nibleto string more than two verbs together in this way, and II 1~, I 0 possible to give just one verb: I)oyobi wa tomodachi ni auari shimasu,

of everal that actually took place. (Nado performs a similar

121
~ 3
III
.Q.

Tomu
Suzuki

...... ......

Tomu
Suzuki

Suzuki-san - taihan a-matase shimashita. Dome •... Ie, ie, do itashimashite. Repat.a a mada yanda lnakatta kara kaette yakatta desu. So desu ka? Ana repato wa nagai desu ne. Baku me mada zenbu yande imasen . Shikashi, Hade-san, kao-ito ga warui desu ne. Hatarakisugi ja nai desu ka7 kaette on the contrsry; in fact kao-iro ga warul (you) look
unwell while •

On Saturdays, I meet friends. {and so on}.

I'll' -tari form can also be used for two actions taking place lilt rnately, In this case, the two verbs in question are ol)posites ittari kitari (suru) to go and come, i.e, to go to and fro naitari warattari (suru) to laugh and cry (nak .. to cry; u wara.u to laugh - note that in this phrase the verbs combine ill the opposite order fr-om English)
I )I~

...... ......

shorul documents, papers matome.ru to collect together,


put In order

[-masu base]-nagara

do itashimashlte it repoto report

doing [verb]

S7
don't mention

kao--lro facial colour/complexion hatarakl-sugl noun form of hatarak:!-suglru (-masu basej-sugl.ru to over·
[verb]

b sets of positive and negative pairs ittari ikanakartari (suru) to sometimes go and sometimes Hot go benkyo shitari shinakattari (suru) to sometimes study and sometimes not (note that it is not necessary to. repeat
benkyo)

True or fal$e1
3 Suzuki-san wa o-cha 0 nomanakatta, 4 Suzuki-san wa yube repoto 0 zenbu yonda.

Taro-kun wa tattari suwattari shimashita. Michiko-san

Taro kept on standing up and then sitting down. (tats.u to stand) Michiko-san goes through phases of meeting Ken, and then not meeting him.

Structures
1 The -tari form
The -tari form of a verb is made by adding ri to the plain past form of the verb(s) in question. It is possible to have only one verb in the -tari form, or a whole series, but the sequence must finish with suru, or less often da, in the appropriate tense and level of politeness. Terebi 0 mitari, han a yondari shimashita/deshita. I watched television, read a book ...

wa Ken-san ni attari awanakattari shimasu,

2 Uses of [verbJ-te Lru


This combination of the -te form of verbs and the verb .iru is used in three ways. Note that it can have inanimate was well as mimate subjects despite the presence of iru, and that da, am .md iru itself, have no -te iru form. " Habitual actions Ihis overlaps with the use of the present form to describe 11, itual action (Unit 4 Structures 1), but puts more stress on the b repetition of the action. It will often occur when describing what

There is no straight English equivalent far -tari; it implies that the verb to which it is attached represents merely one activity

someone does for a living, or with words Iike itsu rna or


mainichi:

I III now,as

III I he

Watashi wa Nihon de Riga


o oshiete imasu, Suzuki-san wa maiban o-sake

I teach English in Japan.

a nonde imasu. b Continuous actions

Suzuki-Slln drinks every evening.

-re iru form, however, it refers to the stare that Miura-san a result of getting married. Miura-san is married. Miura-san wa kekkon "nite imasu, , cnn use this form in the negativetoo, as follows:
l lunda-san wa kekkon shire imasen,

123

Honda-san is not married.

....... .....

Here -te iru is equivalent to is/was -mg in English, describing actions which are actually going on in the present, or which were going on at some time in the p_ast: Nani oshite imasu ka? What are you doing? Why didn't you come? Because I was watching television.

I II I C are some other verbs of this type. Many of them are 1111 runsitive (Unit 12 Structures 1) i.e. they do not take objects, t\k.tl, for example, means to open in the sense of a door opening III IIH own accord, not to open in the sense of someone opening

A Doshite konakatta n'


B

door.
,Ik.n (intrans.]

...... ......

desu ka? Terebi 0 mite ita kara.

It can also refer to what you will be doing in the future. For example, you arrange to wait until a &iend has finished clearing

lLimar.u (intrans.) to close, shut


hnjimar.u
nwat .• u

become vacant

to open,

aite iru

to be open, vacant

shimatte iru

to be- closed,
to have

up at work:

(intrans.)

to begin

shut bajimatte iru owatte iru futORe iru yasete iru dekite iru

Asoko de matte imasn,

I'll be waiting over there.

begun, be under way


to be {at to be thin

(See also the humble equivalent Osmachi shire imasu in Unit 10 dialogue.) As would seem logical, only actions which do in fact occur continuously take the -te iru form in this sense. Ai; we shall see in c, however, some actions which English thinks of as occurring continuously are thought of in Japanese as involving an immediate change of state. c States resulting from actions This sense of -te H-U has no single English equivalent, but it is probably nearest to the 'present in the past' tense formed with have. It conveys the idea that while the action of the verb has already taken place, the state which it has brought about is still in existence. It is often used in conjunction with the adverbs mo and mada (Structures 6). Japanese, as mentioned above, are thought of as involving an immediate change of state rather than happening over time. Take, for example, the verb kekkon suru, to get married: Honda-san wa ashita kekkon shimasu,
Miura-san -te iru in this sense often occurs with a group of verbs which in

(trans .. & intrans.) to end fUEor.u (intrans.) to become fat yase.ru (intrans.) to become thin deki.m (intrans.) to be ki.ru (trans.) .toput on, wear (for items worn

over

to be ended,

made, prepared

to be ready, co.mpleted kite iru to have on, be wearing

from the shoulders) e.g, shirts, dresses) hak,u (trans.) to Pl4t on, wear (for items worn from the waist downwards, e.g.
skirts, shoes) oboe.ru [trans.] to learn,

haite iru

wearing

to have on, be

memorize (rather than study)

oboete iru to remember (i.e. not forget, as opposed to omoidasu to forgotten) shinde iru to be dead tsukarete iru to be tired

shimashita.

wa kyonen kekkon

Honda-san is getting married 'tomorroi», Miura~an got married last

remember something

year.

shin.e (intrans.) to die csukare.ru (intrans.) to get

tired

124

Asa-gohan

ga dekite imasu yo.

Breakfast is ready. Do you remember that


bar?

A
B

Ana nomiya 0 abaete imasu ka? O-sake a takusan nonda kara, nani rna abaete imasen, expressions:

1 drank so much, I don't remember anything.

umisu-san wa Igirisu ni k ette imasu. I landobaggu ni nani ga haitte imasu ka? Nani ka ochite imasu yo.

MrlMs Smith has gone back to/is back in England. What is in you,r handbag? Something has fallen.! There's something on the (loor.lYou've dropped something. Hasn t it got quiet?

Also note the following nodo ga kawak.u

thirsty

to get

nodo ga kawaite

thirsty

iru

to be to be

...... ......

o-naka

ga suk.u to get hungry (lit. (my) stomad: gets empty)

o-naka ga suite iru

N.m) behaves in a similar way: Shizuka ni natte imasu ne.

hungry

uuroduced in b above, but in fact, in English, the is -ing form of


1Il,IIly

111,,' -te iru foon of these verbs cannot be used in the sense

...... ......

With these verbs which involve an immediate change of state, there is very often little difference in actual meaning between the
past tense and the -te iru form:

of them does not refer to continuous action, but to the The Japanese equivalent of He's coming in a second is Ilwrefore Sugu kimasu. Similarly:
luture,

A, tsukaremashita! A, tsukarete imasul

I'm tired! (lit. I got tired) I'm tired! (lit. J am in the state which results from getting tired)

inko wa nanji ni akimasu ka? Doa ga shimarimasu,

When is the ba11kopening? The doors (doa) are closing. (station warning)

In the case of the former, you have just finished doing something which has made you tired - perhaps you have just been carrying something heavy. In the case of the latter, you are in a general state of tiredness - you are having a busy week at the office. The verbs of motion iku, kuru, hairu, dern, dekakeru, ochim, but not amku and oyogu, belong to this g,roup. In the -re iru form they therefore refer to where you are after moving .. For example, Honda-san was in the same room as you, but has just gone to the bank (ginko}, If so me ones COmes in and asks: Honda-san wa doko ni imasu ka? you can, of course, just reply: Ginko ni ikimashira. However, you will also hear: Ginko ni itte .imasn,

Finally, Dote some verbs which are more likely to be used in the te iru form than in the present form:

mots.u

to hold, take

Mochimasho ka? Nani 0 motte imasu ka? Watashi wa kamera imasen, ([place]

a motte

nil

sum.u

to take up

residence
ltaria ni sumitai desu. Anzai-san wa Yokohama ni sunde imasu, hir.u

iru to be holding, possess, have Shall I carry it (for you)? What are you holdi11g/have you got there? 1 haven't got/don~t own a camera. sunde iru to be settled, live in a place motte I want to live in Italy. Anzai-san lives in Yokohama. shitte im

to get to know

in the sense ofRelshe is thestate which results {rom going to the bank i.e, Helshe has gone to the banklis at the bank. Similarly!
note: Tomodachi ga kiteimasu yo.

A friend of yours bas camel is here.

Ken-san 0 doko de shirimashita ka? Suzuki-san wa Furansu shitte imasu.

to know (things~ people) Where did you get to know

Ken? S1;lZuki-san knows France.

I don't k,~ow does not usually occur in the -ee iru form, but is simply shirimasen: Michiko-san no denwa bango
0

shitte imasu ka?

lie, shirimasen,
The verb ([company] nil tsurome.ru, to work (for a firm), normally found only in the -te iru form. Suzuki-san wa Yamanaka

Nihon ni kite kara jikan ga amari arimasen. e a eki de saba a tabete kara nani mo tabete imasen.

is also

Since coming to Japan. I haven't had much time. 1 haven't eaten anything since having some noodles (soba) at the station this morning.

127

Suzuki-san

Maketingu ni rsutomete

works for Yarrtano.k.a Marketing. in -re iru

llus use of the -te form with kara must not be confused with Q meaning because following the final forms of verbs (Unit 6 '"I ruccures 4).

".1

....... .....

irnasu,

In informal
constructions

situations,

the is often Lost:

of the iru/imasu

The appositional no
III Ih is variation of the X no B pattern (Unit 1 Structures 6), X, , general noun, tells us who or what, B, a proper noun, is: rornodachi no Jon ha-isha no Anzai-sensei shuren no Ueno-eki my friend John (shiiten)

....
......

Nani a nonde 'ru no? Yasete 'rnasu ne.

3 [verb]~te kara after/since doing [verb]


We have already met [noun] kara meaning {rom/after/since in a temporal sense (Unit 7 Structures 3). If you want to use after with a verb rather than with a noun, you put the verb into the -te form: Sore Gohan
0

Anzai-sensei, the dentist Vena station, the terminus

The conjunctive form of adjectives


rile conjunctive form of na adjectives is made by turning na to dc; in the case of -i adjectives, -kute is substituted for -i Note I hat ii becomes yokute. In the case of adjectives in the negative,
nni becomes nakute (wa negatives of na adjectives): shizuka na tnka.i shizuka de takakute is sometimes omitted from the

kara tabete kara

doko e ikimashita

ka?

did you go after that?

Where

dekakemasho, Let's set out after having our meal.

If the subject of the -te kara part of the sentence is different from
that of the main sentence, it Eiga ga owatte kara kissaten ni hairimashita, Honda-san ga kekkon shire kara rokunen ni narimasu,

shiznka de (wa)/ja nakure


takakun ak ute

wilt take ga (Unit 10 Structures 4):


After the film was over we went into a coffee shop. It's six years since Hondasan got married.

