Archive for 'Grammar'
First and Second Person Pronouns Posted by Ginny on Mar 19, 2010
In Japanese, first and second pronouns are frequently omitted, but just for review, here are some of the most common first and second person pronouns : (Note: because of the complexity of the Japanese language, i.e. politeness, gender, context etc. not all of the possible pronouns are listed below. However, this is a pretty comprehensive list) わたし/私…
Sentences with “May” Posted by Ginny on Mar 16, 2010
One way to ask for permission to do something is to use the construction ~てもいいですか 座ってもいいですか = May I sit down? (すわってもいいですか/座っていいですか = May I sit down?) To approve, you can use the construction ~てもいいですよ はい、すわってもいいですよ = Yes, you may sit down. (はい = yes. 座ってもいいですよ = you may sit down) To deny permission to do…
More Quantifiers Posted by Ginny on Mar 10, 2010
Continuing from the previous post, here are some more quantifiers: 余り/あまり = not often, not much うどんは余り好きじゃありません = I don’t like udon that much. (うどん = udon. は = subject marking particle. あまり/余り = that much/not much. すきじゃありません/好きじゃありません = don’t like) 時々/ときどき = sometimes, from time to time. 私は時々公園で遊びます = I play at the park from…
Quantifiers Posted by Ginny on Mar 7, 2010
Quantifiers are words that express how often you do/don’t do things and how much you like/dislike certain things. Here is an example of a common quantifier よく: よく勉強します = I study often. (よく = often. 勉強します = べんきょうします/study) Another common one is とても: それはとても便利ですね = That’s very convenient, isn’t it? (それ = that. は =…
が Particle Posted by Ginny on Feb 28, 2010
We’ve seen the が particle used in certain grammatical expressions like: 先生が好きです = I like the teacher. (先生 = せんせい/teacher. が = ga particle. 好きです = すきです/like) and 傘がありません = I don’t have an umbrella. (傘 = かさ/umbrella. が = ga particle. ありません = don’t have) There are also other uses of が. The が…
から Posted by Ginny on Feb 22, 2010
から can be used in a variety of situations. One way から is used, is to express when something begins. 昼御飯は午後十二時からはじまります. (昼御飯 = ひるごはん/lunch. は = topic marking particle. 午後 = ごご/pm. 十二時 = じゅうにじ/12 o’clock. から = from. はじまります = begins) In English this sentence would mean, “Lunch begins at 12pm”. から can also…
Te Form Posted by Ginny on Feb 16, 2010
The て form will be useful to learn because it’s used for various grammatical purposes. First, let’s learn how to form the て form. In the next post, we’ll learn the various uses for this form. With RU verbs, the て form is constructed by taking off the る and adding て: おきる (to get…