Friday, December 23, 2016

Sentence Practice 12/23/2016

Hurray for reviewing older grammar points!

トム、このたんすを買ってもいい?
Tom, can I buy this dresser?

そのグラスを落とさないでください。
Please don't drop that glass.

ライトはとってもかわいいと思う!
Laito's really cute!

アリスは今日会いたくなかったと言っていった。
Alice said she didn't want to meet today.

誕生日にスバルと東京に行ってもいい?
Can I go to Tokyo with Subaru for his birthday?

動物園にあの象を見に行かないでください。
Please don't go to the zoo to see that elephant.

大阪に行くの時に、友達に泊まると思う。
I think I'll stay with a friend when I go to Osaka.

ジムはお金がないと言っていた。
Jim said he doesn't have any money.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Sentence Practice 12/21/2016

Time to review a few older Genki grammar points.

東京に行くの時に、友にあったり食べ物をたくさん食べたりするよ。
When I go to Tokyo, I'm going to meet people and eat a ton of food.

バルノは醜くなったね。
Bruno's gotten ugly (he didn't used to be).

あの家は手広くてきれいだった。
That house was really spacious and pretty.

弟はまだ日本語の宿題をしていないでしょ。
My little brother hasn't done his Japanese homework yet.

アリスとモールにいっしょに行ったの時にかわいい服を買ったりアイスクリームを食べたりしたんよ。
When I went to the mall together with Alice, we bought cute clothes and had ice cream.

この数学のクラスは難しくなったから、もう好きじゃないんだよ。
This math class became difficult, so I don't like it anymore.

ジムの小妹はとてもおしゃべりで失礼ですよね。
Jim's little sister is really talkative and rude.

まだ晩ごはんを料理していないから、ボーイフレンドはペコペコでしょう。
I haven't cooked dinner yet, so my boyfriend is probably starving.

Monday, December 19, 2016

NHK News Easy

This is a bit of a silly post, but I feel pretty damn proud right now, so I'm gonna make it anyway.

It's extremely difficult to begin reading a variety of material in Japanese, because it seems like every other word I encounter is something new, and something I have to look up in the dictionary. But I'm trying to be persistent about it, and that paid off today. I was finally able to fully understand an NHK News Easy article (the site is here).

I know this isn't a huge accomplishment in the grand scheme of things. But it still means a lot to me, because it means my studies are paying off. And did I mention that learning to read in an entirely new language is extremely difficult? Because it is.

A bit dark, but the article was about a family of four in Japan who was found murdered. Police haven't caught the suspect yet but have a basic description of what he was wearing at the time, so they're asking citizens to keep an eye out for him. They've also asked anyone who potentially has any info to come forward, whether it's a tiny detail or something substantial.

Anyway, not much else to say since this is just a quick celebration post, but hurray! I feel like I can learn to read again! And if I keep reading, I'll only get better.

Sentence Practice 12/19/2016

Time to practice a few concepts from the last chapter of Genki. I'll probably do a couple more grammar reviews in the days leading up to Christmas, then start Genki II in the New Year!

野菜を捨てないほうがいいですよ。
You shouldn't throw out your vegetables.

明日職場に歩かなくちゃだよ。
I have to walk to work tomorrow.

朝ごはんに食べすぎたから、今何もしたくない。
I ate too much at breakfast, so now I don't want to do anything.

 毎日ローバーと公園に行ったほうがいいです。
You'd better go to the park with Rover every day.

数学の宿題をしたくなかったんだよ。
I didn't want to do any math homework.

トムさんのパーティーは遅すぎたよね。
Tom's party was too late.

ジョンさんは入院しなければいけませんでした。
John had to be hospitalized.

今週の週末に日本語を二時間勉強したほうがいいですよ。
You'd better study Japanese for two hours this weekend.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Genki I Finished!

I haven't posted in a few days, partially because I've been dying at my job as a software developer, and partially because I've been finishing up the final workbook exercises in Genki.

And now it's done! I've finished reading through the entire book and I've completed the exercises. I know that's not much of an accomplishment, but it's the first Japanese textbook I've completed, and it makes me feel like I've done a good job of staying on track with my studying.

Now I feel like I'll be able to work through Genki II even faster, and combining that with the extra reading I've been trying to do, I'll have a much better grasp of the language at this time next year.

In fact, I'll potentially be finished with Tobira at this point next year, which is a good N3 book that people often recommend. Even though that still feels so far away, I'm really excited for it, because I can't wait to see the difference in my comprehension.

So, here's to many more hours of studying, and many more a-ha moments! I know the best is yet to come.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Explanations 2.0

I'll admit that I've been putting off this final Genki I lesson for two reasons. One, I've done a similar lesson before with Tae Kim's guide that did a better job of explaining the point. And two, it's an awkward lesson in general, because the grammar itself isn't very concrete. But I'll get on with it now.

First, I'm going to link back to these two lessons here and here, which in turn link to Tae Kim's guide. They have some useful info on this topic. I'll still go ahead and give an overview here, though.

Basically, the Japanese I've learned thus far is more of a "reporting mode." It allows me to relay factual statements to people, without putting much emotion or expression into my words. However, there's another type of speech I can use, which is "explanatory."

Using this explanatory style makes your speech sound more lively, more interesting, and more natural. It's far more conversational and thus is constantly used in the world of Japanese.

This is achieved with the explanatory の particle. Genki lists it as ん, but in reality it originates as の and transforms into ん on certain occasions. Using this particle with nouns and adjectives is fairly well-explained in the above two posts, but I hadn't yet done verbs at that point, so I'll do that now.

The の particle can be placed after plain form verbs to provide the explanatory effect. Since it's often followed by です or だ, it contracts to ん, which is far more natural. Some examples:

明日学校がある。
I have school tomorrow. (factual statement)

明日学校があるんだよ。
I have school tomorrow. (So I can't go out tonight)

アヤトに会いたいです。
I want to see Ayato. (declaration of my desire)

アヤトに会いたいんですよ。
I want to see Ayato. (So tell me where he is)

昨日で泳いだ。
I swam at the lake yesterday. (factual statement)

昨日で泳いだんだよ。
I swam at the lake yesterday. (That's why I'm so tired)

This explanatory tone is very frequently used in response to question words like どうして and どうした. When answering something in response to a どうした question, it's best to mark the subject of the sentence with が.

どうしたの?
What happened? (You look upset)

指輪が無くなったんだよ。
My ring is missing. (That's why I'm upset)

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Using ~ほうがいい For Advice

Using ほうがいい (which means "it's better for you to do...") at the end of a sentence is a way to give someone advice. According to Genki, the action being suggested "is advisable [to do], and if one does not follow the advice, there is a danger or a problem."

So basically, the tone set with this phrase is more than just a casual bit of advice thrown out there. It's specific and directed at somebody for a reason.

The sentence structure used here depends on if the advice is in the affirmative or negative.

Affirmative: use past tense plain form verb
Negative: use present tense plain form verb

部屋をそうじしたほうがいいですよ。
You'd better clean your room.

友達のテストを写さないほうがいいよね。
You shouldn't copy your friend's test.

毎日学校に行ったほうがいいです。
You'd better go to school every day.

晩ごはんを捨てないほうがいいなぁ。
You shouldn't throw out your dinner.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Using でしょう And Its Variants

Lately it's really hard to think of good post titles that don't just have the Japanese grammar point stuck in there. Oh well.

Anyway, でしょう is a word that comes at the end of a sentence, similar to particles like よ or ね, to indicate a certain feeling about the rest of the sentence. It can mean a range of things, such as:

"Probably"
"I wonder"
"It seems"
"I guess"
"Right?"

What it means all depends on intonation and context, like so many other things in this wonderful language.

でしょう is placed after short form verbs. With nouns and adjectives of both types, there is no special conjugation performed - it's simply placed after the word just like よ or ね.

明日ライトに会うでしょう。
I'll probably see Laito tomorrow.

明日ライトに会わないでしょう。
I probably won't see Laito tomorrow.

外は暑いでしょう。
It's probably hot outside.

外は暑くないでしょう。
It's probably not hot outside.

有名な犬でしょう。
It's probably a famous dog.

有名な犬じゃないでしょう。
It's probably not a famous dog.

Sentences can also end in でしょうか to ask a question and sound like they're open to another person's opinion. This is a sentence from Genki:

日本語と韓国語と、どちらのほうが難しいでしょうか。
Which would you say is more difficult, Japanese or Korean?

The other two forms of this word are でしょ and だろう, both of which sound more casual. Any form can be used at the end of a sentence to say something like "...right?", in the sense of confirming information. An upward intonation should be used in that case.

東京に行ったことがあるでしょ?
You've been to Tokyo, right?

明日働くだろう?
You work tomorrow, don't you?

Monday, December 5, 2016

Expressing "Have to" or "Must"

There's a standard phrase used to express necessity or "must" for actions:

ければいけません
きゃいけません

The ければ version is more formal and found in written language, while the きゃ variant is more colloquial and can be found in casual speech. These phrases are added to the end of a negative plain form verb, after dropping the い in ない.

この飴を食べなければいけません。
この飴をたべなきゃいけません。
I have to eat this candy.

Though it sounds strange to have two negatives like that, what this essentially means is "you can't go without doing X", thus representing the "must do" or "have to do" that we have in English.

Because these phrases are painfully long and unwieldy, there are many other variants used in the spoken language. I'm going to list a couple of options for altering the phrases.

くちゃいけません
くてはいけません
いといけません

To make it even more casual, いけません can be dropped entirely, leaving something like:

学校に犬をつれてこなくちゃよ。
I have to bring my dog to school.

そのテストに勉強しないと。
I have to study for that test.

If the ければ or きゃ versions are used (rather than the ultra casual versions), なりません may sometimes replace the いけません portion.

毎日学校に行かなければなりません。
You must go to school every day.

いけません can also be altered as needed to indicate tense and politeness. The same is true for なりません, if it's used.

今朝七時に仕事に出なければいけませんでした。
I had to be to work at 7 this morning.

薬を飲まなくちゃいけない。
I have to take this medicine.

モールに服を買いに行かなきゃいけなかった。
I had to go to the mall to buy clothes.

There's a lot of variants to this phrase, but I think the most common one I've seen thus far is ~くちゃ, because it's far more casual and allows for ease of use. I'll have to read more to ensure I'm familiar with each of them.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Using すぎる to Indicate Excess

I've finally reached the last chapter of Genki I. There's a couple points in this chapter that I've already studied, but also several I haven't, so it's time to jump in so I can soon move on to Genki II.

The verb すぎる, which on its own means something like "to surpass" or "to exceed", can be attached to verb stems to apply an "excessive" meaning to that word.

