Using 見える and 聞こえる

While there is a conjugation that exists for conveying "can do" with verbs (the potential form), there are a few verbs that have their own separate word for this.

Enter the debate between 見える and 見られる. It's difficult to distinguish the two, but 見える is its own verb, while 見られる is just 見る in the potential form. So how do they differ? I'm going to give my best attempt at an explanation.

見える is stating that something is visible, such as "I can see the clouds."

見られる is saying that the subject can actively see someone or something.

大阪のホテルから山が見える。
I can see the mountains from our hotel in Osaka.

毎週末東京でステージが見られる。
You can see the performance every weekend in Tokyo.

The same sort of duality exists with 聞こえる and 聞ける (the potential form of 聞く). Again, 聞こえる is saying that something is audible, while 聞ける refers to being able to actively hear or listen to something.

毎朝まどの外鳥が聞こえる。
I can hear the birds outside my window every morning.

仕事では音楽が聞ける。
I can listen to music at work.

Using 予定 to State Plans

Adding 予定 after a verb in the present tense plain form will convey that something is scheduled to take place.

リーさんは三月にアメリカに引っ越す予定。
Lee-san is scheduled to move to America in March.

カナトは明日ユーマと菓子屋に行く予定。
Kanato is planning to go to the candy store with Yuma tomorrow.

It can also be used with verbs in the plain negative form to convey the opposite meaning.

私はもう冬に結婚しない予定。
I'm not planning to get married in winter anymore.

レイジは明日仕事に来ない予定。
Reiji isn't planning to come to work tomorrow.

予定 is very similar in usage and purpose to つもり, but 予定 sounds more like a scheduled event, while つもり sounds more like an intention.

Actions Performed in Preparation

A verb's て form plus the helping verb おく can be used to describe an action that is performed in preparation for something. おく is conjugated for tense, politeness, and other things (like expressing desire or necessity).

リーさんの誕生日にブラウニーを焼いておくよ。
I'll bake brownies for Lee-san's birthday.

朝に田中先生のテストに勉強しておきます。
In the morning I'll study for Tanaka-sensei's test.

父は訪ねるから家と車をそうじしておかなきゃいけない。
My dad is visiting, so I have to clean my house and my car.

The ておく portion is often shortened to just とく in casual speech. This is fabulous to finally learn, because I know I've encountered it in my reading and had trouble figuring out what grammar point to look up.

従兄弟は来るから宝飾を隠しとく。 (隠しておく)
My cousins are coming, so I'll hide my jewelry.

今夜レストランの予約しとくね。 (しておく)
I'll make a restaurant reservation tonight.

東京に行くの前に、宿題をできとく。 (できておく)
Before we go to Tokyo, I'll finish my homework.

Stating Determinations

The last lesson looked at the casual volitional form. This form plus と思っています can be used to talk about a determination or intention.

来年日本で従兄弟に訪ねようと思っています。
I've decided that next year, I'll visit my cousins in Japan.

The 思って portion implies that you've put some thought into this decision, and that the decision itself has already been made when you're saying it. In contrast, using と思います implies that the decision was made on the spot.

新しいドレスを買おうと思います。
I'm going to buy a new dress.

It's important to remember that the volitional form must be used here to convey this meaning. If the plain form of the verb is used, it sounds like you're just making a prediction or saying "I think..."

Anyway, I'll do a couple more examples to get used to the "feel" of this grammar point.

リーさんに車を盗もうと思っている。
I've decided that I'm going to steal a car for Lee-san.

この生け花をアヤトにあげようと思う。
I'll give this flower arrangement to Ayato.

あの仕事を辞めようと思っています。
I've decided to quit that job.

一時間に日本語を勉強しようと思います。
I'll study Japanese for an hour today.

Casual Volitional Form

Genki has already shown the polite volitional form, which simply means adding ましょう onto the stem of a verb. Now it's time to learn the casual form, which is also relatively easy.

Ichidan Verbs

• Drop る and add よう
• 食べる -> 食べよう
• 寝る -> 寝よう

Godan Verbs

• Change the final sound to the お equivalent and add う
•  行く -> 行こう
• 待つ -> 待とう

Irregular Verbs

• 来る -> こよう
• する -> しよう

今週末大阪に訪ねよう。
Let's visit Osaka this weekend.

田中先生と日本語で話そう。
Let's speak Japanese with Tanaka-sensei.

明日誕生日に出かけよう。
Let's go out tomorrow for your birthday.

東京にかわいい服を買おうね。
Let's buy cute clothes in Tokyo.

The question particle か can be used with this form "to ask for an opinion in your offer or suggestion."

リーさんが買った映画を見ようか？
Shall we watch the movie that Lee bought?

今日は公園で運動しようか？
Shall we exercise at the park today?

Verbs for Giving and Receiving

There are a few different words in Japanese used to express the action of giving and receiving. Genki does a good job of explaining this with its illustration, but I'll try my best here.

あげる is used when the giving action is going outward from yourself. So, I give you something, I give him something, I give them something. It's also used when one person gives something to another, i.e., Pam gives something to Sue.

