Yotsuba Notes: Pages 1-12

I've started doing lessons on the site Italki again, this time with a new sensei. It's been pretty good so far - for practice, I'm reading through the entire Yotsuba manga out loud, and we're discussing it as we go. This gets me more used to speaking, and provides me with a ton of info on grammar points, especially those found in casual speech. I need that the most right now, in my opinion.

I think my plan here is to continue these Yotsuba lessons, and note everything I learn from them in a post here. Since there's a billion small grammar points sprinkled throughout the series, these posts won't be very structured - more like random bits of info.

I'll note the range of pages for each lesson so I can always refer back to them for exact context. This chapter begins with Yotsuba and her dad moving to a new house, and first arriving there.

お父さん：　もうすぐだぞー
This shows the father using the ぞ sentence-ending particle. It's similar to よ in usage but is more masculine. It's generally only used by guys.

よつば：　すげぇ
This is bastardization of すごい, which can mean a number of things but is generally used to mean "awesome" or "amazing." すげぇ is more often used by guys.

よつば：　ここ家がいっぱいあるな！
いっぱい literally means 1 cup (of liquid), but when it's written in hiragana, it often means "full." In this case, it's saying something like "This area is full of houses!"

お父さん：　ほーら
A popular Japanese word. It can mean something like "Behold" (which we don't really say in English), but it's used to draw someone's attention to something before you.

ジャンボ：　あーあいつ用が入ったからこねえって
　　　　　　   あいつだめだわ
あいつ is a word that refers to another person (in this case, "that guy" or "that girl"). It has counterparts こいつ and そいつ, and is best used with friends due to any connotations it can carry.

Need to ask sensei about the other parts in this sentence.

Finally, わ can be used to soften a sentence. It doesn't have to sound super feminine when used this way, and in this case, Jumbo is using it to soften him calling that person bad.

よつば：　ジャンボ、しばらく見ないうちにまた大きくなった！
Need to double check with sensei.

お父さん：　まあいいか
　　　　　　   ジャンボが二人分働くしな
He's saying something like "Well, I guess it's fine." (The か makes it more questioning.) "Besides, Jumbo's doing the work of two." I know that's not a direct translation, but I believe that's what it's trying to convey. し is used like that to supply additional information.

ジャンボ：　そんな事はない
This first phrase is very common and means something like "It's not like that." He wants to convey that what the dad said is not the case.

お父さん：　働いてくれ・・・
The father is basically saying "Then won't you work?" The くれ is used because working would be a favor for the father, so that action is coming in towards him, so to speak.

ジャンボ：　おー！　えらいぞよつば！
　　　　　　  とーちゃんはだめだなー！
えらい can mean something like "great" or "remarkable" and is often used to talk about people whom you look up to. In this case, Jumbo is more saying it to humor Yotsuba. He's calling the father bad in contrast to this.

お父さん：　そこおいといていいぞー
Yotsuba is moving boxes, and so he's basically telling her "You can put it there." The original verb is 置く, "to put."

Expressing Expectations with はず

Adding the word はず to the end of a sentence in the plain form will express a meaning like "I expect that" or "It is supposed to be the case that..." はず is used as a regular noun, and so the standard grammar rules apply there (using の between a noun and はず, using な after a na-adjective).

明日は天気がいいはずです。
The weather is supposed to be good tomorrow.

リーさんの料理は美味しいはずよ。
Lee-san's cooking is supposed to be delicious.

These sentences show things that you expect to be true based on common sense or other notions that naturally lead to such a belief. For example, perhaps I heard that Lee has taken several cooking classes, and thus I expect his cooking to be good.

はず can't be used to express things that a person is "supposed" to do because of responsibility or duty. We wouldn't want to use it to say "You're supposed to teach your kids to eat healthy" because that more refers to a parents' duty.

Since はず is a normal noun, it can also be conjugated to past tense with だった or でした to express something that was supposed to have been the case, but actually turned out otherwise. When doing this, the part before はず is in the present tense.

パーティーでケーキがあるはずだったけど、なかったよ。
I expected there to be cake at the party, but there wasn't.