晩ごはんに食べすぎました。
I ate too much at dinner.

It conjugates as an ichidan verb to indicate tense and politeness, and can be used in other sentence structures just as a normal verb.

前夜飲みすぎたから、今日どこにも行かないつもりだよ。
I drank too much last night, so I'm not going anywhere today.

今朝起きすぎたから、コーヒーをたくさん飲んだ。
I woke up too early this morning, so I drank a lot of coffee.

It can also be attached to adjectives to apply the same type of "excessive" meaning. This is done by dropping the い in i-adjectives, or by just attaching it to the end of na-adjectives.

その犬はうるさすぎるでしょ。
That dog is too noisy.

ライトはこの血が甘すぎると思っている。
Laito thinks this blood is too sweet.

リーさんの部屋は静かすぎます。
Lee-san's room is too quiet.

あの日本語のテストはかんたんすぎるね。
That Japanese test was too easy.

It's important to note that すぎる does not mean "too much" in a good way. As Genki says, "You use it when something is beyond normal or proper, suggesting that you do not welcome it." Thus it's best to use とても or すごく for saying something is in a high degree in a positive manner (such as "you're too kind").

Sunday, November 27, 2016

More on Particles

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Lately I've been busy visiting family for Thanksgiving, so I haven't had a chance to do much grammar study. But now that I'm back, I can finish off Chapter 11 of Genki and close in on the last chapter of the first book.

This post is a bit of a mish-mash of various particle usages, so it's not going to flow particularly well.

The particle は is often used in negative sentences for the sake of contrast. For example:

スポーツはしてないよ。
I don't play sports.

I could've used を there (as in スポーツをする, to play sports), but the negative sentence makes the usage of the は particle sound more natural.

It's also common to use は after に and で for a more natural flow. These examples are from Genki.

英語では話したくないです。
I don't want to speak in English.

広島には行ったことがありません。
I've never been to Hiroshima.

In the case of では, having the は is the difference between something like "at high school" and "as for at high school..." It makes the high school sound more significant since it now has the topic marker on it.

For には, having the は again places more emphasis on the prior noun. This could be the difference between "I've never been to Hiroshima" and "I've never been to Hiroshima", perhaps implying that the person has been elsewhere.

Another place には is commonly used is when describing a location and the things that are found there. Again, this is from Genki.

東京にはデパートがたくさんあります。
東京にデパートがたくさんあります。
There are many department stores in Tokyo.

Without the は, the sentence sounds more like a factual statement, or an answer to the question "Where do you find many department stores?" With the は included, it sounds like a more broad statement that discusses what Tokyo is like as a city.

Finally, the particle に can also be used to state the occasion or purpose of an item.

昼ごはんにお菓子を食べた。
I ate candy at lunch.

リーさんの誕生日のパーティにお酒を飲んだよ。
I drank at Lee's birthday party.

プレゼントに手紙を書いた。
I wrote a letter as a gift.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Verb Form - たりする

In Japanese, the て form is used to connect multiple clauses in a sentence. However, I'll give an example that demonstrates the limitations of the て form.

明日はテレビをみて、宿題をする。
Tomorrow I'm going to watch TV and do homework.

Sentences like this suggest that watching TV and doing homework are the only two things that I plan on doing, and that they'll be done in that order. If I want to be more broad in my statement and list TV and homework as just examples, then there's a special verb form I can use.

[verb A] り  +  [verb B] りする

A couple things to note:
  • Verbs A and B must be in past tense plain form
  • する is conjugated to indicate tense and politeness

This results in a sentence such as the following:

明日はテレビをみたり、宿題をしたりする。
Tomorrow I'm going to do things like watch TV and do homework.

A bit of an awkward translation, but that's the meaning being conveyed with this form. I'll do a few more practice sentences to make sense of it.

先週の週末友達とレストランで晩ごはんを食べたり、カラオケを歌ったりした。
Last weekend I ate dinner at a restaurant with friends and sang karaoke, among other things.

日本に行った時に、お寺を行ったり、友達に合ったりした。
When I went to Japan, I did things like visit temples and meet friends.

夏休みに、阪神に務めたり、隣人の子供に教えたりしました。
Over summer break, I worked for Hanshin and taught my neighbor's kids. (But why?)

ゲームをやったり、辞書を読んだりするのがすきだよ。
I like things like playing games and reading dictionaries. (But why??)

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Experiences

There's a specific way to express that a person has or has not had the experience of doing something. I can't remember if I've done a post on this before, but it's frequently used when getting to know people, so it's very handy.

[past tense verb, plain form] + ことがある

More literally, this says something like "I have had the experience of doing X." The verb ある is conjugated to state whether or not that experience exists.

日本に行ったことがある。
I've been to Japan before.

韓国に行ったことがない。
I've never been to Korea before.

The phrase can also easily be transformed into a question.

アリスちゃん、あの映画を見たことがありますか。
Alice, have you ever seen that movie before?

To answer, Alice can either repeat the entire clause, or she can simply say あります or ありません depending on whether she's seen the movie.

リーさん、馬肉を食べたことがありますか。
Lee-san, have you ever eaten horse meat?

ジムは野球をしたことがないよね。
Jim has never played baseball before.

ライト君、ピアノを弾いたことがある?
Laito, have you ever played piano?

あの遊園地に行ったことがあるよ。
I've been to that amusement park before.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Verbs - Expressing Desire

I know I've had at least two other posts on this grammar topic, but Genki has some extra information on it that's important to note.

To indicate "I want to [verb]",  たい can be added to the stem of a verb to put it into the "desire" form.

学校に行きたい。
I want to go to school.

This form is conjugated like an i-adjective to indicate tense and positivity, so it's very simple.

学校に行きたくない。
I don't want to go to school.

学校に行きたかった。
I wanted to go to school.

学校に行きたくなかった。
I didn't want to go to school.

Usage of the を particle can change slightly when using the たい form. The を particle can either stay as を or become が, and the meaning of the sentence will be identical.

このジャガイモ食べたい。
I want to eat this potato.

このジャガイモ食べたい。
I want to eat this potato.

However, the たい form is generally only used when discussing your own personal desires, rather than someone else's. There are a couple ways to express someone else's desires, and one way is to quote that person.

シュウは今夜血を飲みたいと言っていた。
Shuu said he wants to drink blood tonight.

レイジは家に遊びに来たいと言っていた。
Reiji said he wants to come over to play.

Another way is to use a new verb - たがっている. The original form is たがる, and it essentially means "I think this person wants to do X because of the way he's behaving." This verb is added to the stem of the original verb, just like with たい.

It's important to note that when using たがっている, the を particle must be used. It would not be grammatically correct to use が like we can with たい form.

ライトは起きたがっているね。
Laito wants to go to bed.

スバルは美味しい晩ごはんを焼きたがっている。
Subaru wants to cook a delicious dinner.

リーさんは合格したがっているよね。
Lee-san wants to pass the test.

アヤトはあの本を読みたがっているね。
Ayato wants to read that book.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Sentence Practice 11/14/2016

Now that I've reached Chapter 11 of Genki, which has a few grammatical concepts I'm already familiar with, I'm going to do some sentence practice to review a few older points.

来年韓国に行かないでください。
Please don't go to Korea next year.

りんごといちごとどちらのほうが美味しいですか。
Which is tastier, apples or strawberries?

学校に机を持ってきてもいいですか。
Is it okay if I bring my desk to school?

トムは誕生日に犬が欲しいと言っていた。
Tom said he wants a dog for his birthday.

今日もうテレビを二時間みたよ。
I've already watched TV for two hours today.

明日のテストにまだ勉強していない。
I haven't studied for tomorrow's test yet.

シュウはかわいいと思う。
I think Shuu is really cute.

毎日アリスと電話で話すのが大好きだわ。
I love chatting with Alice on the phone every day.

青のほうが赤よりきれいだね。
Blue is prettier than red.

店でバナナと西瓜とにんじんを買ってください。
Buy some bananas, watermelon, and carrots at the store, please.

アヤトせが高いけどカナトせが低いね。
Ayato is tall, but Kanato is short.

友達の部屋に入らないでください。
Please don't go into my friend's room.

今夜ライトとレストランに行ってもいいですか。
Is it okay if I go to the restaurant with Laito tonight?

木の下に座っている男の人はお兄さんですよ。
The man sitting under the tree is my older brother.

モールに服を買いに行く。
I'm going to the mall to buy some clothes.

リーさんは今日クラスにこないと言っていた。
Lee-san said he's not coming to class today.

ビーチに泳ぎに行って、家に帰った。
We went swimming at the beach, then returned home.

スバルはとてもかっこよくて頭がいいですよ。
Subaru is very attractive and clever.

平日学校にアヤトと歩くのが好きだよ。
I like walking to school with Ayato on weekdays.

この教室が温かくなったから、外に行こう。
This classroom's gotten warm, so let's go outside.

ジムとジョンとマイクの仲で、だれが一番頭がいいですか。
Between Jim, John, and Mike, who's the smartest?

ジョンが一番頭がいいですよ。
John's the smartest.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Sentence Practice 11/10/2016

Time to practice a few of the concepts I've learned in Genki Chapter 10.

今朝は友達の家に行くつもりだから、朝ごはんを食べないつもりだよ。
I'm going to a friend's house this morning, so I'm not going to eat breakfast.

春と秋とどちらが寒いですか。
Which is colder, spring or fall?

日本と中国と韓国の中で、どこが一番きれいですか。
Between Japan, China, and Korea, which is prettiest?

私の犬のほうがあなたのよりおおきいね。
My dog is bigger than yours.

野菜と果物とお菓子の中で、どれが一番好きなの?
Which do you like most - vegetables, fruits, or candy?

趣味の中で何が一番好きですか。
What's your favorite hobby?

数学のほうが文学より難しいよね。
Math is more difficult than literature.

二時間ぐらいに日本語を勉強するつもりだから。
I'm going to study Japanese for a couple hours, so.

動物の中で何が一番好きなの?
What's your favorite animal?

リーさんのほうがジムよりあたまがいいね。
Lee-san is smarter than Jim, isn't he?

ゲームとハイキングとどちらのほうが楽しいですか。
Which is more fun, games or hiking?

アヤトとライトとシュウの中でだれが優しいですか。
Between Ayato, Laito, and Shuu, who's the kindest? (Not a hard question at all...)

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

More on "Something" and "Anything"

Words like 何か and 何も are used in sentences in place of the particles は, が, and を. However, a bit of a strange phenomenon occurs when it comes to the particles に,で, and へ. I'm going to list the words in their respective forms to make this easier.

