Japanese Learning: Sentence expressing where the place is; “[Name of a Place] wa [Koko] desu.”; The subject and predicate are reversed compared to yesterday.

Yesterday’s construction was as below;

1. [Ko-so-a word for place] wa [Name of a Place] desu.

The sentence construction of 1 is “noun predicate sentence”. A noun predicate sentence can be segmented as follows;

[Subject]+[Predicate].

Note that a noun predicate sentence is a little like “Noun1 is Noun2.” in English. Both the subject and the predicate are nouns. Let’s learn today a sentence construction in which subject and predicate are reversed from yesterday.

2. [Name of a Place] wa [Ko-so-a word for place] desu.

The following is just a review of Ko-so-a word for place/location that we learned yesterday.

– koko : here, this place

– soko : (1) When the speaker and the listener are close and sharing a limited place, “soko” is a place a little distant from the two.

(2) When there is a distance between the speaker and the listener, and the speaker calls the place of the listener “soko”, the speaker would say “koko” ((2) won’t be applied today).

– asoko : the place over there

Actually, ko-so-a words are sometimes called as “Ko-so-a-do”. I’d like to add “doko” to the above “koko”, “soko”, and “asoko”

– doko : Interrogative word “Where”

Take a look at examples for today’s construction.

3. Kyoushitsu wa koko desu. (The classroom is here.)

4. Kyoushitsu wa soko desu. (The classroom is there.)

5. Kyoushitsu wa asoko desu. (The classroom is over there.)

6. Kyoushitsu wa doko desuka. (Where is the classroom?)

Practice and remember the following sentences;

A : Toire wa doko desuka. (Where is a toilet?)

B : Toire wa asoko desu. (The toilet is over there.)

＜説明事項の漏れを防止するために、当ブログの”Japanese Learning”では、スリーエーネットワーク、”みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版”の練習Aを参照しています。今日は第3課のA2に関連しています。＞

Japanese Learning: Sentence expressing what this place is; “[Koko] wa [Name of a Place] desu.”; Introduction of yet another ko-so-a words’ group.

Let’s learn how to say “This place is what.”, “That place is what”, and “Over there is what”. We use a noun predicate sentence in terms of the sentence construction. We need to know some nouns that describe places like classroom, railway station, dining room, and so on. And we also need to another ko-so-a words’ group that are pronouns for places/locations.

1. [Pronouns for places/locations] wa [Name of a Place] desu.

Pronouns for places/locations;

– koko : here, this place

– soko : (1) When the speaker and the listener are close and sharing a limited place, “soko” is a place a little distant from the two.

(2) When there is a distance between the speaker and the listener, and the speaker calls the place of the listener “soko”, the speaker would say “koko”.

– asoko : the place over there

– wa : a particle functions as topic marker, and subject marker in these cases

Name of a Place;

Remember some nouns that describe places;

– kyoushitsu : a classroom/classrooms

– eki : railway station

– shokudou : dining room

– desu : polite ending for sentence of present-positive

Practice and remember the following sentences;

– Koko wa kyoushitsu desu. (This place is a classroom.)

– Soko wa eki desu. (That place is a railway station.)

– Asoko wa shokudou desu. (The place over there is a dining room.)

Japanese Learning: Sentence expressing ownership “[Kono] [noun] wa [Person] [No] desu.”; Introduction of one of ko-so-a words’ group.

What we learned yesterday was a sentence that expresses ownership using noun-like “no”.

1. [Pronoun] wa [Person] [no] desu.”

example; Are wa watashi no desu.

The problem of sentence 1 is that it doesn’t say anything about what the person owns. We are going to learn today a sentences construction such that can express what the person owns. In order to do this, another ko-so-a words’ group will be introduced.

We know one ko-so-a words’ group that are pronouns “kore”, “sore”, and “are”.

– Kore : a thing very near to the speaker and the listener

– Sore : a thing a little distant from the speaker. If the thing is very near to the listener, the listener will uses “kore” for the same thing when the listener speaks about it.

– Are : a thing far from both of the speaker and the listener

Today’s ko-so-a words are “noun modifiers” that are placed in front of a noun, and modify the noun. Usually, a word modifying a noun is to be called an adjective. But what I call “noun modifiers” are words that are different from I-adjectives and Na-adjectives of Japanese language.

– Kono + noun — example ; kono hon (This book)

– Sono + noun — example ; sono jisho (The dictionary that is a little distant from me)

– Ano + noun — example ; ano kuruma (That car over there)

Look at the difference between the two sentences of three pairs.

