Grammar page 7

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Current revision as of 16:50, 14 May 2010

The seventh page of the grammar lessons.

Using 何

なん nan is a very useful add-on.

With counters it can be used to mean "How many (counter)?".

Some common counters are shown with examples below.

Some adverbial usages of 何

You can also form various words and customary phrase using 何 (sometimes produced なに nani, sometimes なん nan)

Using こと/事、もの/物

This is how you say 'thing'

Koto - intangible things

良い事は有りません。 ii koto wa arimasen. There isn't anything good.

大事な事を教えます。 daiji na koto o oshiemasu. I will tell you an important thing.

昨日の事は済みませんでした。 kinou no koto wa sumimasen deshita. I am sorry about what happened yesterday. (yesterday's thing)

Mono - tangible things

其の黒い物は猫かなあ。 sono kuroi mono wa neko kanaa. I wonder if that black thing is a cat?

美味しい物が食べたい。 oishii mono ga tabetai. I want to eat something good.

One useful phrase using koto is:

どう云う事？ dou iu koto? What is the meaning of this?

This phrase is used whenever the listener isn't sure of the motive of the speaker.

situation, case 場合

This is one that should be learned by useful examples

非常の場合はボタンを押してください。 hijou no ba ai wa botan o oshite kudasai. In case of emergency push the button.

その場合はどうすればいい？ sono ba ai wa dou sureba ii? In that situation, what should I do?

テストがあった場合、私は病気になります。 tesuto ga atta ba ai, watashi wa byouki ni narimasu. Should a test be given , I will get sick.

Etc... and... など、とか

Sometimes you have to say more than one thing. Whoever invented 'etc.' was a genius. Let's see how to do this in Japanese...

First a few ways to list multiple items:

や ya - and, and so forth ピーマンやほうれん草が嫌いです。 pi-man ya hourensou ga kirai desu. I don't like green peppers, spinach and the like.

とか toka - or, and, and so forth 熊のプーさんとかドラえもんとかキティちゃんが好きです。 kuma no pu-san toka doraemon toka kiti chan ga suki desu. I like things like Winnie the Pooh and Doraemon and Hello Kitty.

And now for nado to wrap things up.

食べ物の中ではピザとかフライドポテトなどが好きです。 tabemono no naka dewa piza toka furaido poteto nado ga suki desu. As for foods, I like things like pizza or french fries.

About くらい or ぐらい

About how much? About how many?

Sometimes the く turns into a ぐ probably after harder consonants. お客様はどのくらい来ましたか？ okyakusama wa dono kurai kimashita ka? About how many customers came?

ええと、１００人くらい来ました。 eeto, hyaku nin kurai kimashita. Let me see, About 100 people.

You can use this with time: ８時ぐらい hachi ji gurai - about 8 O'clock

Or counting anything: ２匹くらい ni hiki kurai - about 2 (animals) １０冊ぐらい juu satsu gurai - about 10 books

How about ...? どう

To ask the state of something (how something is doing) use the useful dou (desu ka).

You can used it with or without the final 'desu ka' in conversation. 最近はどうですか？ saikin wa dou desu ka? How's it going recently?

コーヒーはどう？ ko-hi- wa dou? How's the coffee? or it could mean How about some coffee? 天気予報はどう？ tenki yohou wa dou? How's the weather forecast looking?

Of course when the context is understood you can simply say, 'dou' (Like returning from a doctor's appointment, or after your friend gets off an important phone call)

しまった/仕舞った、ちゃった

This literally means 'to complete, finish' but can (and usually does) involve a regret over having done something. Also it can be used sarcastically to mean the speaker really wanted to do something, but gives a halfhearted apology. For example,
最後のクッキーを食べてしまった。saigo no kukkii wo tabete shimatta.
I unfortunately ate the last cookie.
Of course there really wasn't anything unfortunate about it.

The construction is usually after the ~te form of any verb

お金を全部使ってしまいました。okane o zenbu tsukatte shimaimashita.
Unfortunately, I spent all my money.
私は完全に日本語を忘れてしまった。watashi wa kanzen ni nihongo o wasurete shimatta.
Unfortunately, I have completely forgotten Japanese.

Another very useful variation is ~chatta. This is informal and is used by both male and female speakers. chau is made by combining te shimau -> chau

試験に落ちちゃった。 shiken ni ochichatta.
I flunked the test unfortunately.

or in the present tense

ケーキを全部食べちゃう。ke-ki o zenbu tabechau.
I will eat all the cake.

Mukade reports "In the Kansai area, the use of ちゃった is limited to female speakers. I learned both in the classroom, of course, since they are standard dialect. But when I moved here to Osaka, people started asking me if I was gay, since I kept using ちゃった all the time. If I could help prevent someone else from having to go through the same "hard knocks" learning process that I did, it would make me very happy.

So be careful if you are in the Kansai area! But in most areas it should be fine."

Related threads.Te + shimau
can't help but...
See also てしまう

Please do... ～てください/～て下さい

Here's how you boss people around. Well, in a nice way...

add kudasai (please) after the ~te form of any verb

ゆっくり話して下さい。 yukkuri hanashite kudasai. Please speak slowly. もっと大人らしくして下さい。 motto otona rashiku shite kudasai. Please act more grown-up. 此処で右に曲がって下さい。 koko de migi ni magatte kudasai. Please turn right here.

Please give me... ～をください/～を下さい

Another use for kudasai is "please give me..."

其の本を下さい。 sono hon o kudasai. Please give me that book. ５００円を下さい。 go hyaku en o kudasai. Please give me 500 yen.

In spoken Japanese, the 'o' is usually dropped.

On, In, Above, Behind

A good knowledge of position particles will help glue everything together.

にni - on

机に本があります。 tsukue ni hon ga arimasu. There is a book on the desk. のうえに no ue ni - on top of 机のうえに本があります。 tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu. There is a book on (top of) the desk.

のしたに/～の下に no shita ni - under...

机の下に本が有ります。 tsukue no shita ni hon ga arimasu. There is a book under the desk.

の後ろに no ushiro ni - behind...

机の後ろに本があります。 tsukue no ushiro ni hon ga arimasu. There is a book behind the desk.

Continue to lesson 8 Go back and review lesson 6