だれか
どこか

だれにも
どこにも

だれでも
どこでも

ーー
どこへも

The first group is just the "some" form of the words with か added to the end. The other groups are the forms of the words used when they are placed in a sentence with に,で, or へ. The particle is jammed into the middle of the original word ( だれも or どこも ). It is not placed after the word, as it usually is.

だれ__も -> だれにも
どこ__も -> どこにも

Since this is a difficult concept to explain, I'm just going to give a few examples with these words. The last one is partially from Genki.

パーティに行った時に、だれにも会わなかった。
I didn't meet anybody when I went to the party.

リーさんはフランスに来た時に、どこへも行かなかった。
When Lee-san came to France, he didn't go anywhere.

ううん、何もしなかった。
No, I didn't do anything.

I think this is something I need to reinforce with reading practice, because it's tough to understand with so little context.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Progress Update 11/7/2016

I know this site is just for keeping track of my own personal studies, but that doesn't mean I discourage commenting. So if there's ever anyone reading this site who has a comment on a mistake in one of my sentences, or a tip for any grammar points, then that is always welcome. Questions are welcome as well, but as the site suggests, I'm a learner of Japanese, not a teacher. Still, I'll try to clarify anything to the best of my ability.

A few days ago I updated my song translation (here) after delving deeper into the usage of a couple vocab words. It feels more accurate now, though I know it still has a long way to go. I'm kind of excited to see its evolution as I grow more competent in the language.

Anyway, on to actual progress. I honestly can't remember when I first began learning Japanese this year. I want to say sometime in February? Assuming that's the case, this'll be my tenth month of studying Japanese. Progress in this language is noticeably slow-going compared to languages like Spanish because it's so different from English. But I'm still happy with how far I've come, and how much I'm able to understand after roughly ten months of study.

I suppose I'll give an overview of my current study habits, mostly for my own edification.

1. WaniKani to learn kanji and some vocab
2. Genki I to learn grammar (almost done)
3. Anki to expand my vocab
4. Graded readers for reading practice
5. Other random online sources for reading practice

Number 5 includes NHK Easy News, Satori Reader, and other random sites that are in Japanese. I don't use them on a daily basis, but I'll try to read an article maybe a couple times a week.

What I'm currently lacking in is speaking and listening practice. I know listening is key for the JLPT, and it's critical for speaking as well so I can respond appropriately in a conversation. I think using JapanesePod101 to both practice listening and shadow in speaking would help improve that immensely.

So, my plan for the next few months is the following:

1. Finish Genki I and move on to Genki II
2. Continue using Anki and WaniKani
3. Progress with more difficult reading material
4. Add JapanesePod101 for speaking and listening

With each of those, I'm studying Japanese from almost every angle and thus improving my skills while also reinforcing my existing knowledge.

I've spent a lot of time studying and don't plan to stop now. I want to be able to read full articles a few months from now. I want to be able to hold basic conversations. I can only do that if I keep studying.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

"Become" with Nouns and Adjectives

There's a specific grammar structure used in Japanese to say that something has become [insert noun or adjective]. The structure is divided between nouns/na-adjectives and i-adjectives.

I-adjectives
  • Drop the last い and add く
  • 早い -> 早く
  • 正しい -> 正しく
Nouns and na-adjectives
  • Add に at the end of the word
  • きれい -> きれいに
  • 夏 -> 夏に
After that, the verb なる (which means "to become") is added, often in past tense. This is because people are usually saying "X has become Y", which translates to positive past tense.

Genki's first example sentence makes this grammatical structure more understandable.

日本語の勉強が楽しくなりました。
Studying Japanese is fun now. (Studying Japanese has become fun.)

So essentially, using this structure describes a change that has occurred. It may be relative or absolute, as the below example demonstrates.

温かくなりました。
It's become warm/warmer.

Without context, it's difficult to tell whether this sentence is saying that it's become warmer (but is still cold), or if it's become warm (and is no longer cold). This is why context is key.

リーさんはかわいくなった。
Lee-san's gotten cute. (He wasn't before.)

ジムは会社員になりました。
Jim's become a company employee.

スバルの料理はおいしくなった。
Subaru's cooking is really tasty now.

トムは変人になった。
Tom became a real oddball.

アリスの犬は大人しくなりました。
Alice's dog has become obedient.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Stating Plans or Intentions

The Japanese word つもり can be placed after a present tense plain form verb to declare that verb as "a plan." It means that the person is planning to take that action. つもり is just a noun, so it will require adding だ as needed, just like any other noun (like with から, for example).

明日の朝、リーさんの家に朝ごはんを食べるつもりだよ。
Tomorrow morning, I plan to eat breakfast at Lee-san's house.

テストの前に勉強するつもりですね。
You plan to study before the test, right?

シュウは午前五時に寝るつもりだよね。
Shuu plans to go to bed at 5 AM, huh?

つもり can also be used after a negative plain form verb to state what someone intends NOT to do. Additionally, つもり can be conjugated to past tense to say what someone planned on doing. The verb will still be in present tense, however.

トムはルービに贈り物を買うつもりだったけど家にお金を忘れた。
Tom was planning on buying a gift for Ruby, but he forgot his money at home.

誕生日にケーキを焼かないつもりだな。
I don't plan on baking a cake for his birthday.

午後九時まで働くつもりでした。
I planned on working until 9 PM.

パーティに行かないつもりだから、ジムにこのカードをあげてください。
I don't plan on going to the party, so give this card to Jim.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Sentence Practice 11/2/2016

I'm going to practice the new comparison grammar I've learned, as well as a couple older points.

この車のほうがそれのより広い。
This car is wider than that one.

ジムはまだ帰っていないから、まだ晩ごはんを料理していない。
Jim hasn't returned yet, so I haven't cooked dinner yet.

サッカとバスケットボールとどっちが楽しいの?
What's more fun, soccer or basketball?

フランスのアイスクリームのほうがアメリカのよりおいしい。
French ice cream is tastier than American.

今日はもう銀行に行った。
I've already been to the bank today.

アヤトとライトとスバルの中で、だれがいちばんかわいい?
Between Ayato, Laito, and Subaru, who's the cutest?

東京と大阪とどちらのほうが温かい?
Which is warmer, Tokyo or Osaka?

友達は赤いきつねを描いたけどむらさきのが欲しい。
My friend drew me a red fox, but I wanted a purple one.

トキの毛のほうがあの熊のより濃いだな。
Toki's fur is darker than that bear's.

トムはまだ公園にめがねを見つけていないと言ってい
Tom said he hasn't found his glasses at the park yet.

りんごとバナナとどっちのほうが甘い?
Which is sweeter, apples or bananas?

動物の中で何がいちばん好きなの?
What's your favorite animal?

リーさんは学校に行かなかったと思う。
I don't think Lee-san went to school.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Pronoun Particle Usage

The particle の has another use, in that it can replace a noun to avoid repetitive sentences.

隣人は黒い犬がいます。白いのもいます。
My neighbor has a black dog. He also has a white one.

In the second sentence I could've just as easily said 白い犬, but there's no need to waste time repeating this noun I've already mentioned before. Also, just as a side note, も replaces が in the second sentence.

The particle can also be used to state possession, without having to specify the object again.

それはアヤトの財布。
That's Ayato's wallet.

それはアヤトの。
That's Ayato's.

I'll try to create some longer practice sentences where it's used, rather than the obvious ones above.

赤いシャツを買いたかったけど青いの買った。
I wanted to buy a red shirt, but I bought a blue one.

スバルの料理のほうがレイジのよりおいしいと思う。
I think Subaru's cooking is more delicious than Reiji's.

茶色のパンツが好きじゃないから、黒いのを着た。
I don't like brown pants, so I wore black ones.

リーさんは教科書を見つけなかったから、私のをあげた。
Lee-san didn't find his textbook, so I gave him mine.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Comparing Three or More Items

To compare three or more items and create a sort of "most" statement (i.e., "Of these, which is the most X"), there's a standard sentence format used. This is from Genki.

[Class of items] の中で A がいちばん [property].
Among [class of items], A is the most [property] .

ロシアとフランスと日本の中で、どこがいちばん寒いですか。
Between Russia, France, and Japan, which country has the coldest climate?

ロシアがいちばん寒いです。
Russia is the coldest.

This is a pretty simple pattern to follow since it more closely mimics the word order in English. One thing to note is the question word that's used. In the above example it's どこ, because it's referencing a group of locations. Other standard question words can be used here too, though.

季節の中でいつがいちばん好きですか。
Which season do you like the most?

秋がいちばん好きです。
I like fall the most.

In this case,  I believe いつ is used because it's referring to a certain time of year, making it a "when" question. Also, saying いちばん好き is a common way to mark something as "favorite" or "the one I like the most."

Picking a question word when it comes to discussing actual items is a bit easier. It's common to use どれ when an explicit list of items is given, and 何 when a collective group is given. Again, from Genki.

りんごとみかんとさくらんぼの中で、どれがいちばん好きですか。
Between apples, tangerines, and cherries, which one do you like the most?

果物の中で何がいちばん好きですか。
What fruit do you like the most?

This makes sense to me because どれ is used as "which", so it sounds more appropriate when choosing from a list. And with 何 used as "what", having to pick from a group sounds right.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Comparing Two Items

In English when comparing two items, we usually use the -er form of an adjective (or add "more" if -er form doesn't exist). "Hot dogs are cheaper than bacon." However, comparison in Japanese doesn't require altering the adjective like this.

A のほうが B より [property].
A is more [property] than B.

It's important to note that A is the "more" in this case because it has the のほうが attached to it. But のほうが doesn't have to come first in the sentence to serve as "more." The noun that it's attached to is the "more", regardless of what the word order is.

その犬のほうが猫より小さい。
That dog is smaller than my cat.

スバルの昼ごはんのほうが私のよりおいしいね。
Subaru's lunch is tastier than mine.

ライトの紙のほうがアヤトのより長い。
Laito's hair is longer than Ayato's.

このりんごのほうがすいかより大きい。
This apple is bigger than that watermelon.

To ask for someone's opinion on two things in comparative terms, the following format is used.

A と B と 「どちらのほう / どっちのほう」 が [property]?
Between A and B, which is more [property]?

どちら and どっち are also acceptable on their own in such sentences, without the のほう part attached. I imagine that the のほう adds a degree of completeness or formality. どっち is more colloquial sounding.

テレビと本とどちらのほうが楽しいですか。
Which is more fun, TV or books?

バスと自転車とどちらが早いですか。
Which is faster, going by bus or bike?

カナトとレイジとどっちが面白い?
Who's more interesting, Kanato or Reiji?

文学と科学とどっちが易しい?
Which one's easier, literature or science?

