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Yesterday, we learned the Japanese expression that is similar to “I want to do something” in English. Its construction is;
[Verb Clause]+tai desu.
And important thing is the form of a verb to be followed by the auxiliary verb “-tai” behind.
[verb]+ tai => [Verb in Masu-form without Masu]+tai
Then let us review yesterday’s three example conversations. In those three conversations, the questions are the same kind that is “[Name] wa Nani o shitai desuka.” But three answers are slightly different each other.
1. Watashi wa Sumaho o Kaitai desu. (I want to buy a smartphone.)
2. Watashi wa Tomodachi ni Aitai desu. (I want to see my friend.)
3. Watashi wa Amerika de Hatarakitai desu. (I want to work in U.S.)
You can see that different particles are used in 1, 2, and 3.
– Sumaho o Kaitai => “o” for the object of transitive verb “Kau (buy)”
– Tomodachi ni Aitai => “ni” for the reaching point of the action “Au (meet)”
– Amerika de Hatarakitai => “de” for the place of action “Hataraku (work)”
Whenever you use a verb, particles need to be chosen and used properly in accordance with the verb.
Move back onto the auxiliary verb “-tai”. “-tai” is a word to change (conjugate). And its changing pattern is the same as a certain kind of words group. What is it? What is the last letter of “-tai”? It is the letter “i”. In fact, the auxiliary verb “-tai” conjugates in the same way as I-adjective. Today, we are learning only present-positive and present-negative when “-tai” is used for a predicate. So, remember I-adjective predicates for present-positive and present negative;
– present-positive : Kyou wa Atsui desu. (Today, it is hot.)
– present-negative : Kyou wa Atsukunai desu. (Today, it is not hot.)
Likewise, a predicate using “-tai” becomes “-i desu.” for present-positive, and “-kunai desu.” for present-negative.
The following is examples of predicates using “-tai” for present-positive and present-negative;
(want to do / don’t want to do)
<look, watch, see> Mitai desu. / Mitakunai desu.
<eat> Tabetai desu. / Tabetakunai desu.
<come to this side> Kitai desu. / Kitakunai desu.
<do> Shitai desu. / Shitakunai desu.
<buy> Kaitai desu. / Kaitakunai desu.
<go to somewhere> Ikitai desu. / Ikitakunai desu.
<speak, talk> Hanashitai desu. / Hanashitakunai desu.
<get back, go home> Kaeritai desu. / Kaeritakunai desu.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section 13 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
Yesterday, we learned expressions of desire for possession. The expression uses the I-adjective “Hoshii” in the following construction;
1. Watashi wa [A] ga Hoshii desu.
This sentence is almost equivalent to the English one “I want [something]”. What we are going to learn today is like “I want [to do something]”. In the sentence “I want [to do something]”, “do” is a verb. And when you use this sentence in real situation, the original form of a verb is substituted to “do”. But in the case of Japanese, it is not so easy. You need to know the auxiliary verb “-tai” and how to change the form of a verb (conjugation) when a verb is placed in front of “-tai”.
Auxiliary verbs in Japanese are placed behind a verb. And auxiliary verbs change their forms. This “changing forms” of auxiliary verbs will be explained tomorrow. Anyway, “-tai” is one of them and has the function to add the meaning to a verb so as to express desire for action.
A verb must be in correct form when it is followed by an auxiliary verb. When you want to combine a verb and the auxiliary verb “-tai”, think of “masu form” first, and then take “masu” away from it.
[verb]+ tai => [Verb in Masu-form without Masu]+tai
Take a look at examples below. They are in order of “Verb in dictionary form”, “Verb in masu form” and “[Verb in masu form without Masu]+tai”
<look, watch, see> Miru, Mimasu, Mitai
<eat> Taberu, Tabemasu, Tabetai
<come to this side> Kuru, Kimasu, Kitai
<do> Suru, Shimasu, Shitai
<buy> Kau, Kaimasu, Kaitai
<go to somewhere> Iku, Ikimasu, Ikitai
<speak, talk> Hanasu, Hanashimasu, Hanashitai
<get back, go home> Kaeru, Kaerimasu, Kaeritai
Practice the three conversations below.
1. A : Satou-san wa Nani o Shitai desuka. (Sato-san, what do you want to do?)
B : Watashi wa Sumaho o Kaitai desu. (I want to buy a smartphone.)
2. A : Suzuki-san wa Nani o Shitai desuka. (Suzuki-san, what do you want to do?)
B : Watashi wa Tomodachi ni Aitai desu. (I want to see my friend.)
3. A : Takahashi-san wa Nani o Shitai desuka. (Takahashi-san, what do you want to do?)
B : Watashi wa Amerika de Hatarakitai desu. (I want to work in U.S.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 on Section 13 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
Take a look at an example of today’s construction;
example : Watashi wa Kanojo ga Hoshii desu. (I want a girlfriend.)
