I have a partner on the site italki that I've been messaging for a week or two now. He's Japanese and is learning English, so we go back and forth in speaking our languages to help each other practice reading and writing. I've learned a few things so far from this practice that I'd like to note.
1. Experiences - To say something like "I have been to Japan" or "I have not visited Osaka", the translation is roughly "As for the [description] event, it exists/does not exist." For example, I wrote: 大阪を訪ねることはありません。 A literal translation is "As for the visiting Osaka event, it does not exist." This is me saying that I haven't visited Osaka before.
2. 屋 「や」 - This kanji can mean roof or shop. It's often attached to another character to signify a business of some sort. In one of our messages it was attached to the word まんざい, which is like comedy or a comedic duo. So a まんざいや would be a comic shop. A 肉や (meat roof/shop) would be a butcher.
3. If I want to say "I live in X location", I would use 住んでいます to specify that it is an ongoing action. I currently live here and will continue to do so. Another example is marriage: 結婚しています. It's an ongoing state, so it's specified as such.
4. 何か - This and other question words with か tacked onto the end turn the word into the "uncertain" form. 何か is "something", 誰か is "someone" or "somebody", etc. This is very useful for everyday sentences.
5. This isn't about the Japanese language itself, but I learned about typhoon season and what it means for Japan. As autumn approaches, it looks like El Niño will begin to transition to La Niña, therefore making the rainy season less volatile. This means that when my friends visit Japan, they're less likely to face terrible storms that'll impact their flights, which is always a plus.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Thursday, July 7, 2016
More Verbs - To Be
There are two new verbs, ある and いる that I can use to explicitly describe the state of being for nouns. They don't express an action, but sort of represent the equivalent of "to be" or "there is" in English. I believe I said this in another post, but ある is generally for inanimate objects, while いる is for living things.
お金はあるですか？
Is there money?
アヤト君は私の家にいる。
Ayato-kun is at my house.
リーさんは学校にいる。
Lee-san is at school.
君の毛布は机の上にある。
Your blanket is above the desk.
ライト君はどこにいる？
Where's Laito-kun?
These are pretty simple to use so far, and the に particle is common here because it's being used as an "at" to say "this noun exists at this place."
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
お金はあるですか？
Is there money?
アヤト君は私の家にいる。
Ayato-kun is at my house.
リーさんは学校にいる。
Lee-san is at school.
君の毛布は机の上にある。
Your blanket is above the desk.
ライト君はどこにいる？
Where's Laito-kun?
These are pretty simple to use so far, and the に particle is common here because it's being used as an "at" to say "this noun exists at this place."
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Important Verbs
I need to expand my verb vocabulary, because right now it's painfully limited. I'm going to list all the important verbs I'd like to know under two categories: ones I currently recognize, and ones I don't. Then I can make up flash cards appropriately.
Currently know:
to go - 行く 「いく」
to do - する、遣る 「やる」
to eat - 食べる 「たべる」
to know - 知る 「しる」
to understand - 分かる 「わかる」
to sleep - 寝る、眠る 「ねる」、「ねむる」
to walk - 歩く 「あるく」
to talk - 話す 「はなす」
to live - 生きる 「いきる」
to grow - 生える 「はえる」
to die - 死ぬ 「しぬ」
to run - 走る 「はしる」
to tell - 教える 「おしえる」
to see - 見る 「みる」
to buy - 買う 「かう」
to learn - 学ぶ 「まなぶ」
to fix - 直す 「なおす」
to meet - 会う 「あう」
to exist (inanimate) - ある
to exist (animate) - いる
Need to learn:
to laugh - 笑う 「わらう」
to cry - 泣く 「なく」
to love - 愛する 「あいする」
to drive - (having trouble finding a good answer here)
to drink - 飲む 「のむ」
to nap - 仮眠を取る 「かみんをとる」
to swim - 泳ぐ 「およぐ」
to try - 試みる 「こころみる」
to kiss - 吸う 「すう」
to possess - 擁する 「ようする」
to jump - 跳ねる 「はねる」
to read - 読む 「よむ」
to play - 遊ぶ 「あそぶ」
to say - 言う 「いう」
to smile - 微笑む 「ほほえむ」
to need - 要る 「いる」
to carry out - 行う 「おこなう」
For "to drive", the listings I found in the dictionary had a billion different options for various contexts, but nothing simple like "to drive a car", which is what I'm looking for. I'll have to check with other people to make sure.