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Sentence Practice 10/25/2016

I'm about to move on to chapter ten (out of twelve) in Genki I. Exciting! I'm wondering if I'll be ready for Genki II far before Christmas, or if I should hold off and ask for it as my one gift. It might be good to pause for a couple weeks and review everything I've learned from Genki I. I'll have to see.

トムは宿題をしなかった。
Tom didn't do his homework.

ジムはまだスーパーに行っていない。
Jim hasn't gone to the grocery store yet.

アリスは祭りに行って魚を買った。
Alice went to the festival and bought some fish.

土曜日だから、シュウはまだ起きていないよ。
It's Saturday, so Shuu hasn't gotten up yet.

エミ、家に眼鏡を見つけに来るもいいですか。
Emi, may I come to your house to look for my glasses?

スバルはまだ朝ごはんを料理していない。
Subaru hasn't cooked breakfast yet.

そのバカな男を殺さないでください。
Please don't kill that foolish man.

アヤトは眠いから、まだ血を飲んでいないよ。
Ayato is sleepy, so he hasn't drank my blood yet.

ジニーはもう部屋をそうじした。
Ginny has already cleaned her room.

ライトはまだビーチに行っていない。
Laito hasn't been to the beach yet.

レイジは病気だから、仕事に来なかった。
Reiji is sick, so he didn't come to work.

ジョンはまだ池で泳いでいない。
John hasn't swam in the pond yet.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Sentence Practice 10/23/2016

Time to practice a few grammar points from the past couple chapters.

今晩トムの家に行ってもいいですか。
May I go to Tom's house tonight?

苺とぶどうを見つけてください。
Please find me some strawberries and grapes.

ジョンはまだ朝ごはんを食べていない。
John hasn't eaten breakfast yet.

アリスはもうモールに出に行った。
Alice has already left to go to the mall.

お母さんに話さないでください。
Please don't speak to my mother.

レイジは本屋に行って本を八冊買った。
Reiji went to the bookstore and bought eight books.

アヤト、血を飲んでいいですか。
Ayato, is it okay if I drink some blood?

リーさんは部屋をそうじしなかったよ。
Lee-san didn't clean his room.

ベンはまだ銀行に行っていた。
Ben hasn't gone to the bank yet.

犬の席に座らないでください。
Please don't sit in the dog's seat.

ライトは十一時にオフィスにきてお菓子を持ってきた。
Laito came to my office at 11 and brought me some candy.

ここで写真を撮ってはいけません。
You must not take pictures here.

今晩サムとテレビを見てもいいですか。
May I watch TV tonight with Sam?

目をつぶってください。
Close your eyes.

友達の財布を捨てないでください。
Please don't throw away my friend's wallet.

誕生日に遊園地に行ってもいいですか。
Can I go to the amusement park on my birthday?

スバルはこわい山羊を追わなかった。
Subaru didn't pursue the scary goat.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Perfect Tenses

It's difficult to properly put this grammar point into words, so I'm going to start off with a couple examples to make it more clear. These are pulled right from Genki.

私は昨日宿題をしました。
I did the homework yesterday.

私はもう宿題をしました。
I have already done the homework.

In these two sentences, the English translations contain past tense and past perfect tense (i.e., did vs. have done). However, it's critical to note that in Japanese, the same verb tense is used in both cases - past tense. This is because affirmative past tense can be used for both plain past ("I did this") and past perfect ("I have done this"). Words like 昨日 and もう are used to distinguish the two.

The same is not true for negative past tense. In negative sentences, simple past is used for past tense, while ている form is used for past perfect. Again, these two examples are pulled from Genki.

私は昨日宿題をしませんでした。
I did not do the homework yesterday.

私はまだ宿題をしていません。
I have not done the homework yet.

Here's the way I see it: while plain past is describing something that simply did not get done, past perfect is describing something that's "in progress" of not being done (but you still intend to do it). After all, that's kind of what's implied in English when saying something like "I have not done the work yet" (but will get to it eventually).

This tense can be used with transitive and intransitive verbs, or as Genki calls it, changes and activities. It's also important to note that まだ is used here for the "not yet" part.

芝居はまだ始まっていません。
The play has not yet begun.

アリスは今朝まだ起きていない。
Alice hasn't woken up yet this morning.

スバルはまだ指輪を買っていない。
Subaru hasn't bought me a ring yet.

リーさんはまだ勉強していません。
Lee-san hasn't studied yet.

Sentence Practice 10/20/2016

My current Genki chapter has a lesson on から, something I learned awhile back from Tae Kim's guide. It can be used as a conjunction to bring two sentences together, similar to the the word "so" in English.

The format of the sentence must be reason + から + result, and if the word before から is a plain noun or na-adjective, it must have either です or だ used with it.

Since there are two sentences being combined, there are two opportunities to use either polite or casual form. It's alright to use polite + polite, casual + casual, and casual + polite. But polite + casual is wrong, and it sounds strange if the first half is polite and the second half is casual.

Anyway, since this is a simple concept and I still remember it quite well, I'm going to practice with it a little.

カナトは甘味が欲しかったからパン屋に行った。
Kanato wanted sweets, so he went to the bakery.

レイジは変で青いりんごを見つけたから食べた。
Reiji found a strange blue apple, so he ate it.

外は寒いですから、帰ります。
It's cold outside, so I'm going home.

今日は誕生日だから、今晩出書けている。
Today's my birthday, so I'm going out tonight.

海の幸が好きじゃないから、そのレストランに行きたくない。
I don't like seafood, so I don't want to go to that restaurant.

アヤトは泳ぎが大好きだから、週末プールに行った。
Ayato loves swimming, so we went to the pool over the weekend.

スバルは買い物がつまらないと言っていたから、一緒に遊園地に行った。
Subaru said shopping is boring, so we went to the amusement park together.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Sentence Practice 10/19/2016

I'm going to practice using the plain past tense, as well as some adjective clauses.

リーさん学校へ行った時に、道に子犬を見つけた。
When Lee-san went to school, he found a puppy in the road.

バカ、アリスはかさを無くさなかったけど財布を無くしたよ。
Idiot, Alice didn't lose her umbrella - she lost her wallet!

足を噛んだ男はスバル君だよ。
The guy who bit my leg is Subaru.

ジムは今朝朝ごはんを食べなかったから機嫌い。
Jim didn't eat breakfast this morning, so he's in a bad mood.

糸を遊んでいる猫はトキです。
The cat playing with the yarn is Toki.

アヤトはパン屋に甘味を買いに行った。
Ayato went to the bakery to buy some sweets.

前夜眠かったから、部屋を掃除しなかった。
I was sleepy last night, so I didn't clean my room.

論文を書かなかったけど、シュウに会った。
I didn't write my paper, but I met up with Shuu.

午前一時までライトとゲームをやった。
I played games with Laito until one in the morning.

椅子に座っている子がいとこ。
The kid sitting in the chair is my cousin.

Adjective Clauses

Likely another semi-repeat post, but it's bound to happen with the overlap between Tae Kim and Genki. I think now that I've kinda found my "groove" in Genki, I'll stick with that and only refer to Tae Kim's grammar guide for clarification or specific examples.

Anyway, nouns can be described with long clauses, including ones that contain verbs. These clauses are placed just before the noun, showing that in Japanese, descriptors are almost always positioned this way. This includes phrases like "the guy who busted his head on the wall", or "the busted his head on the wall guy", as it would be ordered in Japanese. Note that the plain form of the verb must be used in these clauses.

あそこで昼ごはんを食べている男は日本語の先生。
The guy eating lunch over there is my Japanese teacher.

かみが短い女子は新しい友達ですよ。
The girl with the short hair is my new friend.

公園に走り回っている犬は母の。
The dog running around at the park is my mom's.

十一時に起きた学生が同居人です。
The student who got up at 11 is my roommate.

It's going to take some practice to read these phrases and recognize them, because as I read I essentially have to store the adjective clause away in my brain until I reach a noun that I can apply it to. But they're simple enough to write with plain verbs, so I'm feeling more comfortable with them for now.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Past Tense - Plain Form

Now that I'm familiar with te-form, verb conjugation to the plain past tense is somewhat simplified. This form is used in the same scenarios as plain present tense - casual conversation, quoting somebody, or acting as a phrase as another part of a sentence (ex. "Fred is good at catching fireflies").

Affirmative past tense essentially means taking the て or で from the te-form and replacing it with た or だ.

Ichidan Verbs
  • Remove the る and add た 
  • Ex: 食べた、開けた、忘れた、いた
Godan Verbs
  • す verbs
    •  Replace す with した
  • く verbs
    • Replace く with いた
  • ぐ verbs
    • Replace ぐ with いだ
  • む、ぶ、ぬ verbs
    • Replace む、ぶ、ぬ with んだ
  • う、つ、る verbs
    • Replace う、つ、る with った
  • Ex: 消した、書いた、泳いだ、死んだ、買った

Negative past tense is done differently, however. Rather than conjugating based off the te-form, I instead go from the negative present tense. All plain negative verbs end in ない, so to make them past tense I simply drop the い and replace it with かった.

リーさんは晩ごはんを食べなかった。
Lee-san did not eat dinner.

アリスはコンサートに行かなかった。
Alice did not go to the concert.

ジムは指輪を買わなかった。
Jim did not buy me a ring.

I'll do some sentence practice next so I can incorporate both of these forms. Even if past affirmative isn't as bad as learning te-form from scratch, I still need lots of practice with it.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Sentence Practice 10/12/2016

I'm going to practice the "quoting" grammar point that I recently learned from Genki.

アヤトは映画を見に行くと言っていた。
Ayato said he wants to go see a movie.

スバルは店に花束を買いに行くと言っていた。
Subaru said he went to the store to buy flowers.

私は一人で買い物に行くと思う。
I think I want to go shopping alone.
 
アリスは文学のクラスが大きらいだと言っていた。
Alice said she hates literature class.

山下先生は今家に帰りたいと思
I think Yamashita-sensei wants to go home now.

ライトはかみがきれいだと思
I think Laito has pretty hair.

リーさんは洗濯していると言っていた。
Lee-san said he's doing laundry.

カナトは学校に犬が走り回っていると言っていた。
Kanato said there's a dog running around at school.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Quoting People

Sentences such as "I think..." or "He said..." are very common in daily speech, and it's fairly easy to translate both of those to Japanese.

If I want to say "I think...", then I add と思います to the end of my statement, where any verbs present must be in plain form.

スバル君はとってもかわいいと思います。
I think Subaru-kun is really cute.

明日テストがあると思います。
I think there's a test tomorrow.

カナトはお菓子が大好きだと思います。
I think Kanato loves candy.

リーさんは動物園に行ったと思います。
I think Lee-san went to the zoo.