アリスと走りに行くはずだったけど、喫茶店に行った。
I was expecting to go on a run with Alice, but we went to a cafe.

Finally, to express something that was not expected, the form はずがない is used. It can also mean that something is inconceivable.

田中先生の試験が易しいはずがない。
Tanaka-sensei's tests aren't supposed to be easy.

かばと公園に行くのが楽しいはずがない。
Going to the park with a hippo isn't supposed to be fun.

Giving Polite or Respectful Advice

When giving advice (well, technically commands), certain situations call for usage of the following grammatical structure:

お + verb stem + ください

In Japan, public announcements will likely be phrased in this manner, and it's also commonly used by store attendants when they address customers.

お座りください。
Please have a seat.

切符をお取りください。
Please take a ticket.

It's important to note that, although these sentences have both the honorific お and ください and thus sound more polite, they are in fact commands. These are used for encouraging a person to perform an action for their own good, but not for commanding them to do something to help you.

With most する verbs, the honorific ご is used instead of お, and the する portion is omitted entirely.

ご注意ください。
Please watch out.

ご覧ください。
Please look.

Also note the form for the following honorific verbs. Some of them already have the お "built in" (similar to ご覧 above), and others require adding it.

お召し上がりください。
Please help yourself.

お休みください。
Please have a good rest.

Honorific Verbs

Honorific verbs are used when talking about someone above you in the social hierarchy, or when talking to someone you don't know very well (especially with shopkeepers speaking to customers and the like). These verbs "bestow honor" upon the person performing the action, and can be very roughly translated as "Person X graciously does Y."

There are some verbs that have direct honorific forms, and some that do not. I'll list the most common ones below.

いる
行く      -  いらっしゃる        -  いらっしゃいます
来る

見る     -  ご覧になる

言う      -  おっしゃる          -  おっしゃいます

する     -  なさる                 -  なさいます

食べる -  召し上がる
飲む

くれる  -  くださる               -  くださいます

寝る    -  お休みになる

ている -  ていらっしゃる   -  ていらっしゃいます

The first column shows the original verbs, with the second and third showing their honorific forms and their irregular conjugations. I'm going to use some of Genki's example sentences now since I'm not at all familiar with honorific usage.

先生は今日学校にいらっしゃいません。
The professor will (graciously) not go to/come to/be at school.

The above sentence is ambiguous since いらっしゃる is an honorific for three different verbs that describe an action pertaining to location.

何を召し上がりますか？
What will you (graciously) drink?

田中さんのお母さんがこの本をくださいました。
Tanaka's mother (graciously) gave me this book.

If a verb does not have an honorific counterpart, there are two ways to add the "respect factor." If the verb is in て form in the sentence, then ている is replaced with ていらっしゃいます.

先生は電話で話していらっしゃいます。
The professor is (graciously) talking on the phone.

If the verb in the sentence is not in て form, then it is preceded by the honorific お and followed by になる.

先生はもうお帰りになりました。
The professor has already (graciously) gone home.

Giving Thanks for Specific Actions

To express gratitude for a specific action that someone has performed, the て form plus くれてありがとう can be used.

昼ごはんにおごってくれてありがとう。
Thank you for treating me to lunch.

犬を助けてくれてありがとう。
Thank you for helping my dog.

When speaking to someone above you in the social hierarchy, it's better to use くださってありがとうございました after the original verb's て form.

この学期は教えてくださってありがとうございました。
Thank you for teaching me this semester.

妹をいたわってくださってありがとうございました。
Thank you for caring for my sister.

Finally, this pattern can also be used with nouns to thank someone for being X, with X generally being a type of person. でいる is used, and conjugated to でいて.

頼もしいコーチでいてくれてありがとう。
Thank you for being a reliable coach.

いい友達でいてくれてありがとう。
Thank you for being a good friend.

Expressing "I'm glad that..."

The て form plus よかった can be used to state something like "I'm glad that X was the case." To say you're glad that something wasn't the case, the negative て form can be used.

昨日の夜アヤトに会ってよかったよ。
I'm glad I saw Ayato last night.

