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すみませんが、本文を書いている時間がありません。近日中に完成できるよう、努力するつもりです。
This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 on Section23 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
Recently, I feel it difficult to upload a post every day about each item of the exercise A. I hope that I will be able to write about exercise A1 of Section 23 soon
A1 is about “V-dic-toki” and “V-nai toki”, which look similar to “When-clause”, but they actually function as “if-clause”.
A2 is also about “V+toki”, but there are differences from A1;
V1-dic toki, V2.
=>Describing what you do (V2) before you do(V1)
V-ta toki, [Main Clause]
=>Describing what you did(V2) right after you did (V1)
Let me thoroughly examine these things first, then I will write posts about A1 and A2.
Since I am not a company employee, I don’t have a company health insurance. My health insurance is the national health insurance. Under that health insurance, I can get some health checks once a year. Last week I got X-ray chest test in the community center. And this morning, I went to a local clinic this morning and got urine and blood tests. I need to go to the clinic again in ten days, to hear the results. I hope there will be no bad result that needs a detailed inspection.
Yesterday, we learned how to apply a verb modified noun to “-ga” word in wa-ga construction sentences. Today, too, we are going to learn the same construction as below;
[Topic] wa {[Verb Clause] + [Noun]} ga [Predicate].
The difference from yesterday is that;
– Yesterday: the predicates are I- adjectives and Na-adjectives.
– Today: the predicates are intransitive verbs.
In both cases, the predicates are stative words. Wa-ga constructions that came from a transitive verb sentence and its object turned to be the topic (-wa) are not included today’s wa-ga constructions.
The following examples are shown with titles by the predicate verbs.
(1) Aru/Arimasu
Aru/Arimasu is an intransitive verb to describe something is existing.
1. Watashi wa Jikan ga Arimasen. (I don’t have time.)
Unless you say the time is for what you do, the sentence 1 doesn’t have enough information.
1’ Watashi wa Nohongo o Benkyousuru Jikan ga Arimasen. (I don’t have time to study Japanese.)
2. Watashi wa Youji ga Arimasu. (I have a thing to do.)
This sentence 2 is grammatically okay, but the listener would quickly ask you what kind of thing you need to do. It is better to include what you need to do in the sentence.
2’ Watashi wa Byouin ni Iku Youji ga Arimasu. (I need to go to a hospital.)
Although A6 S23 in Minnano Nihongo deals with “Aru/Arimasu” only, let us learn several wa-ga construction sentences using other verbs for predicates.
(2) Iru/Irimasu（要る／要ります)
Note that it’s not “Iru/Imasu(居る／居ます)” meaning an existence of human and animals. This is “Iru/Irimasu” meaning necessity. Japanese sentence “A wa B ga Irimasu.” can be usually translated into English as “A needs B” which is a transitive verb sentence. On the other, “A wa B ga Irimasu.” is an intransitive verb sentence. The particle “-ga” is used in order to specify what is needed.
3. Watashi wa Kutsu ga Irimasu. (I need (a pair of) shoes.)
There are several kinds of shoes depending on the purpose. Some modification needs to be added to the noun “Kutsu”.
3’. Watashi wa Undoujou de Haku Kutsu ga Irimasu. (I need a pair of shoes so that I can put on sports ground.)
(3) Wakaru/Wakarimasu
Wakaru/Wakarimasu means “understand/can tell”. Japanese sentence “A wa B ga Wakarimasu.” can be usually translated into English as “A understand B” or “A can tell B.”, which are transitive verb sentences. On the other, “A wa B ga Wakarimasu.” is an intransitive verb sentence. The particle “-ga” is used in order to specify what is understandable.
4. Watasi wa Nihongo ga Wakarimasen. (I don’t understand Japanese.)
This sentence 4 is grammatically okay, but is it real that the speaker understands nothing at all? At least this person said one Japanese sentence. These should be different level of understanding for each person. Some modification needs to be put in front of “Nohongo”.