– Kore wa watashi no desu. (This is mine.)

– Kono hon wa watashi no desu. (This book is mine.)

– Sore wa Satou-san no desu. (It is Ms. Sato’s.)

– Sono jisho wa Satou-san no desu. (The dictionary there is Ms. Sato’s.)

– Are wa sensei no desu. (That is (our) teacher’s.)

– Ano kuruma wa Sensei no desu. (That car over there is (our) teacher’s.)

Japanese Learning: Sentence expressing ownership “[Pronoun] wa [Person] no desu.”; “no” that functions as a noun.

What we learned yesterday was a sentence that expresses ownership as below.

1. [Pronoun] wa [Person] no [Noun] desu.

example; Are wa watashi no Hon desu. (That is my book.)

Today, too, we are going to learn a sentence construction that expresses ownership.

2. [Pronoun] wa [Person] no desu.”

example; Are wa watashi no desu. (That is mine.)

The sentence 2 doesn’t say about “what is mine”. And it seems that the sentence 2 is a contracted form of 1. But “-no” in the sentence 1 and “no” in the sentence 2 are slightly different. “-no” in 1 is a particle. But “no” in 2 functions as if it is a noun. In later stage of Japanese learning (but still in beginner’s level), you will see that this kind of “no” has a function to make verbs, I-adjectives, and Na-adjectives “a noun phrase”.  

For today, it is better to think “no” in 2 is a contracted form of noun “mono” that means “a thing”.

Practice and remember the conversation below;

A : Kore wa dare no desuka. (Whose is this?)

B : Sore wa Satou-san no desu. (It is Ms. Sato’s.)

Japanese Learning: Sentence expressing ownership “[Pronoun] wa [Person] no [Noun] desu.”

Actually, today’s sentence is the same kind as yesterday.

1. [Pronoun] wa [Noun1] no [Noun2] desu.

Using a word for a person into [Noun1] as below, sentence “1” can express ownership.

2. [Pronoun] wa [Person] no [Noun] desu.

“-no” is a particle, and basically “A no B” in Japanese is “B of A” in English. However, in this case of 2, “A no B” can be understood as “A’s B” in English.

Example;

– Kore wa watashi no Hon desu. (This is my book.)

– Sore wa Satou-san no Jisho desu. (It is Ms. Sato’s dictionary.)

– Are wa Sensei no kuruma desu. (That is (our) teacher’s car.)

There are three pronouns “Kore”, “Sore”, “Are” in the examples above. You need to choose one of three based on spatial positions of the speaker, the listener, and the object.

Practice and remember the conversation below;

A : Sore wa dare no Nohto desuka. (Whose notebook is it?)

B : Kore wa Suzuki-san no Nohto desu. (This is Mr. Suzuki’s notebook.)

Japanese Learning: Noun predicate sentence; [Pronoun] wa [Noun1] no [Noun2] desu.

Japanese sentences are classified in three by the type of predicates;

1. Noun predicate sentences

2. Adjective predicate sentences (I-adjectives and Na-adjectives)

3. Verb predicate sentences

So far, we have only learned “1. Noun predicate sentences”. Review one of noun predicate sentences that is using particle “-no” as below;

4. [Noun1] wa [Noun2] no [Noun3] desu.

Example;

5. Watashi wa Niigata Daigaku no Gakusei desu. (I am a student of Niigata University)

-Watashi : personal pronoun ( I )

-wa : particle ; topic marker, and in this case, also subject marker

-Niigata Daigaku : proper noun (Niigata University) ; this modifies “Gakusei (student)” to limit the range of meaning of student.

-no : particle ; “A no B” in Japanese is like “B of A” in English

-Gakusei : noun (a student/students)

5. is a sentence with the construction of 4., and also described as below;

5’. [Person] wa [modifier] no [Noun describing types of people] desu.

But the sentence construction 4. has more variations. In addition to sentences about person/people, let’s take a look at sentences about things.

6. Kore wa Nihongo no Jisho desu. (This is a dictionary of Japanese.)

You know three pronouns “Kore”, “Sore”, and “Are”. You need to choose one of three based on spatial positions of the speaker, the listener, and the object. Suppose that both the speaker and the listener are close to the object for the following conversation.

A : Kore wa Nan desuka. (What is this?)