くれる is used when the giving action is coming inward, towards you. So, you give me something, somebody gives me something.

With both verbs, the giver is the topic/subject of the sentence, marked with は or が. The recipient is marked with the particle に.

私は誕生日にカナト君にお菓子をあげた。
I gave Kanato some candy for his birthday.

アヤトは毎年ライトに髪留めをあげるよ。
Ayato gives Laito a new hair clip every year.

リーさんは昨日学校でりんごをくれた。
Lee-san gave me an apple at school yesterday.

母はクリスマスに新しい毛布をくれました。
My mom gave me a new blanket for Christmas.

Notice that in those last two sentences, the person being given to (I, or me) is not explicitly stated, but rather implied. I could add a 私に to each one, but it's not strictly necessary.

The verb もらう is used to say "Someone received X", and the recipient is always the topic/subject of the sentence, marked with は or が. The giver is marked with に or から.

スバルは大学から手紙をもらった。
Subaru received a letter from the college.

シュウは箱にかわいい子猫をもらった。
Shuu received a cute kitten in the box.

私はおじさんに古い車をもらいました。
I received an old car from my uncle.

Emphasizing Numbers

Numbers are such a pain to learn in any language. They're just ugly and un-fun to me, compared to other grammar structures. And learning them in Japanese is like hell on Earth due to counters and differentiating thousands vs. ten thousands vs. arrgghhh. Yeah, yeah, I'm procrastinating with my complaining.

In Japanese, も can be added to the end of a number word to give it an "as many as" effect. I realize that sounds strange, so let me give Genki's example sentences.

私の母は猫を三匹も飼っています。
My mom owns three, count them, three cats.

昨日のパーティーには学生が二十人も来ました。
As many as twenty students showed up at the party yesterday.

These sentences make it relatively easy to understand what effect も is having on the number. It's a sort of emphasis on that number.

The same thing can be done in the negative sense to say "as few as" or "only." For this, しか is added after the number word. Also, a HUGE note here, the verb must be in the negative.

私は日本語の辞書を一冊しかもっていません。
I have only one Japanese dictionary.

この会社にはパソコンが二台しかありません。
There are only two computers in this company.

So again, も tends to emphasize the "largeness" of the number (and uses positive verbs), while しか emphasizes the "smallness" of it (and uses negative verbs).

Giving Advice or Recommendations

The phrase たらどうですか can be used to give advice or recommendations to somebody. The initial た refers to the た found in the plain past tense conjugation of verbs. In more casual speech, it may be shortened to たらどう or just たら.

部屋をそうじしたらどうですか。
How about you clean your room?

友達と遊んだらどう？
How about you go play with your friends?

帰ったら？
Why don't you go home?

朝ごはんを食べたらどう？
Why don't you eat breakfast?

Since this expression can have a critical tone, it's best not to use it unless you've specifically been asked for advice. It's also not used to extend invitations, such as inviting a person to go watch a movie. The present negative verb form is used for that, instead.

Indicating Possibility

The words でしょう and だろう can be used at the end of a sentence to indicate that something is probably true. Another phrase that can be used for a similar purpose is かもしれません. The casual form is かもしれない.

Adding this to the end of a short-form predicate will indicate that something is a possibility. As Genki says, use it when "you are not sure what is really the case but are willing to make a guess." It can be used after positive or negative conjugations, in the past or present tense.

昼ごはんの後にジムさんは帰るかもしれません。
Jim may go home after lunch.

庭で犬があったかもしれない。
There may've been a dog in my garden.

明日は外寒いかもしれない。
It may be cold outside tomorrow.

家でたくさん鳥だったかもしれない。
Maybe it was lots of birds in your house.

カナトは馬が嫌いかもしれません。
Kanato may not like horses.

As demonstrated by the last sentence, there's no need to place だ after nouns or na-adjectives when using them with this phrase. They are fine as-is, conjugated or not.

Expressing Desire (Another Way!)

I'm back from my (what felt like forever) hiatus. My mom is now out of the hospital, and I've just completed a massive project at work, so I've now got some more free time to get back to grammar studies.

The i-adjective ほしい is used to express desire, often towards objects. This is in contrast to the たい verb conjugation that expresses the desire to perform an action. It's usually used with the particle が, although the particle は can also be used, often when using the negative form of the word.

誕生日に新しい自転車がほしい。
I want a new bicycle for my birthday.

今お茶がほしくないよ。
I don't want tea right now.

モールに行った時に、 プレッツェルがほしかった。
When we went to the mall, I wanted a pretzel.

ほしい is similar to たい in that both of them are private predicates. This means that they cannot be used to directly say what another person wants. ほしい has a counterpart verb, ほしがる, which can be used to make an observation about what another person may want.

リーさんは彼女をほしがっているよ。
(I think that) Lee-san wants a girlfriend.

カナト君はケーキをほしがってるね。
Kanato wants cake (it seems to me).

Note that when the verb form is used, the particle を is used with it, rather than は or が.

It's also good to note a few other words that are private predicates: うれしい (happy), かなしい (sad), and いたい (painful).