トムの家であの飲み会に行かなくてよかったよね。
I'm glad I didn't go to that drinking party at Tom's place.

チョコレートケーキを作れてよかったです。
I'm glad you could make chocolate cake.

アリスは毒のりんごを食べなくてよかったよ。
I'm glad Alice didn't eat the poisoned apple.

屋根で盗んだ自転車を見つけてよかったです。
I'm glad I found my stolen bike on the roof.

彼はもっと幼くならなくてよかったよ。
I'm glad he didn't become more immature.

The Complex しまう

しまう is a special verb that, when used with another verb in て form, can express one of two meanings. The first is "to carry out [that verb] with determination. It typically involves bringing something to a culmination point. You, in other words, do something completely, or finish doing something, or have something done."

The second meaning is "lack of premeditation or control over how things turn out. This often comes with the sense of regret; something regrettable happens, or you do something which you did not intend to."

Those two meanings (quoted from Genki) are quite different, and context is key in determining which is being used. I'm also going to use Genki's example sentences here since I'm less familiar with this grammar point.

本を読んでしまいました。
I read the book completely. / I finished reading the book.

As shown above, しまう is conjugated for tense, politeness, and all that good stuff. Note that the sentence could also convey something like "I (regrettably) read the book" if context dictated that you didn't actually want to read it.

電車の中にかばんを忘れてしまいました。
I inadvertently left my bag on the train.

宿題を忘れたので、先生は怒ってしまいました。
To my horror and sorrow, my professor got angry, because I had forgotten my homework.

In casual speech, ～てしまう and ～でしまう are often contracted to ～ちゃう and ～じゃう, respectively. They're conjugated as normal godan verbs.

新しい時計をなくしちゃった。
Crap, I've lost my new watch.

わっ、その トワイライト本を読んじゃった。
Ugh, I read that Twilight book.

ああ、プレゼントを忘れちゃった。
Oh no, I forgot your present.

Note that since the affirmative て form is used here, しまう can't be used to express regret over something that you didn't do. It's only used for regrettable things that will or have occurred.

I was reading over Tae Kim's grammar guide on this point to better solidify my understanding, and he stated that it's more common to use the "regrettable" meaning of  しまう. The "do something completely" meaning is only seen occasionally. So that's good to know.

I'm extremely happy to finally learn about this word (and its slang form), because it seems to be rather common in daily speech. I often saw ちゃった conjugations and could not find any formal conjugation charts that included such a thing, but now it makes sense.

Using と to Express "If" or "Whenever"

Did I mention before that there are at least four ways to express "if" in Japanese? It's great. Well, here's another one, although based on the examples given in Genki, it can read more like "whenever." I'll use that in my examples since that makes it easier to differentiate from other "if" words.

A short form predicate + と means that whenever the aforementioned situation occurs, another thing happens. For example, "Whenever I open the cabinet, my cat gets excited for food." In most cases, と sentences describe a cause/effect type scenario.

Clause A と Clause B - Whenever A happens, B happens too.

The first clause in the sentence must be in present tense, while the second can be in past or present tense.

アヤトに会うとうれしくなる。
Whenever I see Ayato, I feel happy.

私はりんごを食べると友達はバナナを食べる。
Whenever I eat an apple, my friend eats a banana.

私たちは合格すると市内の店でお菓子をたくさん買うよ。
Whenever we pass a test, we buy a bunch of candy from the local shop.

Note that the event in the second clause must follow the first one. It would not make sense to use と here to express something in the second clause that happens before the first.

Also note that if an adjective is used in the second half of the sentence, rather than a verb, it's usually expressed as a change, often with なる.

ロマンチックな映画を見ると悲しくなるよ。
Whenever I watch a romantic movie, I get sad.

ロックを聞くと元気になる。
Whenever I hear rock music, I feel uplifted.

Showing Gratitude with おかげ

To show gratitude towards someone or something, the expression おかげ（で） can be used. For example, "Noun のおかげで" will show that you're grateful for that noun because it helped things turn out as desired.

