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Japanese grammar and expressions: Acknowledgements to Patrick Danoy and Marion Monet for this charming photo taken in Nanzen-ji Victor Renault [email protected] January 2005 Introduction This paper has been written first for my own personal use in order to help me in the difficult process of learning Japanese. In a second time I thought that maybe this document could be useful to other people like me who wants to learn this language. In this document, I tried to summarize what I learned from my daily life in Japan, the Japanese classes I took and from the exchanges I made with some Japanese people. So this document contains some information I learned from Japanese teachers and some other that I deducted and thus I may have made a few mistakes and in that case, I would be grateful to you if you could just send me an e-mail, the same remark applies in the case where things may not seem very clear to you. 1 Contents Introduction 1 1 Adjectives 1.1 The different types . . . . . . . 1.1.1 i suffixed type . . . . . 1.1.2 The other ones . . . . . 1.1.3 Relative Subordinates . 1.1.4 Creating adjectives with 1.2 Combining adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 2 Comparative 2.1 Superiority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 6 3 Asking and giving preference 3.1 Choices are given . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1 Asking preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.2 Giving preference (answer to the previous question) 3.2 Open choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 Desires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The ka suffix 7 5 Linking sentences 5.1 The simple ways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 shi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Subordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7 7 8 6 Verbs 6.1 The present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.1 The casual one . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.2 The polite present . . . . . . . . . 6.2 te form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 Enumerating events with verbs . . 6.2.2 The past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.3 The continuous form . . . . . . . . 6.2.4 One form of passive: the form in te 6.2.5 Polite request form . . . . . . . . . 6.2.6 Expressing regrets . . . . . . . . . 6.3 The let’s form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4.1 The near future . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + aru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.4.2 Form in to omoimasu . . 6.4.3 The tsumori form . . . . 6.4.4 The yotei form . . . . . . Expressing the notion of capacity 6.5.1 Can, being able to . . . . 6.5.2 Try . . . . . . . . . . . . The imperative form . . . . . . . 6.6.1 Making suggestions . . . . 6.6.2 The nasai form . . . . . . 6.6.3 Imperative in te . . . . . 6.6.4 The strongest form . . . . The passive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 7 Expressing desires 13 8 Obligations 14 9 Opinions 14 9.1 Asking opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 9.2 Giving an opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 10 On the phone... 14 11 Usefull expressions 15 3 Legend used: 1 A (B) A [B] C : : B can be used instead of A the sentence can be either AC or ABC Adjectives There are two different types of adjectives in Japanese: • one can be (generally) recognized thanks to its i ending, • the other one sometimes also ends with a i but when it is preceding a noun, the suffix na has to be added to this adjective. 1.1 1.1.1 The different types i suffixed type Those adjectives behave like verbs in Japanese. Indeed, depending on the tense or whether the adjective is in its affirmative or negative sense, it has a dedicated form. Present Past 1.1.2 Pattern Example Pattern Example Affirmative form prefix + i kawai prefix + katta kawakatta Negative form prefix + kunai kawakunai prefix + nakatta kawanakatta The other ones Present Pattern Example Affirmative form Adj kantan Past Pattern Example Adj kantan Negative form Adj + ja (dewa) arimasen kantan ja arimasen (kantan dewa arimasen) Adj + ja (dewa) arimasen deshita kantan ja arimasen deshita (kantan dewa arimasen) Note: The negative adjectival form with dewa arimasen is more polite than the one with ja arimasen. Another more casual one is ja nai which past form is ja nakatta. 