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http://learnjapanese.elanguageschool.net/course/view.php?id=3
Desu
Desu is the most often used word for "to be". In English, we have to conjugate that verb to the following forms:
is, are, was, were, will be
Japanese verbs are not conjugated for first, second or third person subjects or for plural subjects. There is only one "person" as far as Japanese verbs are concerned. Also, Japanese verbs do not distinguish between present and future and as a result, the present-tense is often called the "non-past" form. Luckily for us learners wading in "context," they do have a past tense:
Present tense - desu
Past tense - deshita (prounounced DESH ta)
In Japanese,
grammatical parts of the sentence are shown very clearly by
"particles." These particles are placed after the word (or
phrase) they modify. The best way to learn to use them is to memorize
useful examples and say them!
は wa - overall topic particle -
shows the main topic of the conversation [NOTE: it is a hiragana ha but
pronounced as "wa"]
あなた は やさしい。
anata wa yasashii.
You are nice.
[Makes "you" the main topic]
がga - the subject
particle - sometimes the difference between wa and ga are
hard to tell. Sometimes they can be used interchangeably with only a
slight change in meaning. Don't worry about this now!
ねこ が へん。
neko ga hen.
The cat is strange.
[Makes the "cat" the subject]
をo - The Direct
Object particle
本 を よみました。
hon o yomimashita.
(I) read a book.
[NOTE: it makes "book" the object. If we were to say
"I" it would be watashi wa at the beginning.]
にni -
usually shows movement (to)
日本 に いきましょう！
nihon ni
ikimashou!
Let's go to Japan!
[There is movement going to Japan]
or shows time (at)
６時 に いきましょう！
roku ji ni
ikimashou!
Let's go at 6.
で de - Shows location (at, in)
日本 で 遊びましょう！
nihon de
asobimashou!
Let's play (have fun) in Japan!
[Notice there is no movement]
This article was used with permission from:
theJapanesePage.com
Here is a parallel article
Particles
* Note: these are by far not the only meanings for these particles, they are only the most common usages. Other uses for these particles will be discussed at a later time. wa marks the topic of a sentence. Very often this topic is the subject of the sentence, but not always. It most closely resembles the phrase "as for"
* ga marks the subject of a sentence and puts emphasis on it. It is very confusing at first to distinguish between the uses of wa and ga since both can label a subject, but they are very different sometimes and I will strengthen this distinction as we go along
* no signifies that the item before it posesses the item after it. This meaning can be broadened to the sense of attatching attributes to nouns.
* o marks the direct object of a sentence. It tells what or who receives the action of the verb.
* e shows the direction or destination of a motion.
* ka shows that a sentence is a question. In English, questions can often be very different from their corresponding statements, for example, "Does he go to the store?" has a rather different word order from "He goes to the store." In Japanese, this is usually not the case and a statement can be changed to a question simply by tacking a ka onto the end.
To put it simply, after many of the words in a sentence, you have a particle telling what the word "was" to that sentence.
Nakamura san wa sensei desu.
[Nakamura (as for) teacher is./As for Nakamura, he is a teacher.]
Nakamura is a teacher.
After the words "Nakamura san", the "wa" tells us that Nakamura is the topic of the sentence - the sentence will be about Nakamura.
Let's add something to the sentence. Let's modify what kind of teacher he is:
Nakamura wa anata no sensei desu.
[As for Nakamura, he is you('s) teacher.]
Nakamura is your teacher.
We can turn it into a question by adding ka:
Nakamura wa anata no sensei desu ka.
[Nakamura is your teacher?]
Is Nakamura your teacher?
I told you just a page ago that pronouns are nearly nonexistent and here I've gone and used one (anata). The truth is, in polite speech, pronouns are considered impolite to some degree and are avoided, but in casual speech, all kinds of pronouns are used and they crop up often. You'd never believe how many different words the Japanese language has for "I" and "you." And for a new learner, using pronouns is easier than not using pronouns, and people will certainly understand that you're making an effort so don't worry too much if you find yourself using them all the time. You'll eventually get a feel for when pronouns should and should not be used. Just be ready to encounter plenty of sentences without them.
Basic
verb forms ～dictionary、～ます
There are many ways
to change verbs, but here we will focus on 2 present tense forms"dictionary
form" and "~masu form" NOTE: These 2 mean the
same thing, but the dictionary form is a little more casual and shorter.
The dictionary form gets its name because it is
what is found in the dictionary.
The dictionary form verbs ends in -u and many
end in -ru
The masu form verbs always ends in -masu
in the present tense
To keep this page as simple as possible, I am writing
all examples (for other grammar points) in the masu form.