I'm sure I'll think of more I'd like to learn over time, but for now this is a decent enough start. I'm going to make flash cards for all of them, regardless of which list they're in, because I want to ensure I know them like the back of my hand.
Currently know:
to go - 行く 「いく」
to do - する、遣る 「やる」
to eat - 食べる 「たべる」
to know - 知る 「しる」
to understand - 分かる 「わかる」
to sleep - 寝る、眠る 「ねる」、「ねむる」
to walk - 歩く 「あるく」
to talk - 話す 「はなす」
to live - 生きる 「いきる」
to grow - 生える 「はえる」
to die - 死ぬ 「しぬ」
to run - 走る 「はしる」
to tell - 教える 「おしえる」
to see - 見る 「みる」
to buy - 買う 「かう」
to learn - 学ぶ 「まなぶ」
to fix - 直す 「なおす」
to meet - 会う 「あう」
to exist (inanimate) - ある
to exist (animate) - いる
Need to learn:
to laugh - 笑う 「わらう」
to cry - 泣く 「なく」
to love - 愛する 「あいする」
to drive - (having trouble finding a good answer here)
to drink - 飲む 「のむ」
to nap - 仮眠を取る 「かみんをとる」
to swim - 泳ぐ 「およぐ」
to try - 試みる 「こころみる」
to kiss - 吸う 「すう」
to possess - 擁する 「ようする」
to jump - 跳ねる 「はねる」
to read - 読む 「よむ」
to play - 遊ぶ 「あそぶ」
to say - 言う 「いう」
to smile - 微笑む 「ほほえむ」
to need - 要る 「いる」
to carry out - 行う 「おこなう」
For "to drive", the listings I found in the dictionary had a billion different options for various contexts, but nothing simple like "to drive a car", which is what I'm looking for. I'll have to check with other people to make sure.
I'm sure I'll think of more I'd like to learn over time, but for now this is a decent enough start. I'm going to make flash cards for all of them, regardless of which list they're in, because I want to ensure I know them like the back of my hand.
Verbs with Particles
There are several particles used with verbs to indicate how an action is being performed, or used with other words/phrases to provide further detail about it. One of the most useful ones is を, which is pronounced as お. It designates the previous word or phrase as the direct object of the verb. Some examples make this easy to understand.
リーさんはお菓子を食べる。
Lee eats candy.
アヤトはアニメを見る。
Ayato watches anime.
ライトが犬を教える。
Laito teaches dogs.
Tae Kim's guide does a good job of detailing the other common particles. I could do the same myself, but it'd probably be very close to his own descriptions, and I don't want to merely repeat that info word-for-word. I think what I'll do is list the basic function of each particle and give an example or two, rather than going into detail for each one. It'll be easier to get a feel for how they're used with practice, anyway.
と - Used to mean "and" or "with."
私は、友達と泳ぐ。
I swim with my friend.
に - The target of an action. A bit fuzzy to me, but it seems most useful with intransitive verbs to specify further detail as to how that action is being performed. It can also be used with a time or location.
アヤトは家に行く。
Ayato goes home.
リーさんは明日に出る。
Lee leaves tomorrow.
で - Also a bit fuzzy, but it generally reads as "by means of" to express context for a situation.
彼は会議で話す。
He talks at the meeting.
へ - Used for actual direction of movement. Pronounced as え.
彼女は学校へ歩く。
She walks to (towards) the school.
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
リーさんはお菓子を食べる。
Lee eats candy.
アヤトはアニメを見る。
Ayato watches anime.
ライトが犬を教える。
Laito teaches dogs.