アリスは兄弟がいないと思います。
I don't think Alice has any siblings.

In that last sentence, it's important to notice that in the Japanese version, I'm not actually saying "I don't think." In Japanese, it's more common to say "I think this is not true", rather than "I don't think this is true." For example:

ジムは大学生じゃないと思います。
I don't think Jim is a college student. (I think Jim is not a college student.)

トムは新しい車を買わないと思います。
I don't think Tom bought a new car. (I think Tom didn't buy a new car.)

If I want to quote someone's speech like "He said...", then I add と言っていました to the end of the statement. The progressive form used in that phrase means that I was there when I heard the person say it, as in "I heard them saying..."

I must also preserve the original tense when quoting someone, so if Jim says "I have work to do", then I would say "Jim said he has work to do", and NOT "Jim said he had work to do."

シュウは家に勉強しに行っていると言っていました。
Shuu said he's going home to study.

ジョンは今晩メアリーに会いたいと言っていました。
John said he wants to meet with Mary tonight.

レイジは食堂で昼ごはんを食べたと言っていました。
Reiji said he ate lunch in the cafeteria.

The same structure can also be used with similar speech-related words, such as 聞く and 答える.

映画を見ないと聞きました。
I asked if they wanted to see a movie.

アヤトとライトは「はい」と答えました。
Ayato and Laito answered "yes."

Sunday, October 9, 2016

More Question Words

Japanese question words can behave differently depending on what type of sentence they're used in. Here's a couple examples:

何か - Means "something" in positive statements.

何か - Means "anything" in questions.

何も - Means not ... anything in negative statements.

These words are also used on their own in instances where the particles は, が, or を would've normally been used. Essentially, they stand on their own, without those particles.

リーさんは何か食べている。
Lee-san is eating something.

昨日カナトは何か折った。
Kanato broke something yesterday.

きみは何か買ったの?
Did you buy me anything?

パーティに何か持ってくる?
Are you bringing anything to the party?

すりは何も盗まなかった。
The pickpocket didn't steal anything.

レイジさんは何も教えなかった。
Reiji-san didn't tell me anything.

Expressing Like/Dislike With Verbs

One of the earliest taught phrases in Japanese is 好きです, in which someone can express that they like a noun, such as 犬が好きです to say "I like dogs." There's also a way to say that I like or dislike performing certain activities. This uses verb phrases, plus the の particle to nominalize them so we essentially end up with a sentence resembling the previous example.

スバルと運動するのが好きです。
I like working out with Subaru.

学校に子供を手伝うのが好きです。
I like helping the children at my school.

毎晩アヤトとゲームをやるのが大好きです。
I love playing games every night with Ayato.

洗濯するのがきらいです。
I don't like doing laundry.

午前六時半に起きるのがきらいです。
I don't like getting up at 6:30 in the morning.

週末に郵便局に行くのが大きらいです。
I hate going to the post office on weekends.

The exact same sentence structure can be used to say that someone is good or bad at something. The only thing changing is the adjectives used.

ライトはケーキを焼くのが上手です。
Laito is good at baking cakes.

アリスはかくれんぼをするのが下手です。
Alice is bad at playing hide and seek.

Genki states that there's another common way to describe a person's skills (or lack thereof), and it uses the words とくい for good at/comfortable with, and 苦手 for bad at/uncomfortable with.

シュウは日本語を教えるのがとくいです。
Shuu is good at teaching Japanese.

リーさんは トラックを運転するのが苦手です。
Lee-san is bad at driving trucks. 

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Polite Negative Commands

There's a more casual, less authoritative way to ask someone to refrain from doing something, and this time the te-form is not involved. Previously I learned a similar concept:

この果物を食べてはいけません。
You must not eat this fruit.

The softer way to say this is with a negative plain form verb + でください.

この果物を食べないでください。
Please don't eat this fruit.

宿題を忘れないでください。
Please don't forget your homework.

そこに座らないでください。
Please don't sit there.

あさって店に来ないでください。
Please don't come to the store the day after tomorrow.

リーさんに電話しないでください。
Please don't call Lee-san.

Plain Form Verbs

I know I've learned these verb conjugations already, but I'm going to do a quick refresh here since they're used in my current chapter of Genki. I'm on Chapter 8 right now, so woohoo! Over halfway done!

Present, positive, plain verbs are simply the dictionary form of the verb. That's the original form with no conjugations. To change them into plain negative form, I do the following:

Ichidan Verbs:
  • Drop the る and add ない.
Godan Verbs:
  • If the verb ends in う 
    • Change the う to わ and add ない
  • If the verb ends in anything else
    • Replace the u-sound with the a-equivalent and add ない
Exception Verbs:
  • する - しない
  • 来る - こない
  • ある - ない
Plain form is used in a variety of grammatical constructs where polite form simply can't be used, so it's important to be comfortable with it.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Dance With Devils - The Late Show

Okay, so this is my first ever Japanese translation of a song, so I realize it's probably going to be pretty terrible. This is also my first draft of it, without much editing, so I'm still trying to work out the meanings of some things (especially the couple sections after the first round of the chorus). I might update this post as I go with corrections.

The song is The Late Show from a Dance With Devils CD I was given. I don't own these lyrics, but I did go through a lot of effort in terms of writing and translation. Please don't steal them, and be sure to link back to them here if you use them.

パーリーパーリー  Yeah!! (パーリーパーリー  Yeah!!)
ハッピーハッピー  Yeah!! (ハッピーハッピー)
パーリーパーリー  Yeah!! (パーリーパーリー  Yeah!!)
ハッピーハッピー  Yeah!! 始まるZE!!

スマートなフォンが呼んでる
アドレンナリン出し放しのまま
ついさっき ベッドに入ったばかり
ウソ!?  もう 昼の12時!?
ジャーマネが残した着歴
75件!? ストーカー並みじゃね?
それなのに気付かないってさ
マジ!? オレ 逆に尊敬

オレを待っていてくれる みんなの声
I'm alive 今行くからな 心配すんな

始まるぜ! The Late Show
遅れた分 愛を倍増
お集まりただき、誠にサンキューな!!
盛り上がる準備はできてるか? ついて来いよな
終わりよければすべて結果オーライさ


MCでもネタになったし
ある意味忘れられない日に
それだけで得した気分
アレ!? オレ 反省してる!?

発想の転換をすれば スペシャルだぜ
こんな こともう二度と・・・きっとないから

最高! The Late Show
熱すぎる夜を届ける
お集まりいただき、マジで感謝だぜ!!
まだまだこれからだ!! 手を上げて声を聴かせろ
一夜限りのTonight 胸に刻め Your heart


アンコール! The Late Show
遅れた分 愛を倍増
お集まりただき、誠にサンキューな!!


最後まで! The Late Show
楽しんでいい夢見ろよ
お集まりただきホント感謝だぜ!!
燃え尽きる準備はできてるか? 相手してやる
終わりよければすべて結果オーライさ


パーリーパーリー  Yeah!! (パーリーパーリー  Yeah!!)
ハッピーハッピー  Yeah!! (ハッピーハッピー  Yeah!!)
パーリーパーリー  Yeah!! (パーリーパーリー  Yeah!!)
ハッピーハッピー  Yeah!! アリガト Good night ベイベ よく眠RE!!!

Party party, yeah!! (Party party, yeah!!)
Happy happy, yeah!! (Happy, happy)
Party party, yeah!! (Party party, yeah!!)
Happy happy, yeah!! Now then, let's begin!!

Calling on your smart phone
Your adrenaline still coursing through
Only having just laid down in bed
Really?! It's already noon?!
Your boss lingering in your call history
75 calls?! Not your ordinary stalker, hmm?
But even so, you say you don't realize it
Really?! That's quite the opposite of polite

Waiting for me to begin, everyone's voices...
I'm alive, it all starts now, don't you worry

Let's begin! The Late Show
A love that's long overdue
A genuine thank you for your attendance!
Are you ready to get excited? Then come along with me
With the perfect finale, everything will be alright
R-r-r-right

This little talk has become proof
In a way, it's more unforgettable by the day
Not only did it set the mood
Huh?! You're still thinking about me?!

If you have a change of heart
Such things will never again be certain

It's the greatest! The Late Show
So much passion to offer tonight
A pure sense of gratitude for your presence
It's not over yet! Give me your hand, let me hear that voice of yours
The lengths to which we go tonight will forever be etched in your heart

Encore! The Late Show
A love that's long overdue
A genuine thank you for your attendance!

Until the end! The Late Show
Enjoy yourself, and have sweet dreams
A pure sense of gratitude for your presence
Are you exhausted, or are you ready for more? Then stay with me...
With the perfect finale, everything will be alright
R-r-r-right

Party party, yeah!! (Party party, yeah!!)
Happy happy, yeah!! (Happy happy, yeah!!)
Party party, yeah!! (Party party, yeah!!)
Happy happy, yeah!! Truly, thank you, good night baby, sleep well!!!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Counting People

Japanese is notorious for its usage of counters, and it's probably one of the most unfamiliar aspects of the language. Thankfully in the case of counting people, the system isn't too painful. Here's the list of counting up to ten people:

一人 - ひとり
二人 - ふたり
三人 - さんにん
四人 - よにん
五人 - ごにん
六人 - ろくにん
七人 - しちにん / ななにん
八人 - はちにん
九人 - きゅうにん
十人 - じゅうにん

One/two people are irregular, but the rest are mostly fine. That is often not the case with other counters, which leads to strange variations in the readings.

To describe how many people there are, I can add the が particle after the people-related noun, followed by the appropriate counter. いる is used here since people are living creatures, not objects.

日本語のクラスには学生が九人います。
There are nine students in my Japanese class.

今日公園に友達が二人いた。
Two of my friends were at the park today.

昨日レストランにウェイターが五人いました。
There were five waiters at the restaurant yesterday.

アパートに男が三人いる。
There are three guys at my apartment.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Purpose of Movement

I'm certain I've made a post on this topic before, but I'm going to repeat it because it's in this chapter of Genki. Plus reinforcement is always good.

Use of a verb stem + に + 行く (or other motion verbs like 来る or 帰る) indicates that someone is going somewhere to do something. I know that's quite the vague description, so let me give a few examples.

アリスは家にゲームをやりに来た。
Alice came over to play games.

アヤトは学校に友達を会いに行った。
Ayato went to school to see his friend.

ライトは家にねに帰った。
Laito went home to sleep.

スバルはモールに服を買いに行った。
Subaru went to the mall to buy clothes.

私は図書館に文学を勉強しに行った。
I went to the library to study literature.

This lesson seems kind of short, but I know this is an extremely common speech pattern that we use in daily life, so it's good to have it here as reinforcement.

