Chapter 4
How... どう Isn't it? でしょう said といいました Negative verbs Negative adjectives Plan to 予定、つもり Punctuation 。、「」 Should はず Because II ので Although のに Using 何 Easy to... ～やすい Hard to... ～にくいAlthough のに
A close cousin to ので (above), is のに. It is often used to show disappointment in the current situation.|
Just
add it after an adjective... |
Because II ので
We have looked at some 'becauses' that mainly act as a preposition. ので comes at the end of the phrase.
In English we start the phrase with `because`; in Japanese you often say the reason first and then the because...
Just add it after an adjective...
そのかばんは高いので、ずっと使うつもりです。
sono kaban wa takai node, zutto tsukau tsumori desu.
Since that bag was expensive, I plan on using it for a long time.
Just add it to the simple form of any verb
ゴジラが来るので、東京は怖いところです。
gojira ga kuru node, toukyou wa kowai tokoro
desu.
Since Godzilla comes, Tokyo is a scary place.
After a noun or a -na adjective add a NA
before NODE...
私はまだ学生なので、お金がない。
watashi wa mada gakusei na node, okane
ga nai .
Because I am still a student, I don`t have any money.
Easy to... ～やすい
It's easy to add "easy to" to verbs! Consider the following verbs in the masu form:たべ ます tabe masu [to
eat] 
たべ
やすい tabe
yasui [easy
to eat]
Did you see that? If you know the -masu form of the verb, you can easily drop the -masu and add a yasui.
わかり ます wakari masu
[to understand] わかり
やすい wakari
yasui [easy
to understand]
Hard to... ～にくい
If "easy to" is easy to use (see above) then you would think that "hard to" would be hard to use. Well, they had to go and make it easy as well. Usage is the same as -yasui (easy to)たべ ます tabe masu [to
eat] たべ
にくい tabe
nikui [hard
to eat]
If you know the -masu form of the verb, you can easily drop the -masu and add a nikui.
わかり ます wakari masu
[to understand] わかり
にくい wakari
nikui [hard
to understand]
How... どう
Here is a very useful question word -- どう dou -- Let's look at ways of using dou.| どう です か？
dou
desu ka? How is
(it)? [Use this for asking about food, or anything that is being done now]
どう でした か？ dou deshita ka? How was (it)? [Use this to find out about past experiences - movie, last night's date, molded pizza you just ate...] |
OTHER WAYS!
| どうやって？ dou
yatte? How do you do it? [Ask this when you are not sure how to do
something]
どう しました か？ dou shimashita ka? What happened? [Ask this if someone looks sad or something has happened] どうしよう dou shiyou What shall (I or we) do? [This is often used when you can't make a decision and want help... doushiyou, ne!] どう する の？dou suru no? What will you do? [When you want to encourage someone to make a decision -- Well, what will you do?] |
Isn't it? でしょう
If you want to state your opinion and then encourage someone to agree, use deshou.| フィリピンは暑いでしょう?
firipin wa atsui deshou? The Philippines is hot, isn't it?
痛いでしょう？ itai deshou? It hurts, doesn't it? [You see someone who has just slammed their head in the low doorway] |
But usually でしょう is used to mean 'probably':
| 雨が降るでしょうね。 Ame ga furu deshou ne. It will probably rain, don't you think? |
And another common usage is どうでしょう meaning 'how about...' or 'what do you think about'
| うどんはどうでしょう？ udon wa dou deshou? How about some Udon? |
Negative adjectives
we say `not red` to show an absence of that color in English. In Japanese as with the verbs, the adjective`s ending is modified with a negative ending. You will notice a great similarity with the verbal endings.|
With `i` adjectives the `i` changes to a
`ku` before adding the `nai`... `na` adjectives simply drop the `na` (which
is really only used before nouns) and add `ja nai` or `ja arimasen` (or
dewa nai & dewa arimasen)... |
To learn more about adjectives click
here.
Negative verbs
It isn't a sin to be negative. Interesting I should say that... 'sin' sounds like 'sen' which marks the negative in Japanese in the -masu form. (Ok, so I set that one up...)|
話せます hanasemasu - can speak becomes... 分かります wakarimasu - understand becomes... If you can make the -masu form, just drop the す and add the せん。 |
You may have noticed there are no `no` words needed to make a negative like in English. You simply modify the verb`s ending.
To make the negative in the plain, or simple, form by taking the basic stem and adding ない to it.
|
With the `ru` verbs you simply drop the
る and add ない as in 忘れる wasureru (to forget)... And for the `u` verbs we change the ending
`u` sound to a `a` sound as in 書く kaku -> 書か... |
Finally we come to する and the other irregular
verbs.
|
する is しない in the simple form and しません in
the polite form And 来る kuru is 来ない konai
and 来ません kimasen in the formal... To review the 3 types of verbs click here. |
Plan to 予定、つもり
If you plan on speaking Japanese these two words are very useful.予定 yotei and つもり tsumori|
予定 yotei and つもり are very similar in meaning and usage. 予定 conveys more of a `schedule` feel whereas つもり is more of a `conviction of doing something. All you have to do is to stick either on the end of a verb (simple form)... To add つもり or 予定 to any verb just find the
simple form... Here is how you add it to a する verb You can also use it with nouns by sticking a の before the tsumori and after adjectives. But for now concentrate on the verb usage. |
Punctuation 。、「」
Punctuation is in many ways similar to English. You have a comma, called a てん and a period at the end of a sentence called a まる.Let`s quickly go over some common Punctuation thingies:
|
。
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the まる acts just like our period by ending the sentence. It looks like a ball - maru |
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、
|
the てん acts like a comma. This is often found after は as in わたしは、あなたが好きです。 (I, like you) |
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「
and 」
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These brackets hold quotations and work like our "" marks |
said といいました
Meet the wonderful 'と to.' Mr. と can act as a quotation marker ("). Don't confuse this with the と that means 'and.' Very often if you are quoting someone or some source. This is best shown with examples:|
「俺はスーパマン」と言いました。 ore wa su-paman to iimashita. He said, "I am Superman." あの絵は・#92;世紀に作ったと書いてあります。 ano e wa juu seiki ni tsukutta to kaite arimasu. The book says (it is written) that this painting was made in the 10th century. It can also be used to mark sound effects of things or animals: There are many other usages for 'to.' Paying attention to each usage will help you get a good grasp. |
Should/Must はず
You should know はず. It is easy and useful, therefore you have no excuse :)|
Hazu shows an expectation that something should happen. In other words, you are pretty sure something is true. Let`s see how it works... To add はず to any adjective just add it... Just add it to the simple form of any verb |
Using 何
This is a very useful add-on.|
Use it as a counter:
And the following are a few of the adverbial usages of 何
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