に (ni) particle

1) to indicate the goal of a movement

goal に movement = goal of movement

Examples:
たけしさんは銀行に行きます。(Takeshi-san wa ginkou ni ikimasu.)
 Takeshi will go to the bank.

私は今月国に帰りません。(Watashi wa kongetsu kuni ni kaerimasen.)
 I will not go back to my home country this month.

2) to indicate the time at which an event takes place

time に event = time an event happen

Examples:
曜日にチャーチに行きます。(nichi-youbi ni Chaachi ni ikimasu.)
 I will go to Church this Sunday.

ごご十一時に終わります。(gogo juuichi-ji ni owarimasu.)
 It will end at 11PM.

Note: For approximation of time reference, subsitute に (ni) with ごろ (goro) or ごろに (goro ni)

ごご十一時ごろに終わります。(gogo juuichi-ji goro ni owarimasu.)
 It will end around 11PM.

Note: there are several restrictions in using に as a time reference, which we will investigate in later chapters.

を (wo) particle

を (wo) is one of the most commonly used particles in Japanese language.

- indicates a "direct object"
- is pronounced as "o" even though its written as を (wo)
- it describes an action upon an object
- it also describes things that are directly involved or affected by an event

object を event/action

Examples:
日本語を勉強します。(Nihongo o benkyou shimasu.)
I study Japanese.

きものを着ます。(Kimono o kimasu.)
I put on a Kimono.

足音を聞きます。(Ashioto o kikimasu.)
I hear footsteps.

トムさんはお茶を飲みます。(Tomu-san wa ocha o nomimasu.)
Tom drinks tea.

メアリーさんは電話を掛けます。(Mearii-san wa denwa o kakemasu.)
Mary dials a phone.

で (de) particle

There are many uses of で (de) particle, here's some of its functions:

i) Indicate where an action or event described by verb takes place.

place/location で object を verb     => describe place of action

Examples:
喫茶店でコーヒーを飲みます。(kissaten de koohii wo nomimasu)
I drink coffee at the cafe.

明日こうえんでみちこさんを会います。(ashita kouen de Michiko-san wo aimasu)
I will meet Michiko at the park tomorrow.

にわでほんを読みます。(niwa de hon wo yomimasu)
I will read books in the garden.

ii) to describe the means or method or instrument

means/method/instrument で object を verb    => describes by means/method/instrument

Example:
「ありがとう」は英語でThank Youです。("arigatou" wa Eigo de Thank You desu.)
"arigatou" using English language is Thank You.

はしでご飯を食べます。(hashi de gohan wo tabemasu.)
I eat rice with chopsticks.

じてんしゃで駅まで行きました。(jitensha de eki made ikimashita.)
I went to the station by bicycle.

iii) roughly translates into "in", "among" or "within" to describe a scope

scope で description    => indicate scope

Example:
このらラーメンは世界で一番美味しいです。(kono raamen wa sekai de ichiban oishii desu.)
This ramen is the most delicious in the world.

学校でジョギングします。(gakkou de jogingu shimasu.)
I will go jogging within the school.

Present Tense

As mentioned in the earlier post, we now revisit "Present Tense" which could describe:

1) a person's habitual action
2) an action in the future (aka Future Tense in English)

Habitual Action

Let's see some examples to explain:

トムさんはよくメアリーさんと映画を見ます。(Tomu-san wa yoku Mearii-san to eiga wo mimasu.)
 Tom often watches movie with Mary.
よく = often, thus implies a habitual action of 見ます(mimasu) to watch.

私はときどきとしょかんに行きます。(Watashi wa tokidoki toshokan ni ikimasu.)
 Sometimes,I go to the library.
ときどき = sometimes, thus implies a habitual action of 行きます (ikimasu) to go.

みちこさんはぜんぜんビルを飲みません。(Michiko-san wa zenzen biru wo nomimasen.)
 Michiko does not drink beer at all.
ぜんぜん = not at all, never thus implies a habitual action of 飲みません to (not) drink.
Note: we will learn more about habitual frequency + negative verb later on.

Future Action

Let's use examples to illustrate this as well:

私は明日国に帰ります。(Watashi wa ashita kuni ni kaerimasu.)
 I will go back to my home country tomorrow.
明日 = tomorrow implies future action

やまださんは今日がっこうに行きません。(Yamada-san wa kyou gakkou ni ikimasen.)
 Yamada will not be coming to school today.
今日 = today implies future action (in this context)

たけしさんはさらいしゅう来ます。(Takeshi-san wa saraishuu kimasu.)
 Takeshi will come the week after next.
さらいしゅう = the week after next implies future action

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Vocabulary たんご 

映画	えいが	eiga	movie
図書館	としょかん	toshokan	library
	ビル	biru	beer
国	くに	kuni	country, one's home country
再来週	さらいしゅう	saraishuu	the week after next

Verbs Conjugation (ru-verb and u-verb)

Let's look at how to use verbs in Japanese.
Verbs by itself is called the dictionary form.
We can conjugate it to turn it into present affirmative and present negative.
(note: there are still many other forms, which we will look at other time)

All in all, verbs are divided into 3 groups:

1. ru - verbs
2. u - verbs
3. irregular verbs

Other examples of ru-verbs, its present affirmative and negative forms:
to sleep: 寝る (neru) --> 寝ます (nemasu) --> 寝ません (nemasen)

to wake: 起きる(okiru) --> 起きます (okimasu) --> 起きません (okimasen)

to stop: 止める (yameru) --> 止めます (yamemasu) --> 止めません (yamemasen)

to see: 見る(miru) --> 見ます (mimasu) --> 見ません (mimasen)

to run: 逃げる(nigeru) --> 逃げます (nigemasu) ---> 逃げません (nigemasen)

 

Other examples of u-verbs, its present affirmative and negative forms:
to drink: 飲む (nomu) -->　飲みます (nomimasu) -->　飲みません (nomimasen)

to read: 読む (yomu) -->　読みます (yomimasu) -->　読みません (yomimasen)

to speak: 話す (hanasu) -->　話します (hanashimasu) -->　話しません (hanashimasen)

to listen: 聞く (kiku) -->　聞きます (kikimasu) -->　聞きません (kikimasen)

to return: 帰る (kaeru) -->　帰ります (kaerimasu) -->　帰りません (kaerimasen)

There are only 2 irregular verbs in Japanese which is shown above.
する(suru) is usually use to form compound verbs, for example:

勉強 + する = 勉強する (benkyou + suru)
study + to do = to study

It is recommended to memorize each Japanese verbs which group they belongs to (by memorizing in a set: dictionary, present +ve, present -ve). However, there is a pattern:

IF it is "a" or "o" or "u" before final る ==> it is definitely a u-verb

example:
to swim: 泳ぐ (oyogu) -->　泳ぎます (oyogimasu)
to board: 乗る (noru) --> 　乗ります (norimasu)

However, if it is "i" or "e" before final る ==> it can be either ru-verb or u-verb

example:
to return: 帰る (kaeru) --> 帰ります (kaerimasu)  u-verb
to sleep: 寝る (neru) --> 寝ます (nemasu) ru-verb

As you can see from the patterns above, it is slightly unreliable as compare to memorizing the verbs.



Notes:
- dictionary form is also considered a present affirmative form as well. It is just that by adding the "masu", it become a more polite form.
- present tense in Japanese can also be a future tense (we will investigate on this next time)

~ね (ne) and ~よ (yo) particles

So far we have learnt about the は (ha), か(ka), and も(mo) particles. In this post we will see the use of ね (ne) and よ (yo).

sentence + ね (ne)

- ね is a sentence ending particle
- it is use when seeking confirmation
- it is similar to the use of "isn't it?" or "right?" in English

Example:
今日はいい天気ですね。(kyou wa ii tenki desu ne)
 Today is a fine weather, isn't it?

かわいいね。(kawaii ne)
 Cute, right?

トムさんのおかあさんはがいこくじんじゃありませんね。(Tomu-san no okaasan wa gaikokujin ja arimasen ne)
 Tom's mother is not a foreigner, isn't she?

sentence + よ (yo)

- よ is also a sentence ending particle
- to emphasize a command
- to indicate an emphasis
- to get the attention of the listener
- may be similar to the use of an exclamation mark "!" in English

Example:
べんきょうしなさいよ。(benkyou shinasai yo)
 Study!

かわいいよ。(kawaii yo)
 Cute!

このとんかつはすごくうまいよ。(kono tonkatsu wa sugoku umai yo)
 This tonkatsu is really tasty!

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Vocabulary たんご 

良い	いい	ii	good
天気	てんき	tenki	weather
お母さん	おかあさん	okaasan	mother
勉強	べんきょう	benkyou	to study
	すごく	sugoku	really, immensely, very
美味い	うまい	umai	tasty, delicious

じゃありません (ja arimasen)

noun (Y) + じゃありません= it is not Y

X　は　Y　です。        X is Y.
X　は　Y　じゃありません。    X is not Y.

- じゃありません (ja arimasen) can ONLY be used with a noun.
- じゃありません (ja arimasen) is a contraction of でわありません (dewa arimasen)

Example:
トムさんはがいこくじんです。 (Tomu-san wa gaikoku-jin desu)
Tom is a foreigner.
トムさんはがいこくじんじゃありません。 (Tomu-san wa gaikoku-jin ja arimasen)
Tom is not a foreigner.

それはざっしです。 (sore wa zasshi desu)
That is a magazine.
ぞれはざっしじゃありません。 (sore wa zasshi ja arimasen)
That is not a magazine.


BUT take this for example:

このとんかつはおいしいです。 (kono tonkatsu wa oishii desu)
This pork cutlet is delicious.

このとんかつはおいしいじゃありません。 (kono tonkatsu wa oishii ja arimasen)
>> This sentence is grammatically wrong, because おいしい (oishii) is not a noun but an adjective.
>> It should be このとんかつはおいしくない。(oshikunai) or おいしくありません。(oishiku arimasen). We will review this later.

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Vocabulary たんご 

外国人	がいこくじん	gaikokujin	foreigner
雑誌	ざっし	zasshi	maganize
	とんかつ	tonkatsu	pork cutlet