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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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が悪い。
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.

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.

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う。
I think Yamashita-sensei wants to go home now.

ライトはかみがきれいだと思う。
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.

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."

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. 

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.

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
お集まりいただき、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
ラララライ

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
ラララライ

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!!
ラララライ

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
ラララライ

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!!!

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.

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.