というのは to Explain Meaning

A noun or phrase + というのは, followed by another noun/phrase/sentence + のこと or ということ means something like "X means..." or "The meaning of X is..." It's used to provide the meaning or definition of a word or phrase.

パソコンというのは、パーソナルコンピュータのことです。
"PC" means "personal computer."

A: あのう、すみません。学生証というのは何ことですか？
B: 学生証というのは、Student ID のことですよ。

A: Um, excuse me. What does 学生証 mean?
B: 学生証 means your Student ID.

A: 子猫というのは、何ことですか？
B: 子猫というのは、赤ちゃんの猫のことです。

A: What does 子猫 mean?
B: It means a baby cat.

留学するというのは、外国で勉強するということだ。
留学 means studying in a foreign country.

「話せる」というのは、「話すことができる」という意味だ。
The meaning of 話せる is "being able to speak."

Imperative Form

I find it kind of odd that I haven't formally done a lesson on this yet, considering how common imperative speech is in things like anime and manga. But it's time now, because this is a fun verb form.

The imperative form can be classified as rude Japanese, because it's an intentionally rude way to command someone to do something. It is indeed more rude than a command given with なさい. For the positive form, the following conjugations are used:

Ichidan Verbs

• Change the final る to ろ
• 食べる -> 食べろ
• 覚える -> 覚えろ

Godan Verbs

• Change the final sound to the え equivalent
• 走る -> 走れ
• 行く -> 行け

Exceptions

• する -> しろ
• くる -> こい

For the negative form, simply add な to the end of the verb. This is for any type of verb - ichidan, godan, or exceptions.

苦しめ、もっと苦しめ！
Suffer, suffer more!

触るな、貴様！
Don't touch me!

我慢しろ。
Be patient.

ねぇ、死ぬな！
Don't die!

だけでなく to Express "Not Only..."

The structure [Noun/sentence + だけでなく, Noun/sentence も] can be used to express something like "Not only X, but also Y." The だけでなく portion can be either that or だけじゃなくて. The second noun or sentence can also have a particle paired with it before the も.

京都は古いお寺があるだけでなく、きれいな景色でも有名です。
Kyoto not only has old temples, but it's also famous for its beautiful scenery.

このアパートは駅から近くて便利なだけじゃなくて、家賃も安いから、借りることにした。
Not only is this apartment close to the station and convenient, but it also has cheap rent, so I decided to rent it.

その映画は面白いだけじゃなくて、音楽もいいよ。
Not only is this movie interesting, but it also has good music.

日本語はひらがなだけでなく、カタカナや漢字も覚えなくてはいけません。
With Japanese, you must learn not only hiragana, but also katakana and kanji.

One note about that last sentence there. Notice the 覚えなくてはいけません part? I was initially confused because I mistook it for the grammar used to say "you must not do X." In reality, it means "you must do X." Why?

Verb's て form + はいけません = "You must not do X"

Verb's negative て form + はいけません = "You must do X"

Confusing, isn't it? The double negative results in the positive meaning for "you must do." It's just like the other "have to" verb conjugations I learned in Genki.

って as a Quotation Particle

Another reappearance of って. It can also be used in place of と, which is typically used with verbs like 言う and 聞く to express saying or hearing something. This is the colloquial form, so it's commonly used in daily conversation.

明日はテストがないって聞いたけど、本当？
I heard there wasn't a test tomorrow, but is that true?

アヤトは墓場で寝に行くって言ってたんだよ。
Ayato said he was going to go sleep in the graveyard.

僕の名前は「つとむ」だけど、友達は「トム」って呼ぶんだ。
My name is Tsutomu, but my friends call me Tom.

アリスは昨日リーさん林で迷ったって聞いたんだ。
Alice heard that Lee-san got lost in the woods yesterday.

More on とか

When used with nouns, とか is similar to や in that it can express a non-exhaustive list of things. However, とか can be used with both single items and verb phrases, while や cannot.

In addition, if とか is used to list two or more items, it is mandatory to place it after each item. The only exception is that it can be dropped if the final item is followed by a particle.

週末はたいてい洗濯とか掃除(とか)をします。
On weekends I usually do things like laundry and cleaning.

仕事でゲームするとかのが好きだよ。
At work I like to do things like play games.

フィンランド語とかトルコ語とか、皆があまり勉強していない言葉を勉強してみたい。
Finnish and Turkish are languages that no one has studied very much, but that I want to try studying.

弟を殴るとかなら、おもちゃを取るだよ。
If you do something like hit your brother, I'm going to take your toys.

って as a Topic Particle

The easily spoken って is frequently used as a colloquial topic marker. It often appears in questions, where a sentence is spoken, followed by って, followed by a question word like どこ. It can also appear in statements, of course. In written text, the eternally common は is used instead.

リーさんの彼女って、誰？
Who's Lee-san's girlfriend?

カナトのお母さんって、優しくなかった人だろう。
Kanato's mother was not a nice person.