EXAMPLES:
たべる
taberu たべます
tabemasu Both mean "to eat"
のむ
nomu のみます
nomimasu to drink
はしる
hashiru はしります
hashirimasu to run
する
suru します
shimasu to do (this is one of the 2 irregular
verbs)
You will probably see some other letter changes between
the 2 forms. I won't go into this now. There is no need to
complicate things. I think it is better to memorize the useful verb
changes and eventually once you get a feel for the verbs you can 'guess' the
correct form for unknown verb! And remember: Mistake making is memory
making!
Regarding adjectives
It's about time you started learning the details of adjectives. Up to now, I haven't said much about them and it's already lesson 9. So let's start from the beginning. There are two types of adjectives, and learners of Japanese commonly call them na-adjectives and i-adjectives, and you will soon see why. I-adjectives always end with the vowel pairs -ai, -ii, -ui or -oi, and never -ei or a consonant followed by -i. There is no real rule about what a na-adjective looks like, so they are everything else. Sometimes na-adjectives, such as kirai, can look just like i-adjectives. From now on, if there is a na-adjective that looks like an i-adjective, I will explicitly mark it in the word list at the end of a lesson. There aren't very many.
If you've been following the lessons well, chances are that you already know pretty well how to use them as predicate adjectives in the form:
Something wa/ga adjective desu.
Unsurprisingly, you can also use adjectives to directly modify nouns, (i.e. "The black cat did something." instead of "The cat is black." wink To modify a noun with an i-adjective, just place the adjective before the noun.
kuroi neko - black cat
atsui ocha - hot tea
This enables to to use a verb other than "to be" to say what the subject did or does rather than what it is. To modify a noun with a na-adjective, you must insert the word na between the adjective and the noun. As you might have guessed, this is why they're called na-adjectives.
taisetsu na mono - important thing
kirei na onna no ko - pretty girl
Adjectives in the past
In lesson 9, I explained how to use adjectives as predicates in a "Noun is adjective" relationship. You place the noun as the subject of the sentence, and the adjective at the end of a sentence. If it's an i-adjective, desu or nothing goes after the adjective, depending on your politeness level. For na-adjectives, desu or da follows the adjective.
Using adjectives as predicates in the past tense is similar, but with a few changes:
i-adjectives:
The adjective conjugates in the past tense by changing the -i at the end to -katta. If you are speaking politely, the sentence still ends with desu. If you are speaking casually, the sentence still ends with just the adjective. This will probably seem strange at first, since desu is a present tense verb. Just remember that the adjective expresses the past tense and the desu just expresses that the adjective applies to the subject. Observe:
Watashi no kuruma ga aoi desu.
My car is blue.
Watashi no kuruma ga aokatta desu.
[I 's car sj "was blue" (is).]
My car was blue.
na-adjectives:
Using a na-adjective as a predicate in the past tense is just like using a noun in the past tense. Just place the adjective at the end of the sencence, followed by deshita or datta.
Ano hon wa rippa deshita.
That book was magnificent.
Negative Adjectives
A couple lessons ago, we discussed the two different types of Adjectives. To refresh your memory, they were called "normal" and "Quasi". It was mentioned that the "normal" adjectives could have various endings tacked on to them, doing some amazing things.
One of those powerful endings is -ku nai.
All you have to do is remove the -i from the adjective, and add -ku nai.
Examples:
yoi - good
yoku nai - not good
akai - red
akaku nai - not red
See what the -ku nai ending does for an adjective? It gives the adjective exactly the opposite meaning it normally has.
This is a very important ending to know, as you might have guessed. Think about how many times you need to say that something ISN'T necessary, ISN'T hot, etc.
Refer to the section below, "Example Sentences", for use of this ending.
Example Sentences
kanojo wa amari tsuyoku nai.
she (subject) too much strong not.
She isn't too strong.
bakemono wa zenzen kowaku nai yo!
monster (subject) completely scary not !
The monster isn't scary at all!
kore wa zenzen chigau!
this (subject) completely different!
This is completely different!
boku wa zenzen tsuyoku nai kedo.
I (subject) completely strong not but.
But I'm not strong at all.
ore wa juubun ja nai wake?
I (subject) enough not (it is that)?
Is it that I'm not enough?
taisetsu na mono o nakushita wake?
precious thing (what) lost it is that?
Did you lose something precious?
Learning new vocabulary!
You will begin learning many Japanese words. Just like in English, some words are more common than others. We will start with the more common words and progress toward the less frequently used ones.