Notice that, as with many European languages, if the situation in the main sentence after -te kara is still going on in the present (in other words, where since rather than after would be used in English) Japanese will use the present tense of adjectives, of da, iru, and am, and the -ee iru form of other verbs, where English uses the past tense with have: Galdci ga hajimatte kara

Ihis form has functions similar to the -te form of verbs, One lise, for example, is in joining two adjectives togethe~, or in Joining a. sentence which ends in an adjective to one which ends III a verb:

Kore wa shizuka de kirei na


resuroran desu, Ken-san wa se ga takakute hansamu desu. Rondon wa samukunakute, honro ni yokatta desu.

This is a quiet, clean restaurant. Ken is tall and handsome. London wasn't wid, and I really liked itlIt was really good as London waStl't cold. Suzuki~san likes sake and drinks a lot.

mainichi isogashii desu,

Since the term (gakki), started I have been busy every day.

Suzuki-san wa a-sake ga suki de takusan nomimasu.

128

Often, as in the last two or three sentences, the conjunctive form contains the implication that the first half of the sentence is the reason for the second half (Unit 13 Structures 4):
Kana .kasa wa benride ii desu,

Mf> jikan desu. Me) aki no o-tenki desu ne,

O-uaka ga irakute, nani rna


tabemasen deshita,

..... .....

Hade-san wa amari genki ja nakute, zannen desu ne. (Also see Unit 10 Dialogue.)

This umbrella is wonderfully convenient. I didn't eat anything because I had a stomachache. Isn't it a shame that Herdsan isn't uery well?

It's time. The weather is already autumnal, isn't it? (aki autumn}

129

mo in negative sentences: not any more/no longer

roo still conveys its basic idea of completion: the xlruation or event is over, and win not occur any more. When Ihe speaker is the subject, there is often the idea of negative
III the negative, mtention:

6 Mo and mada already/not any more and still/not yet Mo and marla are both adverbs. Mo conveys the idea of
completion, or neat" completion, and mada, its opposite, the idea of non-completion. This is so regardless of whether they are in positive or negative sentences, although their English equivalents will differ accordingly. a mo in positive sentences: a/ready/yet
In this sense,

ikimasen, Konban mo benkyo shitakunai desu. Watasm wa rno sonnani O-kane ga mo nai desho. jiru-san wa mo asoko de wa Eigo 0 oshiete imasen.
t'

Mo ana nomiya e wa

wakaku

arimasen,

I'm not going/will not go to that bar any more. I don't want to study any more this evening. I'm not that young any more. I don't suppose you have any money left. Jill isn't teaching English there any more.

.....
~

mada in positive sentences: still

rno is usually found in the past:


I have already finished.
Have you eaten yet?

Mo owarimashita, M6 tabemashita ka?

It will also be found with the -te iru form of verbs in the c sense, mainly with verbs involving an immediate change of state: Mo o-fu.ro kara dete imasu. Suzuki-san wa unasu.
I am already out of the

rna dekakete

bath. Suzuki-san has already set out.

I n the positive, marla is used with situations or events which are uncompleted and therefore still going on (for marla da by itself, however, see d below): Ta.ro-kun is still a small Taro-ken wa mada chiisai child. kodomo desu, There is still some cake/ Keki ga mada arimasu, There is some cake left. Are you still eating? Mada tabete iru n' desu ka? Will you eat something Mada nani ka tabemasu ka? more?

With such verbs in the present form and with daro, mo (often joined to sugu) will refer to something which is nearly completed, or just about to happen:

mada in negative sentences: not yet -te iru in the c sense, a result of not doing

Mo sugu owarimasu, Tanaka-san wa mo kuru desho,


adjectives, and with nouns:

I'm nearly finished. Tanaka-san should coming any minute.

be

In addition, as one would expect, mo is found with positive

not yet completed; it is often found with here referring to the state you are in as something! Kore wa mada kirei ni natte imasen! Michiko-san wa mada kimasen ka? Tomu-san wa mada dekakete imasen.

In the negative, mada is used with situations or events which are

Mo osoi desu,
Mf iya desu.

It s too late now. I can't stand any more.

This isn't clean yet! Hasn't Michiko-san come yet? Tom has not {eft yet.

130

Watashi wa mada nani mo yonde imasea, Note that when mada is. followed it has the meaning of not yet: A Tabemashita ka?

I haven't read anything yet.


directly by da or a form of d", B lie, marla desu, remembering

II I\y the end of the day, they have been able to engage in both Ilull favourite activities, and fit in other things as well, Use -tari I u i sum to describe what they each did. II ample: jim-san shimashita ..
W3

131

shashin

tottari,

Murre

shitari forms of

Notice what happens in the following exchanges, that mo and marla are opposites: A Moshashin 0 torimashita ka.? B lie, mada totte imasen. A Mada Michiko-san to deto shite imasu ka? B lie, mo shire imasen,

• [oin the following

,lwctives.

sentences,

using the conjunctive .

A Have you. taken. the B No, I haven't yet. A Are you still dating (deto suru) Michiko-sanl B No, not any more.

...... ......

photo yet?

Example: Kono kamera wa chiisai desu, Benri desu, Kono kamera wa chiisakute benri desu,
;1

Kono hiCIJwa tsumetai aesu. Oishii desu,


Koko wa kare (curry) ga yumei desu, Yoku tabe ni kimasu . Rondon wa arne ga okatta desu, Iya deshita, Michiko-san wa atama ga ii desu ..Kirei desu .. Atsukunakatta desu, Kimochi ga yokatta desu.

h c

...... ......

d
c

7 [-masu basel"'nag'ara while doing [verb]


This is used when the same person is simultaneously doing two different actions over the same length of time. The less important action goes before -nagara and is in the -masu base form whatever the tense at the end of the sentence: Tornu-san Anzai-san utai-nagara shaws 0 abimasu, Every morning. Tom showers (shawa 0 abi.ru) while singing.
0

I A stranger comes UP.. dearly out of breath. Reply to his/her questions in the affirmative or the negative as indicated, using 1110 or mada as appropriate,

Example:

Eiga wa mo hajimarimashita

ka?

Hai, InO hajimatte imasu, Iie, mada desu/hajimatte

wa maiasa uta

unasen,

Anzai-san watched television while playing with TarO-kun.

wa Taro-kun

to asobi-nagara

terebi

mimashita.

a b e d

Ginko wa rno shimarimasliira ka? (Hai) Depato wa mo akimashira ka? (lie) Tokkyii wa mo kimashita lea? (Hai) Tokkyu wa mo demashita ka? (lie)

Exercises
1 Here is a list characters! Jiru: Tomu:

4 Compare the reasonably relaxed daily schedule of Torn Herd, the typical Western businessman, with 'the frenzied schedule of

of the favourite
0

activities
0

of some of our
afternoon

Suzuki-san, the typical (?) Japanese businessman bycontbining Ihe pairs of activities, first with -te kara, then with -nagara. Example.: ha Hade-san Suzuki-san a
Q

shashin

nap)

tow; hirune

suru (hirune

migaku; shawa a abiru


0

Miehiko:

Taro:
Anzai:

gitii 0 hikn; uta 0 utau tomodachi to asobu; T aro-kun to kenka sum (kenka quarrel) terebi 0 miru, chokoreto 0 taberu (chokoreto

wa ha

migaite kara shawa

abimasu,
0

wa ha a migaki-nagara

sbawa

abimasu.

chocolate) uisukl a nornn; tabako a suu (tabakotobacco, cigarette; su.u to breathe in, smoke)

b
c d a

shinbnn 0 yomu; shatsu a kinr hisho tohanasu; memo a kaku keiyaku 0 musubu, a-sake 0 nomu musub.u tie, sign [a contract]) terebi 0 m:iru; neru conversations A B

(keiyaku

contract;

a It is Sunday. Our characters have gathered in the Herds' minute garden and are all engaged in the fitst of their favourite activities. Use the -te ito form to describe the scene, Example: jiru-san wa shashin a tone imasu,

5 Put the following

into -masu form Japanese,.

Do you know Miura-sanj Yes, I know (her). She lives in the £latS (manshon) next to the bank.

132

b
c

if
3
III III III III ::I

C D E F

Iwas writing a report until late last night. I'm still tired.
Kimura-san is clever and pretty, but married. Perhaps she doesn't want to get married. she isn't

You don't look welL

C.

iii'

~
<0

a: ::I

Language and society


1 Wor;king in Japanese companies
Japanese companies have branches abroad and employ foreign nationals, both in their countries of origin and in Japan. Japanese companies used to be known for their system of lifetime employment (shirshin kayo) and promotion of people according to age rather than ability (uenko joretsu), although only the most able ever got right to the top. Change is occurring in these areas, however, and a new word risutora (dow;nsizing) has entered the vocabulary. If you work in a Japanese company you need to be prepared to do a lot of overtime (zangyo), and give the c;ompan;y an important place in your life, but holidays (kyUka or yasumi) are becoming more acceptable. Salaries may seem low, but remember that you will get a commuting allowance (tsukin reate) to cover your travel expenses and a bonus (bonasu) twice a year, which in good times may amount to as much as five OI six times your normal monthly salary (kyuryo]. The following additional words and phrases might prove useful:
yushutsu (suru) export yunyQ (suru) Import ts(lk,ln (suru) commuting

Q... ~. Q...

::::i

r+

CO
CD
r+

0-....

kalsha nl shushoku suru to join a company kaisha kara/o taishoku suru to

7\
to

retire from a company sararlman white-oollarworker shain company employee


buch6 ka.ch6 sh6sha department he.ad section head

a trading firm shoken-gaisha a securities firm

kyuryo ga takai to have a good salary kyiiryo 9a hikui/yasul to have a bad salary sum 0 suru to strike

work

CD ::J

'<

o C o

A CD

::::I

In this unit you will learn • how to evade responsibility for a blunder by using intransitive vefbs • how to t~ke credit for a positive aetlon by means of transiti,ve verbs • how to form impersonal sentences with~tearu • how to describe openly displayed emotions • about Japanese sound
symbOlism

134

DDialogues
Michiko-san wa Hado-san-tachi to o-hiru a tabeta ga, sana ato de sara-ami a tetsudatte iru. Michiko-san wa sara 0 aratte, Kensan wa fuite iru,
Ken

.hufu housewife hillwase na lucky ntdko no ko boy, young !l.O'hlta in this way J • de wa
k

man

Michiko
Ken

Michiko

......

