Through the exercises A1 and A2 in this section 29, we have learned one of usages that was expressed by “V-te iru”. Those were to express that a result of action is persisting. When you learn and utter the expressions “V-te iru”, it is important to make Te-form correctly. But have you ever thought about what “iru” is? Probably you know that “iru/imasu” is an intransitive verb to express an existence of an animal and/or people. Apparently, the verb “iru” is one of basic verbs and frequently used one. Those basic verbs were often placed right after a verb in order to add some meanings. Let me call such verbs “auxiliary verbs”. When a basic verb becomes an auxiliary verb, the original meaning of it would get weakened. And an auxiliary verb is usually written in Hiragana. See the examples below;
1. Chichi no Kami ga Shiroku Natte kimasita (きました). (My dad’s hair has become gradually white.)
The auxiliary verb “kuru(kimashita)” has lost the meaning of “come”. It is no longer spatial movement, now it is a change from past to present.
2. Gakkou ni Kyoukasho o Motte Kimashita (来ました). (I came to the school putting the textbook into my bag.)
In this case, the verb “kuru(kimashita)” means “come” in which the speaker really conducted spatial movement. It does not become the auxiliary verb. So, “Kimashita” is written with Kanji.
Today, we are learning another auxiliary verb “-shimau”. This one is not so “basic” verb, but one of important auxiliary verb. Its original meaning is to put something into some places with well-organized manner. Let us check the conjugation of the verb “shimau”
– Dictionary form = Shimau, Masu-form = Shimai masu
– Nai-form = Shimawa nai (Gr1-W)
– Te-form = Shimatte, Ta-form = Shimatta
– Potential form = Shimaeru
When “-shimau” becomes an auxiliary verb, “V-te shimau” has two usages as the following;
(1) A thing to do has already been done. (in the case of past-tense “shimaimashita”)
This is what we are leaning in the exercise A3 today.
(2) Though I didn’t expect, I made an error. (with past-tense “shimaimashita”)
This is what we are going to learn in A4 tomorrow.
Then let us look at examples of “V-te shimau” for the usage (1);
1. Manga no “Wan Pi’isu” wa Zenbu Yonde shimai mashita.
(I have already read through the comic “One Piece”.)
2. Happyou no Suraido wa Mou Tsukutte shimai mashita.
(I have already made slides for presentation.)
3. Shukudai wa Toshokan de Yatte shimaimasu.
(I am going to complete the homework while I am in the library.)
4. Hoteru wa Ashita madeni Yoyaku-shite shimaimasu.
(I am going to make a reservation for the hotel by tomorrow.)
There is one thing that is common to all the four sentences. It is that the particle “wa” is not the subject marker but the topic marker. The original particle was “o” which is to indicate an object of transitive verb’s action. The followings show “[Object] o [Transitive verb]”;
1’ “Wan Pi’isu” o Yomu 2’ Suraido o Tsukuru
3’ Shukudai o Yaru 4’ Hoteru o Yoyaku-suru
Since the speaker wanted to make these objects the topic of the sentences, the object marker “o” turned to be “wa” and the word with “wa” was placed at the top of the sentence. Again, this “wa” is not subject marker but topic marker. Therefore, you cannot find the subject in the sentences 1 through 4. If you cannot find the subject in the sentence, it is usually “Watashi” in the beginner’s level of Japanese learning.
The sentences 1 and 2 end with “mashita.” This means the sentences are of past/perfect tense. On the other, the sentence 3 and 4 end with “masu”. In a verb predicate sentence, the ending with “masu” indicates that the sentence is in present tense sometimes, but usually in future tense. But in the case that the subject is “Watashi (I)”, “Verb+masu” means a strong will of the speaker. The sentence 3 says that the speaker has a strong will to complete his/her homework. And the sentence 4 says that the speaker has a strong will to make a reservation of hotel.
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This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section29 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
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