Tae Kim's guide does a good job of detailing the other common particles. I could do the same myself, but it'd probably be very close to his own descriptions, and I don't want to merely repeat that info word-for-word. I think what I'll do is list the basic function of each particle and give an example or two, rather than going into detail for each one. It'll be easier to get a feel for how they're used with practice, anyway.
と - Used to mean "and" or "with."
私は、友達と泳ぐ。
I swim with my friend.
に - The target of an action. A bit fuzzy to me, but it seems most useful with intransitive verbs to specify further detail as to how that action is being performed. It can also be used with a time or location.
アヤトは家に行く。
Ayato goes home.
リーさんは明日に出る。
Lee leaves tomorrow.
で - Also a bit fuzzy, but it generally reads as "by means of" to express context for a situation.
彼は会議で話す。
He talks at the meeting.
へ - Used for actual direction of movement. Pronounced as え.
彼女は学校へ歩く。
She walks to (towards) the school.
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Verb Stems
Verb stems are important to learn because they're used in a variety of conjugations, including the common ます form. I know I've mentioned them before in a past post, but they deserve their own post because they're so useful. Thankfully, they're quite simple.
In the case of ichidan verbs, I simply drop the る to get the stem. For godan verbs, I must change the final う sound to the い equivalent. Examples will make this more clear.
食べる --> 食べ
to eat
行く --> 行き
to go
歩く --> 歩き
to walk
死ぬ --> 死に
to die
分かる --> 分かり
to understand
する --> し
to do
来る --> き
to come
The final two are the standard exception verbs, which I previously mentioned as having unique conjugations for almost everything.
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
In the case of ichidan verbs, I simply drop the る to get the stem. For godan verbs, I must change the final う sound to the い equivalent. Examples will make this more clear.
食べる --> 食べ
to eat
行く --> 行き
to go
歩く --> 歩き
to walk
死ぬ --> 死に
to die
分かる --> 分かり
to understand
する --> し
to do
来る --> き
to come
The final two are the standard exception verbs, which I previously mentioned as having unique conjugations for almost everything.
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
Verbs - Plain Present Tense
I've been studying and studying to reach this point for what seems like ages! (In reality it's only been a month or two, but still.) This is where I delve into the meat of the language. Obviously I'm not going to know everything about the language just by learning about verbs, but this will finally give me a great deal more expressive power. After awhile it's frustrating to only construct sentences with nouns and adjectives.
I'll note that I'm going to be learning verbs in their original dictionary form. I know that some people like to learn verbs in ます form, but I think that's a bad approach. This way allows you to see the original verb so other conjugations are easier to perform, such as past, negative, and て form. If you've only seen the ます form, you have to essentially un-conjugate that word to get to the original verb before you can proceed to perform other conjugations. That's not sensible.
One other note - Japanese verbs don't have to be conjugated based on the subject or topic. For example, in English we would say "you go" but "he goes." In Japanese, the verb would not change in those cases. That's really nice, in my opinion! Even Spanish became overwhelming with all its different forms due to varying subjects. It made speaking a lot more difficult (not that Japanese speaking isn't difficult in its own ways).
Moving on from that... In Japanese, verbs will always come at the end of the sentence. This means that the subject/topic, direct object, and any other details like time or location will all come before the verb.
They can be divided into two categories: ichidan and godan. I know some people like to classify them as ru- or u-verbs, but I think that gets confusing due to overlap. Ichidan verbs must end in る. Godan verbs can end in any number of う sounds, including る. If the verb ends in an いる or える sound, it's probably an ichidan verb (though there are exceptions). Otherwise it must be godan. This distinction is important because conjugations vary based on which category the verb falls into.
There are also two verbs that are exceptions for nearly every conjugation: する and 来る. Frankly I don't mind this at all because other languages (including English) typically have far more exceptions when it comes to verbs (ex: went, made, slept, ate, etc). Those two verbs will always have their own separate conjugations listed. I suspect they won't be hard to remember since they're so common.
I'll write a couple practice sentences with verbs now. One thing I'll note - initially I was confused as to whether there was any conjugation required with these original verbs, or if I could just use the word 食べる and have that be considered correct. And it is correct, just as the plain or casual form.