来月の休みって、どこに行きたいね？
Where do you want to go for next month's break?

冷蔵庫の中の血って、飲まないで。
Don't drink the blood that's in the fridge.

Noun + と言えば

A noun or noun phrase + と言えば can be used to express something like "Speaking of..." It literally means "if you say that" and is used to present something that the other person just mentioned as the topic.

A: 今日はバス亭で犬を見つけたんだよ。*写真を出す*
B: かわいいね。犬と言えば、アリスの犬は先日死んじゃった。悲しいね。

A: I found a dog today at the bus stop. *pulls out photo*
B: Aw, cute. Speaking of dogs, Alice's dog died the other day. Sad, huh?

A: 最近スティーヴンキングのキャリーを読んでいます。
B: スティーヴンキングと言えば、明日新しい映画「Ｉｔ］見に行きませんか？

A: Recently I was reading Stephen King's "Carrie."
B: Speaking of Stephen King, want to go see the new movie "It" tomorrow?

A: 姉は来月東京に行くつもりだよ。うらやましいね。
B: えぇ。東京と言えば、両親は十二月に行くんだよ。

A: My older sister is planning on going to Tokyo next month. I'm so jealous.
B: Yeah. Speaking of Tokyo, my parents are going there in December.

Passive Usage of 言う

A plain form sentence + と言われている is often used to express something like "It is said that..." or "It is said to be..." This is common in written texts to explain a concept or describe something.

風邪を引いた時はビタミンＣをたくさん取るといいと言われている。
It is said that when you catch a cold, you should take a lot of Vitamin C.

女の子は男の子より頭がいいと言われている。
It is said that girls are smarter than boys.

世界で一番長い川はナイル川だと言われているが、アマゾン川だと言う人もいる。
It is said that the Nile River is the longest river in the world, but there are also people who say that it's the Amazon River.

チョコレートは野菜よりいいと言われている。
It is said that chocolate is better than vegetables.

Particles Within a Noun Phrase

There are sometimes noun phrases that contain particles such as へ, で, と, から, or まで to further clarify the type of noun being described. The particles が, を, and に will never occur in this position

The basic structure of these is [Noun1 + Particle + の + Noun2].

８時からのパーティーは行くつもりじゃないの。
I'm not planning on going to the party that starts at 8.

明日はリーさんとのミーティングに行きたいんだよ。
Tomorrow, I want to go to the meeting with Lee-san.

妹へのプレゼントを駅で忘れちゃった。
I forgot the ticket for my sister at the station.

その東京までの切符は高すぎるだなぁ。
That ticket to Tokyo was too expensive.

Verb + 始める - To Begin

A verb stem + 始める can be used to express "to begin doing X" or "to begin X-ing." Quite simple, no?

私は掃除し始める前に、窓を開けに行くよ。
Before I begin cleaning, I'm going to go open the windows.

毎晩コーラス部の練習があるので、勉強をし始めるのはいつも１０時過ぎだ。
Since I have chorus club every night, I always begin studying after 10.

リーさんにフラフープをあげると、踊り始める。
Whenever I give Lee-san a hula hoop, he begins dancing.

夕べは十時ごろに映画を見始めてたけど、寝付いて終わりを見なかったんだ。
I began watching a movie around 10 last night, but I fell asleep and didn't see the ending.

Using による to Express "Depending on..."

In a previous Genki II chapter, there was a lesson explaining how you could embed questions in a sentence to express things like "I don't know whether Jim is at work." This may translate as something like ジムは事務所でいるかどうか分からないよ。

Well, this same structure plus による or によって違う can be used to express something like "X differs depending on..." or "Y depends on..." The structure is something like:

[Question or Noun 1] + は Noun 2 に + [よる / よって違う]

日本人が大好きな桜の花がいつ頃咲くかは、場所によって違います。
The time around which the beloved Japanese cherry blossoms will bloom differs depending on the place.

明日スーパーでどの食べ物を買うかは、食欲によって違うよ。
Which food I buy at the supermarket tomorrow will differ depending on my appetite.

性格は人によって違います。
Personality will differ depending on the person.

授業料をいくら払わなくてはいけないかは、大学によって違う。
How much you have to pay for tuition will differ depending on the college.

私はそのパーティーに行くかどうかは気持ちによるんだよ。
Whether I go to that party will depend on my mood.

私にとって、読み物が難しいかどうかは、漢字の多さによります。
For me, whether a reading is difficult depends on the amount of kanji.

I'm going to link to this post on Japanese Stack Exchange with regards to the 私にとって portion of the last sentence.

Non-Past Verb + こともある

The structure [non-past verb + こと {が/も} ある] can be used to express something like, "There are times when..." It is used to describe something that occurs occasionally. Using the particle も can imply that something else also occurs, or that the event described occurs alongside something else.

Note that this grammatical structure is very similar to [past verb + ことがある], which is used to express an experience that you may or may not have.

晩ご飯はたいてい家で食べますが、ときどき友達とレストランに行くこともあります。
I usually eat dinner at home, but sometimes I go to a restaurant with a friend.