Ken

Kitchin-taom wa? Hora, soko nl kakete aru desha. A, honta da. Epuron wa? Ushiro no teburu ni oite aru ja nai no ... koko wa Ken-san no uehl no daidokora desha? Demo, itsu rna no tokoro ni oite nai kara. aftertfJat
washing

ogaerarenai
formerly

mukllshi
I

unthinkable long ago; before,

ware.ru (intransitive) to break ara are otos.u (transitive) to drop Ja nakute conjuctive form of Ja nal II Unit 17 S5 wa.r.u (transitive) to break kl 0 tsuke.ru to oe careful, pay

135

r•. ru

kolukal 'UD.ru (intransitive) to increase .hl Bnd besides .53


I hand

to get used to pocket money

sana ato de

sara-aral
up,

dish-washing,

kltchin-1aoru wiping-up cloth kake.ru (transitive) to hang up kakete aru to be hung up

.uber.u to slip yuka floor

attention nash] ('" nal) there Isn't, there won't be unzarl shlts disgustedly, in disgust • L5 da kara [sentence} that's why/so [sentence} Iyagat.u to show dislike II 54

......
N

0 tetsudau to help with [activity}; [person] 0 tetsuda.u to help (person] aara dish, plate fuk.u to wipe

[activity]

·51
epuron apron ok.u to put, place daldokOro k;tchen olte nal negative of oite aru

ue or false?
Nihon no otoko no ko wa amari tetsudawanai. ~ Sara ga nimai wareta. daidokoro no shigoto
0

True or false?
1 Ken-san wa Michiko-san 110 uehi de a-him a tabera. 2 Epuron wa itsu rna 00 tokoro ni oite nai,

tructures
1 Intransitive and transitive verbs
We have already
seen some examples of intransitive verbs in Unit 11, noting that they differ from. transitive ve~bs in ~bat they du not take objects. This is a distinction that exists with many English verbs, too:
II

D Mlchiko
Ken

Ighisujin no shufu wa shiawase desu ne, otoko no ko ga koshite daidokoro no shigoto 0 tetsudattari suru kara. Nihon ja kang_aerarena! wa. Mukashi kara narete iru kara ne. Sore nl, kozukai rno fueru shi ne, (Te g8 subette, sara ga ichimai yuka ni ochite wareru) Ara ... okasan, sara 9a wareta yol

b
a

(jiru-san ga tonari no heya kara kuru)


Jiru Ken Jiru Ken Jiru Ara, ichiban Ii o-sara ja nai no. Di5shita no, Ken? Ochlta n'da yo. Ochita n' ja nai desha?1 Otoshita n' desha!

b l'he a sentences have an object, and the b sentences do not, but n more important difference IS that in the a sentences the p.erson
r -sponsible for the action of the verb is stated, whereas ill the b sentences the same action is presented as a natural occurrence. This applies in Japanese, too. I.ike English break/break or rise/raise, Japanese verbs often come in pairs of intransitive/transitive, distinguished by regular correspondences in their endings:

John The The The

broke the cup. cup broke. stagehand raised the curtain. curtain rose.

E. rna ...

Ken

Sore kara, wareta n' ja nakute, watta n' desh6? Motto ki o tsuke nasal yo! Kongetsu wa o-kozukal nashi! (Daidokoro 0 deru) (Unzarl shite) Da kara Nihon no otoko wa sara-arai 0 iyagaru n' daro ...

136

.x-z:

intransitive

transitive

jilt

ransitive to get fixed, heal to pass through

transitive
-su naos.u tos,u

137 to fix. heal (something) to pass (something) through to move (something) to dry (something)
to

-iru oki.ru
ori.ru

to rise, get up to get off/dawn to fall, be dropped

-osu okos.u

oros.u
otos.U -u war.u

ochi.ru -eru

to rouse to take (something) down to drop (something) to break (something) to pull 01-4t to increase (something) to cool (something)

I'U 1I.1Or. u

tlll"u

......
N

ware.ru
nuke.ru -eru fue.ru hie.ru -reru

to break, get broken to come/fall out to increase to become cool

u ugok.u knwak.u

-asu

to move to get dry

ugokas.u kawakas.u

......

nuk.u
-yasu fuyas.u hiyas.u -su

these patterns it is useful to become familiar with them. There


III.!

nrce there rue many other pairs of verbs which conform


also some irregular pairs: ire.ru kae ..ru kes.u mr.ru nose.ru

koware.ru kakure.ru
taore.ru

broken to hide

to break, get

kowas.u
kakus.u
taos.u -eru hajime.ru

to collapse to begin to hang to close to stop to open to be switched on; to be attached

(something) to hide (something) to knock down to begin (something) to hang (something) up to close (something) to stop. turn off to open (something) to switch (something) on; to attach (something)

to break

hair.u
kawar.u kle.ru rrne.ru nor.u

to enter to change to go out (fire etc.) to be seen to ride

-aru
haiimar.u kakar.ll shimar.u tomar.u
-u

to insert to change (something) to put out, extinguish to see to load, place (s01nething) on

kake.m
shime.ru tome.ru -eru ake.ru tsuke.ru

IJnlike English (break/break etc.), Japanese has hardly any identical pairs of intransitive/transitive verbs. One exception is nwar.u (to end), which is used both ways, although a 'specialized' transitive verb oe.ru (to end something) does exist: higoto ga owarimashita, Shigoto 0. owarimashita/ oemashita. Hclow

ak.u
tsuk.u

The job is finished. Ihoe (etc.) finished the iob.


of sentences

are some
verbs:

examples

with intransitive/

Ira nsitive

ja, okoshite kudasai ne.

Ken-san wa mo okimashita ka? lie, mada okite imasen.

Is Ken up yet? No, not yet. Well, please wake him, won't you.

138

Kono biru wa amari hiete imasen ne, Reizoko de hiyashimasho. . Doa ga aite imasu yo. E, atsui kara, mado mo akete kudasai.
.Ara, tokei ga naorimashita

This beer isn't cold, is it? Let's (;00/ it in the {ridge. The door's open, you know.. Yes, please open the window too, as it's hot. Hey, the clock's been mended, I see. I mended it, you know! Is the clock broken? Taro-kun broke. it, you know!

111 the past tense, the intransitive sentences merely say that an .u.tion occurred naturally, while the -te iru sentences indicate the I. tc of affairs resulting from that happening. The -te am u-ntences, on the other hand, imply that someone is responsible lor the situation, without, however, telling us who that someone
I....

139

ne.

III the negative, -te am becomes -te nai (plain) or -te arimasen (polite):

Wa.tashi ga naoshimashira yo! Tokei ga kowaremashita ka? Taro-kun ga kowashita []. desu yo!

Hiru ga hiyashite nai. Kono tegami ill wa kaite arimasen,

3 Signalling an addition with shi hnsic use of both the -te form and the conjunctive form of
.iud:
i\r. we saw in Unit 5 Structures 4 and Unit 11 Structures 5, the idjccrives is to connect sections of a sentence that could themselves be independent sentences, where English would use

......

It should be ob~ious from the last example above, and from some of the dialogue sentences, that transitive verbs Can co~veU1ently b~ used to make someone responsible for accidental or wilful damage, while intransitive verbs may be used to evade such responsibility by pretending that things came about na~ally. Transitives can, of cour~e, also be employed to take credit for a posrtive occurrence; as III the second from last example.

2 Impersonal sentences with

-te ar:.u

In Unit 11, we saw the use of -te iru after both intransitive and transitive verbs; -te am is used after transitive verbs only. Transitive verbs on their own indicate that someone is respo.nsible for the action of the verb, even if that person is not J?entlOned (thus. kowashita means Ilyoulwelheishelthey broke It); when -te am IS use~ with a transitive verb, the implication is that som~o~e UflSjJ6ety!ed has performed the action, i.e. the sen!ence IS impersonal'. In fact the 'person responsible for the acnon of the verb camtot be mentioned in a -te aru sentence. Doa ga akete arimasu, Biru ga hiyashite arimasu, The door has been opened. The beer has been cooled.

Anzai-sensei wa tabako 0 sutte, o-sake mo nomimasu, Kore wa takakute, amari sulci ja nai n' desu. Sono resutoran wa yasukute, oishii desu, Kanojo wa kirei de, atarna mo ii desu,

Anzai-sensei smokes, and drinks, too. This is expensive, and I don't fancy it that much. That restaurant is cheap and good. She is pretty and intelligent too.

Shi also connects sentences, in the sense of for one thing ... and besides, and moreover. In this use, shi is normally attached to (he plain form of verbs and adjectives: Anzai-sensei wa tabako 0 suu sill, o-sake rna nomimasu. Kore wa rakai shi, amari sulci [a nai n' desu. Sono resutoran wa yasui shi, oishii desu. . Kanojo wa kirei da shi, arama mo ii desu, Anzai-sensei smokes, and what's more, he drinks. For one thing this is expensive and besides I don't fancy it that much. That restaurant is cheap, and good too. For one thing she is pretty, and besides she is intelligent, too.

Senten~e.ssuch as tht;se indic,ate the state brought about by some unspecified person In opening the door/cooling the beer, etc. Co~pare the above examples with the following sentences which use intransitive verbs' Doa Blru Doa Biru ga ga ga ga akimashita. hiemashita. aire imasu. hiete imasu, The The The The door opened. beer became cold: door is open. beer is cold.

(.()mpare the following examples. which all express the idea dmt Kyoto has hot summers and cold winters, making it a disagreeable place in the view of the speaker:

140

Kyoto wa natsu wa atsukute, fuyu wa samukute, suki ja nai desu, Kyoto wa natsu wa atsukute, fuyu wa samui kara, sulci ja nai desu. Kyoto wa natsu wa atsui shi, £Uyu wa samui shi, sulci ja nai desu. Kyoto wa natsn wa atsui shi, fuyu wa samui kara, sulci ja nai desu, Kyoto wa natsu mo atsui shi, fuyu mo samui kara, sulci ja nai desu. Note the use of contrasting wa with natsu and fuyu, and that while you can have mote than one conjunctive fonn or shi in a sentence, kara can occur only once, at the end of the part expressing the reason.
Shi can also be used to add a further reason as an afterthought,

I x.unple,

K. ru indicates that the feeling is being openly displayed or acted unt, normally by someone other than the speaker. If a child, for

141

is making a- big fuss about some little scratch, its

mother may say:

Senna ni iragaranaide kudasai!


l lere are some more examples. (Note that the -garu forms take
t,

lust like any other verb).


Michiko-san

wa yiibe zuibun samugatte imashita yo.

Taro-kun wa itsumo aisukurimu 0 hoshigatte Ken-san wa amari sara-arai o iyagarimasen ne.


imasu,

Michiko-san was (showing signs of) feeling the cold last night. Taro-kun is always clamouring for ice-cream. Ken doesn't show much aversion to washing up.

as a separate sentence:

Kyoto wa natsu ga atsui kara, Kyoto wa natsu ga atsukute,

sulci ja nai desu, Fuyu rna samui shi.

I don't like Kyoto because the summers

m.

S?i can be reinforced

more, the winters are cold, too.

are hot. What's

I he number of adjectives to which -garu can be attached is llmited, but it can also be attached to -ta.i (Unit 8); like -tai, tag.atU (to show signs of wanting to do) can be attached freely 111 any verb, and is one way of referring to the wishes of . nrneone other than the speaker:

by introducing the afterthought with sore

Taro-kun wa gakko ni ikitagaranai n' desu. Doshire sonna ni ha 0 migakitagaranai n' desu ka?

4 [adjective]-gar.u: feelings

indicating someone else's

Taro-kun doesn't show any inclination to go to school (gakko). Why are you so averse to brushing your teeth?

This suffix (which itself works like an -u verb) is attached to certain adjectives which are connected with the expression of emotion. In the case of -i adjectives, -gam replaces the final -i; with na adjectives, it replaces na:
samu
-1

hos.hi

-i -i -i na

sarnui garu hoshi i garu ita isogashi iya fushigi garu garn
garu gam

ita
isogashi
iya

fushigi na (mysterious)

to feel/look cold to show signs of wanting something to feel/look in pain to feel!look busy to feel/show disgust to feel mystifkdlfind something mystifying

III some cases, the noun form -gari (with the optional addition uf -ya (Unit 2 Language and society 3)) can be used to characterize a person who habitually engages in the sort of l nnduct indicated by the adjective: You are sensitive to the Michiko-san wa samugari cold, aren't you, desu ne. Michiko-san? Baku wa atsugariya da kara ne. I feel, the heat, yOI" see.

xercises
Ingratiate yourself with your mum/dad by taking credit for the positive domestic occurrences, while blaming your younger sister I\n (Anne) for the negative ODesas shown in brackets below. Example: Ringo ga ochite imasu. (Ao)
desu,
-+

An ga otoshita n'

142

a b c d
e

Yatto otosan ga okimashita ne. (Watashi) Mado ga aite imasu net (An) Biru ga yoku mete iru ne (Watashi) Terebi ga kowarete imasu net (An) Reizoko ga tomatte imasu ne! (An)
---+

llmnto (Unit 10), unto (a lot) h.ikkiri (clearly), yukkuri (Unit 8) MillY
'" I

I UfO, chotto (Unit 9)

143

uuzuri, don'yori (dull [of the sky, etc.]) are used as adverbs, but some are used with suru (or l~ionally, da) as predicates: 111110 tabeta. I ate lots. , ukkuri itte kudasai. Please say it slowly. l l.rkkiri mimashita, J saw it clearly. ore de hakkiri shimashita. It has become clear now. Yukkuri shire kudasai. Please take your time/make
yourself at home. t lnzari shimashita/desu.