1.1.3 Relative Subordinates The relative subordinates play the same role than the adjectives in the sense that they give an additional information about the noun and thus a 4 subordinate can be used like an adjective by using it as an epithet to the noun: (the example requires the paragraph 6.2.2 about the past tense) Pattern Example Translation 1.1.4 : : : Adj or Subordinate + Noun wa ... Watashi ga yonda hon wa omoshiroi desu the book I read is interesting Creating adjectives with verbs It is possible to change a verb into an adjective by: • using the verb in the past tense (see section 6.2.2) and by putting it as an epithet to a noun: owaru → owatta yasumi which means the finished vacations, • taking the verb in its masu form and removing the masu suffix. The verb in that is generally added in front of an adjective to add another information: sumu → sumi nikui (hard to live). This form does not work for all adjectives, for example, we say: sumu no ga muzukashii and not sumi muzukashii. For the moment I do not know the rules telling whether one adjective behave like nikui or muzukashii, • using the verb in the normal (not polite) present form which will add a meaning of future: John no ageru boshi = the hat that will be given to John or the hat to give to John. Note: Of course it is possible to combine different verbs together to add some more information and in that case all the verbs preceding the last one have to be in the te form (see section 6.2 and 6.2.1): . 1.2 Combining adjectives When combining different adjectives together, the linking word depends only on the previous adjective. If the preceding adjective is: • i -type then the i suffix has to be removed and replaced with te, • na-type then the de suffix has to added Pattern Example Translation i type Adj without i suffix + te wakate kireina ona A young and beautiful woman na type Adj + de kireide wakai ona a beautiful and young woman Note: kirei is a na type adjective and thus when it is epithet to a noun, the na suffix has to be added. 5 2 Comparative 2.1 Superiority Pattern Example Translation 2.2 A [no hou] wa (ga) B yori Adj desu Alice wa Bob yori wakai desu Alice is younger than Bob Equality Pattern Example Translation 3 : : : : : : A to B to onaji gurai Adj desu Alice to Bob to onaji gurai wakai desu Alice is as young as Bob Asking and giving preference 3.1 3.1.1 Choices are given Asking preference Pattern Example Translation 3.1.2 3.2.1 A to B to dochira ga Adj desu ka konshuu to raishuu to dochira ga hima desu ka When will you be free, this week or next week? Giving preference (answer to the previous question) Pattern Example Translation 3.2 : : : : : : B no hou ga Adj desu raishuu no hou ga hima desu Next week. Open choices Preferences 1. Asking preference: Pattern Example Translation : : : Noun de Interrogative pronoun ga ichiban suki desu ka. kisetsu de itsu ga ichiban suki desu ka. Which season do you prefer? 2. Giving preference (answer to the previous question): Pattern Example Translation : : : Noun ga ichiban suki desu. aki ga ichiban suki desu. Autumn is the season I prefer (I like the most). 6 3.2.2 Desires Question Translation Answer Translation : : : : nani ga ichiban hoshii desu ka. What do you want the most? kuruma ga [ichiban] hoshii desu. I want a car. The ka suffix 4 This suffix can be used to mean some like in somewhere, something, ... Pattern Example : : : : interrogative pronoun + ka dareka (someone) dokoka (somewhere) nanika (something) Forming question Translation More example Translation 5 : : : : dareka shiranai (desu ka) Does someone know? nani o suru ka [wa] mada wakarimasen I still don’t know what I will do Linking sentences This section is about linking different sentences with the notion of addition i.e. the equivalent of and. This seemed useful to me since in Japanese there are so many different ways to link two sentences with a and. 5.1 The simple ways The simplest ways to link two sentences with a and meaning are to put soshite or ga (however ga has sometimes a meaning of but) between the sentences to link. 5.2 shi This linking word is used when an enumeration of statements which refer to a same subject is made. Let’s take these sentences as an example: There are a lot of people who like sports. Some like tennis, some like football, some like baseball, some like swimming... The last part of the example some like tennis, some like... is what I call an enumeration of statements which refer to a same subject which is in this case sports. The translation of the example in Japanese is as follows: takusan hito ga supotsu ga suki desu. tennisu ga sukina hito mo imasu ga 7 (shi) sakka- ga sukina hito mo imasu shi yakyuu ga sukina hito mo imasu shi suiei ga sukina hito mo imasu... What is important to notice is that to link the first two sentences of the enumeration, ga can be used instead of shi but only for the first two sentences. Afterwards, shi is used for linking. Another important point is the use of mo which means also. 5.3 Subordinates Linking two sentences with a that like in I know that you are good is done with to: Pattern Example Translation 6 : : : sentence1 to sentence2 anata wa tsuyoi to omoimasu I think you are strong Verbs The verbs in Japanese can be divided into 3 groups: • The third group composed of only two irregular verbs: suru and kuru • The second one composed of verbs ending with eru or iru and for which the polite present form is