4’ Watasi wa Satou-san ga Iu Nihongo ga Wakarimasen. (I don’t understand what Sato-san speaks to me in Japanese.)
Now, “Koto ga Dekimasu” expressing Possibility in A2 to 4 S18 and “Koto ga Arimasu” expressing experience in A2 S19 are also kinds of wa-ga constructions that are using verb clause to modify a noun. The noun for these is “Koto” which doesn’t have a concrete meaning but has the function to make a verb as a noun-equivalent.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A6 on Section22 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
We have been learning how to apply a “verb clause to modify a noun” to several types of sentences. Today’s sentence type is “Wa-ga construction” with adjective predicates. Though the same caution repeats every time when “Wa-ga construction” appears, a wa-ga construction and a transitive verb predicate sentence should not be confused.
– Wa-ga construction; [Topic] wa [Subject] ga [Predicate].
Example1; Ke’eki wa Kodomotachi ga Tabemashita. (When it comes to that cake, kids have eaten it.)
– Transitive verb predicate sentence; [Subject] wa/ga [Object] o [Transitive verb].
Example2; Kodomotachi wa Ke’eki o Tabemashita. (Kids ate the cake.)
More simply, the particle “ga” is for a subject, the particle “o” is for an Object. This is very the basic of Japanese language.
Actually, the Example1 is a minor type of wa-ga construction. For sake of simplicity, think there are two types of wa-ga constructions;
(1) Double subject and stative predicate
(2) The object turned to be the topic (-wa) and the predicate is a transitive verb.
Learning wa-ga construction of type (2) would end up confusion about the difference between wa-ga construction and transitive verb predicate sentence (hence confusion about the difference between particles “ga” and “o”). So, let us concentrate on the wa-ga construction of type (1). Type (1) has a stative predicate. At A5 in section22 (today), the predicates are I-adjective and Na-adjective, and at A6 (tomorrow), the predicate is the intransitive verb to describe existence, “Aru/Arimasu”.
Anyway, the purpose of this post is not to explain about wa-ga construction, but to show how “verb clause to modify a noun” can fit in the “-ga” word of a wa-ga construction.
Some of I-adjectives and Na-adjectives tend to be predicates of wa-ga construction. Let us pick up “Sukina” as example of Na-adjective, and “Hoshii” as example of I-adjective.
1. Watashi wa Hito ga Suki desu. (I like a human kind.)
Perhaps there is a person who likes any people. But it must be rare. Feeling information that the sentence1 gave you is not enough, you would like to ask what kind of human kind this person like. To say “what kind of human kind”, some modification needs to be placed in front of “Hito (a human kind)”. If the modification is a verb clause, it might be like below;
1’. Watashi wa Okane o Takusan Motte iru Hito ga Suki desu. (I like those who have a lot of money.)
In 1’, “Okane o Takusan Motte iru” is the verb clause modifying the noun “Hito”.
2. Watashi wa Reizouko ga Hoshii desu. (I want a refrigerator.)
There is no grammatical error in sentence 2. But if you said like this in a home appliances store, people there would ask you what kind of refrigerator you need. To say what kind of refrigerator you want, you put a modification in front of the noun “Reizouko (refrigerator)”. If the modification is a verb clause, the sentence 2 would change like below;
2’. Watashi wa Reitouko ga Aru Reizouko ga Hoshii desu. (I want a refrigerator that has the freezer.)
In 2’, “Reitouko ga Aru” is the verb clause modifying the noun “Reizouko”.
Usually, 1-door refrigerator doesn’t have the freezer. Opening the lid, you will see a small space that can make ice in the 1-door refrigerator. So, if you say that you want a refrigerator with freezer, it means you need to buy a 2-door refrigerator.
As was explained in A3 S22, not the particle “-wa” but “-ga” is used for the subject inside a verb clause that modifies a noun. Such “-ga” is often converted to “no” like the following;
2’’. Watashi wa Reitouko no Aru Reizouko ga Hoshii desu. (I want a refrigerator that has the freezer.)