Te-Form - Nouns and Adjectives

Apparently the te-form is going to follow me to my grave. With verbs, the te-form can be used to join sentences by listing multiple actions. When applied to nouns and adjectives, it can be used to join sentences in much the same way. Converting them to te-form is fairly simple.

I-adjectives: Replace the い with くて.

Na-adjectives and nouns: Add で.

For any of the above types of words in this form, です would not be used immediately afterwards. It would instead be used at the end of the sentence. The last noun or adjective in the list conveys the tense and is not in te-form, just like with verbs.

その犬はとてもかわいくて、元気です。
That dog is really cute and energetic.

アリスは高校にきれいで、人気だった。
In high school, Alice was pretty and popular.

部屋は暗くて、未組織だね。
My room is dark and unorganized.

猫はよくて、眠かった。
The cat was happy and sleepy.

いとこは静かで、親切です。
My cousin is quiet and kind.

Describing Physical Traits

Well, this is an oddly specific topic, but I'll stick it in its own post because it's common enough. There's a fairly standard way of commenting on someone's personal attributes, particularly their stature or intelligence.

スバル君はせが高い。
Subaru is tall.

カナトはせが低い。
Kanato is short.

アヤト君は頭がいい。
Ayato is clever.

ライト君は髪が長い。
Laito has long hair.

The basic format, as demonstrated with the above examples, is:

[Person] は [part] が [descriptive clause]

シュウ君は目がきれい。
Shuu has pretty eyes.

リーさんは耳が大きい。
Lee-san has big ears.

アリスちゃんは手がかわいい。
Alice has cute hands.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Habitual Actions

Yet another use for the ている form is to describe a person's habitual actions. For example, I can say:

アヤトは毎朝血を飲んでいる。
Ayato drinks blood every morning.

ライトは毎週末図書館に行っている。
Laito goes to the library every weekend.

Neither of those translations have an -ing verb, because I'm not saying that Ayato is drinking blood 24/7 (though he would if he could). I'm merely stating that he has a habit of doing so every morning, and that he continues to exist that way. The same goes for Laito's sentence.

ている form is also used for occupations and residency. The reasoning is much the same - if I work in a certain field or live in a certain place, it is a continued state of existence and should be described as such.

シュウ君は日本語を教えている。
Shuu teaches Japanese.

リーさんは阪神に勤めている。
Lee-san works for Hanshin.

カナトは東京に住んでいる。
Kanato lives in Tokyo.

スバル君は邸宅に住んでいる。
Subaru lives in a mansion.

More on Progressive Form

There's another use for the progressive form in Japanese, although it may be better to call it the ている form to avoid confusion. In English, we simply use the present tense to declare certain states. "I have lots of money" or "I know your sister" are two examples. However, in Japanese, the ている form would be used in both of those cases. I'll try my best to explain the reasoning.

If I have lots of money, that is sort of like a continued state. It doesn't refer to a state that's only true at this exact moment. The same is true with "I know your sister." I don't cease to know her after the sentence is finished. My knowledge of her is an ongoing state that continues to be true. So, rather than use the present tense to say that I know her, I would use the ている form because I want to convey that I'm in a state of knowing her.

Because this is an entirely new concept and is a bit difficult to comprehend at first, I'm going to copy some examples directly from my Genki textbook. The following are common verbs that use the ている form to convey a continued state.

結婚している - is married

座っている - is seated

持っている - has

知っている - knows

太っている - is overweight

やせている - is thin

着ている - wears/is wearing

起きている - is awake

住んでいる - lives

勤めている - works for

The verbs 行っている and 来ている are very common, as well. In this form, they do NOT say "is going" or "is coming." What they do is "indicate the current state that resulted from prior movements" (from Genki).

アヤトはカナダに行っている。
Ayato has gone to/is in Canada.

ライトは家に来ている。
Laito has come over.

This is probably the most difficult concept I've studied to date because, like I said, it's rather different from English. But at the same time, it almost makes sense intuitively. I think I would find it strange to read 姉を知る (I know your sister, plain present tense) because it just sounds wrong. With ている we are describing a continued state in which we know her, and that makes sense.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Progressive Form

In English, the progressive form refers to our -ing verbs, and it shows that something is in an ongoing state. "He is running" tells me that the action is currently happening. There's an equivalent version in Japanese used with the ている form of verbs.

This simply requires putting the verb in て form, then adding いる to the end of it in its appropriate form. It can be conjugated as necessary as a standard ichidan verb, so います, いない, etc. The tense is determined by how いる is conjugated.

アヤトは本を読んでいる。
Ayato is reading a book.

ライトは今寝ていない。
Laito is not sleeping right now.

スバル君はお菓子を食べていた。
Subaru was eating candy.

This is actually very similar to the construct we use in English and thus fairly easy to read. In more casual situations, the い in いる is dropped, so it'll read as てる (or the appropriate conjugation, minus the い).

何をしてるの?
What are you doing?

リーさんに話してるよ。
I'm talking to Lee-san.

今テレビを見てない。
I'm not watching TV right now.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Sentence Practice 9/26/2016

I'm going to write several sentences that use a bunch of different grammar points that I've covered in the past couple months. I don't want any of these points to simply fall out of my brain, so it's best to use them to ensure I refresh my memory.

午後九時半ごろアヤトと宿に帰りたい。
I want to return to the hotel with Ayato around 9:30 PM.

店に行く時に、お菓子を買ってください。
When you go to the store, buy me some candy please.

明日六時に映画を見よう。
Let's see a movie tomorrow at 6.

昨日ゲームを四時間ぐらいやった。
Yesterday I played games for about four hours.

あそこにけれいな蝶々がいる。
There's a beautiful butterfly over there.

母は明日忙しいから、私と買い物に行きたくない。
My mom is busy tomorrow, so she doesn't want to go shopping with me.

リーさんはいつも苺を食べる。彼はみかんも食べる。
Lee-san always eats strawberries. He also eats tangerines.

今日は音楽を聞いて、プールで泳いで、猫に歌った。
Today I listened to music, swam in the pool, and sang to my cat.

アヤトの家に行こう。
Let's go to Ayato's house.

ライトと図書館で勉強したいけど、今日英語のテストがあるよ。
I want to study at the library with Laito, but he has a test in English today.

喫茶店で朝ごはんを食べてもいいですか。
Is it okay if I eat breakfast at the cafe?

私の部屋で吸ってはいけない。
You must not smoke in my room.

スバルは動物園に行った。彼はビーチにも行った。
Subaru when to the zoo. He also went to the beach.

ここで昼ごはんを食べて、買い物に行きましょう。
Let's eat lunch here, then go shopping.

教科書は机の下にある。
The textbook is under the desk.

でもアリスにその本をあげたかったよ。
But I wanted to give that book to Alice.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Explanations and Assistance

Some of the grammar points in Genki are random or very loosely-related, resulting in shorter posts on my end. I'm going to group the last two points in this chapter into one post since they're fairly brief and kind of touch on things I've already reviewed.

The first is から, which acts as an explanatory particle. I've already learned how to create compound sentences with it, but I can also use it at the end of a sentence to treat it as an explanation.

学校に行きたくないから。
Because I don't want to go to school.

アヤトがとってもかわいいから!
Because Ayato is really cute!

ライトが私に花束をくれたから。
Because Laito gave me a bouquet of flowers.

The second point relates to the volitional form, with ましょうか being used to say "let's do x." It can also be used to say something like "let me do x" to offer someone help.

やりましょうか。
I'll do it.

本を持ちましょうか。
Shall I carry your books?

直しましょうか。
I'll fix it for you.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Te Form - Multiple Verbs

Throughout my Japanese studies, I've been waiting for the day where I find an "and" that's used for linking verbs so I can say I did multiple things in one sentence. Well, there's not necessarily an "and" for that, but there's an equivalent.

If I want to say that I did multiple things, I use the te form. The overall tense is determined by the last verb in the sentence.

昨日リーさんと朝ごはんを食べて、図書館で日本語を勉強した。
Yesterday I ate breakfast with Lee-san, then studied Japanese at the library.

今朝六時に起きて、学校に行って、午後三時帰った。
This morning I got up at 6, went to school, then came home at 3.

明日アヤトに会って、午後九時ごろに酒場でカラオケを歌いに行く。
Tomorrow I'll meet with Ayato, then go to the bar to sing karaoke around 9.

ここで昼ごはんを食べて、モールで買い物に行こう。
Let's each lunch here, then go shopping at the mall.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Te Form - Permission

The te form, when used alongside another set phrase (listed below), can be used to ask for or grant permission.

てverb +  もいいです =  "You may do [verb]."

This can be made into a question by either changing it to ですか or providing the proper inflection. It can also be made more casual by dropping も.

  リー: テレビを見てもいいですか。
ホリー: はい、いいです。

   Lee: May I watch TV?
Holly: Yes, you may.

アリス: この苺を食べてもいいですか。
ホリー: はい、いいです。

Alice: May I eat this strawberry?
Holly: Yes, you may.

 アヤト: 君の本を読んでいいですか。
ほりー: いいよ。

Ayato: Can I read your book?
Holly: Sure.

  ライト: 君のノートを借りていいですか。
ほりー: いいよ。

Laito: Can I borrow your notebook?
Holly: Sure.

To state that something is prohibited, I can use the following form:

てverb + はいけません  (or  いけない, which is not polite form)

その池で泳いではいけません。
You must not swim in that pond.

花を食べてはいけません。
You must not eat the flowers.

この水を飲んではいけません。
You must not drink this water.

This isn't something typically used in an everyday conversation because it sounds more authoritative. It's meant in the "rules" sense and would sound harsh if used with friends or acquaintances.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Te Form - Requests

The te form can be used to make requests. Examples best demonstrate this.

教科書を勉強してください。
Study the textbook, please.

昼ごはんを食べてください。
Eat your lunch, please.

銀行を行ってください。
Go to the bank, please.

野菜を買ってください。
Buy me some vegetables, please.

帰ってください。
Come home, please.

Te form of a verb plus ください results in a polite request. Removing the ください makes it more casual, and thus something more commonly used with friends and family.

窓を開けて。
Open the window.

ベンチに座って。
Take a seat on the bench.

誕生日を教えて。
Tell me your birthday.

姉に話して。
Talk to your sister.

戸を閉めて。
Close the door.

Te Form - Conjugation

Well, this has been looming over me for awhile, and it's time to finally take the plunge. The te form in Japanese is arguably one of the most important verb conjugations to learn because it's used in many grammar constructs. It's also the most difficult form to learn because of our lovely godan verbs, which have to be separated into four additional categories for proper conjugation. But I'm sure it'll begin to feel more natural as I practice with them, so let's get started.