友達が書いてくれた地図のおかげで道に迷わなかった。
Thanks to the map my friend drew, I didn't get lost.

It can also be used more directly when addressing someone with a "thank you."

先生：　卒業おめでとう。
学生：　先生のおかげです。

Professor: Congratulations on your graduation.
Student: I owe it to you, Professor.

The full expression おかげさまで means "thanks to you" and can also be used when directly addressing someone.

A:　元気ですか？
B:　ええ、 おかげさまで。

A: How are you?
B: I'm fine, thanks to you.

Finally, the phrase is also used when showing appreciation for someone's help, support, or concern.

A:　仕事に慣れましたか？
B:　ええ、おかげさまで。大分慣れました。

A: Have you gotten used to the job?
B: Yes, I've gotten used to it mostly. Thank you for your concern.

These examples are all directly pulled from Genki because I didn't want to misuse such a specific phrase when writing my own sentences. I'll have to look up some more examples.

Expressing "Should have" with ～ばよかった

The phrase ～ばよかった can be used to express "I wish I had done X" or "I should have done X." It's used to describe an action that you regrettably did not take.

The ば comes from the verb that precedes the phrase. To get this form of the verb, regardless of whether it's ichidan or godan, take the dictionary form, change the final う sound to the え equivalent, and add ば.

Positive Forms:
食べる  ->  食べれば
行く       ->  行けば
死ぬ     ->  死ねば
待つ     ->  待てば
走る     ->  走れば
感じる  ->  感じれば

To get the negative ば form, take the verb in the plain negative form, drop the final い and add ければ.

Negative Forms:
食べる  ->  食べなければ
行く       ->  行かなければ
死ぬ     ->  死ななければ
待つ     ->  待たなければ
走る     ->  走らなければ
感じる  ->  感じなければ

学校の人にお金を施せばよかったですよ。
I wish I had donated money to the people at the school.

あのかびたチーズを食べなければよかったでしょ。
I probably shouldn't have eaten that moldy cheese.

日本に来る前に、新しいフォーンを買えばよかったです。
I should've bought a new phone before coming to Japan.

あの男を殺さなければよかったけど、大嫌いだったんだよ。
I wish I hadn't killed that man, but I really hated him.

Connecting Two Verbs with "While"

The word ながら can be used to connect two verbs and express that they're being performed at the same time. ながら is added to the first verb's stem, and the second verb can be in any tense or form.

髪を梳かしながらテレビをみるのが好きだよ。
I like to watch TV while brushing my hair.

晩ご飯を料理しながらキスするのは難しいね。
It's difficult to kiss you while cooking dinner.

いつも仕事に運転しながら音楽を聞きますよ。
I always listen to music while driving to work.

授業はつまらないから、書き取りながら描いてるよ。
Lecture is boring, so I'm always drawing while taking notes.

In sentences with ながら, the two actions must be performed by the same person. It cannot be used to connect two verbs where the action is being performed by different people.

Verb Transitivity

In Japanese, there are some verbs that come in pairs to indicate transitivity. For example, 開ける versus 開く, which mean "to open something" and "something opens" respectively.

カナトはドアを開けた。
Kanato opened the door.

ドアが開いた。
The door opened.

Transitive verbs tend to describe activities, while intransitive verbs tend to describe changes. This is especially important to remember when using the progressive ている conjugation. For transitive verbs, this usually means that an action is in progress, while for intransitive verbs, it usually describes a resultant state.

アヤトは窓を開けている。
Ayato is opening the windows.

窓が開いている。
The windows are open.

Here are some other common transitivity pairs. There are many more, but these are some of the more useful ones.

閉める　  閉まる     -  close something vs. something closes
入れる　  入る        -  put something in vs. something enters
出す　      出る        -  take something out vs. something goes out
つける　   つく         -  turn something on vs. something turns on
消す　      消える    -  turn something off vs. something goes off
壊す　      壊れる    -  break something vs. something breaks
汚す　      汚れる    -  make something dirty vs. something becomes dirty
落とす　   落ちる    -  drop something vs. something drops
沸かす　  沸く         -  boil water vs. water boils