Note that “Kanojo” in Japanese usually means “a girlfriend”. Only when you learn grammar of a language, or translate sentences of foreign language, “Kanojo” means “she”. Anyway, the example is a “wa-ga construction”. If a teacher does not explain properly “wa-ga construction”, it could result in huge damage on Japanese learners because “wa-ga construction” may make a learner erroneously think that the particle “-ga” is for an object. The most important basic of Japanese is that the particle “-ga” is for a subject, while the particle “-o” for an object.
In an English sentence “I want a girlfriend”, “a girlfriend” is an object of the transitive verb “want”. But in the Japanese sentence “Watashi wa Kanojo ga Hoshii desu.” DO NOT think that “Kanojo(a girlfriend)” is an object, NOR think that “-ga” is the particle for the object.
Rather, think “Kanojo ga” is the subject of the predicate “Hoshii desu”. “Hoshii” is an I-adjective, and means someone wants something. Since “Kanojo” is what you want, it can be the subject of “Hoshii”. It may seem wrong from the context, because “Watashi (I)” is the subject of the sentence. So, I recommend you thinking as shown below;
– Watashi wa = the topic of the sentence
– Kanojo ga = the subject of “Hoshii”
– Hoshii desu = the predicate
It is fact that there are “wa-ga constructions” in Japanese. And sometimes they seem to be a “double subject sentence”. Be careful about “wa-ga construction” sentences, and not be confused with normal transitive verb sentences that use the particle “-o” for the object:
example of “wa-ga construction”;
– Watashi wa Kamera ga Hoshii desu. (I want a camera.)
example of “transitive verb sentence”;
– Watashi wa Kamera o Kaimasu. (I (am going to) buy a camera.)
Perhaps it is difficult to understand the lengthy explanation above. Then simply think that the I-adjective “Hoshii” usually becomes “wa-ga construction”. Practice and remember the following conversation;
A : Satou-san wa Nani ga Hoshii desuka. (Sato-san, what do you want?)
B : Watashi wa Atarashii Sumaho ga Hoshii desu. (I want a brand-new smartphone.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A1 on Section 13 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
In this post, we are going to learn superlative expressions in the form of conversation with a question and an answer. The constructions are as follows;
Q : [Noun] de [Interrogative word] ga Ichiban [Adjective] desuka.
A : [Subject] ga Ichiban [Adjective] desu.
In order to learn the above expressions, we need to know the followings;
– These are Adjective predicate sentences. Therefore, you need to recognize whether the adjective you are going to use is an I-adjective or Na-adjective.
– The particle “de” in this context has a function to limit the range/variation of a Noun.
– An interrogative word shall be chosen in accordance with the noun.
– The adverb “Ichiban” works to indicate the sentence is superlative.
Practice and remember well the following examples of conversation, especially about what an interrogative word is being used in the question.
1. Nani = what
Q : Kudamono de Nani ga Ichiban Oishii desuka. (What is the best fruit?)
A : Ringo ga Ichiban Oishii desu.(I think an apple is the best.)
2. Dare = who
Q : Kurasumeeto de Dare ga Ichiban Genki desuka. (Who is the most energetic student in your class?)
A : Satou-san ga Ichiban Genki desu. (Sato-san is the most energetic.)
3. Doko = where
Q : Nihon de Doko ga Ichiban Kirei desuka. (Where is the most beautiful place in Japan?)
A : Hokkaidou ga Ichiban Kirei desu. (Hokkaido is the most beautiful.)
4. Itsu = when
Q : Ichinen de Itsu ga Ichiban Isogashii desuka. (When is the busiest time in a year?)
A : Sangatsu ga Ichiban Isogashii desu. (March is the busiest in a year.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A4 on Section 12 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
Yesterday we learned an expression for comparison as the following;
1. Eigo wa Nihongo yori Muzukashii desu. (English is more difficult than Japanese.)
Some of you may say Japanese is more difficult than English, but don’t argue which is more difficult or not at this moment. Today, too, we are learning an expression for comparison, which uses “Hou ga”.
Q : Eigo to Nihongo to Dochira ga Muzukashii desuka.
(Which is more difficult, English or Japanese?)
A : Eigo no Hou ga Muzukashii desu.
(English is more difficult than Japanese.)
Actually, the sentence A can be as below;
2. Eigo no Hou ga Nihongo yori Muzukashii desu.
Look at 2. and 1. They look similar, but the difference is;
1. [Subject]= “Eigo wa”
2. [Subject]= “Eigo no Hou ga”
Knowing ‘what is the word “Hou”’ is one issue. But putting aside it, it seems like the issue of which to use for a subject, “wa”or “ga” comes again.
– “[Subject] wa” : the sentence is to explain nature/condition of the subject.
– “[Subject] ga” : the sentence is to identify what(which) the subject is.
Therefore, in the sentence 2;
2. Eigo no Hou ga Nihongo yori Muzukashii desu.
The word “Hou” helps to identify which is more difficult language in the comparison between English and Japanese.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A4 on Section 12 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
It was real, but now I feel them like an illusion.
