Thursday, January 29, 2009

Easy Japanese Chapter 8

Easy Japanese Chapter 8


[Sentences to Memorize]

1. メアリーさんはりょうりがじょうず。
Mearii-san wa ryōri ga jōzu.
Mary is good at cooking.

2. A. トムくんはふゆがすきですか?
Tomu-kun wa fuyu ga suki desu ka?
Do you like winter, Tom?

B. ええ、だいすきです。
Ee, daisuki desu.
Yes, I love it.

3. A. もう日本ごのれんしゅうをしましたか?
Mō nihongo no renshuu o shimashita ka?
Have you already practiced Japanese?

B. はい、しました。(いいえ、またです。)
Hai, sō desu (Iie, mata desu)
Yes, I have. (No, not yet.)

4. A. 私はピアノがじょうずじゃありません。
Watashi wa piano ga jōzu ja arimasen.
I'm not good at the piano.

B. 私もです。
Watashi mo desu.
I'm not either.

5. きのうすずきさんにもでんわをしましたか?
Kinō suzuki-san ni mo denwa o shimashita ka?
Did you call Suzuki-san yesterday, too?

6. 私はスキーはすきですが、スケートはきらいです。
Watashi wa sukii wa suki desu ga, sukēto wa kirai desu.
I like skiing, but I dislike skating.

7. けいこさんにはあいましたが、あきらくんにはあいませんでした。
Keiko-san ni wa aimashita ga, akira-kun ni wa aimasen deshita.
I met Keiko, but I did not meet Akira.

8. あの人は本をよむのがすきですねえ。
Ano hito wa hon o yomu no ga suki desu nē.
That person over there likes to read books, doesn't he?!

[Words For This Lesson]

じょうず - jōzu - Skillful, good at
へた - heta - Unskillful, not good at
すき - suki - Like, fond of, favorite (Not a verb)
きらい - kirai - Dislike (Not a verb)
ふべん - fuben - Inconvenient (object only)
ながい - nagai - Long
みじかい - mijikai - Short (Not for height)
たのしい - tanoshii - Enjoyable, joyful, fun
ちいさい - chiisai - Small
おおきい - ōkii - Big, large
としょかん - toshokan - Library
うた - uta - Song
ピアノ - piano - Piano; playing the piano
テニス - tenisu - Tennis (-o suru = To play tennis)
フットボール - futtobōru - Football (-o suru = To play football)
ダンス - dansu - Dance (Non-Japanese)(-o suru = To dance)
おどり - odori - Japanese dance
すいえい - suiei - Swimming (as a sport) (-o suru = To swim)
うんてん - unten - Driving (-o suru = To drive) (Can not be use for: Ex. "I drove to...")
うたう - utau - To sing (Uta o utau = To sing a song)
ひく - hiku - To play a stringed instrument (guitar, piano, etc.); pull
ええ - ee - Yes (More colloquial and less formal than "hai")
まだ - mada - Still, not yet
また - mata - Again
もう - mō - Already (Mō sugu = Very soon)
も - mo - Also, too
だい - dai - very (Only before "suki" (like) or "kirai" (dislike).)
人- じん - jin - Person (Used after a county name to show nationality. Ex. Amerikajin = American)
が - ga - But (Used after a phrase)
ねえ - nē - Isn't it?!


1.) I like/I dislike, Good at/Bad at

First I'll explain how to show like/dislike for something. The basic sentence structure for this is "Somebody wa something ga suki/kirai desu". To show you really like or really dislike something, just add "dai-" before suki/kirai.

Examples:

あきらくんはおちゃがすきです。
Akira-kun wa ocha ga suki desu.
Akira likes green tea.

すずきさんはうんてんがだいきらいです。
Suzuki-san wa unten ga daikirai desu.
Suzuki-san hates driving.

Now to say you/someone is good or bad at something, you use the same sentence structure I mentioned above, but instead of suki/kirai, you use jōzu/heta. Adding "totemo" right before jōzu/heta means changes the meaning to "really good/really bad".

Examples:

とむくんはすいえいがとてもじょうずです。
Tomu-kun wa suiei ga totemo jōzu desu.
Tom is very good at swimming

私はフランス語がへたです。
Watashi wa furansugo ga heta desu.
I'm not good at French.

2.) Somebody/Something has already done/happened

The word "mō - もう" means "already". When used with a past-tense verb, it has a similar function to showing that something has already been done. So this pretty much shows that the action/verb has been completed. When asked in a question form, you can answer "Iie, mada desu" which means "No, not yet".

Examples:

Q: けいこさんはもうがっこうへ行きましたか。
Keiko-san wa mō gakkō e ikimashita ka?
Has Keiko already gone to school?

A: はい、行きました。
Hai, ikimashita.
Yes, she has.

-or-

A: いいえ、まだです。
Iie, mada desu.
No, not yet.

3.) Saying Also/Too

The particle "mo - も" means "also" or "too". When added to a sentence, it replaces "wa/は", "ga/が" and "o/を", but is added to "e/へ", "de/で", "ni/に" and "kara/から". "A mo B mo - AもBも" means "Both A and B".

Examples:

私もとしょかんへ行きます。
Watashi to toshokan e ikimasu.
I'm going to the library, too. (Among other people)

私はとしょかんへも行きます。
Watashi wa toshokan e mo ikimasu.
I'm going to the library, too. (Among other places)

せんせいにもがくせいにもあいましたか?
Sensei ni mo gakusei ni mo aimashita ka?
Did you meet both the teachers and the students?

4.) A is B, but C is D - A wa B desu ga, C wa D desu

If you want to say something like "This is a book, but that is a dictionary" you write each sentence as normal (using the A is B structure), but add "ga - が" after the first sentence which has the same meaning as "but". So each sentence alone in Japanese is "Kore wa hon desu." and "Sore wa jisho desu". So when you add "ga/が" after the first sentence, you get "Kore wa hon desu ga, sore wa jisho desu". Remember to add a comma after "ga/が".

Example:

これはいいですが、あれはよくありません。
Kore wa ii desu ga, are wa yoku arimasen.
This is good, but that over there isn't.

5.) Sentence + Nē (ねえ) = Isn't it!?, Don't you?!

This "nē/ねえ" is similar to the "ne/ね" you learned about last chapter, but this "nē" shows much more surprise by the speaker from what they've just seen/heard/felt, etc.

Example:

今日はさむいですねえ。
Kyō wa samui desu nē.
Today is cold, isn't it!?

6.) Verbs + No ()

When you add "no" after the dictionary form of a verb, you turn that phrase into a noun.
Examples:

日本人はうたうのがだいすきです。
Nihonjin wa utau no ga daisuki desu.
The Japanese love to sing.

はしをつかうのはかんたんですか?
Hashi o tsukau no wa kantan desu ka?
Is it easy to use chopsticks?

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