リーさんは食べる。
Lee-san eats.
アリスちゃんが泳ぐ。
Alice-chan swims.
アヤトは寝る。
Ayato sleeps.
These are extremely basic, but still, they're actions! And I can always jazz them up in a lesson or two with some direct objects.
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
I'll note that I'm going to be learning verbs in their original dictionary form. I know that some people like to learn verbs in ます form, but I think that's a bad approach. This way allows you to see the original verb so other conjugations are easier to perform, such as past, negative, and て form. If you've only seen the ます form, you have to essentially un-conjugate that word to get to the original verb before you can proceed to perform other conjugations. That's not sensible.
One other note - Japanese verbs don't have to be conjugated based on the subject or topic. For example, in English we would say "you go" but "he goes." In Japanese, the verb would not change in those cases. That's really nice, in my opinion! Even Spanish became overwhelming with all its different forms due to varying subjects. It made speaking a lot more difficult (not that Japanese speaking isn't difficult in its own ways).
Moving on from that... In Japanese, verbs will always come at the end of the sentence. This means that the subject/topic, direct object, and any other details like time or location will all come before the verb.
They can be divided into two categories: ichidan and godan. I know some people like to classify them as ru- or u-verbs, but I think that gets confusing due to overlap. Ichidan verbs must end in る. Godan verbs can end in any number of う sounds, including る. If the verb ends in an いる or える sound, it's probably an ichidan verb (though there are exceptions). Otherwise it must be godan. This distinction is important because conjugations vary based on which category the verb falls into.
There are also two verbs that are exceptions for nearly every conjugation: する and 来る. Frankly I don't mind this at all because other languages (including English) typically have far more exceptions when it comes to verbs (ex: went, made, slept, ate, etc). Those two verbs will always have their own separate conjugations listed. I suspect they won't be hard to remember since they're so common.
I'll write a couple practice sentences with verbs now. One thing I'll note - initially I was confused as to whether there was any conjugation required with these original verbs, or if I could just use the word 食べる and have that be considered correct. And it is correct, just as the plain or casual form.
リーさんは食べる。
Lee-san eats.
アリスちゃんが泳ぐ。
Alice-chan swims.
アヤトは寝る。
Ayato sleeps.
These are extremely basic, but still, they're actions! And I can always jazz them up in a lesson or two with some direct objects.
Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.
Friday, July 1, 2016
Sentence Practice 7/1/2016
I've been hyped to start my verb lessons lately, but I've been so busy with work and other stuff that I haven't had time to do a post on it! I'll do some sentence practice tonight and hopefully post my very first verb lesson tomorrow.
週末は楽しみだよ！
Looking forward to the weekend!
大学生なの？
You're a university student?
どちらからきましたか。
Where are you from?
スポーツはしますか。
Do you play sports?
買い物が好きですか。
Do you like shopping?
有名な歌手はだれが好きですか。
What famous singers do you like?
リーさん、お仕事は忙しいんですか。たいへんですね！
Lee-san, you're busy at work? I'm so sorry!
私の甥はななさいですよ。
My nephew is seven years old.
姉は結婚しています。
My older sister is married.
リーさん、今週は暇じゃないんですか。
Lee-san, you're not free this weekend?
小学生だよ、高校生じゃないんだよ！
You're an elementary school student, not a high school student!
週末は楽しみだよ！
Looking forward to the weekend!
大学生なの？
You're a university student?
どちらからきましたか。
Where are you from?
スポーツはしますか。
Do you play sports?
買い物が好きですか。
Do you like shopping?
有名な歌手はだれが好きですか。
What famous singers do you like?
リーさん、お仕事は忙しいんですか。たいへんですね！
Lee-san, you're busy at work? I'm so sorry!
私の甥はななさいですよ。
My nephew is seven years old.
姉は結婚しています。
My older sister is married.
リーさん、今週は暇じゃないんですか。
Lee-san, you're not free this weekend?
小学生だよ、高校生じゃないんだよ！
You're an elementary school student, not a high school student!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)