Archive for 'Grammar'
The へ Particle Posted by Ginny on Dec 25, 2009
The へ particle indicates that one is heading or setting out to head towards a goal or direction. The へ particle is often confused with the に particle and for a good reason. The へ and に particle can somtimes be interchangeable and yet produce a slighly different meaning. に is used when the destination…
Describing Where Things Are Part 2 Posted by Ginny on Dec 13, 2009
となり – next to となり can only be used when the two places/items being stated are in the same category. When the two places/items are in contrast, よこ are used. For example, it sounds better when you say, “でんわ は ねこ の よこ です“. (でんわ = telephone. は = topic marking particle. ねこ = cat. の = no particle. よこ…
Describing Where Things Are Located Posted by Ginny on Dec 10, 2009
First let’s take a look at these location words: ここ – right here そこ – right there あそこ – over there なか – inside うえ – on/above した – under/beneath まえ – in front of うしろ – behind みぎ – right ひだり – left そば – near ちかく – near The formula for describing the…
~ませんか Posted by Ginny on Nov 18, 2009
For today’s post we’ll take a look at the ませんか construction. Let’s take a look at this sample sentence, “にほんご を べんきょうしませんか“. (にほんご = Japanese language. を = wo. べんきょうしませんか = won’t you study.) In English this sentence would mean “Won’t you study Japanese [with me]?”. To form the “Won’t you” construction, take the present polite negative…
Let’s/Shall Posted by Ginny on Nov 15, 2009
For today’s grammar point, let’s look at a sentence like this, “レストラン に いきましょう“. (レストラン = restaurant. に = ni particle. いきましょう = let’s go.) This sentence means, “Let’s go to [a/the] restaurant”. To form the “let’s” construction, just add ましょう to the stem of the verb. In this case the verb we used was いく, which…
に Particle Posted by Ginny on Nov 6, 2009
The に particle is a difficult particle to master because it has so many uses. We’ll only take a look at a couple of uses for now, but when we get to the advanced stage of grammar, we’ll talk more about に. In the general sense, you use に when you want to indicate toward…
The Past Negative Posted by Ginny on Oct 22, 2009
When forming the past negative polite tense, add the ending ませんでした to the conjugated stem of the verb. It’s helpful to know the present polite negative, because knowing how the present polite negative endings can help form the past polite negative. For example, the verb しゃべる (to chatter) in the present polite negative is しゃべりません…