formed by replacing the ru suffix with masu • The first one, in fact all the others (also includes some verbs with eru or iru suffix but for which the corresponding present polite form is obtained by changing the u suffix into imasu) 6.1 6.1.1 The present The casual one The most common form is the dictionary form. Its associated negative form depends on its suffix which belongs to (tsu, ru, u, su, ku, gu, mu, nu, bu). So to construct the negative form a little knowledge of the alphabet is needed, in fact the suffix has to be replaced by the a related form to which the nai suffix is appended: The verbs of the second group do not follow the previous rule. The associated negative form is done by replacing the ru suffix with nai. 8 tsu ru u su ku gu mu nu bu 6.1.2 ta + nai ra + nai a + nai sa + nai ka + nai ga + nai ma + nai na + nai ba + nai The polite present This is the masu form which, like the previous form, can be formed In addition to the polite form with masu, all the different verbal forms have an other polite one. It is also commonly used and is based on the non polite verbal form (NPVF ) that you want to use: Pattern : sentence with the verb NPVF + n desu Example : kinou wa tsukaretta n desu Translation : Yesterday I was tired The n is used to link the NPVF and desu, mark of politeness. 6.2 te form This form can be used as the imperative form but it has also a numerous other functions like enumerating a list of actions expressed with verbs. Once the te form is mastered, a big door has been opened since a lot of verb forms rely on this one. Indeed this is the basis for the past tense, the continuous form, the form used to make a polite request (V+tekudasai ), ..., and certainly a lot of other things I am not yet aware of. verb suffix mu, nu, bu ku su gu verbs from the 2nd group tsu, ru (includes 1st group verbs in eru or iru), u Present shihai o katsu nihongo o narau te form shihai o katte nihongo o naratte 9 te form nde ite shite ide te tte Translation Win the game learn Japanese 6.2.1 Enumerating events with verbs The te form is used when you want to express a succession of actions with verbs regardless of the tense you use. Pattern Example 6.2.2 : : : : : VB1 te VB2 te ... VBn te + conjugated V (VB = Verb Body) kinou 8 ji ni okite asa gohan tabete tomodachi aimashita (atta) Yesterday I woke up at 8 o’clock, I took a breakfast and I met some friend(s) ashita hataraite restoran de tabete karaoke ni ikimasu Tomorrow I will work, I will go the restaurant and I will go to the karaoke The past To form the past, just replace the e in te by a and that’s it: katte → katta (I won). Note: The polite past form is based on the present polite form masu and is constructed by replacing masu by mashita: kachimasu → kachimashita. 6.2.3 The continuous form The continuous form is formed by adding to te the suffix iru: yonde → yondeiru. This is the classical continuous form and to use the polite form, the same rules used to constitute the polite present form apply here. Thus, since a verb in its continuous form ends with iru, the polite form is made by replacing the ru by masu: yondeiru → youdeimasu. This form is also used to express an action which is finished. For example if you want to ask whether someone has already eaten, this form can be used instead of the classical past. Example Translation 6.2.4 : : sudeni tabeteimasu ka Have you already eaten? One form of passive: the form in te + aru This form is equivalent to the previous one except that in this form, the subject receive the action. Thus it is one way to express the (continuous) passive: keki ga tabetearu (tabetearimasu) which means the cake has been eaten or depending on the context, the cake is being eaten. 6.2.5 Polite request form One polite form to formulate request is composed of the te form + kudasai : katsu → katte → kattekudasai which means Please win. 10 Another one is described below: Pattern Example Translation 6.2.6 V in te form + itadakemasen ka kono shinbun o agete itadakemasen ka Could you please give me this newspaper? Expressing regrets Pattern Example Translation 6.3 : : : : : : V in te form + shimaimashita kono pa-ti ni itte shimaimashita I regret to have been to this party The let’s form Pattern Example Translation : : : Verb body + ou (generally the verb body is the verb without its u suffix) ikou, mirou let’s go, let’s see This form has also a more polite form which uses the masu one. This time, just cut the masu suffix and replace it with masho: ikimasu → ikimasho. 