This phenomenon is called “Ga-No Conversion”.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A5 on Section22 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
We have already learned how to apply “Verb modified noun” to a Subject and a Predicate. Now we are going to learn how to apply it to an Object. In order to do it, let’s review the construction of transitive verb predicate sentences;
1. [Subject] wa [Object] o [Transitive Verb] masu.
Of course, sometimes “[Subject] ga” happens, but it’s not our focus now. When we apply “Verb modified noun” to an object, “1.” turns to be like follows;
2. [Subject] wa { [Verb Clause] + [Noun] } o [Transitive Verb] masu.
Look at the following transitive verb sentence;
3: Watashi wa Ko’ohi’i o Nomimasu. (I drink (a cup of) coffee.)
The sentence 3 is okay, but if you want to add some information to the word “Ko’ohi’i (coffee)”, a verb clause could be placed in front of the noun “Ko’ohi’i” as below;
4: Watashi wa Satou o Ireta Ko’ohi’i o Nomimasu. (I drink coffee in which someone poured sugar.)
5: Watashi wa Satou ga Haitte iru Ko’ohi’i o Nomimasu. (I drink coffee which sugar is in.)
Although English translations in parenthesis may seem strange, let us examine the sentences and their verb clauses of 4 and 5’’.
– Sentences’ predicates are “Nomimasu”, which is in present tense for both 4 and 5.
– Verb clauses modifying “Ko’ohi’i”
4; [Satou o Ireta] — “Ireta” is in past/perfect tense.
5; [Satou ga Haitte iru] — “Haitte iru” is in present tense.
You can see that tenses don’t agree between the predicate “Nomimasu” and the verb in noun modifying clause “Ireta” in the sentence 4. As for the sentence 5, tenses do agree between “Nomimasu” and “Haitte iru”, which are both in present tense. The conclusion is that tenses of the predicate and verb in the modifying clause do not always agree. Or even you need to decide the tenses of the two in accordance with reality.
(“Tense of” is omitted in the titles of following <1> through <4>.)
<1> Sentence Predicate is present/future, Verb clause is also present/future
Example: Watashi wa Korekara, Tomodachi ni Ageru Ke’eki o Kai ni Ikimasu.
(Now I am going to buy a sweet cake that I will give to my friend.)
<2> Sentence Predicate is present/future, but Verb clause is past/perfect
Example: Watashi wa Korekara, Tomodachi ni Moratta Ke’eki o Tabemasu.
(Now I am going to eat a sweet cake that my friend gave to me.)
<3> Sentence Predicate is past/perfect, but Verb clause is present/future
Example: Watashi wa Sakki, Tomodachi ni Ageru Ke’eki o Katte Kimashita.
(I just came back from buying a sweet cake that I would give to my friend.)
<4> Sentence Predicate is past/perfect, Verb clause is also past/perfect
Example: Watashi wa Sakki, Tomodachi ni Moratta Ke’eki o Tabemashita.
(I have just eaten a sweet cake that my friend had given to me.)
Things are different between action has been done or not yet done. Therefore, when using a verb, you always need to pay attention to tense. If you want to apply a “noun modifying verb clause”, it is necessary to decide the both tenses of predicate verb and verb in modifying clause taking consideration of sequence of these actions.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A4 on Section22 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
Yesterday we learned the sentence construction in which “verb modified noun” is used in the predicate of “Noun predicate sentence” as below;
[Subject] wa [Predicate] desu.
=> [Subject] wa { [Verb Clause] + [Noun] } desu.
Example: Kore wa Ichnen-sei ga Tsukau Kyoukasho desu. (This is a textbook that the first-grade students use.)
When a “Verb modified noun” is used in the predicate, the sentence must be a “noun predicate sentence (it may sound like a tautology, but)”. On the other, when a “Verb modified noun” is used in the subject, the predicate is not limited to be a noun. So, we are going to learn today the sentence construction whose subject is “verb modified noun”, while the predicate is either of noun, Na-adjective, I-adjective, and verb.
[Subject] wa [Predicate].
