Progressive Form

In English, the progressive form refers to our -ing verbs, and it shows that something is in an ongoing state. "He is running" tells me that the action is currently happening. There's an equivalent version in Japanese used with the ている form of verbs.

This simply requires putting the verb in て form, then adding いる to the end of it in its appropriate form. It can be conjugated as necessary as a standard ichidan verb, so います, いない, etc. The tense is determined by how いる is conjugated.

アヤトは本を読んでいる。
Ayato is reading a book.

ライトは今寝ていない。
Laito is not sleeping right now.

スバル君はお菓子を食べていた。
Subaru was eating candy.

This is actually very similar to the construct we use in English and thus fairly easy to read. In more casual situations, the い in いる is dropped, so it'll read as てる (or the appropriate conjugation, minus the い).

何をしてるの？
What are you doing?

リーさんに話してるよ。
I'm talking to Lee-san.

今テレビを見てない。
I'm not watching TV right now.

Sentence Practice 9/26/2016

I'm going to write several sentences that use a bunch of different grammar points that I've covered in the past couple months. I don't want any of these points to simply fall out of my brain, so it's best to use them to ensure I refresh my memory.

午後九時半ごろアヤトと宿に帰りたい。
I want to return to the hotel with Ayato around 9:30 PM.

店に行く時に、お菓子を買ってください。
When you go to the store, buy me some candy please.

明日六時に映画を見よう。
Let's see a movie tomorrow at 6.

昨日ゲームを四時間ぐらいやった。
Yesterday I played games for about four hours.

あそこにけれいな蝶々がいる。
There's a beautiful butterfly over there.

母は明日忙しいから、私と買い物に行きたくない。
My mom is busy tomorrow, so she doesn't want to go shopping with me.

リーさんはいつも苺を食べる。彼はみかんも食べる。
Lee-san always eats strawberries. He also eats tangerines.

今日は音楽を聞いて、プールで泳いで、猫に歌った。
Today I listened to music, swam in the pool, and sang to my cat.

アヤトの家に行こう。
Let's go to Ayato's house.

ライトと図書館で勉強したいけど、今日英語のテストがあるよ。
I want to study at the library with Laito, but he has a test in English today.

喫茶店で朝ごはんを食べてもいいですか。
Is it okay if I eat breakfast at the cafe?

私の部屋で吸ってはいけない。
You must not smoke in my room.

スバルは動物園に行った。彼はビーチにも行った。
Subaru when to the zoo. He also went to the beach.

ここで昼ごはんを食べて、買い物に行きましょう。
Let's eat lunch here, then go shopping.

教科書は机の下にある。
The textbook is under the desk.

でもアリスにその本をあげたかったよ。
But I wanted to give that book to Alice.

Explanations and Assistance

Some of the grammar points in Genki are random or very loosely-related, resulting in shorter posts on my end. I'm going to group the last two points in this chapter into one post since they're fairly brief and kind of touch on things I've already reviewed.

The first is から, which acts as an explanatory particle. I've already learned how to create compound sentences with it, but I can also use it at the end of a sentence to treat it as an explanation.

学校に行きたくないから。
Because I don't want to go to school.

アヤトがとってもかわいいから！
Because Ayato is really cute!

ライトが私に花束をくれたから。
Because Laito gave me a bouquet of flowers.

The second point relates to the volitional form, with ましょうか being used to say "let's do x." It can also be used to say something like "let me do x" to offer someone help.

やりましょうか。
I'll do it.

本を持ちましょうか。
Shall I carry your books?

直しましょうか。
I'll fix it for you.

Te Form - Multiple Verbs

Throughout my Japanese studies, I've been waiting for the day where I find an "and" that's used for linking verbs so I can say I did multiple things in one sentence. Well, there's not necessarily an "and" for that, but there's an equivalent.

If I want to say that I did multiple things, I use the te form. The overall tense is determined by the last verb in the sentence.

昨日リーさんと朝ごはんを食べて、図書館で日本語を勉強した。
Yesterday I ate breakfast with Lee-san, then studied Japanese at the library.

今朝六時に起きて、学校に行って、午後三時帰った。
This morning I got up at 6, went to school, then came home at 3.

明日アヤトに会って、午後九時ごろに酒場でカラオケを歌いに行く。
Tomorrow I'll meet with Ayato, then go to the bar to sing karaoke around 9.

ここで昼ごはんを食べて、モールで買い物に行こう。
Let's each lunch here, then go shopping at the mall.

Te Form - Permission

The te form, when used alongside another set phrase (listed below), can be used to ask for or grant permission.

てverb +  もいいです =  "You may do [verb]."

This can be made into a question by either changing it to ですか or providing the proper inflection. It can also be made more casual by dropping も.

　 リー：　テレビを見てもいいですか。
ホリー：　はい、いいです。

   Lee: May I watch TV?
Holly: Yes, you may.

アリス：　この苺を食べてもいいですか。
ホリー：　はい、いいです。

Alice: May I eat this strawberry?
Holly: Yes, you may.

 アヤト：　君の本を読んでいいですか。
ほりー：　いいよ。

Ayato: Can I read your book?
Holly: Sure.

  ライト：　君のノートを借りていいですか。
ほりー：　いいよ。

Laito: Can I borrow your notebook?
Holly: Sure.

To state that something is prohibited, I can use the following form:

てverb + はいけません  (or  いけない, which is not polite form)

その池で泳いではいけません。
You must not swim in that pond.

花を食べてはいけません。
You must not eat the flowers.

この水を飲んではいけません。
You must not drink this water.

This isn't something typically used in an everyday conversation because it sounds more authoritative. It's meant in the "rules" sense and would sound harsh if used with friends or acquaintances.

Te Form - Requests

The te form can be used to make requests. Examples best demonstrate this.

教科書を勉強してください。
Study the textbook, please.

昼ごはんを食べてください。
Eat your lunch, please.

銀行を行ってください。
Go to the bank, please.

野菜を買ってください。
Buy me some vegetables, please.

帰ってください。
Come home, please.

Te form of a verb plus ください results in a polite request. Removing the ください makes it more casual, and thus something more commonly used with friends and family.

窓を開けて。
Open the window.

ベンチに座って。
Take a seat on the bench.

誕生日を教えて。
Tell me your birthday.

姉に話して。
Talk to your sister.

戸を閉めて。
Close the door.

Te Form - Conjugation

Well, this has been looming over me for awhile, and it's time to finally take the plunge. The te form in Japanese is arguably one of the most important verb conjugations to learn because it's used in many grammar constructs. It's also the most difficult form to learn because of our lovely godan verbs, which have to be separated into four additional categories for proper conjugation. But I'm sure it'll begin to feel more natural as I practice with them, so let's get started.

Ichidan Verbs:

• Drop the る and add て

Godan Verbs:

•  す
• す → して
• く、ぐ
• く → いて
• ぐ → いで
• む、ぶ、ぬ
• む → んで
• ぶ → んで
• ぬ → んで
• る、う、つ 
• る → って
• う → って
• つ → って

Exceptions:

• する　→　して
• 来る　→　きて
• 行く 　→　行って

I know that's painful to look at. I'm going to list a few example conjugations of each type so it becomes slightly more familiar and more clear.

話す　→　話して
化かす　→　化かして
動く　→　動いて
働く　→　働いて
泳ぐ　→　泳いで
飲む　→　飲んで
読む　→　読んで
選ぶ　→　選んで
転ぶ　→　転んで
死ぬ　→　死んで
分かる　→　分かって
知る　→　知って
買う　→　買って
待つ　→　待って
持つ　→　持って

Credit goes to Tae Kim's lesson seen here.