昨日の朝から雨が降り続いています。
Can you read this?
Beginners—don’t worry! We’ll explain it all!
Try to read it and understand the meaning of the above sentence.
When you are ready, scroll down to the bottom for our translation.
This example is from a recent Makoto+ Repetition and Shadowing sentence. Every week, we publish a new sentence for beginners and one for intermediates, with slow and normal speed recordings for shadowing.
Shadowing is repeating with or just after the speaker. It is a powerful way to not only learn vocabulary and sentence structure, but it’s also a great way to improve pronunciation. Really!
If you are a Makoto+ Shogun (or lifetime) member, please click here for all beginner-level sentences. And click here for intermediate-level sentences.
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And now, let’s break down today’s sentence. Here it is again:
昨日の朝から雨が降り続いています。
First, let’s make sure you know the meaning of each word. Here is a literal word-by-word translation:
Yesterday | ‘s/of | morning | from | rain | (subject marker) | to fall | is continuing
Use that and the following vocabulary list to come up with your own translation:
- 昨日 yesterday
- の possessive particle
- 朝 morning
- から from (indicating start time)
- 雨 rain
- が subject marker particle
- 降り falling (from the verb 降る, to fall [for rain, snow, etc.])
- 続いて continuing (from the verb 続く, to continue)
- います polite present continuous form of いる (to be [for animate objects], to exist)
Need a little more help for coming up with your own translation? No problem! Let’s go through some of the phrases.
昨日の朝から (from yesterday morning)
- The sentence starts with a time expression: 昨日の朝から (from yesterday morning)
- The の connects the two time elements: 昨日 and 朝. It limits the morning to that of yesterday.
- The から indicates from that moment the action began.
雨が (the rain)
- 雨が (the rain) is the subject of the verb (continue to fall)
降り続いています (continues to rain)
- 降り続いています is the predicate, showing the continuous action of rain falling
- 降り is the stem form of 降る (to precipitate; to fall—but is used with rain and snow)
- 続く (to continue) is in its て-form (続いて), connected to います
- います makes the sentence polite and indicates the continuous present tense
- This ～ています structure (Verb stem + 続いています) is commonly used to express that an action has been ongoing from a past point until the present moment like the English -ing.
Let’s talk about Compound Verbs.
Japanese uses compound words all the time. Combining two verbs expands the meaning, makes it more precise, and adds new nuance.
待ち望む
One of my favorite words is 待ち望む. This combines 待つ (to wait) with 望む (to hope for; to desire).
I think you can figure out the meaning. It isn’t just “to wait” but to “wait with expectation”:
- to wait eagerly for
- to look forward to
Neat, isn't it?
Makoto members (particularly Shogun members) get so much for so little! If you aren't a member, please...
Construction:
To construct compound words, you need to know the -ます form of a verb, then remove the -ます and add the second verb.
That’s it!
Construction Examples:
待ち望む
This combines 待つ (to wait) with 望む (to hope for; to desire).
- take 待つ (wait) and turn it into its ます form: 待ちます.
- Now, remove the -ます and we get 待ち.
- Now, add the second verb: 待ち望む (wait with expectation)
降り続いています
It combines 降る (to fall; to precipitate) with 続く (to continue) to mean “to continue to rain.“
- take 降る and turn it into its ます form: 降ります.
- Now, remove the -ます and we get 降り.
- Now, add the second verb: 降り続く.
- And, in this case, it is in the ～ている continuous form: 降り続いています (to continue to rain)
The nuance here is important:
- Using just 降っています would simply mean "it is raining."
- Adding 続く as the second verb emphasizes the continuous, uninterrupted nature of the rain.
This type of compound verb (V + 続く) is frequently used to express that an action or state persists over time, often with a nuance of persistence or relentlessness.
Other examples include:
- 働き続ける to continue working
- 生き続ける to continue living, to survive
- 見続ける to keep watching
These compound verbs add depth and precision to the Japanese language, allowing speakers to convey subtle nuances efficiently.
Okay, what about a translation for our main sentence?
Here are two possible translations:
It has been raining non-stop since yesterday morning.
or
Since yesterday morning, it has been raining continuously.
Of course, there are other options, but if your meaning matches up, it’s all good!
Yeah! You made it through the sentence, and you've learned a bit about compound verbs!
Now, go out into the wild (the internet) and try to find a few compound verbs. Analyze them and think how you can use them!