2 Put the following into japanese, using-te aru. teburu ni oite am.

Example: The report is placed on the table. It was written in this morning's paper. The luggage is unloaded. The beer is in the fridge. The outside light has been turned off. Everything has been eaten.

Repoto wa

a b
~ c

d e

3 Join the sentences, using Example: Sono resutoran wa yasui desu. ---+ Oishii desu, Sono resutoran wa yasui shi, oishii desu, a b c e Biru rna arimasu, Wain rna arimasn, O-sushi rna tabetai desu, Suteki (steak) rna tabetai desu. Kana kodomo wa genki desu. Atama rna ii desu, Michiko-san wa ikimasen. Ken-san mo ikimasen, Kana biru wa yoku hiete imasu. Oishii desu.

sm.

...yo

rna don'yori shite irnasu ne.

am fed up. It s another gloomy day


today, isn't it?

'1IIlt'

of these expressions are created by repeating a sound:

l1ow"nora (slowly, loiteringly): Nora-nora arukanaide kudasai, zun-zun (walk briskly): Zun-zun ikimasho,

4 You are trying to do some work in the same room with people who keep voicing their complaints and desires; tell them to shut up according to the example. Example: kudasai.

A, isogashii isogashii! ---+ Senna

ni isogashigaranaide

a A, shigoto ga iya da iya da .iya dal b AI aisukurimu ga hoshii, A, aisukurimu c d


e

A, atsui, nB:,atsui na ...

ga hoshii ...

A, kaeritai nat A, kaeritai nat

A, biru ga nomitai, biru ga nomitaiJ

Language and society


1. Unzari suru and some simil.ar expressions
Japanese has a large stock of words that characterize an action or a state by imitating a sound or a motion. These words tend to contain sound combinations such as double consonants or syllabic n, and/or endings like to (often doubled) or ri:

ialogues
IIIII I'anaka-san ga yoru osoku , Ii! nwa 0 kakete, tsugi no hi I Inc, iroiro hanashitai to itta. MI rushl to ju kissaten de issho

•du n

taberu koto ni shita,

Jim-san jim-san Sore de ni hiru-

••
kek

145
~

:e ::r
o

kon

1:1.

~ e

s: 3c.... ::;j

_71:

Totsuzen yoru osoku denwa a kakete, domo shi1surei shimashita. Ie, ie, do itashimashite. Do shimashita ka? (kao ga sukoshi akaku naru) Watashi, kekkon suru koto ni narimashita. Sugiura-san to. Atta koto ga aru desha. E, Sugiura-san! O-medetol

."

07 _ItA
..

oc.. _I ., 3

lpor.onJplace] nl denwa
kakerufsuru

to telephone (ranaka-san)

I .ntence]

(p9rsonlpface],,-

to Itta

I'm sortY for doing [verb} • 54 kao ga akaku naru to go red In the face, blush kao face

st;Ild [sentence)

SBy) "'.rushI to lu kissaten hlru-gohan lot uzen


shop called 'Merei' lunch

.81

(I.u to
a coffee

[verb (present plain form)] koto

• S2

al naru to be decided to [verb) .53 Sugiura-san to [personl to kekkon (suru) to get married
to (person]

[Vlrb (present plain form)) koto nl suru decide to {verb} .83


suddenly, without warning

.-0

me.

~:e ~m
·~Ol

m::J

3m

el ohl o-med&to! • L52

congratulations

fll.rbl-te shitsurei shlmashlta

True or false?
In this unit you will learn • how to report what people say • how to give your own oprnion • a way of a.sking how to say something in Japanese • a fonn of the verb for trying to do things and thinking of doing them • more on the -te fonn of verbs and the conjunctive forms of adjectives • about marriages in Japan • how to congratulate people
1

I Tanaka-san wa roo kekkon shire iru, [iru-san wa Sugiura-san 0 shiranai,

Ueta ga kite, jiru-san to Tanaka-san wa sorezore supagetti In tsuna-sarada 0 chumon suru, Sore kara, han as hi ga tsuzuku,
Tanaka 'J
Jlru naka Sore de, kekkon suru kara, ima no shlgoto a yameya to omotte imashita ga ... Honto ni yameru no? S15 desu ne ... Kare- wa shigoto 0 yamete, uchi de ryori toka o-soji nado shi nasai to Itte imasu. Demo, watashi wa rna sukoshi hatarakitai to omoimasu.

146
lIE

Jim

a
"g
o
Iii:

:II'

Tanaka Tanaka
Jim

Il.

9
F

:;

Sore wa komarimashita ne. Sugiura~san nl We mO sukoshl hatarakita! to llrnashita k~? limashlta ga .... Dame deshita ka? Kare wa 'Safe wa jodan dasho' to iUe, kiko to shimasen deshita. Sore de, s'higoto de wa hakute,kekkon 0 yamey6 ka to kangaete imasu. Jiru-san wa do omoimasu ka7
Ara, komarimashita ne.

Willie English here omits

h In English, it is possible to quote people's words directly. that, however, Japanese must use to:
Duitsujin wa asa 'Girten

147
.a. o '< o

Morugen' to iimasu, [Iru-san wa 'Hayaku tabe nasai' to Ken-san ni iimashita,


e

In the morning Germans say 'Guten Morgen'. Jill said to Ken,'Eat it up quickly'.

~ ....
C

'Issho ni Dizunirando ga kikimashita.

~ :::s

Jim ueti

ikirnasen ka?' to Yamada-san 'Shigoto 0 yametakunai desu' to Tanaka-san ga kotaemashita.

<Won'~you come to Disneyland with me?' <1don't want to give up


my job,'

asked Yamada-san.

5' F

~ ~

......
w

waifer respe:ctivefy spagbetti tsuna-sarada tuna salad [thin.9], 0 chOman (suru) order [thing] tsuzuk.u (intransitive) to
sore·zore supagettl

yameyo to omotte Imasu I'm thinking of gMnfJ up • S6, 7 yame.ru to give up, cease

continue

[vem] -tal toomoimasu I would like to [verb} • S5 SOfe wa komarimashltane. That's a problemiThat's too bad. dame ne no good, useless jodan joke aodan 0 lu to tell .ajoke} [verb] -(y)6 to suru to flY to {verb} - S8 A de wa nakuteB not A but B to think, consider dO, omoimasu ka? what do you think? kangae.ru
- Unit 17 85

san .

replied Tanaka-

......
W

Ii hen reporting people's words indirectly, Japanese is more .u nighrforward English. since the tense of the original ·1 dement is unchanged. All that happens is that any verbs or

mao:

.vcn though English can omit that here as well, Japanese must rlways use to:

,t!lcctives in the polite form go into the plain form. Note that

kare

he

soli (suru) etc.)

cleaning (sweeping

True or false?
3 Tanaka-san wa ima no shigoto 0 yametai to itta. 4 Tanaka-san wa Sugiura-saa ni jodan 0 iwanakatta,

.Mada kekkon shitaku arimas en. , Watashi wa itsu me mada kekkon shitakunai to iirnasu. Watashi wa marla kekkon shitekunai to Sugiura-san
ni iirnashita, 'Jkimasen deshita', Ken-san ni wa ikanakatta

<] don'! Wl'Int to marry yet.

I always say that I don'.t want to get married yet. I told Sugiura-san that I didn't want to get married yet,
1 wil.l tell Ken that 1didn't go. Michiko-san replied to Ken that she hadn't gone. will be dealt with

7didn~go.'

Structures
people say
1 [Se.nfen ce1to [verb of saying1: reporting what

to iimasu, Michiko-san wa ikanakatta to Ken-san ni kctaemashita,

Indirect reporting of questions and commands

ill Unit 17 Structures 4.

In Japanese you report what someone says by adding the quoting particle to and the appropriate verb of saying at the end of the sentence. This to is equivalent to English .that, and different from the to which joins nouns (Unit 8 Structures 3). In is the most common verb of saying, but: you will also find, for exaOlple,ldk.u (to ask, hear), kotae.ru (.to reply), korowar,u (.to refuse), okor,u (.to get angry)., sakeh.u (.to shout), yorokob.u (.to rejoice), and, in the case of letters etc., kaku (to write).

Ihe
,1

l'he person doing the quoting will be followed by wa or ga as rppropriate, but note that [person] wa will normally come at

beginning of the sentence, while [person] ga will come just frer the quoting to:
Tomu-san wa

iimashita,

rna tabeta to

Tom smd that he had already eaten, A small child shouted that there was a foreigner.

Gaijin da to chiisa na kodomo


ga sakebimashira,

~en it is clear from the context who is speaking, the speaker will usually be omitted: Tomn-san ga jUichiji sugi ni kaetta. 'Tsukarera,' to itta. Note the following: a Whe?- ~uoting the words of a specific third person in the present, It IS usual to put the verb of saying into the -te ira form: Tarc:krn:t wa o-naka ga suira
to

Tom came home after 11 o'clock. 'I'm tired: he said.

Suzuki-san wa Yamanaka Maketingu to iu kaisha ni tsutomete imasu.

Suzuki-san works for a company called Yamanaka Marketing.

149 ~ !!l-

[verb1 (present plain fann)] kata ni surulnaru: d ciding to do things


have already met a construction involving [verb] (past plain hll m)] koto (Unit 5 Structures 3), and the pattern [noun] ni III u/naru (Unit 8 Structures 2). The new structure has points in 11111 man with both. Note, however, that in this case the verb 11I'lore koto is in the present plain form, either positive or lIt'~utjve.
~I'

'<

e. e e c

2: ::I
:;;

itte imasu.

Taro-kun. says he's hungry.


Suzuki-san writes from Koltz that German beer tastes good.

;;;

Doirsu no biru wa oishii to Suzuki-san ga Kerun kara kaite imasu. b Mi.chiko-san wa nani rna iimasen deshita. Watasbi wa sO iimasbita.
K6 itte kudasai,

.1
1

keto ni suru

What did he/she say? is Nan to iiraashita ka? Also notice: anythi1<lg. I said solthat. Please say this.

Ills refers to conscious decisions, ei.ther positive or negative:


Kaeru koto ni shimasho

Michiko-san didn't say

ka.

ekkon shinai koro ni shimashita.

Shall we decide to go home? I decided not to get married.

things

2 [noun] to ;imasul[noun] to iu [noun}: labelling

With suru in the -te iru form, it refers to something which you . unsciously make a habit of doing: Watashi wa maiasa goji ni okiru koto ni shite imasu.
(, koro ni naru 1 am in the habit of getting up at five every morning.

If you want to ask the Japanese for a word, or explain how to say something in English, you should use sentences based on the pattern A 0 X to in, which literally means We call A <X';
Eigo de Rondon a London to umasu. Kore wa Nihongo de nan to

iimasu ka?

In English we call 'Rondon' 'London'. What do you call this in


Japanese?

As we saw in Unit 1 (Dialogue; Language and Society 1), with the humble form of in, mos.u, this is also a common way of introducing yourself to someone:
Hado to moshimasu,

l'hls, on the other hand, conveys the idea of an impersonal decision which is not under the control of the speaker. It might liCIt be clear who took the decision, or ir might just be more polite not to say who did, particularly in situations where the speaker is dearly being honoured in some way. The nuance is lint always easy to convey in English: Kanai wa Nihon 110 kaisha ni rsuromeru koto ni Osutoraria e ikanai koto ni
narimashita. narimashira, (It has been decided that) my wife is to work for a Japanese company. I am not to go to Australia.

