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)