Let’s go through two sentences from this week’s Nihongo no Tane. (See the video of the entire podcast at the bottom)

While this podcast is best for intermediate students of Japanese (and aggressive upper beginners), we'll use it today as a lesson for beginners and upper beginners. I’ll list the vocabulary for the sentences, but the main purpose for today’s lesson is to focus on a single useful phrase or grammatical pattern.

Phrase #1: Using 遊(あそ)びに行(い)く [Beginners]

If you are beginner, here is a great phrase to remember: 遊(あそ)びに行(い)く

先日(せんじつ)、お友達(ともだち)の家(うち)に遊(あそ)びに行(い)きました。

The other day I went to visit a friend.

First, let’s look at the vocabulary and understand the sentence structure.

• 先日(せんじつ) the other day
• お友達(ともだち) friend (polite) [the お is for politeness]
• の ‘s [limits the “house” to that of “friend”: friend’s house]
• 家(うち) house
• に to (the house)
• 遊(あそ)びに行(い)きました to go visit [遊(あそ)び is the masu stem form of 遊(あそ)ぶ (to play); に (for the purpose of; notice this に isn’t the directional particle, but rather indicates purpose or reason); 行(い)きました is the polite past of 行(い)く (to go)]

In this sentence, we encounter a very useful expression.  遊(あそ)びに行(い)く (to go and visit a friend).

Literally, this means “to go for the purpose of playing” and while it could mean to go out to play a sport or game, it is most often used to mean to visit a friend’s house or to go on a fun trip.

Here is a short sentence to memorize. The best way to learn how to use a particular grammatical pattern or set phrase is to memorize useful sentences that you can actually use. (And then actually use them...)

This example is one way to politely invite someone over. Notice it uses a negative form for politeness: won’t you…?

明日(あした)、遊(あそ)びに行(い)きませんか？

tomorrow | for the purpose of play | won’t come | ?

Won’t you come and see me tomorrow?

Phrase #2: Using の in place of が  [Upper Beginners/Intermediates]

Here, Yumi is talking about how she thought only those with the greatest physical endurance would win at tug-of-war.

体力(たいりょく)のある方(ほう)、持久力(じきゅうりょく)のある方(ほう)が勝(か)ったのかなと思(おも)いました。

I thought that the one with more physical strength and endurance would win.

Vocabulary:

• 体力(たいりょく)のある to have physical strength; to have stamina; to have physical endurance [体力(たいりょく) deals with the body’s 体 strength 力]
• 方(ほう) the direction of; the one with
• 持久力(じきゅうりょく)のある to have stamina; to have tenacity [While similar to 体力(たいりょく), 持久力(じきゅうりょく) means overall endurance: 持 (have; hold) + 久 (long time) + 力 (power)]
• 勝(か)った won [past plain form of 勝(か)つ (to win)]
• のかな I wonder if [the の acts as a nominalizer (makes the previous phrase into a noun phrase) so she can “wonder” about it.]
• と思(おも)いました I think [past polite of 思(おも)う (to think)]

In this example, I want to zero in on the first two phrases. The 体力(たいりょく)のある方(ほう) (one with physical stamina)  and 持久力(じきゅうりょく)のある方(ほう) (one with tenacity)

Maybe you are wondering what the の is doing there. The trick is the の is really acting like a が here.

体力(たいりょく)のある方(ほう)

the one with physical stamina

This could be:

体力(たいりょく)がある方(ほう)

the one with physical stamina

In other words, the の and が are interchangeable here, but that isn't always the case.

You can only use の if the phrase modifies a noun. Since we have a noun here (方(ほう)), you can use の or が.

So the rule is:

• If the phrase is modifying (placed before) a noun, の can be used in place of が
• If there isn’t a noun, you must use が

For example: That person has physical stamina. (Notice there isn't a noun after the phrase)

O あの人(ひと)は体力(たいりょく)がある。 (Correct)

X あの人(ひと)は体力(たいりょく)のある。 (incorrect)

But when the phrase is before a noun, you can use either:

O 体力(たいりょく)のある方(ほう) (correct)

O 体力(たいりょく)がある方(ほう) (correct)

This episode should be live later today. Or check out the video version right now.