Japanese often uses this pattern in front of general nouns as a way of explaining what, or who, X, a proper noun (e.~. the name of a resraurant) is:

Kiku to iu Nihonry6riya
jiru to iu Amerikajin

Taimuzn to iu Igirisu no shinbun

a Japanese restaurant called Kiku an American named Jill the British newspaper, The Times

With naru in the -te iru form, it refers to an impersonal state of IrFairs, to the way things are: Josei wa koko kara hairu koto ni natte imasu. Women (josei) are meant to enter from here/use this
entrance.

150
:IE ~ !j. a. o c:

4 Using the -te form to imply a reason


Like the conjunctive form of adjectives (Unit 11 Structures the -te form of verbs can be used to imply a reason: Nodo ga kawaite jiisu 0 takusan nornimashita. Tomodachi to .hanashite, Tanaka-san wa densha ni noriokuremashira. 5), Becoming thirsty, I drank lots of [uice. Talking to a friend, Tanaka-san was late for the train.

'\~ with reported speech, to relate what Michiko Itt. present, you should use the -te iru form:

is thinking

in

Michiko-san wa omoshirokunai to omotte imasu, I his is not necessary, however, .mnccne else thought in the past:
Ken-san wa Michiko-san ga konai darb to omoimashita. "

Michiko-san finds it uninteresting. when talking about what -

'C§

s: s·

The same guidelines for the use of wa and ga apply as with kara (Unit 6 Structures 4). Together with the conjunctive form of adjectives, the -te form is particularly common when giving reasons for an apology, and in front of certain verbs and adjectives, such as komar.u (to get into difficulties), and yokatta (I'm glad): Osoku natte domo sumimasen. Shigoto ga okute komarte imasu, I'm sorry for being (lit. becoming) late. There is a lot of work and so I'm in difficulties, i.e. There's so much work I don't know what to do. I'm really glad (because) 1 came to Japan.

Ken thought that Michikosan probably wouldn't come.

Where English says 'I don't think .. .', Japanese


,IY -nai to omoimasu:

will usually

[ lado-s~ wa amari genki de wa nai to omoimasu, Suzuki-san wa abaete inakatta to omoimasu.rernembered.

I don't think Mr Herd is very well. I don't think Suzuki-san to (wa)

....

II you want to give the sense of a strong denial, however, nJ110imasen can be used; Watashi wa Tanaka-san kekkon sum to wa omoimasen. ga

I don't think in the slightest that Tanaka-san will get


married.

Nihon e kite honto ni yokatta desu,

5 [sentence} to [verb of thinking}: reporting what you think


Virtually the same principles apply here as in indirect reporting of what people say (Structures 1), but note the following: a In the ordinary present tense, you can report your own thoughts or opinions and ask about those of the person you are talking to, but not make statements about what a third person thinks. Omoshiroi eiga datta to omoimasu. Nihon no ringo wa oishii to omoimasu kat I think it was an interesting: (omoshiro.i) film. Do you find Japanese apples tasty?

To omoimasu is often added to verbs in the -tai form as a Jlolite, more adult way of expressing one's. wishes, and asking tbout the wishes of the person you are talking to: Ken-san no tomodachi ni naritai to omoirnasu. Watashi wa rainen Yoroppa o ryoko shitai to omotte imasu, Eiga 0 mi ni ikirai to omoimasen ka? ,I To ask someone's 'uzuki-san ka.? opinion, wa do omoimasu I would like to become Ken's friend. I would l.ike to travel in Europe next 'Year. Wouldn't you like to go and see a film? you should use

do:

What do you think, Suzukisan? ... This is what I think ... Don't you think so too, Tanaka-san?

"-Iso note:
Watashi wa ko omoimasu Tanaka-san rno so omoimasen ka?

In the following sentence, it is therefore clear that we are talking about the likelihood of Michiko's coming, not about what Michiko thinks: Michiko-san wa kuru daro to omoimasu. I think that Michiko-san will pmbabfy come.

152

~ When deeper thought. consideration rather than feeling. is Involved, kangaeru may be used in place of omouIma no Nihon wa da~e da to omotte/kangaete rmasu, I think that present-day Japan is no good. .

ss, sukoshi
ka?

benkyo shiyo

go ~ c

...
0-

To. ~sk .what


opuuon
IS,

someone is you should say:

thinking, rather

than what

their

Let's take a taxi. III the next sections, you will find two patterns which use the
plain -masbo form.

r.iga a mi ni iko. Takushi ni noro.

(to oneself) Well, p,erhaps I should get dowlz to a little studying. Let's go and see a film.

153
:IE ::r

!!l-

~ ;:
]I(

s!:f. ~.
c..
=:,

5" F
'-

!3

Nani 0 kangaete imasu ka? Naill rna kangaete imasen,

What are you thinking? I'm U0t thinking of a1zything.

7 [verb]-(y)6 toomoulomotte

iru:contemplating

6 The plain form of [verb]-mash6


As with other pla,in forms, this is used in written-sryle Japanese, and when speaking In informal situations, to children, or to on,ese~.(FQr the -masho !orrn itself, see Unit 4 Structures 2,) Wlth-iruJ-ecu verbs, you Just add -yo to the -masu base: mimasho tabemasho okimasho Wit~ -u verbs, the final-u to -0: mLm mil yo tabe] yo oki l yo . I

an action
This pattern is usedwhen you are thinking of doing something hut not sure that you will actually do jt, or to refer to something which you thought of doing in the past but did not do. It is l10rmally only used when the speaker is the subject: Konban oishii rokoro de tabey6 to omoimasu ga, issho ni ik.i.masen ka? Mada hayai desu kara, rna sukoshi mare to omounasu, Shashin 0 toto to omoimashita ga, kamera ga arirnasen deshica,
I hinking

......

W.

tabe.ru
oki.ru of the present

I feel like .eating at a good restaurant (place) tonight - won't you come too? It's still em'ly, so I think I'll w.ait a little longer. I

thought of taking a
photograph,

plain form is changed le

but I didn't have a camera.

Ikimasho kaerimasho
nomimasho asobimasho hanashimasho aimasho

ik.u kaer.u nom.u asob.u hanas.n

nomlo
asob hanasio

kaer ;0

ik

When omorte iru is used. the implication is that you have been of doing whatever it is for some time:

Raineri Tai e iko to omotte


imasu,

i~

Eigo no senseini narc to


ornotte irnasu, Note the following:
II Inserting the question even more tentative;

I am thin,king of going to Thailand (Iai) next year. T am thinking of becoming an English teacher. ka before to makes the idea

a.u

alo

particle

Note what happens verbs: machimasho shimasho

to verbs like matsu and the two irregular

Atarashii

kuruma

kao ka

to omotre imasu,
mars.u suru kuru mat

I am wondering whether to buy a new car.

kimasho

SID yo ko yo

Il If you are thinking of doing something which requires weighty consideration, kangaeru can be used in place of omou: Yamanaka Maketingu 0. yamete jibun no kaisha 0 rsukuro to kangaete imasu,

I'm thinking of leaving Yamanaka Marketing and building my own


(jibun no) company.

154

intention of

[v~rbHY)o to twa) omowanai

is similar to English I have no 1have no intention of going to a place like that.

5' F
Co.

go 'Ci e !T

Anna tokoro e iko to wa omoimasen.

, ~ ilecr one word £rom each of the columns to make 11!1'.lIl1ngfuJ sentences according to the pattern in the example. It luurld be possible to use each word once only. Make sure you U~l' the right particles!
It,ample: Sakura to iu resutoran de tabeta koro ga arimasu ka?

155

a
go
~
e 5' ?'
Co.

8 [verbJ-(y)6 to suru: attempting an action


This is used: or,
a

Maria
01 kusufodo

machi (town)
depatn

au
yunyU suru taberu

s:
~

,For actions which you try to do but in which you may fail the past tense, for actions which actually failedIma tegami 0 kako to shire I'm just trying to write a iru kara, ato de ikimasu, letter, so I'll come later (ato de). Hairo to shimashira ga, doa I tried to go in, but the door ga shimatre imasbita. was shut.
in

Mango ";,Ikura Mltsukoshi"

ftariajin kudamcno
resutoran

tomaru iku of Harrods)

Mirsukoshi = Japanese equivalent

1II.,de consciously, and b have been made for you:


Example: a Saknra to lU resuroran shimashita, b Sakura to iu resutoran narimashita,

Use the same patterns to express decisions which a you have

For actions which are about to take place: Sa~ura wa mo sake to shite
imasu. The cherty blossom (sakura) is already on the poi1zt of blooming (sak.u), I'm ;ust abol/,t to have a bath.

de tab em koto

III

de tabe.ru koto ni

Chodo o-furo ni hairo to shire


rmasu.

4 Tom is looking at his diary and going over his plans for next week with Yamada-san, Using [verbJ-(y)o to omou, work out what he actually says. Example: a

exercises
1 Here is a
A

Getsuyobi ni repoto

[getsuyobi)

repoto

kaku kako to omoimasu,

list of original statements:

"Rondon wa samukatta desu.' :Sh.usbo (pri11t.e minister) ga shinirnashira.' C Koko no tako wa totemo oishii desu.' D 'Ken-san wa kyo kimasen," E <Anzai-sensei wa shinsetsu na ha-isha-san desu.' B Put them int.o indirect speech and fit them into the following sentences as III the example. Example: A + Tanaka-san ga kakimashita. a b c d Rondon wasamukatta to T anaka-san ga kakimashita. B + nynsu de iimashita. C + Itariajin ga yorokobimashita. D + .Michiko-san ga denwa de iimashira. E + Tomu-san ga kotaemashita.

b c d

(kayobi) Osaka ni iku (suiyobi) keiyaku 0 musubu

(mokuyobi] Osaka bra kaeru (kinyobi] osoku made neru

~ Put the following conversations into -masu form Japanese.

A B bel
D

C E F E

Why?

I'm sorry I forgot the salad. It's aU tight (ii). I don't like salad very much. think Ken is ui It's because he says he doesn't want to eat anything. This telephone is no good. Did you put in (ire.ru) (any) money? I tried to, but ir didn't go in (hair.u).

156

Language and society


1 Getting married in Japan
Vast amounts of money can be spent on getting married in Japan, as the lavish advertising by hotels and specialized wedding establishments in trains and other public places. indicates. In recent years however, small-scale, inexpensive weddings called jimikon (literally plain weddings) have become quite popular. Ren'ai kekkon (love matches) are increasingly common, but miai kekkon (arranged marriages) are still frequent. In the latter case, the families first exchange photographs and rirekisho (curricula vitae), which give information about the family as a whole as well as about the actual candidate. Even in the case of an arranged marriage, the couple will be given an opportunity to get to know each other, and to say no, before any final arrangements are made. Their first formal meeting is known as the o-miai (0miai 0 suru being the verb). and they will be accompanied by the person who is arranging the marriage, the nakodo (go-between). Since the nakodo is an important figure during the wedding festivities, even couples who have mer without the aid of a gobetween will ask someone (e.g. the bridegroom's professor at university) to act in an honorary capacity.

[D.

1 g:
F

S'

'::;5.

ace ~
Q)<D o _.