Ichidan Verbs:
  • Drop the る and add て

Godan Verbs:
  •  
    • す → して
  • く、ぐ
    • く → いて
    • ぐ → いで
  • む、ぶ、ぬ
    • む → んで
    • ぶ → んで
    • ぬ → んで
  • る、う、つ 
    • る → って
    • う → って
    • つ → って
Exceptions:
  • する → して
  • 来る → きて
  • 行く  → 行って

I know that's painful to look at. I'm going to list a few example conjugations of each type so it becomes slightly more familiar and more clear.

話す → 話して
化かす → 化かして
動く → 動いて
働く → 働いて
泳ぐ → 泳いで
飲む → 飲んで
読む → 読んで
選ぶ → 選んで
転ぶ → 転んで
死ぬ → 死んで
分かる → 分かって
知る → 知って
買う → 買って
待つ → 待って
持つ → 持って

Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Sentence Practice 9/16/2016

アヤトは明日十一時に一緒に公園に行きたい。
Tomorrow at 11, Ayato wants to go to the park together.

私とライトは今朝ビーチで一緒に三時間泳いだ。
This morning, Laito and I swam at the beach together for three hours.

スバルが昨晩家の後ろで殺人者を見つけた。
Subaru found the murderer behind his home last night.

リーさんはお金がないから、学校で朝ごはんを食べた。
Lee-san ate breakfast at school since he didn't have any money.

アリスは新しいパソコンを買ってけどレーチェルが昨日盗んだ。
Alice bought a new PC, but Rachel stole it yesterday.

A mixture of peaceful and not-so-peaceful scenes going on here. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Progress Report - 9/14/2016

I haven't actually done one of these since I began using this blog back in May (wow, it's been that long?), so I think now's a good time to start.

In May I'd say I was still at a very basic level of Japanese. I didn't know much beyond stringing nouns and adjectives together to try to form simple descriptive sentences. The most I could do in terms of "verbs" is use 好き or きらい to say I like or hate something. (I know those are not verbs in Japanese, they just translate as such in English.)

Now, I'm able to use verbs in past and present form, polite or casual. I also know the "desire" form, as well as the volitional. I can specify direct and indirect objects, the location, time, and means by which something is done, as well as who I may perform that action with. I also know about noun and adjective conjugation for positive/negative and present/past tense.

My current study tools:
-Tae Kim's guide
-Genki I
-Anki (kana deck)
-WaniKani

I need to continue on my grammar studies most of all, because that is critical for being able to read things like NHK Easy News and Satori Beta articles. I also need to vastly increase my vocabulary, because although WaniKani teaches ~6,000 words, not all of them are relevant, and that's still not nearly enough.

I would like to complete Genki I and have a thorough understanding of all its contents by the end of this year. That leaves me to do a chapter about every two weeks, which I think is perfectly reasonable, even with the workbook included. I'm feeling very confident in the material thus far, so hopefully that will continue. Then I can start Genki II in the new year, and continue to improve my grammar.

I recently bought a book called Japanese The Manga Way, which is very highly recommended for its concise but well-explained grammar points. Reviews state that it contains a great deal of info for casual Japanese conversations, which you're not going to find in standard textbooks, so I think it'll be a great Genki supplement. It'll help me learn to read manga earlier on, which will be encouraging.

Right now my two weakest areas are speaking and listening. They're the most difficult to improve without pure immersion in Japan, but there are two ways to overcome that: one, practice listening with the Genki CDs (which I do already) and JapanesePod101 (I have an account there but haven't used it), and two, use italki to do speaking practice with a teacher. This is the most difficult part due to my lacking vocabulary and shyness, but it's something I need to overcome.

Overall, I feel pretty good about where I currently stand. If I continue learning kanji and studying grammar while simultaneously expanding my vocabulary, then my understanding of the language will only grow. It will make learning how to speak and listen easier, and make practice a lot more fun in general. I'm excited to continue improving my skills.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Writing Practice 9/12/2016

In Genki there's a section for each chapter containing reading and writing exercises. I think I'm going to do the writing practices here, and potentially post them on italki for corrections.

My first prompt is to write about my daily routine, so here we go. I'm going to write as if I'm a student, because otherwise things are far more dull. I'll provide English translations as well, but they're going to be terribly choppy due to the nature of these sentence structures.

私は朝たいてい八時半に起きます。台所で朝ごはんを食べます。それから日本語を二時間ぐらい勉強します。十二時に宿題を一時間します。一時に彼と昼ごはんを食べます。二時ごろにたいてい図書館で本を読みます。時々喫茶店でコーヒーを飲みます。六時によくレストランで友達と晩ごはんを食べます。楽しいですね!八時に帰ります。彼とゲームをやります、それから十二時半に寝ます。

I usually get up at 8:30 in the morning. I eat breakfast in the kitchen. After that, I study Japanese for about 2 hours. At 12 noon I do homework for about an hour. At 1 I eat lunch with my boyfriend. Around 2 I usually go to the library to read books. Sometimes I get coffee at the cafe. At 6 I often eat dinner with my friends at a restaurant. It's a lot of fun! At 8 I return home. I play games with my boyfriend, and then I go to bed at 12:30.

Next is to write as if I'm leaving a note for a roommate, telling them where I'll be today.

サラ、
私は今日大学でライト君と英語を勉強します。それからレストランで昼ごはんを食べます。六時ごろにライトの友達に会いますから、家で晩ごはんを食べません。それから映画館にいきます。十時ごろに帰ります。
- ホリー

Sara,
Today I'm going to the university to study English with Laito. After that, we're eating lunch at a restaurant. Around 6 we're going to meet with Laito's friends, so I won't be eating dinner at home. We're going to the movie theater after that. I should return home around 10.
-Holly

Finally, I need to write a brief summary of what I did this past weekend.

金曜日に友達の家に行きました。そこに晩ごはんを食べました。テレビを見ました、それから九時半ごろに家に帰りました。土曜日に彼と公園に行きました。暑かった、でもまだ楽しかった。家で晩ごはんを食べました。日曜日に母と買い物に八時間ぐらい行きました。眠かった!それから日本語を三時間勉強しました。午前一時ごろにねました。

On Friday I went to my friends' house. There I ate dinner. We watched TV, and then I went home at around 9:30. On Saturday I went to the park with my boyfriend. It was hot, but still fun. We ate dinner at home. On Sunday I went shopping with my mom for about eight hours. I was tired! After that, I studied Japanese for about three hours. I went to bed at about 1 AM.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Note About Duration

I've been confused about where I'm supposed to specify the duration of an event. In some Genki sentences, it's stated after the day/time (such as "today"), and in others, it's used right before the verb. I wasn't sure of the difference between the two, but someone on the WaniKani forums made a thread about this exact issue, and a few posters answered.

If I specify the duration closer to the beginning of the sentence (such as after "today") then I'm placing emphasis on the fact that that particular duration was TODAY, as opposed to some other day.

ライトは今日二時間科学を勉強した。
Today, Laito studied science for two hours.

ライトは今日科学を二時間勉強した。
Laito studied science for two hours today.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Sentence Practice 9/8/2016

ライトは今日二時間YMCAで泳ぎました。
Laito swam at the YMCA for two hours today.

アヤトは午後九時に学校に行った。
Ayato went to school at 9 PM.

あそこにデパートがあるけどお金がない。
There's a department store over there, but I don't have any money.

リーさんは先週毎日五時間ぐらい英語を勉強しました。
Last week, Lee-san studied English every day for nearly five hours.

前夜午後七時にスバル君と晩ごはんを食べた。
Last night I ate dinner with Subaru-kun at 7 PM.

田中先生は日曜日に中国に旅行したから、水曜日に日本語のクラスがない。
Professor Tanaka traveled to China on Sunday, so there's no Japanese class on Wednesday.

I'm pretty happy with these sentences for now. They include examples of time, duration, and existence. I've done a lot of Japanese writing today so my brain's fried (plus it's Thursday).

Monday, September 5, 2016

Topic and Time

Ever since learning how to express when something occurred/is occurring, I've wondered about the proper sentence order for those expressions. In some sentences I've seen the time ("In September"), followed by the topic ("I"), followed by anything else ("will go to Japan"). In others I've seen the topic written before the specified time. This has been bothering me because I always want to know if I should have the time listed before the は particle, as that would seemingly include it as part of the topic. Well, I finally have an answer after posting this question on the WaniKani forums.

In general, it is preferable to begin sentences with the topic, then follow that with any time specifications. This is because, in Japanese, you almost always want to follow the format of Topic -> Comment, even if that comment is time-related. I've often written sentences the other way around because it felt more natural, but I was wrong. So to be clear, I need to write like this from now on.

私は九月に日本に行く。
I'm going to Japan in September. (I'm not :( )

アヤトは七時半に起きる。
Ayato gets up at 7:30.

ライトは毎日科学を勉強する。
Laito studies science every day.

リーさんは週末買い物に行く。
Lee-san is going shopping this weekend.

スバルは今夜家で晩ごはんを食べる。
Subaru is eating dinner at home tonight.

Now, I need to eternally remember this. I know there are instances where including the day/time with the topic would make sense, mainly for emphasis, but in general, the above sentences demonstrate the preferred ordering.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Sentence Practice 9/2/2016

Time to practice some of the new Genki concepts I've recently learned.

毎週水曜日によく友達の家に行く。
I often go to my friend's house every Wednesday.

毎日リーさんは仕事に運転する。彼は銀行にも運転する。
Lee-san drives to work every day. He also drives to the bank. (Is he a robber?)

九月にアリスは学校に返る。
Alice returns to school in September.

毎週金曜日にライト君は店でたくさんお菓子を買う。
Every Friday, Laito-kun buys lots of candy at the store.

シュさん、図書館で勉強しませんか?
Shu-san, would you like to study at the library?

シキ君はいつも酒場で流行歌を歌う。
Shiki-kun always sings popular songs at the bar.

 今週末にスバルは ビーチで泳ぎに行きたい。
 This weekend Subaru wants to go swimming at the beach.

アヤトの財布は冷蔵庫のなかにある。
Ayato's wallet is in the fridge.

土曜日にそのレストランでライトと食べたい。
On Saturday I want to eat at that restaurant with Laito.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Expressing Quantities (Time and "A Lot")

I'm going to combine a couple small grammar points into one post here since they're semi-related and similar in nature.

The first is to express how long something took, such as "I did X for 1 hour." That length of time is represented by the number, followed by 時間 to state that it was a period of time. This is placed before the verb within the sentence.

アヤトと二時間話しました。
I chatted with Ayato for two hours.

