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Disjunctive Sentences Posted by Ginny on Apr 14, 2010
We’ve learned how to add clauses, phrases and sentences together, but how do we form disjunctive sentences like “but” and “however”? One way to do it is to use でも : 私はイギリス人です。でも、英語を話しません = I am a British person, but I don’t speak English (わたし/私 = I. は = particle. イギリス = England/Britain. じん/人 = person…
Making Comparisons Posted by Ginny on Apr 11, 2010
Take a look at this comparison : (1) このけいたいのほうがそのけいたいより安いです = This cell phone is cheaper than that cell phone (この = this. けいたい = cell phone. のほうが = more. その = that. けいたい = cell phone. より = than. やすい/安い = cheap.です = is) Here, the grammatical pattern was : noun1 + のほうが + noun2…
Egg Based Dishes Posted by Ginny on Apr 8, 2010
Do you have a lot of leftover eggs from Easter that you don’t know what to do with? How about putting the eggs to good use and making some classic egg based Japanese dishes? オムライス is a Japanese style omelet. The omelet is made of a thin egg layer and underneath it is tasty fried rice…
Making Requests Posted by Ginny on Apr 5, 2010
To make a polite request, use the て form with ください : 急いでください = Please hurry (いそいでください/急いでください = please hurry) You don’t always have to use the て form with ください : 明日電話をください = please call tomorrow (literally “please phone tomorrow”) (あした/明日 = tomorrow. でんわをください/電話をください = please call) The reason the て form is not used…
Combining Words, Clauses, and Sentences Posted by Ginny on Apr 2, 2010
One of the uses of the や particle is to connect two nouns. More specifically, the や particle is used to list two items among other items. 野菜や果物を買いました = I bought vegetables and fruit among other things (やさい/野菜 = vegetables. や = among other things. くだもの/果物 = fruit. を = direct object particle. かいました/買いました =…
Japanese Soups Posted by Ginny on Mar 31, 2010
There are different kinds of みそしる or miso soup. The most basic kind of miso soup includes tofu squares, seaweed, and a soup stock called だし. The だし can be made of dried kelp, fish, or mushrooms. Sometimes a bowl of rice is served along with the soup. Miso soup can be found in many asian…
～でいる Posted by Ginny on Mar 28, 2010
In English, the present continuous is formed by adding -ing to the verb. In Japanese, the present continuous is formed by adding ~でいる. To form the present affirmative polite, use the ending ~でいます/ています 彼女は公園で歩いています = She is walking in the park (かのじょ/彼女 = she. は = subject marking particle. こうえん/公園 = park. で = in…