UJ

2 Congratulating people
The stock phrase gozaimasu:

used in congratulating

people

is o-medeto

T anjobi o-medero gozaimasu Go-shussan o-medeto gozaimasu

Happy birthday (taniobi) Congratulations 01l the birth (sbussan) of ym~r baby

NyUgaku o-medeto gozaimasu (nyilgaku (suru) to enter

school/university 1 SOt8ugyo o-medeto gozaimasu (sotsugya (suru) to graduate from


school/university )

crC.OC/lcn CD 0 :::T [~ CD :::s """ _. :JcncnO to C :::T

_·~ .... .... O Q) ~

:e o
Q)

_.
r+
Q)

Nyusha o-medeto gozaimasu (nyiisha (suru)

to enter a company)
The Japanese celebrate New Year rather than Christmas. The customary greeting when meeting an acquaintance for the first time in the new year is (Akemashite) o-medero gozaimasu, In informal situations, gozaimasu is usually omitted from all these greetings.

CD

Q..
(J)

:::T 01

In this unit you will learn • how to fonn the equivalent of English relative clauses in Japanese • how to allow or recommend a course of action • how to say what you are able or unable to do

DDialogues
~ishiikan shite kara, Tanaka-sanga mara kekkon no koto de sodan ga aru to me, jiru-sano resutoran e yobidashita.

hu
11 ka:

Ara. ara, .zuibun urusai no ne .. Kono hito mo waruku nai deshO? Demo, hana ga hikui desho? Watashi we hana no hikui

Jim Jim Tanaka Jiru Tanaka


Jlru
Tanaka Tanaka.

Sono go, kekkon no hanashi wa do narimashiia? Kekkyoku Suglura-san okotowarimashita. Ara,. shigoto 0 yamenasal to itta kara? E, shigoto 0 shite rno if to lu hlto no ha gaii wa. _~aruh~do ne. Kekkon no kola de sedan ga aru to nmashltaga, donna koto desu ka? Jitsu wa nakOdo no .kata kara hanashi ga mittsu .kita n' desu ga, sono koto de .. , . Ara, mittsu mo klta n' desu ka?ii no ga arlrnasu ka? So desu ne ... mina-san shigoto rno yoku dekite, ll kata desu ga, amari hansaml,J ja nai no ga tama ni klzu, Tanaka-san wa zuibun menkui na n' desu nel (number] mo {number] as many.as

otoko

dame yo, Komarimashita ne. De, sono sOdan to iu no wa? E. ana ... Walashi wa sorosoro k.ekkon shlta ga Ii shl, nan to ka shitai to omou n' desu. sore de kangaemashita ga, se no hikui no ya, hana no hikul no wa naoranai ke redo , megane no ho wa kontakuto nl kaerareru desha? So yo, soshite tr:lkidokl hazusu koto mo dekiru kara ne, E, dakara yahari kono hansamu na htta too-miat 0 shiyO ka to omou keredo, do desha ka? It n' ja nal? Hayal tokoro kimet.e, watashl 0 kekl<on..shiki ni

wa

no

yonde kl.ldasal nel II do Informal variant of keredomo rI Ill, dorel let's see Heonarudo Dlkapur.lo Leonardo df Caprio (the film star) Inounlnl nlte In! fo resemble {nOlin] megane 0 kake.nJ to pul on! wear glasses kake.ru to put on fadal (Tokyo dalgakU) Tokyo University (ona of Japan's lop unlversities) TOdal-de a Todal graduate VQshii na Mllifmt keredo varlanl of kered'omo :r.annennagara unfortunately, as 8 matter of regret •• no takal: atoko a tall man,
tallmen

Jlru

[tlmel suru (here) [lime] passes [noun] no !koto de about [noun] yobldasu to call, summon sono go since, In tha meantime hanashl (here) proposal kekkyoku evantually, .finally [verbl·te rno II it is all right to, you may [verb]. S3 shlgoto 0 shim rno U to lu hito A man who says it is a/I right (for me) to work • S l' : lltsu wa actuaJly, In fact kata honorific equivalent 01hito nakoda nokata go·between

mina-,san all of them,all of you A wa 8ga yoku de!dru A Is, good at,excels at.B • $5 amarl hansamu ja nal no not being vel}' hanC/some • 82 tama ni kizua fly in the ointment (Il!.a flaw on a precious stone) menkul someone who attaches importance to good looks (usually used' of men)

sono sOdsn 10 iu no wa (nan da-su ka)? what was it that you wanted fo talk about? • S1 sorosoro [verb] Irs about time to {vero1 [&entence]-ta h6 g8 II It would be better if yOwYou'd .better (sentence] • 54 nan to ka suru to make an effort, do something about S8 no hlkul no being shOrt

.52

kontakuto trenzu) contact lenses A. 0 Bnl kae"ru change Ata B kaerare.n! to be able to change tolddoki sometimes hazus.1l to take off (glasses); unfasten (buttons) hazusukoto molga. deklrb to be able to take (them) off. 55 hay,,1 I.okoro .. hayaku k1me.ru to decide kekkon.,hlkl wedding
(ceremony)

ro. S5

True or false?
1 Tanaka-san wa Sugiura-san to kekkon suru koto narimashita, 2 Tanaka-san wa shigoto 0 yamenasai to iu hitoga ii,
Jlru
Shashln we arlmasu ka? E, kore na n' desu ksdo. Dore, dore, Ara, kono hlto, nekanaka Reonarudo Dikapurio ni nlte ite. . hansamu ja nai, .

.81

urusa.1 (here) choosy hana nose hana ga hlkul to ha.ve a flat nose dame na (here) have an
aversIon

to

Tanakiil

Jlru

Jim Tanaka

Tanaka

True or false?
3 Se no hikni atoka wa megane 0 kakete iru, 4 Tanaka-san we mada kekkonshitakunai,

£,_de~o walashi wa megane 0 kaketa hilo wa. lya na no. He ,.. ja, kono hlto wa? T,Odakle de yOshO da keredo ... zannenns,gara se ga hlkukute ne. Watashi we se no takai otoko 9a jj wa.

Structures
1 Modifying a noun with a sentence-like sequence
As we have seen in Unit 2, it is possible to give further information on a noun by modifying it with an adjective: Han desu, takai desu - Takai han desu, Kore wa inu desu, genki desu - Kore wageoki na inn desu, This is also possible with sentence-like elements: Kino hon 0 kaimashita, omoshiroi desu - Kino katta han wa omoshiroi desu, The book J bought yesterday is interesting" Kino watashi wa han a kaimashita; mimashita ka? - Kino watashiga kana bon 0 mimashita ka? Did you see the book .that I bou,ght yesterday? The bold parts in the above sentences have the same meaning as English relative clauses; to form them, the order of the modifying section needs to be changed so that the verb comes before the noun and is put into the plain form (which is the usual form for verbs in front of nouns), Where wa is present, it needs to be converted to ga, as subordinate clauses use ga rather than wa (recall Unit 10). The differences that exist between who. whom, to whom, with whom, etc. in .English relative clauses are expressed by the context in Japanese (although in the last example below, with is expressed by issho nil: Kino hiro ga kimashita, Hansamu deshita .. -- Kino kita hito wa hansamu deshita .. The man who came yesterday was handsome, 2 Kino hito a mimashita. Hansamu deshita, - .Kino mita hiro wa hansamu deahita. The man w.lrom I saw yesterday was handsome., 3 Kino hito to hanashimashita. Hansamu deshira, -- Kino hanashita hito wa hansamu deshira. The man to whom I talked yesterday was handsome. 4 Kino hitoto issho ni ikimashita, Hansamn deshita, 4 Kino issho ni itta hito wa hansamu deshita, The man with whom I urent yesterday was handsome. Depending on the context, the second sentence could also mean The man who saw (something not mentioned) "', the third one, The man who talked ... , and the last one The man who went 1

. however the sentences they.are based on. ~.Quld.be f rr J me .". , hi hi .) mimashira, .1illorcnt: 2 Kino hito ga (watas -tac 1 0 etc. :'''::LL~ .. ,. "ino hito ga hanashimashita (gave a talk); 4 Kmo hire ga I lu) ni ikimashira. .. . occurs mSlide tIt· e relative clause, It is normally . he re ga e

11111ged to no:. b ht' t ""'h. ,. I want to uy a 5 T WI~, "ude ,no nag31 shatsu gal sleeves (sode). kaitai desu, ~g (Hut: [Kana] shatsu wa sode ga nagar desu.) .h h Nihongo no wakaru hito Is there anyone ere w?o .. k .~ understands Japanese .. wa unasu a. . akarimasu-«- reca 11Unit. (/jut: [Kana) hito wa Nihongo ga w anmasu 10 Structures 4 c.) . dify no uns of a general meaning . I t lative clauses can a 1 moo so . urh as mODO, koto and no: This is what (the thing Kino kana mono wa kore which) I bought desu. yesterday. I forgot what (the tbing Kino itta kotoh? which) I said yesterday. wasuremas ita. .' 's tbe one I b ht Kino katta no wa doko desu Where IS t: e eone oug . ka? yesterday. , lIere monolkotolno are used instead of a D,l0respecific n?UD; ~. . d no refer to actual objects (or somenmes III this use, mono an . . tier ~efetring to more abstract persons), wherea~ koro means rna , deeds or happenings.

C 2·· onve rung.. sentences into nouns with kota ondno


11\ the following

Ik d 0 serve to convert whole examples, ..o~o an nnbe the subject. object, etc. entences mto nouns, so that t ey ca .. ... b ... ·1. d by f a new sentence. (Note that here they cannot ..e rep ace other, specific nouns.) I had forgotten (the fact) Kana eiga 0. rnita koto 0 that I had seen this fiIm. . wasur~te imashita. I forgot to watch the film. Eiga a rruru no. a wasuremashita. . I know that that person is Ana hito no atama no wafUl ... . • . koto/no a shitte imasu, stupid. Koto and no. differ in that ketogenerally refers ~o thek~stra~ idea of factual knowledge, whereas no concerns t e ior 1P~ be one's feelings. Thus, the first of the aboveexamp es can

paraphrased as I forgot about the fact that 1 had seen it before, whereas in the second one the speaker absent-mindedly forgot to switch On the TV, or perhaps change- channels. The third example implies factual knowledge when koto is used. and impressionistic knowledge with no. Not surprisingly, verbs like miru or kiku, having to do with the wOI:kitt$sof the senses, are always used with no rather than with koto: Michiko-san ga piano a hiku no a kilcimashita. Ken-san ga a-sake 0 nomu no 0 mimashita. I heard Mi'chiko-san play the piano. I saw Ken drink alcohol.

Mnda kaeranakute mo ii desu. It is all right if you don't/Yo« needn't/don't have to come back yet. II. mative answers to the original questions 1-3 would be: I Hai, (sutte rna) ii desu. 2, E (irte mol ii desu. \ E' (tabenakute mol ii desu, (hH ways of withholding permission, i.e. prohibiting, see Unit IIII' -temaii form can also be used with adjectives of bo I y P '5, and with nouns, as follows:
t adjectives I '.J

..

th

However, kiku can also be used in the sense ef hear about some fact; in this case, obviously koto is required. .Michiko-san ga piano 0 I heard that Michiko-san hiku koto a kikimashita. plays the piano. Apart from verbs, this structure is also used with certain adjectives: Nihongo 0 kaku koto/no wa muzukashii desu, Demo, hanasu kotolno wa yasashii desu. Ana hiro wa hashiru no ga bayai desu, (hashir.u to run) Michiko-san wa oyogu no ga j ozu desu. Japanese is dit{i.cult to Write. But it is easy to speak. He is a fast runner. Michiko-san is goad at swimming.

