Grammar Review 20: Informality

(This is a screenshot of opening of chapter 20 of Shin Nihongo No Kiso book. This is done just for the short recap of what I learned in this chapter.)

1. Ashita tokyo e iku. Tomorrow, I will go to Tokyo.

The ku-form of the verb is used when you want to express in informal way. It is often used between families and friends. Like for this example. Iku is the ku-form of ikimasu which is more polite and formal. Their meaning is just the same.

2.Mainichi isogashii. I am busy everyday.

When expressing informality for adjectives, it should be in the base form. Just like in the example above. If we’re going to show formality, we should have said Mainichi isogashii desu. If we’re going to put it in negative, meaning we’re going to say “not busy” it would be “Mainichi isogashikunai.” In formal form it should be, Mainishi isogashiku arimasen. In other words, the informal form of arimasen is “nai”.

3.Kyou wa ii tenki da. The weather today is good.

Here, it shows that the informal form of desu is da. To put the sentence in formal form, it would be “Kyouwa ii tenki desu.”

Grammar Review 19: koto ga arimasu,shitari,narimasu

(This is a screenshot of opening of chapter 19 of Shin Nihongo No Kiso book. This is done just for the short recap of what I learned in this chapter.)

1.Nihon ryori o tabeta koto ga arimasu. I already experienced eating Japanese food.

Syntax: verb in ta-form koto ga arimasu

Usage: This is used in expressing something that you already experience. Such as the example above. tabeta is ta-form of tabemasu which means “eat” and adding koto ga arimasu means he already experience it. Another example is ” Nihon e itta koto ga arimasu” . itta is ta form of “ikimasu which means go. So this sentence means “I already experienced going to Japan”.

2.Nichiyoubi kai mono shitari eiga o mitari shimasu. On Sunday, I go shopping, watch movies and so and so forth.

Syntax: verb in ta-form+ ri other verb in ta-form+ri shimasu.

Usage:This is how you state many actions done but in no chronological order. Like in this example, watching movies doesn’t necessarily comes after the shopping. Also, the using of “shitari” implies you’ve done actions other than what you already stated. It’s also like saying ” I go shopping, watch movies and etc.”

3. Korekara dandan samuku narimasu. From now on, it will slowly become cold.

Syntax: adjective in ku-form+narimasu

Usage: This is use in expressing a “change”. samuku is the ku-form of samui which means cold. So samuku narimasu means “becoming cold or get cold”. In my translation above, I added the word slowly because of the word “dandan” which directly translates to gradually or slowly.

Grammar Review 18: Koto ga dekimasu, koto desu,mae ni

(This is a screenshot of opening of chapter 18 of Shin Nihongo No Kiso book. This is done just for the short recap of what I learned.)

1.Ri-san wa Kanji o yomu koto ga dekimasu. Ri can read Kanji.

Syntax: verb in simple form+koto ga dekimasu.

Usage:This is use for expressing ability. The opposite is dekimasen/dekinai. Ri-san wa kainji o yomu koto ga dekimasen means Ri can’t read Kanji.

2.Watashino shumi wa eiga o miru koto desu. My hobby is watching movies.

Syntax: verb in ru-form+koto desu

Usage:This is use to turn a verb into gerunds. For example, watch to watching.  eiga o mimasu means “to watch movie”. eiga o miru koto desu to “watching movies”.

3. Neru mae ni, hon o yomimasu. Before I sleep, I read books.

Syntax: verb in ru-form+mae ni, verb in masu form.

Usage: Mae ni is used to expressed an action done before another action. Such like an example above. neru is nemasu in ru-form which means sleeping. Neru mae ni, literally means before sleep.

Grammar Review 17: naide kudasai, kereba narimasen

(This is a screenshot of opening of chapter 17 of Shin Nihongo No Kiso. This is done just for the short recap)

1.Shashin o toranaide kudasai. Please don’t take pictures.

Syntax: nai-form verb+de kudasai.

Usage: This is used when you are requesting someone to not do something. Such as the case above, toranai is  the nai-form of torimasu which means “to take,to capture”. Toranaide kudasai means “not to take” and the kudasai part  add the “please” or a formal request.

2.Mainichi benkyou o shinakereba narimasen. You have to study everyday.

Syntax: verb in na form+nakereba narimasen.

Usage: This is used to express obligation, the need to do something important. Shinai to ikemasen is another form of saying this but it is more formal.

