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.

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.

私は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.

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.

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.

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)

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

昨日湖で泳いだんだよ。
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)

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.

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?

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.

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").