The main focus of the section 41 is to make sentences of giving/receiving from the perspective of the treatment expression. Most of the exercises A in this section are about honorific expressions in which actions are done by persons superior to “Watashi”. But in the exercise 3 and 6, sentences deal with persons inferior to “Watashi”. To be exact, those persons of lower status are not an action maker but action receiver, in other words, “Watashi” gives and a person of lower status receives.
And the verb used in the exercise A3 is “Yaru/Yarimasu”. Conjugation pattern is Group1-R.
– Nai-form : Ya<ra>nai
– Masu-form : Ya<ri>masu
– Dictionary form : Ya<ru>
– Conditional form : Ya<re>ba
– Intention form : Ya<ro>u
We can see <ra, ri, ru, re, ro>, therefore “Yaru/Yarimasu” is a verb of Group1-R. As for other conjugation forms; Te-form is Yatte, Ta-form is Yatta, passive form is Yarareru and Potential form is Yareru. If it were Group2, the passive and potential forms would be identical, but it’s not Group2 but Group1-R. So the passive form with “ra”, but the potential form lacks “ra”.
The verb “Yaru/Yarimasu” is sometimes used as a little rough alternative of “Suru/Shimasu”
– Shukudai o Shimasu. (I am going to do homework)
– Shukudai o Yarimasu. (ditto, but used in casual conversation)
But “Yaru/Yarimasu” in today’s sentence construction works as one of giving/receiving verbs. Sometimes the word “Yari-Morai Hyougen” is used in Japanese learning, which means “Giving/Receiving Expression”. “Yari” of “Yari-Morai” came from the verb “Yaru/Yarimasu”. And “Yaru/Yarimasu” is a verb for giving, not receiving, in the case that “Watashi” gives something to someone of lower status than “Watashi”. The example sentences are as follows:
1. Watashi wa Mago ni Okodzukai o Yari mashita. (I gave spending money to my granddaughther/grandsun.)
2. Watashi wa Niwa no Ki ni Mizu o Yari mashita. (I gave water to trees in my garden.)
3. Watashi wa Inu ni Esa o Yari mashita. (I gave my dog a food.)
Note that “Mago(granddaughter/sun)”, “Niwa no Ki(trees in garden)”, and “Inu(dog)” are of lower status than “Watashi”. But, for example, those who love dogs very much would want to treat their dog as a family member. They say not like the sentence 3, but as follows;
3’. Watashi wa Inu ni Gohan o Age masu. (I gave my dog a food.)
————————————–
This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section41 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