Ieya wa chiisaknte roo ii desu ka? )~furo wa atsukunakute rna ji desu lea?
a adjectives

Is it all right if the room is small? Does it matter if the bath isn't hot? Is it all right if 1am no good at tennis? Is it all right if the hotel isn't quiet?

l'enisu wa hera de rna ii desu ka? Hoteru wa shizuka ja nakute mo ii desu ka?
nouns

3 ExpreSSing permission with -fe mo i.i


When asking for permission to do something. you attach mo ii (desu) ka? (is it all right if?) to the -te form of the verb: 1 2 Tabako 0 sutte rna ii desu ka? Is it a/I right if 1 smoke? Issho ni itte rna ii desn ka? May I come with you?

Ashita de roo ii desu ka? Nihongo ja nakute mo ii desu ka?

Is tomorrow all right? Is it all right if it's Hat


Japanese?

understood is Is it all right if we (go, etc.) tomorrow?lDo you ",it,d if I don't (speak/write, etc. in) Japanese?

With nouns, a verb is normally implied, so the meaning

If you remove the finalvi from the negative plain form of verbs and add -kute, you get a form which can be used to ask for permission not to do something (is it all right if I don't ... ): 3 Zenbu tabenakute mo ii desu ka? Is it all right if I don't eat it all? In questions, the subject is always I (or we), but in the case of statements giving permission, the subject becomes you~ Eiga ni itte mo ii desu, the movies. It is all right

4 Recommending what to do using [sentence) hlJ ga u


In Unit 8 we saw how the noun hb is used incomparisons after nouns a~d adjectives; after verbs in their plain past. tense, t~ combination he; ga ii is used to advise a course of action (you'd "l'tter/you should): You'd better go home Hayaku kaetta hO ga ii desu. quickly. You'd better do some l\enkyo shita ho ga ii demo studying.

if youfYou

may go to

!o tell someone wh~t course .of action is best avoided, ho ga ii is attached to verbs .m the plain present tense negative form: Kore 0 tabenai ho ga Ii desu. You'd better not eat this Amari nomanai hO ga ii You shouldn't drink too' desu yo. much.

With -u verbs, replace the final-u with -e.rn; aruk [u oyag


yom

165

koto ga dekl.rul[verb]-re.rulrare.fu
There are two ways of expressing Japanese.

5 Expressin~ability to do things with [verb}


the idea to be able to (do) in

hanas [u mats [u

\u ka lu

:ll

aruk leru oyog!e,ru yom [eru ka leru


hanas \ern mat [eru

(--+ arukernasu, aruketa, etc.)

a . (~ wa) [verb (present plain fo.llD)] koto ga demo T~.IS another [verb] koto pattern, now linked to the verb dekiru,

which here means to. be ~ossibl~. Li~erally. therefore, the pattern means As for A, [do,ngjl.s possible, t.e, A is able to [do]. Nihongo 0 hanasu koto ga dekimasu ka? Can you speak Japanese? Oyogu Can you swim?

tVI rbs like matsn are again slightly irregular in that they drop 1I1l'lf s. See Unit 4.) ru Sum and kuru suru kuru
(N()l"E:

dekiru kocareru

Negatives are formed


dekinai:

by using the negative form of dekiru


Sonna ni hayaku aruku

koto
galwa
dekimasen,

I can't walk so fast.

Jiru-san wa tako

taberu

Jill can't eat octopus.

(NOTE: either ga or wa is possible afterkoto in negative sentences.) b [verbj-rern/rareru As the koto ga dekiru forms are rather lengthy, a special verb form known as. the potential. is usually preferred, although tile forme~ expression is .s<?me~es used for greater emphasis. Potential forms are obtained m the following way: i With -iruJ-eru verbs, replace the final-ru with -rare.ru:
tabe
IU

tabet rareru

(4 taberaremasu, taberarera, etc.)

oki ru miru

okiirarexu mij rareru

all potentials act like -iru/-eru verbs.) 111.fore oing on to see how these forms are used in sentences, it g Ilhly be useful to point out that kuru and many -iruJ-eru verbs ,I re developing alternative potential forms that are similar to the potentials of -u verbs, e.g. mirecu, okireru, koreru. These nODtundard forms are becoming increasingly acceptable (see for I' ample the second example sentence below). l lcre are some examples of sentences wi.th potential forms. Note III.n if the potential verb has an object, it can generally be mnrked by either ga (wa for contrast) or o. Mo sukoshi iraremasu ka? Can you stay a little longer? Ashita hayaku okiremasu lea? Can you get up early tomorrow? I can't eat octopus. Watashi wa tako wa taberaremasen. Can you come with us Raishii issho ni ikemasu ka,? next week? Can you speak Japanese? Nihongo 0 hanasemasu ka? I can't play the piano. Watashi wa piano ga hikemasen. l ccasionally, the subject is marked by oi wa instead of wa, which serves to emphasize the ability/non-ability on the part of the subject, In negative sentences, this can be reinforced by using rotemo ((not) at all):

166
CD :r' 0.-

u
CD
IG

a-

Watashi ni wa totemo kono shigoto galwa dekimasen, Or, in a different word order:

This job is quite beyond my capabilities.

Ocr

coc;

Kana shigoto.va watashi ni wa totemo dekimasen, koto ga dekiru IS hardly ever used; instead, sum is replaced with dekiru. Note that before dekim, tenisu etc. take ga (or wa, if contrastively used), Sumisu-san wa tenisu ga Can you- play tennis. Smith. dekirnasu ka? san? Watashi wa dansu wa I cannot dance (although 1 dekimasen. can do a host of other things!). (Kuruma no) uneen ga Can you drive (unten dekimasu ka? (suru))? The reason why kuruma no (rather than 0) is used in the last example is that unten here is acting as a noun rather than as a verb.
In the case ~f v:rbs of the type benkyo (0) suru, the lengthy suru

Japanese boyfriend has. a ten~enc.yto indulge in v~rlous glIlfrien~, nave othe~ Ideas. I Iii ho ga ii, provide positive or negative alternatives as 'III red by the cues to your boyfriend's cravings. I lmple: Terebi ga mitai, (jogingu suru to go jogging) Jogingu shita ho ga ii desu yo! Keki ga tabetai. (yasai (vegetable) a taberu) Wain ga nomitai. (arukoru (alcohol) a nomu NEG)
IIlIr

, , I,

hut you, his health-conscious

II
I

Tabako ga suitai, (suu.NEG)

Piiti: ni ikitai, (hayaku neru)

Exercises
1 You are scrutinizing a set of photographs of girls with a Japanese acq~intance, who takes the opportunity to inform you about his preferences .regardjnggirlfriends. As he is a domineerin~ character of. violent disposition, you are in no mood to disapprove of his tastes, choosing instead to voice approval using relative clauses according to the model: Example: Kana onna wa karada ga okii kara kirai da. Watashl rna karada no anna ga kirai da. a Kono anna wa me ga chiisai kara kirai da, b Kono anna wa kamiga nagai kara suki da. c Kana anna wa iro ga kuroi kara kirai da. (kuro.i (here) dark-skinned) d Kono onna wa ashi (legs/feet) ga furoi (fat) kara kirai da. e Kono anna wa zubon (trousers) a haku kara kirai da.

using the words in ts to explain that you are unable to comply or accept. ample: Soko ni Jiisho 0 kaite kudasai, (Nihongo; kakul Watashi wa Nihongo ga kakemasen. I Kuruma de kite kudasai. (kuruma; unten suru] II Nihongo de hanashite kudasai. (Nihongo; hanasu) Kono oishii taka a doze. (taka; taberu) ,I Umi e jete, oyogimashe, (oyogu) Doyobi ni issho ni tenisu 0 shimasen ka? (tenisu suru] Bii e nomi ni ikimasho, (sake; nomu, see LS2)
Ilk

I I ply to the requests/offers/invitations

nguage and society


Idiomatic uses of dekiru
')IlC

om

2 Using koto or no, produce Japanese sentences matching the meaning of the English sentences: a I forgot to bring the book. b I saw Michiko-san drive a car. c I know that Kyoto summers are hot. d [ heard Anzai-sensei sing. e I heard that Anzai-sensei sings. flam a fast reader.

idiomatic use of dekiru as a potential is seen in the lollowing examples. which are concerned with having/lacking ills: Do you know any Nihongo ga dekimasu ka? Japanese? I can't play the piano. Watashi wa piano ga dekimasen. l'lrese expressions may be said to be alternatives to Nihongo ga I. nasemasu ka?lWatashi wa piano ga hikemasen. A part from its use in potentials, detru:u is also commonly ~ed (0 ten in combination with madalmo) m the sense of to get a ,ob
dmls: 1 ai, mo dekimashita yo.

ohan wa mo dekimasu ka?

Mo dekite imasu yo.

'hukudai (homework) ga dekimashita,

Will dinner be ready soon? Yes, it's iust ready. It's already prepared. I've finished my homework.

Is the tie ready? (At the cleaners) The expression yoku dekiru means to be very able (ano hito wa shigoto/benkyo ga yoku dekiru) , whereas yoku dekimashita normally means well donel In the -te iru form, the same expression has a somewhat different meaning again: Kono isu wa yoku dekite This chair is well made. imasu. Kana hanashi wa yoku This story-line is well dekite imasu. thought out.

Nekutai ga dekite imasu ka?

2 Use of potential forms with Japanese food and drink


Japanese people will often enquire about your ability to eat things like raw fish (sashimi) and to drink sake, rather than asking whether you like them. This may have something to do with the idea that the Japanese way of life is unique and incomprehensible to the Westerner. Note the following common exchanges: E, taberaremasu.lE, daijobu O-sashimi ga taberaremasu ka? desu.IE, daisuki desu. lie, taberaremasen.rlie, 0sashimi wa chotto ... Nihon. no a-sake ga E, nomemasu. (erc.) lie, nomemasen, nomemasu ka?

0
<D
(j)

- ::1 ~::1 O:l 0 0 CD CD ::1 ::1 C CD 0.0 _. CD ~3 zr m 3 ~C CD CUI CD 0. Q. a.C ::J


t"""+-

...

t"""+-

(J)

ro
~

0"

0 -.;
CD

m'" . _. (II m0

_.

::1

In this unit you w11lleam • various clauses involving time. including when and before • how to express must and

must not In Japanese


.. two sentence endings equivalent to it seems and apparentJy .. about being III in Japan

170

DOialogues
Tomu-san wa saikin karada no choshi ga warui yo da, Tsukare
ga nakanaka torenai shi, yoku kaze 0 hiitari o-naka a kowasbitari suru, Sore de, Anzai-sensei to sodan shite, Anzaisensei to onaji daigaku 0 deta isha ni mite moran koto ni shita. Anzai-sensei ni yoru to, totemo ii isba da so da, Shinsatsu wa rna hajimarte iru.
Tomu Konogoro domo chOshl ga warul n' desu. Asa okiru toki, atama mo nodo mo ltal shi, seki rno demasu. Sore ni, shokuyoku gahotondo arlmasen. Shigoto a shlte fru tokl sugu tsukareru shl, Ikemasen ne. Sa,· ato de ketsuatsu 0 hakarimasu ga, sono mae ni shatsu 0 nuide kudasai. (kao ga aaku naru) Ketsuatsu? KinchO shite wa dame desu yo! I II

K nsa ga yatto

owatta,

171

' .. mu

U'I

......

ka? Wa.rui n' desho ka? lie, shlnpai shinakute rne Ii desu yo. Ketsueki kensa no kekka we raishO wakarimasu gq, tonik,aku daijobu na yo de,su. Takara de, Hado-san wa nannen umare desu ka? Sen kyiihyaku rokuju-nen desu. Showa sanjugo-nen desu ne. Kore kara karada ni ki 0 tsukenai to dame desu yo. Hai, wakartmashita \ Tabako 0 sulmasu ne. Sore wa yameta h5 ga ii desu. 0sake wa? Boku no yo na shigoto wa doshitemo settai 9a oi desu. 0sake 0 nonde iru aida wa ii desu ga, tsugi no asa wa ... Dekiru dake, sake mo yamete kudasai. Sore kara, undo mo motto shinakereba nartmasen. E.to ... (shoh6sen 0 kakinagara) neru mae ni kono kusuri a nonde kudasai. Nigai kusurl desu ka?