=> { [Verb Clause] + [Noun] } wa [Noun] desu.
=> { [Verb Clause] + [Noun] } wa [Na-adjective] desu.
=> { [Verb Clause] + [Noun] } wa [I-adjective] desu.
=> { [Verb Clause] + [Noun] } wa [Verb] masu.
<1> Predicate is Noun
Example: Haha ga yoku Iku Su’upa’a wa ABC Ma’ato desu.
(The supermarket that my mother goes often is ABC Mart.)
<2> Predicate is Na-adjective
Example: Watashitachi ga Toukyou de Itsumo Tomaru Hoteru wa Kirei desu.
(The hotel that we always stay at in Tokyo is clean.)
! “Kireina” is not an I-adjective but a Na-adjective.
<3> Predicate is I-adjective
Example: Satou-san ga Tsukatte iru No’oto Pasokon wa Karui desu.
(The personal computer that Sato-san is using is light.)
<4> Predicate is Verb
Example: Watashi ga Iku Tokoya wa Eki no Chikaku ni Arimasu.
(The barber I go to is near the train station.)
<IMPORTANT> the Subject marker is “ga” for a verb clause modifying a noun
Look at whether “ga” or “wa” is used for indicating the subject inside verb clause that is modifying a noun. The followings are the same as <1> through <4> above.
– { [Haha <ga> yoku Iku] + [Su’upa’a] } wa ABC Ma’ato desu.
– { [Watashitachi <ga> Toukyou de Itsumo Tomaru] + [Hoteru] } wa Kirei desu.
– { [Satou-san <ga> Tsukatte iru] + [No’oto Pasokon] } wa Karui desu.
– { [Watashi <ga> Iku] + [Tokoya] } wa Eki no Chikaku ni Arimasu.
You can see that “ga” is used for the subject inside verb clause that is modifying a noun.
When choosing “wa” or “ga” as the subject marker, the following criteria works;
– When to say condition or action about a known subject, “wa” is used.
– When the purpose of sentence is to say what the subject is, “ga” is used.
Then, why “ga” is used for the subject inside verb clause modifying a noun? The verb clause modifying a noun strongly specifies what kind of a noun that is. Therefore, the verb clause needs to clearly indicate who performs what action on the noun. Usually, the subject inside verb clause is not known to the listener, is what the speaker needs to specify. This is the reason why “ga” is used for the subject inside the verb clause that modifies a noun.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section22 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
We have learned how to modify a noun with verb clause at exercise A1 in Section 22. But examples shown there were not sentence, but phrases. How can we use those phrases in a sentence? To begin with, let us think about where a noun is used in sentences.
– Noun predicate sentence: [Subject] wa [Predicate] desu.
=> [Predicate] is a noun => Exercise A2 : [Predicate] = verb-modified-noun
=> [Subject] is a noun => Exercise A3 : [Subject] = verb-modified-noun
– Transitive verb sentence: [Subject] wa [Object] o [Transitive Verb] masu.
=> [Object] is a noun => Exercise A4 : [Object] = verb-modified-noun
– Wa-ga construction : [Topic] wa [Subject] ga [Predicate]
=> [Subject] is a noun => Exercise A5 and A6 : [Subject] = verb-modified-noun
— Predicates are adjectives in A5, and intransitive verb for existence “Aru/Arimasu” in A6.
Today we are going to learn A2 which uses “verb-modified-noun” for a predicate in noun predicate sentence.
1. [Subject] wa {[Verb clause] + [Noun]} desu.
And a quick review of “verb clause” to modify a noun is that the ending of the verb clause needs to be “concise ending”.
Take a look at the following noun predicate sentence.
2. Kore wa Kyoukasho desu. (This is a textbook.)
The sentence 2 is a correct one. But you may feel this sentence doesn’t have good information. Then let’s apply a verb modification to the predicate “Kyoukasho”.
2’. Kore wa Ichnen-sei ga Tsukau Kyoukasho desu. (This is a textbook that the first-grade students use.)