6.4 Future The future tense does exist and has a specific form. When the action is coming soon, the present can be used as future but when it is something which will happen not immediately (right now I don’t really know precisely what immediately is), the future tenses (ordered by degree of likeliness to happen) presented below can be used. 6.4.1 The near future Pattern Example Translation 6.4.2 : : : V in te form + shimaimasu shigoto o owatte shimaimasu I am going to finish my work Form in to omoimasu Pattern : : subject + complement Verb in the let’s form + to omoimasu (omoteimasu, kangateimasu) Example Translation : : ashita tokyou ni iko to omoimasu; souji o shiyou to kangaeteimasu Tomorrow I will go to Tokyo; I will do the cleaning This future is almost certain, there are some other forms which likeness to happen is lower than the previous one. 11 6.4.3 The tsumori form Pattern Example Translation 6.4.4 : : : sentence tsumori desu kuruma o kau tsumori desu I will buy a car (maybe 80% sure) The yotei form Another future which is a little bit less likely to happen: Pattern Example Translation 6.5 6.5.1 : : : sentence yotei desu kuruma o kau yotei desu I am planning to buy a car Expressing the notion of capacity Can, being able to This verbal form is equivalent to the can, being able to. 2 cases have to be distinguished: 1. the verb is ending with eru or iru: in that case the u suffix is replaced with areru. Taberu → Taberareru 2. In the other cases, the u suffix is replaced with eru: yoru → yoreru. Note that the verb in this form is ending with eru and consequently, the polite form is formed by changing the ru into masu: yoreru → yoremasu. Exception: suru → dekiru (dekimasu) = being able to, can 6.5.2 Try In Japanese, there is a dedicated form to express the attempt to do Pattern : V in te form + miru Example : oyonde miru something: Translation : I try to swim 6.6 The imperative form The imperative has several different forms going from very polite to impolite. Here are the different forms ordered from the most to the less polite. 6.6.1 Making suggestions Pattern Example Translation : : : complement V + tekudasai jisho o kashitekudasai Could you please lend me your dictionary? 12 6.6.2 The nasai form The form described below can a little bit rude when used with strangers and should be used with friends. It is composed of the verb in the masu form from which the masu suffix is replaced with nasai : Pattern Example Translation 6.6.3 : : : complement VB + nasai anata no heya o katazukenasai (katazukeru = tidy up) clean your room Imperative in te This form can go from a gentle order to a really rude one depending on the tone in which the sentence containing the te form is used. 6.6.4 The strongest form Now we are going to see the imperative form which can be the rudest depending on the situations. In fact, this form is also used to give some encouragements: 6.7 The passive There are several possible ways to express the passive: • V in te form + aru (see section 6.2.4) • V in the same form than the one used to express the notion of capacity (see section 6.5) I will just talk about the second form since the first one has been previously further explored: Example Translation 7 : : yobu → yobareru to call → to be called Expressing desires This corresponds to: want to or would like to + Verb. This form is based on the masu form: take the masu form, cut the masu ending and put tai instead: tabemasu → tabetai, shimasu → shitai. 13 8 Obligations To express the notion of obligation which corresponds to the must and have to, one expression is used in Japanese which has several equivalent forms. This notion of obligation has a slight negative meaning in the sense that is implies that the obligation is something you would not have done if you had been given the choice. The commonly used form uses the negative non polite present form from which the i suffix is removed (NPPF ) and replaced with kerebanaranai (or kerebanarimasen). All the patterns I know are described below and ordered by the degree of politeness: Pattern : : : : Examples Translation 9 Object Object Object Object : : : : : + + + + NPPF NPPF NPPF NPPF + + + + kerebanaranai kute wa kerebanaranai kuchanaranai kucha jimusho ni ikanakerebanaranai jimusho ni ikanakute wa naranai jimusho ni ikanakuchanaranai jimusho ni ikanakucha I have to go to my office Opinions 9.1 Asking opinion To ask for an opinion, dou desu ka can be used and ikaga deshou ka in a more polite way. 9.2 Giving an opinion Pattern Example Translation 10 : : : subordinate [no o] to omoimasu Tom ga mada kaete kuranai no o to omoimasu I think that Tom hasn’t come back yet On the phone... The first thing to say when you catch a phone call is moshimoshi. Then if you want to talk to a particular person, for example to your best male friend, let’s call him John, here are the different ways of doing so: • Johnsan onegaishimasu • Johnsan to hashimasu ka • Johnsan irasshaimasu ka 14 11 Usefull expressions • nanode: suffix adding a notion of consequence followed by a sentence in the negative form: hayakuchinanode wakarimasen deshita - since he spoke very fast, I did not understand. • sanpo suru: to take a walk. niwa o sanpo suru: to take a walk around the garden. niwa e sanpo suru: to take a walk in the garden. • shika: only (used in negative sentence): kare ga 100en shika arimasen - He has only 100 yens. 15