1. Oosaka wa Koube yori Ookiidesu. (Osaka is bigger than Kobe.)
Tokyo is not the only urban city in Japan. There are many big cities in Japan. If you look at the western part of Japan, you will find some cities are there. Both the cities of Osaka and Kobe have wide surrounding areas, but let us look at their populations under each municipal government. There are 2.8 million citizens in Osaka City, while 1.5 million in Kobe City. Therefore, we can say “Osaka is bigger than Kobe”.
In the construction of “[A] wa [B] yori [Adjective] desu.”, you can substitute [N1 no N2] into [A] and [B], as shown below;
2. Watashi no Ie wa Satou-san no Ie yori Ookiidesu. (My house is bigger than Sato-san’s.)
The above example 1 and 2 use the I-adjective “Ookii(big)”. Not only I-adjective but you can also use Na-adjective in this construction as below.
3. Kono Kouen wa Ano Kouen yori Kirei desu. (This park is more beautiful than that park.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section 12 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
We learned yesterday the endings of past-positive for Noun, Na-adjective, and I-adjective predicate sentences. It is important to know that the ending of I-adjective is different from the endings of Noun and Na-adjective predicate sentences.
<Past-Positive>
1. Noun Predicate => [Noun]+deshita.
2. Na-adjective => [Na-adj]+deshita.
3. I-adjective => [I-adj]+kattadesu.
Not only for “Past-Positive”, also for “Past-Negative” there is the same kind of difference in terms of “Noun and Na-adjective versus I-adjective”
<Past-Negative>
4. Noun Predicate => [Noun]+dewa Arimasen deshita.
example : San’nen mae, Watashi wa Daigakusei dewa Arimasen deshita.
(Three years ago, I was not a university student.)
Note that “dewa” is often shortened to be “ja” which sounds a little casual.
5. Na-adjective => [Na-adj]+dewa Arimasen deshita.
example : San’nen mae, Kono kouen wa Kirei dewa Arimasen deshita.
(Three years ago, this park was neither clean nor beautiful.)
Note that “Kirei” is not an I-adjective but Na-adjective. And spelling is “Kirei”, but pronunciation is “Kire’e”.
3. I-adjective => [I-adj]+ku nakatta desu.
example : Kinou wa Atatakaku nakatta desu.
(Yesterday, it was not warm.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 on Section 12 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
Sentence endings are the most important part of Japanese sentences. We have already learned sentence endings in past tense for verb predicate sentences;
– Past-positive : V+ mashita
example: Tabemashita (ate)
– Past-negative : V+ masendeshita
example: Tabemasendeshita (didn’t eat)
There are four types of predicate sentences in Japanese. Let’s learn the endings of past-positive for Noun, Na-adjective, and I-adjective predicate sentences.
1. Noun Predicate => [Noun]+deshita.
example : San’nen mae, Watashi wa Koukousei deshita.
(Three years ago, I was a high school student.)
Note that “Koukousei” is a noun
2. Na-adjective => [Na-adj]+deshita.
example : San’nen mae. Kono kouen wa Kirei deshita.
(Three years ago, this park was clean and beautiful.)
Note that “Kirei” is not an I-adjective but Na-adjective. And spelling is “Kirei”, but pronunciation is “Kire’e”.
3. I-adjective => [I-adj]+kattadesu.
example : Kinou wa Atatakatta desu.
(Yesterday, it was warm.)
Note that you need to use “kattadesu” for “Past-Positive” of an I-adjective predicate sentence. DO NOT SAY “×Atatakai deshita”, which is wrong.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A1 on Section 12 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
The following sentence was shown yesterday;
1. Watashi no Ie kara Kaisha made Densha de Yon juppun Kakarimasu.
(It takes forty minutes from my home to the company by train.)
How to describe minutes and hours like Yon Juppun was shown yesterday. So, let us look at some other things in the sentence 1.
[Place A] kara [Place B] made
“Kara”and “made” have been already introduced; “A kara” means the starting time, and “B made” means the ending time. Not only for starting time and ending time, “A kara B made” is also used to express spatial starting point and ending point.
[Means of Transportation] de
Particle “de” is used to describe what you use when you take action. Although there are many types of usage of “-de”, typical usages are as below;
– Means of transportation
example : Maiasa Basu de Kaisha e Ikimasu. (I go to the company by bus every morning.)
– Place where action takes
example : Ie de Nemasu. (I sleep in my house.)
– Tools/Means
example : Nihonjin wa Hashi de Gohan o Tabemasu. (Japanese eat food using chopsticks.)
– Language
example : “Butaniku” wa Eigo de Nan desuka. (What is it called for Butaniku in English?)
Practice and remember the following conversation;
A : Satou-san no Ie kara Kaisha made Densha de Donokurai Kakarimasuka.
(Sato-san, how long does it take from your home to the campany?)
B : Watashi no Ie kara Kaisha made Densha de Ichi jikan Kakarimasu.
(From my home to the company, it takes about one hour.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A6 on Section 11 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 