タグ: Japanese learning

I hope you remember the sentence construction that describes ownership as below;

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

Today’s sentence is similar to 1. And it uses numbers for predicate. But let’s at first review a little as preparation for today’s sentence.

From the simplest point of view, a Japanese sentence has the following structure:

2. [Subject] [Predicate].

We are still learning “Noun predicate sentences” only. In the case of a noun predicate sentence, 2 can be as follows;

3. [Noun1] wa [Noun2] desu.

where;

“wa” is the topic marker, and in a simple sentence like 3, usually “wa” is also the subject marker.

“desu” is the ending of a sentence that indicates present-positive with some extent of politeness.

Either or both of Noun1 and Noun2 can be modified;

4. Kono hon wa watashi no hon desu. (This book is my book.)

“Kono” modifies “hon” that is Noun1 and the subject, and “Watashi no” modifies “hon” that is Noun2 and the predicate. But you could feel two “hon”s are repetitive in 4, then you will get the sentence 1. by giving “no” a function as a noun.

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

In today’s sentence, we will put a price into the predicate in order to describe how much a thing costs. And it needs another interrogative word “Ikura” that means how much.

Actually, Japanese has so many patterns as for counting numbers. It is too much to learn in one time. So for today, just practice and remember the following conversation;

A : Kono Jisho wa Ikura desuka. (How much is this dictionary?)

B : Kono Jisho wa 1800 en desu. (This dictionary is 1800 yen.)

1800 => Sen Happyaku

We have already learned several sentences which have construction of

[Subject] was [Noun1] no [Noun2] desu.

example : Watashi wa Niigata Daigaku no Gakusei desu. (I am a student of Niigata Univrsity)

Modification for Noun B by “A no” is limiting the range of meaning of “B”.

Look at interrogative words in the following examples;

A1 : Sore wa NAN no jisho desuka. (What kind of dictionary is that?)

B1 : Kore wa Nihongo no jisho desu. (This is a dictionary of Japanese.)

A2 : Are wa DARE no kuruma desuka. (Whose car is that?)

B2 : Are wa sensei no kuruma desu. (That is (our) teacher’s car.)

In the sentence construction “[Subject] wa [Noun1] no [Noun2] desu(ka).”, A1 uses NAN for Noun1 as interrogative word that means “what”. A2 uses DARE for Noun1 as interrogative word that means “who”. Let’s learn today sentences that use “DOKO” for Noun1 as interrogative words that means “where it has come from” or “where it was made”

A3 : Kore wa Doko no Wain desuka. (Where is this wine coming from?)

B3 : Kore wa Furansu no Wain desu. (This is wine coming from France.)

A4 : Sore wa Doko no Kuruma desuka. (Where is that car made in?)

B4 : Kore wa Nihon no Kuruma desu. (This is a car made in Japan.)

<この投稿は“スリーエーネットワーク、みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版, 第3課A6”の内容に準拠しています>

We are still learning “noun predicate sentences”. Two days ago, we learned the following sentence;

1. “[Something] wa [Place/location] desu.”

– Shokudou wa Ni-kai desu. (The dining room is on the second floor)

Today, we are going to use this type of sentences more widely. The predicate of the sentence 1 is a noun of place/location (Ni-kai = the second floor). But a noun having nature of place/location in its meaning is also applicable to the sentence construction of 1. Probably today’s sentences are useful for self-introduction.

2. Kuni wa Chuugoku desu. (My home country is China.)

– Kuni = country, but in this case, it means home country. “My” is omitted in Japanese, but English translation would have “My” from context.

– Chuugoku = China : Be careful for pronunciation, it’s not “Chugok”

3. Daigaku wa Niigata Daigaku desu. (The university I study at is Niigata University.)

– Daigaku = University : “I study at” is omitted in Japanese, but English translation would have “I study at” from context.

Practice and remember the following sentences;

A : Kaisha wa dochira desuka. (What company are you working at?)

B : Kaisha wa Niigata-Koutsuu desu. (The company I am work at is Niigata-Kotsu(Bus company).)

<この投稿は“スリーエーネットワーク、みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版, 第3課A5”の内容に準拠しています>

When something is somewhere, and the somewhere is described with “Ko-so-a” pronouns for places/locations, the following sentence constructions are used.

1. Shokudou wa koko desu. (The dining room is here.)

2. Shokudou wa soko desu. (The dining room is there.)

3. Shokudou wa asoko desu. (The dining room is over there.)

4. Shokudou wa doko desuka. (Where is the dining room?)

The above sentences have enough politeness to speak in public spaces. However, if you make a change on Ko-so-a words, you can say those expressions in more polite speech style as the followings;

5. Shokudou wa kochira desu. (The dining room is here.)

6. Shokudou wa sochira desu. (The dining room is there.)

7. Shokudou wa achira desu. (The dining room is over there.)

8. Shokudou wa dochira desuka. (Where is the dining room?)

Some textbooks say that the sentences 5 to 8 are more polite than 1 to 4. But the difference between “Kochira” and “Koko”, “Sochira” and “Soko”, and “Achira” and “Asoko” is not only the difference of politeness. “Kochira”, “Sochira”, and “Achira” are pronouns of place/location with a nuance of direction. In this regard, there are other Ko-so-a words group that is the casual version as shown below (the third one).

Ko-so-a(-do) words groups as pronoun;

– Koko, Soko, Asoko, and Doko : for places : politeness is normal

– Kochira, Sochira, Achira, and Dochira : for places and directions : politeness is high

– Kocchi, Socchi, Acchi, and Docchi : for places and directions : politeness is low (casual)

You see the double letters of consonants “cc” for the third group. Its pronunciation is quite difficult for a learner of Japanese as a foreign language.

If the consonant is a plosive or affricate, you prepare for the consonant and one-mora silent for the first letter. If the consonant is fricative, the fricative sound leaks for one-mora before the second letter. In the case of Kocchi, Socchi, Acchi, and Docchi, “ch” is a affricate. Therefore, you need to be silent for the first “c”

Kocchi => [ko][c][chi] = three moras, [c] must be silent, but has length of one mora.

At the beginning, you need to learn polite expressions first, and then casual expressions later. For today, practice and remember the following polite sentences;

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

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

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

< スリーエーネットワーク、みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版, 第3課の練習A4の内容に準拠しています。>

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。＞

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.)

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 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)

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.

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.)