Interrogatives:
doko - where
nani - what
dare - who
ikutsu - how many
Nouns:
ai - love
heya - room
hon - book
hito - person
inu - dog
kami - god
neko - cat
Verbs:
aruku - to walk
hanasu - to speak
hashiru - to run
korosu - to kill
miru - to see, to watch
taberu - to eat
Pronouns:
watashi - I
anata - you
kare - he
kanojo - she
watashitachi - we
anatatachi/anatagata - you (plural)
karetachi/karera - them (when referring to a group that includes males)
kanojotachi/kanojora - them (for an all-female group)
Note: As I stated earlier, Japanese pronouns are far less common in polite speech than their English counterparts. Also note that these pronouns can be made plural by adding -tachi, but where others exist (for "you" and "them," above), the other ones are more common.
Adjectives:
akai - red
aoi - blue
kuroi - black
shiroi - white
osoi - slow
hayai - fast
The equivalentto Mr. or Mrs. or Miss. is ～さん
USAGE: Right after the name. It is used even
with friends. (Even when in English we wouldn't use "Mr." wink
くれいさん
kurei san - Mr. Clay
山田さん yamada san - Mr. (or Mrs...) Yamada
Other name callings: (used the same way)
～さま sama -
very polite - reserved for royalty, important people, and customers of
stores
～ちゃん chan - used for young girls (kiti-chan
= Hello Kitty)
～くん kun - used for young boys
～先生 sensei - used for teachers [クレイ先生 kurei sensei], doctors, and
professionals
Adjectives - Past Tense
In Japanese, you simply add an ending to an adjective to make it apply to the past. In English, on the other hand, we say something was white.
If you wanted to say "The cat was white", you could say:
neko wa shiroi datta.
and you could get your point across. However, there is a better way to do it. It also happens to be the form that Japanese speakers would use.
-katta : The Past Tense Ending
Several weeks ago, we learned how to take (normal) adjectives and add the -ku ending:
shiroi - shiroku
osoi - osoku
Remember, this only applies to normal adjectives (that end in -i) and not Quasi adjectives. For a review on adjectives, please take a look at Week 11.
Example:
neko wa shirokatta.
cat (subject) was white
The cat was white.
How to use the -katta ending:
1) Take the adjective
osoi
2) Remove the final -i
oso
3) Add -katta, and you're done!
osokatta
There's another place you can use this ending! Any time you have -nai, you can change it to -nakatta to make it past tense.
shiroku nai - shiroku nakatta
isn't white - wasn't white
hayaku nai - hayaku nakatta
isn't fast - wasn't fast
dekinai - dekinakatta
can't do - couldn't do
Example Sentences
kimi wa osokatta zo!
you (subject) were slow !
You're late!
keiko no kao wa shirokatta.
Keiko ('s) face (subject) was white.
Keiko's face was white.
hayakatta yo!
(it) was fast !
That was quick!
neko wa kurokatta kara, nanimo dekinakatta.
cat (subject) was black because, nothing couldn't do.
Because it was a black cat, I couldn't do anything.
ano tokage no hara wa akakatta.
that lizard ('s) stomach (subject) was red.
That lizard had a red stomach.
Adjectives - Past Tense
In Japanese, you simply add an ending to an adjective to make it apply to the past. In English, on the other hand, we say something was white.
If you wanted to say "The cat was white", you could say:
neko wa shiroi datta.
and you could get your point across. However, there is a better way to do it. It also happens to be the form that Japanese speakers would use.
-katta : The Past Tense Ending
Several weeks ago, we learned how to take (normal) adjectives and add the -ku ending:
shiroi - shiroku
osoi - osoku
Remember, this only applies to normal adjectives (that end in -i) and not Quasi adjectives. For a review on adjectives, please take a look at Week 11.
Example:
neko wa shirokatta.
cat (subject) was white
The cat was white.
How to use the -katta ending:
1) Take the adjective
osoi
2) Remove the final -i
oso
3) Add -katta, and you're done!
osokatta
There's another place you can use this ending! Any time you have -nai, you can change it to -nakatta to make it past tense.
shiroku nai - shiroku nakatta
isn't white - wasn't white
hayaku nai - hayaku nakatta
isn't fast - wasn't fast
dekinai - dekinakatta
can't do - couldn't do
Example Sentences
kimi wa osokatta zo!
you (subject) were slow !
You're late!
keiko no kao wa shirokatta.
Keiko ('s) face (subject) was white.
Keiko's face was white.
hayakatta yo!
(it) was fast !
That was quick!
neko wa kurokatta kara, nanimo dekinakatta.
cat (subject) was black because, nothing couldn't do.
Because it was a black cat, I couldn't do anything.
ano tokage no hara wa akakatta.
that lizard ('s) stomach (subject) was red.
That lizard had a red stomach.
This article was used with permission from:
Japanese is Possible
 xXFoWLXx · Sat Feb 28, 2009 @ 07:17pm · 0 Comments |
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