3. Satou-san wa Hito desu. (Sato-san is a person.)
This is apparently a sentence whose information is not enough.
3’. Satou-san wa Uwagi o Kite iru Hito desu. (Sato-san is the one who is wearing a Jacket.)
4. Koko wa Basho desu. (This is a place.)
This, too, lacks information. Let’s put a modification with a verb in front of the noun “Basho”.
4’. Koko wa Takushii ni Noru Basho desu. (Here is the place we get on a taxi.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 on Section22 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
Strong wind has continued blowing all day today. The wind caused some damage on my vegetables in the field. Because of bad weather, I was just staying inside, but I didn’t have time to write about Japanese Learning tonight. It should have been a sentence construction whose predicate is “a noun modified with verb clause”. I hope I can make it tomorrow.
The photo was taken just five years ago. The end of demolished railway was bullied in weeds.
At first, let us review ways to modify a noun. Putting aside adverbs and adverbials to modify a verb, we are just focusing on modification for a noun. The basic thing is that a modifying word is placed in front of a modified word as below;
[Modifying Word] + [Modified Word]
1. I-adjective modifies a noun
– [ Stem of I-adj ] + I + [ Noun ]
example: Aoi Sora (bule sky), Sabishii Kimochi (sad feeling)
2. Na-adjective modifies a noun
– [ Stem of Na-adj ] + na + [ Noun ]
example: Kireina Hana (beautiful flower), Shizukana Toshokan (quiet library)
3. Noun modifies another Noun
– [ Noun1 ] + no + [Noun2]
example: Nihon no Kuruma (Japanese cars), Watashi no Neko (my cat)
Then, is there a way to modify a noun with a verb? It is what we are learning today.
Recently we have learned “concise endings” in the section 20. They are a kind of writing style*, because they are used for sentence endings in a writing such as newspaper, technical report, and contract document. But the same patterns of verb predicates can also be used for a middle of a sentence, that is to be placed in front of a noun, in order to modify the noun.
The followings are examples of noun-modification with verb clause;
<1> Modified Noun is the object (-o) of a verb
– Present/future-positive:
Example: Kodomo ga Taberu Okashi (snack that kids eat)
The verb “Taberu” is in dictionary form, modifying the noun “Okashi”. “Okashi” is a noun usually being an object of the transitive verb “Taberu/Tabemasu” as “Okashi o Tabemasu”
– Present/future-negative:
Example: Kodomo ga Tabenai Okashi (snack that kids don’t eat)
– Past-positive:
Example: Kinou Tabeta Okashi (snack that I ate yesterday)
– Past-negative:
Example: Kinou Tabenakatta Okashi (snack that I didn’t eat yesterday)
<2> Modified Noun is the subject (-ga) of a verb
– Present/future-positive:
Example: Shukudai o Suru Gakusei (a student who does homework)
The verb “Suru” is in dictionary form, modifying the noun “Gakusei”. “Gakusei” is a noun usually being a subject of the verb “Suru/Shimasu” as “Gakusei ga Shukudai o Shimasu.”
– Present/future-negative:
Example: Shukudai o Shinai Gakusei (a student who doesn’t do homework)
– Past-positive:
Example: Shukudai o Shita Gakusei (a student who did homework)
– Past-negative:
Example: Shukudai o Shinakatta Gakusei (a student who didn’t do homework)
<3> Application of “V-te Iru” to Modification of a Noun
– Present-positive:
Example: Ima Aruite iru Michi (a path that I am walking on now)
“Atuite” is the Te-form of “Aruku/Arukimasu”.
– Present-negative:
Example: Dare mo Aruite inai Michi (a path that no one is walking on.)
– Past-positive:
Example: Tomodachi ga Aruite ita Michi (a path that my friend was walking on.)
– Past-negative:
Example: Dare mo Aruite inakatta Michi (a path that no one was walking on.)
*: Concise ending can also be speech style by putting ending particle like “-yo.”, “-ne”, and “-yone.” I omit mentioning this just for sake of simplicity.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A1 on Section22 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 