3. Doyoubi no gogo benkyou shinakutemo ii desu. You don’t have to study on Saturday afternoon.

Syntax: verb in na-form+kutemo ii desu.

Usage: This is the complete opposite of nakeraba-narimasen. it is used in stating of actions that is not so important to do.

Grammar Review 16

I was brushing on my grammar and I decided that I will blog from Lesson 16 of Shin Nihongo no Kiso I book. I already studied Nihongo before but from this lesson onwards, it is already unfamiliar with me.  I used this book  and I think it is the best book for beginners like me. It is easy to understand the exercises are engaging.

So here it is, the start of my grammar review.

Translations and Breakdown of grammar points:

1. Asa okite,gohan o tabete,kaisha e ikimasu. I wake up in the morning,eat my breakfast then go to work.

This sentence shows how to express actions in chronological order. The syntax is (te form of the verb),(te form of the verb),(masu form of the verb)

2.Shigoto ga owatte kara,sugu uchi e kaerimasu. After I finish my work, I immediately go home.

This sentence shows how the actions after an action. The syntax is (te form verb+kara, masu form verb)

3.Tokyo wa hito ga ookute,nigiyaka desu. Tokyo is crowded and lively.

This shows how to describe a subject with multiple adjectives using te form of the verb again. (te or de form adjective,simple form adjective). ookute is the te-form of adjective ooi which means many. Hito ga ookute literally means many people which means crowded.

4. Hansan wa do no hito desu ka? What kind of person is Han?

Ano… kami ga nagakute,kirei na hito desu. Ummm She’s a long haired and beautiful person.

Again this is an example of describing a subject using te form. nagakute is the te-form of adjective nagai which means long. kirei na is a simple form of adjective that means beautiful.

Short Quiz: Japanese Numbers and Counters

I finished reviewing the Japanese numbers and different counters. There are really many of them! To make sure that these counters would stick with me, I created a short quiz for myself. After a long time, I would answer them again. You can answer it too as a practice!

Instruction: Fill in the tables according to what is asked in the column header. A bonus answer is given in the first item. Click the picture to enlarge it.

The key to correction is here. if you find any mistake, please put in the comment section.

For you reference: go to this learn-japanese-adventure site. They summed up this lesson pretty well!

I Wrote My Friends’ Name in Katakana

I am looking for ways to have fun with Katakana so I decided to translate names of my friends. I wrote them in a blank page of my diary. I super enjoyed it!  I recommend to other Nihongo students to do this as well.

I researched online translator to find out if these are right. (http://www.sljfaq.org/cgi/e2k.cgi for example)  Well, I really can’t agree for some results that I found so I stick with how the syllables sound. if you feel that my katakana is not correct, please comment your answers.

I also wrote the katakana counterpart of my favorite Hollywood actor. I’m in love with this guy and i won’t last a day without ogling at least one picture of him. I really think and wrote it with care. Can you guess who is he?

In case you can’t understand my handwriting, this is what I wrote: リーオナードディカップリーオー

Related articles

• Going Back to the Basic (japanizegirl.wordpress.com)

Going Back to the Basic

Now that I acquired my test voucher for JLPT this December 1, it’s time for this blog to be active again.  I need to go to the basic as tedious as it can be. Here I started writing Hiragana and Katakana again. I’m glad that I still remember most of it.

Tomorrow, I will brush up to numbers and counters! I can do this!

Ganbarimasu!

Hai! Ganbarimasu!

DORAEMON’S FIRST APPEARANCE

One day,I was browsing with Wikipedia about random things I could think of when I came across a wiki about Doraemon., one of my favorite anime. I was never able to watch the episode where he came to Nobita’s life so its good to see this comic strip. And to my delight, it’s not translated so I decided to do it on my own. But the last two panels confused me very much so I seek the help of @MaggieSensei who willingly do it for me. I learned something new out of this activity.I was inspired to do this again next time.

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1ST PANEL:

Doraemon: ぼくだけど -Boku dakedo-It’s only me though
                  気にさわったかしら-Ki ni sawatta kashira-Am I bothering you? ( I originally translated this as  Do you want to touch me? Ha! Very wrong!)

Nobita:…

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凄い スイミングプール    (SUGOI SUIMINGU PU—-RU!)

Architect James Law designed a wonderful skyscraping residential complex in Mumbai, India which have a series of swimming pools placed within each balcony. Hands-down, it’s the coolest balcony I have ever seen!

Totally sugoi!

—boredpanda.com