B : Kore wa Nihon no Ringo desu. (This is an apple of Japan)

Japanese Learning: Multiple (Two) choice questions of Noun Predicate Sentence;

We have already learned two types of interrogatives;

1. Yes-No questions

A : Koukousei desuka. (Are you a high school student?)

B : Iie, watashi wa koukousei dewa arimasen. (No, I am not a high school student.)

A : Ja, Daigakusei desuka. (Then, are you a university student?)

B : Hai, Watashi wa Daigakusei desu. (Yes, I am a university student.)

2. Wh-questions

A : Ano hito wa dare desuka. (Who is that person?)

B : Ano hito wa Sato-san desu. (That person is Ms. Sato.)

Today we are going to learn another type of interrogative sentence. It is one of multiple choice questions, but with the least number of choices.

3. Multiple choice questions

A : Sore wa Hon desuka, Jisho desuka. (Is it a book or a dictionary?)

B : Kore wa Hon desu. (This is a book.)

The sentence A is a “Two-choice question”. When you are asked by the A, you cannot answer with “Hai (yes)” or “Iie (no)”. You need to choose one of the two, and to answer by saying the nouns that was used in the question. Perhaps there may be a situation in which you would say like the follows;

B’ : Iie, Hon demo Jisho demo arimasen. Nohto desu.

(No, this is neither book nor dictionary, but a notebook.)

But I want you to learn one at a time. Don’t care much about the answer B’. What you need to learn today is the question A and the answer B.

Japanese Learning: <Answers for yesterday> How to choose Pronouns “Kore”, “Sore”, or “Are”.

– Kore : a thing very near to the speaker and the listener

– Sore : a thing a little distant from the speaker but very near to the listener

– Are : a thing far from both of the speaker and the listener

Answer for Q1 : Ringo is “an apple”

A : Kore wa nan desuka.

B : Kore wa ringo desu.

Answer for Q2 : Banana is “a banana”

A : Kore wa nan desuka.

B : Sore wa banana desu.

Answer for Q3 : Sakana is “a fish”

A : Sore wa nan desuka.

B : Kore wa sakana desu.

Answer for Q4 : Tori is “a bird”

A : Are wa nan desuka.

B : Are wa tori desu.

Japanese Learning: How to choose Pronouns “Kore”, “Sore”, or “Are”.

Kore, Sore, and Are are pronouns and one of the word groups of “Ko-So-A words”.

– Kore : a thing very near to the speaker and the listener

– Sore : a thing a little distant from the speaker but very near to the listener

– Are : a thing far from both of the speaker and the listener

How the person A and B would choose “Kore”, “Sore”, or “Are”? Think about them from Q1 to Q4.

Q1 : Ringo is “an apple”

A : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa nan desuka.

B : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa ringo desu.

Q2 : Banana is “a banana”

A : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa nan desuka.

B : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa banana desu.

Q3 : Sakana is “a fish”

A : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa nan desuka.

B : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa sakana desu.

Q4 : Tori is “a bird”

A : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa nan desuka.

B : { Kore or Sore or Are } wa tori desu.

The answers for Q1 through Q4 will be shown tomorrow.

Japanese Learning: Pronoun “Sore”; A speaker calls a thing “Sore” which is on a listener’s side.

Yesterday we learned “Kore”. Kore, Sore, and Are are pronouns and one of the word groups of “Ko-So-A words”. Yesterday I wrote that Kore, Sore, and Are are corresponding to “This”, “It”, and “That”, respectively. Another definition is like; Kore is a thing here or near, Sore is a thing in middle distance, Are is a thing that is in distant place. However, “Sore” is not so simple. If a speaker and a listener are together in limited space like inside taxi, the definition “Sore is in middle distance” is okay. But in many situations, what is Sore for a speaker can be Kore for a listener.

– Kore : a thing very near to the speaker and the listener

– Sore : a thing a little distant from the speaker but very near to the listener

– Are : a thing far from both of the speaker and the listener

Suppose that there is a dictionary on the table. Person A and B are standing by the table and they are face to face.

A : Kore wa nan desuka. (What is this?)

B : Kore wa Jisho desu. (This is a dictionary.)

This is yesterday’s conversation.

Different from the situation above, suppose that Person A and B are standing face to face with the distance of 2 meters (6 feet) between the two. The person B has a smartphone on her hand.

A : Sore wa nan desuka. (What is it?)

B : Kore wa Sumaatofon desu. (This is a smartphone.)