Do desu

Isha Tomu Isha

1
salkin recenfly A wa karada no chOshl ga warul A is not feeling well ~it.As for A. the condition of his body is bad) chashl condition, state (statement] y6 da It seems that [statement] - 51 tsukar'e ga tore.ru to recover from one's fatigue' tsukara fatigue tor'e.ru potential form of tor.u to take, remove - Unit 14 55 o-naka 0 kowas.u to have a
stomach upset

IQU

[statement] 56 da
[statement} -

apparently
1I;.118a (sum) check-up wllru.l (of illness) serious k tluakl kensa plood test ketsuekl blood klkka results toolkaku anyway tokoro de Isentence) by the way Isentencel (signals change

shinsatsu (suru) medical examina.tion konogoro recently damo (here) somehow [verb (plain form)] (Okl when [verb] -54 sekl ga de.ru to have a cough saki COl./gh shokuyoku (ga nail (to have

53

d6shltemo inevitably, wh~ther I want it or not settai receptions, entertainment [verb (plain fonn)] aida white [verb] - 56 deklru dakeas muchlfar as
possible

no) appetite

01topic) N nnen umare desu ka?


Is your year of birth?/When youbom? omare birth

undo (SUN) exercise [verb ]-nakereba naranai shohosen prescription kusuri 0 nom.u to take medfcine kusuri medicine niga-i bitter, nasty-tasting

I etc.

What
were

must [verb]

- $8

onaji same - 52 dalgaku 0 de.N· to graduate


from university

Isha nl mite mora.u to see/consult a doctor - Unit 16 51 [noun) ni yom to according to

[nounl

hotondo [negative] hardly at all Ikamasen ne That won't do (an expression of sympathy) ketsuatsu blood pressure hakar.u to measure mae nl before • 55 nu.g.u to take off klneho (suru) stress, tens/on [verb]-te wa qame da You etc. must not [verb} - 57

Iv.rbl-nai to dame da I etc. must [verb} - sa A no y6 na B B such as A • 61

e or false?
Tomu-san wa karada no choehi ga taihen warui to isba ga
tta. Tomu-san wa tabako
0 yame.naker:eba

True or false?
1 Tomu-san

naranai,

wa konogoro

yoku

nerarenai,

2 Tomu-san wa yom seki ga demo

172

Structures
1 [statement] yo da It seems ...
this is one of several endings that can be attached after statements (Structures 4; Unir 17 Structures 3 and 6). Yo da is very dose to it seems. A speaker-uses it to imply that he/she is making a statement based not upon actual knowledge, but on objective deductions made on the basis of the available evidence. This is often visual, but not necessarily so. Yo da and the other sentence endings are often used when describing the state of mind of someone other than oneself. In the following examples, note the forms which nouns, adjectives and verbs take before yo da, both in the present tense and in the past. They are the forms which would normally be found in front of nouns. nouns
Anzai-sensei wa domo byoki no Mukashi, koko wa resutoran datta na adjectives
:
:.!

When there is a negative, it will normally Koko wa mo resutoran de wa nai Ano ringo wa amari oi hikunai In the examples

come before yo da:


This doesn~t appear to be a restaurant any more. That apple doesn't look very tasty.

yo desu,

yo desu,

c.n

......

yo da, the speaker

given above where there was a past tense !:>efore was giving his/her present impre~slon of something which had already happened. When recalling past Impressions, however, where English would use seen:-ed .rather than seems, yo darta is used; and the statement preceding It does II t go into the past: Tornu-san wa seashfi by6kino Kino jim-san wa rsukarete iru
Tom seemed ill last week. Iill seemed to be tired yesterday.

yo desu,
l::

yo desu,

Anzai-sensei somehow seems ill. Formerly, this seems to have been a rest4urant.

yo deshita,

yo deshita,

I\cfore nouns, yo da takes the form yo na:


!:'

sal).ga saki na Salkin made koko wa shizuka darta -I adjectives Ano mise wa totemo takai Kino .no pau wa tancshikarta
verbs

I
i
:

yo desu, yo desu,

Michiko-san seems to like Ken. It seems that until recently it was .quiet here.

taka no yo na aji tsukarete iru yo na me Kyo wa fuyu no yo na tenki desu. Koko wa daremo sunde inai yo na tokoro demo

a taste {aji} like octopus eyes which look tired Today the weather is like winter. This is the sort of place which seems to haoe no one living in it.

yo desu, yo desu,

That shop looks very expensive. It seems that the party yesterday was enjoyable

A common pattern is [proper noun (AJ] no yo na [general noun (8)]. Here the meaning is similar to B such as/like A: Tomu-san no yo na Igirisujin

(tanoshi.i). Jira-san wa tsukarete ire

an EnglishmanlEnglishmen
like Tom a countrylcountries (kuni) s.uch as France Let's eat something cold such as ice-cream. I want to live in aft old town sud» as Kyoto.

!::u-sa.n

wa genki ni

Jill appears

yo demo
yo desu.

to be tired.

Furansu no

yo na kuni

Tom appears to have recovered.

Aisukurnnu no yo na tsumetai mono 0 tabemasho. Kyoto no yo na furui machi ni sumitai desu.

174

2 The adjective ansj; same


Onaji works like a na adjective at the end of sentences and in forming the negative, but goes straight in front of nouns like an -i adjective. The Japanese equivalent for same as [noun] is [noun] to onaji. Kore wa watashi no kasa to onaji desu. Onaji cia. Onaji de wa nai desha! Michiko-san no wanpisu to onaji ira desu, This is the same as my umbrella.

~ rb~s~

I .uinka-san wa rainen ~, kkon suru '>uI.uki-san wa densb.a


III

~~

1
i

.-------+-~~~~~~~;I

175

!
I

so desu.
i

I hear that Tanaka-san is getting married next

year.

noriokureta with

i s6 desu,

Apparent 1 Suzu k·t-san y missed his train.

c.n
3 [statement]

......

It's the same colour as Michiko-san's dress (wanpisu).

Fomn-san W;I. byoki de wa nakatta so desu. Ken-san wa sakana ga suki ja nai so desu, [iru-san wa ana eiga ga mitakunai so desu. mtcnces ending

yo

da, negatives tend to precede

so da.

so da apparently

IlI/yoreba, according

So da is a sentence ending similar to yo da. It implies that the


statement is not the speaker's own opinion, but something which he/she has heard OI read, It is equivalent to English apparentlyfl hear/they say that ... Like yo cia, it is often used in talking about 'the feelings/intentions of other people. In the following examples, note the forms which nouns, adjectives, and verbs take in front of so cia, both in the present tense and in the past. They are in fact the plain forms that you would expect to see at the end of sentences in informal speech.

in so cia often begin with [noun] ni yoru to [noun], or some other fonn of words I'lvmg the source of your knowledge: Shinbun ni yoru to, Igirisu no shusho ga rainichi suru so desu. According to the .. newspapers, th~ Brt~tsh prime minister is .g?tn? to visit Japan (raunchi suru), I heard from a friend that Tom has given up smoking.

'Tornodachi kara kiita no desu ga, Tomu-san wa tabako a yameta so desu.

nouns
Hade-san no okusan wa Amerikajin da Kin6 koko wa sugoi ame datta

so desu,
s6 desu.

Apparently Mr Herd's wife is an American. Apparently there was terrific rain here yesterday.

4 toki when
I~

na

adjectives sO desu.

Hade-san no hisho wa

totemo kirei da Kuruma wa dame datta -t adjectives Anzai-sensei wa ima taihen isogashii Taro-kun mo ikitakatta

so desu, so desu.
so desu.

They say that Mt Herd's secretary is very pretty. Apparently the car was ruined.
Apparently Anza.i-sensei is vet)' busy at the moment. I hear that Taro-hun wanted to go too.

l'oki is a noun meaning time (e.g. ano'toki at that time), but it most commonly found where English, would use when! I/,},enever. The time, or when, part of the sentence befo~e toki, md the action of the main part of the sentence after toki, occur more or less contemporaneously. Nouns, adjectives and verbs .) xurring before toki take the forms which it is. usual for them III rake before nouns. Toki can be foUowed by w to give a sense Ilf greater precision, and by wa to give a sense of contrast, or

even by both.

nouns
Arne no Kodomo no toki toki wa takusbIni nomnasuyoku benkyo shimashita .

When it rains, I take a taxi. When 1was a child I studied hard (bu.t I don't now).

176

na

adjectives

Hima na

toki ni

asobi ni kite kuclasai.

Genki na

told wa

(J1

......

I I
j

wa I yokn o-sake 0 I nomimashita. i !

! Tomu-san

Please cali on us whenever you are at leisure (hima na)lhave some spare time. When Tom tuas urel! he often drank (but he doesn't now),

II IIlv· number + counter (e.g. san-kagetsu mae (nil three "",/fIbs ago/before; jii-nen mae (ni) ten years ago/before): You ill ilso find mae preceded by [noun] no, and by v~rbs m the III "l'nt plain form, with a meaning equi~aleut to English before. . with toki, mae can be followed by ru and/or wa.

ni or mae (nil wa is also possible in is~lation, meaning before or formerly, and that you will also Ill(' across kono mae pteviouslylrecently and sono mae before 11',1f (botb with or without ni/{ni) wa).
11!t· that mae
II 11 the

-I adjectives Tabako ga suitai 1 toki ni wa


f

j do shimasu ka?

'.!llmn no What do you do when you wa1lt to smoke? When it was hot, I Was hardly able to sleep.

I
f

Atsui

:
verbs Michl
0

j roki

I
i

i mae ni

mae ni i re i i
f
i

araimasho,

kincho shimashita ka?. I

Let's wash our hands before the meal. Were you tense before the exam (shiken)?

....a. U1

hotondo
neraremasen

j deshira,

!
toki

I,.uru Ilrknkeru

wataru

Nibon ni irn

I
[

ki 0 tsukete kudasai, irsu zno Nihongo


de hanasbimashita,

i toki

i j 1

j I i

Please be careful when you cross the road. When T was in Japan, 1always spoke in japanese,

The Japanese wash their bodies before they get into the bath. ; . i temodachi ni denwa Before setting out I ! maew telephoned a friend. 0 kakemashita,
1 mae ni

! Nlhonjin

! 0 araimasu,

wa karada

ida between/while I ,kl' mae, aida (ni/{ni) wa) is a noun which, ~cts both ~s .a
I'll

irion word

l!'pkaUy found in the pattemA

and as a time word. As ~ pOSlTIOn word, to B no aida:

It

IS

In the above examples, the form before toki was tbe same whatever the tense at the end of the sentence. With verbs, however, it is possible to have past tenses in front of tokio An alternative version of the Iast example would therefore be: Nihon ni ita toki Nihongo de hanashimashita.

Nagoya wa Tokyo to Osaka no aida ni arimasu,


" .t rime word, ",'Iltleen:

Nagoya is in between Tokyo and Osaka.


equivalent to

it can also have a meaning

Rokuji to sbicbiji no aida ni


nani
0

shire imashita

ka?

What were you doin.g between 6 and 7

5 mae before
We have already met mae with reference both to physical position, with the meaning 'in front' (Unit 2 Structures 5), and to telling the time (Unit 6 Structures 6). You will find mae working in a similar way with other expressions of time which

o'clock?

tore often. however, it is preceded With the meaning during or while:


Narsu-yasnmi no aida Michiko-san wa rnainichi benkyo shimashita,

by [noun] no, or by a verb, Dr4ring the summer holidays. Michiko-san

studied every day.

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