文法の説明を読んでも分からないことがある。
There are times when I don't understand a grammar explanation even though I read it.

同じ日の沖縄と北海道の気温の差が摂氏４０以上になることもあります。
Sometimes on the same day in Okinawa and Hokkaido, there can be a temperature difference of over 40 degrees Celsius.

その他に関東地方とか関西地方のように使うこともあります。
In addition, there are times when it's used like "Kanto region" or "Kansai region."

Note that the last sentence is referring to the usage of 地方 in conjunction with other words, like the names of places. This is not a great sentence out of context, but I wanted to note it here since I finally understand it.

Mid-Sentence Stems

A verb stem or an i-adjective stem + く can occur mid-sentence to represent an "and", letting us know that the sentence is continuing. This is pretty exclusive to writing, because in speech people will generally use the て form to connect multiple thoughts in a sentence.

昨日は遊園地に友達と行き、そこでアイスクリームをたくさん食べた。
Yesterday I went to a theme park with my friend, and we ate a lot of ice cream there.

見つけた子犬は白く、とても遊戯的だったよ。
The puppy I found was white, and he was very playful.

一人暮らしだから、寝る前にホラーの映画を見、クッキーを焼くのが好きだよ。
Since I live alone, I like to watch horror movies and bake cookies before going to bed.

クリスマスに祖母はすごくうれしく、皆にプレゼントをあげた。
My grandmother was very happy on Christmas, and she gave everyone presents.

More on ように

Genki II touched on ように and its usage, but there are a couple more uses for it that I'm going to explore now.

In addition to being used to relate the similarity of two things, it can also mean something like "when X is as Y shows..." or "as explained by X..." That's difficult to visualize, so I'll give some Tobira examples.

これはチョコレートのように見えるけれど、消しゴムだから、食べられません。
This looks like chocolate, but since it's an eraser you can't eat it.

先生がおっしゃるように、言葉は毎日勉強しなければ上手にならないと思います。
I think that, as the teacher says, if you don't study the language every day, you won't become good at it.

この本に書いてあるように作れば、おいしいドレッシングできるよ。
If you make it as is written in this book, you'll have delicious dressing.

Its usage in these sentences relates to similarity in a way, since they're essentially saying "when X is done in this manner..."

I'm going to continue studying this point with some external sources, since I need to further improve my understanding. There are additional meanings that Tobira has not mentioned thus far, but I'm sure I'll reach them eventually.

Expresing Fame

A noun phrase or a sentence + こと, followed by で有名 or で知られている can express that a noun is famous for that phrase/sentence, or that it is known for it. These first two examples are from Tobira.

エジプトはピラミドやスフィンクスで有名です。
Egypt is famous for its pyramids and sphinxes.

熊は冬眠することで知られていますが、動物園の熊も冬眠をしますか？
Bears are known for their hibernation, but do bears in zoos also hibernate?

リーさんはきれいな顔で有名だなぁ。
Lee-san is famous for his pretty face.

バージニアは高い山や青々と森で知られているんだよ。
Virginia is known for its high mountains and lush forests.

Adjective Stem + さ

The suffix さ can be attached to the stem of an i-adjective or to a plain na-adjective to make it into the noun version of that word. For example:

大きい -> 大きさ = bigness (size)
重い -> 重さ = heaviness (weight)
便利 -> 便利さ = convenience

この建物の高さは3000メートルです。
This building's height is 3,000 meters.

冬に寒さは大嫌いんだよ。
I hate the cold in the winter.

その犬の重さは50キロくらいですよ。
That dog weighs about 50 kilos.

あの馬の早さはびっくりした。
That horse's speed was surprising.

Made of/Made From - で / から できる

Well, I've started on the first chapter of Tobira. I must say, it's definitely more challenging than Genki, which took a lot of time to explain each grammar point and only had 5-6 of them per chapter. Tobira tends to have 16 per chapter and only includes a small explanation with each point. I'm going to do my best to understand each one though, and that may mean consulting other references along the way. I'm also going to create one post per point to make it easier to keep track of them.

To describe what materials a noun is made of or made from, でできる or からできる can be used. Their use can kind of correspond to the English equivalent - でできる is used to say "made out of", and is appropriate when it's fairly obvious that the item is comprised of that material (like a log cabin, for example). からできる is used to say "made from", and is appropriate when it's not immediately evident, like in describing gasoline or plastic.

Furthermore, both できる and できている can be used, as well. できる is used for general statements, such as "Wine is made from grapes." できている is used for specific statements, such as "This ring is made from dragon glass." It helps to remember that ている is describing a current state.

この家は石でできている。
This house is made of stone.

ケーキはよくバターや粉や砂糖からできる。
Cakes are often made from butter, flour, and sugar.

アリスは木でできる小屋を売る。
Alice sells sheds that are made of wood.

スバルの誕生日のご飯は血からできていた。
Subaru's birthday dinner was made from blood.