明日は八時間働く。
Tomorrow I work for eight hours.

Adding ぐらい at the end of the time expression turns it into an approximate measurement.

日本語を一時間ぐらい勉強した。
I studied Japanese for about an hour.

今日は五時間ぐらい走り回った。
Today I ran around for about five hours.

That's about it for that bit of grammar. Like I said, the time expression goes before the verb, so there may be an "interrupt" between the verb and any particles (like を).

The second point is related to expressing "a lot." This is done using たくさん, which I've used before and seen multiple times due to how common it is. It can either be paired with the noun in the sentence, or it can be placed after the を particle.

私はたくさん酒を飲んだ。

私は酒をたくさん飲んだ。

Both sentences translate to "I drank a lot of sake." It's just that the location of たくさん has changed.

たくさん宿題をした。
宿題をたくさんした。
I did a lot of homework.

たくさんピザを食べた。
ピザをたくさん食べた。
I ate a lot of pizza.

Expressing "Also"

The particle も is often used when referencing two or more people who performed the same activity. For example:

私は昨日公園に行きました。
I went to the park yesterday.

アヤトも公園に行きました。
Ayato went to the park, too.

But it can also be used when referring to the same action performed on multiple items.

リーさんは野菜を食べる。
Lee eats vegetables.

彼は果物も食べる。
He also eats fruits.

ライト君は水を飲む。
Laito-kun drinks water.

彼は血も飲む。
He also drinks blood.

In this case, も is replacing the を particle entirely, rather than being used alongside it. も can replace the particles は, が, and を.

If I want to say I went to multiple places (or went somewhere on multiple occasions), then I can use も with the particle に.

本屋に運転した。
I drove to the bookstore.

友達の家にも運転した。
I also drove to my friend's house.

月曜日に図書館に行った。
I went to the library on Monday.

火曜日にも図書館に行った。
I went to the library on Tuesday, too.

Again, in both cases the particle order is にも (which I'll remember by picturing Nemo from Code: Realize). The も particle will not replace the に particle in either instance.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Describing Location

I held off with this lesson because I've seen conflicting reports of the best way to describe someone or something's location. Tae Kim's site uses ある or いる for it, while Genki uses です. I asked people for advice on the matter and it appears that ある and いる are more commonly used, so that's what I'm going to use in my lesson.

I touched on this in a previous post, but describing a location in relation to something else means using の along with the original item.

アヤトは学校のくにいる。
Ayato is near the school.

車は銀行の左にある。
The car is to the left of the bank.

犬は池の横にいる。
The dog is next to the pond.

本は机の上にある。
The book is on the desk.

ライト君は家の中にいる。
Laito-kun is in the house.

There are two ways of saying "next to" or "beside": 横 「よこ」 and 「となり」. The former can be used with dissimilar items, while the latter only sounds natural with similar items (like buildings, for  example).

Friday, August 26, 2016

More On Existence Verbs

My first lesson with ある and いる wasn't 100% thorough, so I'm going to be a bit more explicit in what they're used for this time.

Both are used as "existence" verbs, sort of like "is" in English to describe the state of a noun. (That's one of their many uses, anyway.) ある is for inanimate objects and いる is for living creatures. I'm going to go through a few examples of their usages.

Existence:
あそこに本屋がある。 (or あります)
There's a bookstore over there.

Important things to note: あそこに, which is a vague description of the location, is at the beginning of the sentence. This is often the case when using ある or いる. A good literal translation of it is "At over there, a bookstore exists." In this case, に is used instead of で.

いる can be used just as ある in describing existence, only it's used with living things.

そこに犬がいる。
There's a dog there.

台所にたくさん人々がいる。
There's a lot of people in the kitchen.

Again, in this case it helps to think of the sentence as "At the kitchen, a lot of people exist" for a more literal interpretation.

Possession:
With possession, が is used as if to say "X is the thing that I have."

宿題がある。
I have homework.

野菜がない。
I don't have vegetables.

いる can be used for possession as well, though not in the sense that you own a person.

フランス人の友達がいる。
I have a French friend.

お姉さんがいる。
I have an older sister.

Events:
ある can be used for events, to say something like "There is X occurring."

水曜日に競走がある。
On Wednesday there's a race.

七月に英語のクラスがない。
In July there is no English class.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Time References

One thing that's always been awkward for me is describing the day or time at which something took place. I wasn't sure if it was ideal to say something like 明日は and go on with the sentence from there, but then that used the topic particle I was saving for something else. Genki explains that I don't need the は particle in this case, though.

昨日映画を見ました。
Yesterday I saw a movie.

今日友達に会う。
Today I'll meet with my friend.

明日学校に行く。
Tomorrow I'll go to school.

Those sentences are all valid without the は particle designating the day as the topic. I could add it to each of them to create the same set of sentences with equivalent meanings, but it's not required.

Now, if I want to give a specific day or time, rather than something relative to my current state (such as today or tomorrow), then I need to use the に particle with it.

火曜日に映画を見ました。
On Tuesday I saw a movie.

十一時半に友達に会う。
I'll meet with my friend at 11:30.

九月に日本に行く。
I'll go to Japan in September.

The に particle is not typically used with things like "in the morning" (朝) or "weekend" (週末), but it can be depending on personal preference. It's also not needed for things like 毎日 (expressing regular intervals) and いつ (when).

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Invitations

There are many aspects of the Japanese language that utilize the concept of "indirectness." This becomes clear with the idea of invitations, or how you extend an offer to someone. If I want to ask someone to go see a movie, I would use the negative form of the verb, either with ません or ない, depending on formality. I cannot use the ます form to do this, because that would just sound like I'm asking a simple question.

リーさん、映画を見ませんか?
Lee-san, would you like to see a movie?

アヤト、図書館で勉強しませんか?
Ayato, would you like to study at the library?

ライト、買い物に行きませんか?
Laito, would you like to go shopping?

I believe that using the ない form is asking the exact same question, just with a different, more casual tone.

リーさん、そのレストランで晩ごはんを食べない?
Lee-san, do you wanna eat dinner at that restaurant?

アヤト、池の近いで泳がない?
Ayato, do you wanna go swimming at the nearby pond?

ライト、明日家にこない?
Laito, do you wanna come to my house tomorrow?

One last useful tip to note is that saying "no" in Japanese is rather uncommon. So if anyone asks me one of the above questions and I want to respond in the negative, I could say ちょっと. It literally means "a little" or "a bit", but in the context of these sentences, it would mean "not really" or "that's a little inconvenient for me."

アリス:十時に公園に行かない?
ジョン: ちょっと・・・

Alice: Wanna go to the park at ten?
John: It's a little... (inconvenient for me).

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Verb Clauses

This is a tricky lesson because it's not necessarily new info, but it's sort of a new way to apply some of the stuff I've already learned. A few examples might help demonstrate the crux of it. English is less consistent than Japanese in descriptions of nouns. For example, I might say:

The silly cat.  OR
The cat who jumped on the table.

In the first one, the description comes before the noun, but in the second one, it comes after the noun. Well, in Japanese, descriptive clauses come before the noun even if they contain verbs. If I apply those rules to English it'll read as something like "the jumped on the table cat." Everything before the word "cat" is describing it. With this principle in mind, I can form better descriptions in Japanese. It's pretty difficult for me to write Japanese examples right now, but I'll do my best.

池で泳がない人は、好きじゃない。
I don't like people who don't swim in ponds.

Of course that doesn't make much sense, but that shows a verb clause being applied to the "person" noun. I'll try a couple more.

朝ごはんを食べない人はあまり元気じゃない。
People who don't eat breakfast are not very healthy.

映画を見ない人はつまらないよ。
People who don't watch movies are boring.

The above verb clauses are being treated as adjectives, because they're simply describing a noun. But there is a way to use verb clauses as nouns, too. I can either add こと or の to nominalize the entire verb clause, therefore treating it as a noun and being able to use it in different types of sentences. Tae Kim's guide states that こと is more generic while の is more specific.

一人で食べることは難しいです。
It's difficult to eat alone.

毎日買い物に行くのが好きだよ。
I like to go shopping every day.

友達に会うことはいつも楽しい。
It's always fun to meet with friends.

週末にゲームをやるのが大好きです。
On weekends I really like to play games.

One important thing to note is that the plain verb form is used in all of these clauses, because the polite form can only come at the end of a sentence.

That's about it for the lesson. I'll certainly need to practice these, but I think it'll be helpful to simply do more reading so I can familiarize myself with this pattern.

Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Negative Variants

I know I said I was going to progress to the -te form shortly, but now that I'm supplementing Tae Kim lessons with Genki, I've got new material to learn. The book's grammar points tend to be short and sweet, but I think I'll still break them up into separate posts so I can refer to them individually as needed. This lesson isn't the most critical one, but it's something I'll surely come across in both speaking and writing, so it makes sense to know it.

Currently to negate nouns and na-adjectives, I use じゃない, with じゃ being a contraction of では and ない being the plain negative conjugation of ある. This is probably the most commonly used form, but there are two other ways to negate things that may be seen in more formal language or books.

リーさんは犬じゃないです。

リーさんは犬じゃありません。

リーさんは犬ではありません。

All of these state that Lee is not a dog, with varying degrees of formality. The first is the common way that I initially learned. The second is a more conservative style of speech, with the じゃ contraction but the polite ありません in place. The third is more appropriate in writing and uses the original では.

アヤトは先生じゃありません。
Ayato is not a teacher.

ライトは静かじゃないですよ。
Laito is not quiet.

私は歌手ではありません。
I am not a singer.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Sentence Practice 8/13/2016

I've been a bit lighter on the grammar studies lately because my kanji studies have really increased in volume. But I'll get through it. I have one more lesson in Tae Kim's guide before proceeding to the -te form of verbs, which I'm sure I'll simultaneously love and hate. Anyway, here we go.

アヤトは池で泳ぎました。
Ayato swam in the pond.

新しい車が欲しいけど、お金がない。
I want a new car, but I don't have any money.

私は勉強したいですが、図書館に行きたくない。
I want to study, but I don't want to go to the library.

でも君はケーキがあるんだよね!
But you always have cake!

毎日ライトはそのレストランで食べて。
Every day, Laito eats at that restaurant.

昨日は肉屋に行きました。
Yesterday I went to the butcher.

先日姉が生みましたから、今は赤ちゃんがいます。
The other day my sister gave birth, so now she has a baby.

私は働きたいですが、私もゲームをやりたいですよ。
I want to work, but I also want to play games.

スバル君はテレビを見ません。
Subaru-kun doesn't watch TV.

明日はリーさんが暇だから、買い物に行きたいよね。
Lee-san is free tomorrow, so I want to go shopping.