Thursday, January 29, 2009

Easy Japanese Chapter 7

Beginner's Japanese Chapter 7


[Sentences to Memorize]

1. A: みずうみは今日きれいでしたか?
Mizuumi wa kyō kirei deshita ka?
Was the lake pretty today?

B: いいえ、あまりきれいじゃありませんでした。
Iie, amari kirei ja arimasen deshita.
No, it wasn't too pretty.

2. A: きのうのしけんはむずかしかったですか?
Kinō no shiken wa muzukashikatta desu ka?
Was yesterday's exam difficult?

B: いいえ、むずかしくありませんでした。
Iie, muzukashiku arimasen deshita.
No, it wasn't.


3. おとといはとてもさむかったです。
Ototoi wa totemo samukatta desu.
It was very cold the day before yesterday.

4. きのうあそこですずきさんにあいました。
Kinō asoko de suzuki-san ni aimashita.
Did you meet Suzuki-san over there yesterday?

5. けいこさんはいつ日本から来ます。
Keiko-san wa itsu nihon kara kimasu.
When will Keiko come over from Japan?

7. このカメラはとてもべんりですね。
Kono kamera wa totemo benri desu ne.
This camera is very convenient, isn't it?

8. A: あれはあなたの車ですね。
Are wa anata no kuruma desu ne.
That one is your car, isn't it?

B: はい、そうです。
Hai, sō desu.
Yes, it is.

9. このえいがはとてもよかったですね。
Kono eiga wa totemo yokatta desu ne.
That was a very good movie, wasn't it?


[Words For This Lesson]

あたらしい - atarashii - New
ふるい - furui - Old (for things); old-fashioned (for person)
さむい - samui - Cold (for air)
つめたい - tsumetai - Cold (for things, heart)
すずしい - suzushii - Cool (for air, breeze, etc.)
あたたかい - atatakai - Warm
あつい - atsui - Hot (for air or things)
むずかしい - muzukashii - Difficult
かんたん - kantan - Easy, Simple
べんり - benri - Convenient
たいせつ - taisetsu - Important
おととい - ototoi - The day before yesterday
あさって - asatte - The day after tomorrow
今 - いま - ima - Now (ima sugu = right now)
(お)てんき - (o)tenki - Weather
ふゆ - fuyu - Winter (Dec, Jan, Feb)
はる - haru - Spring (Mar, Apr, May)
なつ - natsu - Summer (Jun, Jul, Aug)
あき - aki - Autumn, fall (Sep, Oct, Nov)
すもう - sumō - Sumo wrestling (- o suru = to do sumo wrestling)
しけん - shiken - Exam (Synonym of: テスト - tesuto - Test) ( - o suru = to give a exam)
でんわ - denwa - Phone ("Someone" ni denwa o suru = To call "someone")
あう - au - To meet, see a person ("Someone" ni au = To meet/see "someone")
つく - tsuku - To arrive ("Place" ni tsuku = To arrive at/in "place")
のる - noru - To ride, get on, get in (a car, vehicle)
おりる - oriru - To get off
に - ni - (Goal point marker)
から - kara - (Origin marker)
ね - ne - Used at end of a sentence. (Usage will be explained in this chapter)
わかりました。- wakarimashita - I see, okay (Literally "I understand".)

1.) Past Tense

Here I will explain how to change a sentence into past tense and negative past tense. For a noun or Na-Adjective, you change "desu" to "deshita". For negative past tense, you change "ja/dewa arimasen" to "ja/dewa arimasen deshita".

Examples:

[Present Tense]

すずきさんはこのがっこうのせんせいです。
Suzuki-san wa kono gakkō no sensei desu.
Suzuki-san is a teacher at this school.

[Past Tense]

すずきさんはこのがっこうのせんせいでした。
Suzuki-san wa kono gakkō no sensei deshita.
Suzuki-san was a teacher at this school.

For an i-adjective, you change the last "-i" into "-katta desu". For negative past, you change the last "-i" to "-ku arimasen deshita".

Examples:

[Present Tense]

けいこさんのてがみはおもしろいです。
Keiko-san no tegami wa omoshiroi desu.
Keiko-san's letter is interesting.

[Past Tense]

けいこさんのてがみはおもしろいかったです。
Keiko-san no tegami wa omoshirokatta desu.
Keiko-san's letter was interesting.

2.) Using Time with Weather

For the expressions of temperature, the "A=B" structure is normally used. Time or place expressions are followed by wa (は).

Examples:

きのうはとてもさむかったです。
Kinō wa totemo samukatta desu.
It was very cold yesterday.

日本は今とてもいいてんきですよ。
Nihon wa ima totemo ii tenki desu yo!
It's very nice weather in Japan now!

3. Place/Person Ni/に + Goal-Oriented Verbs

The particle ni (に) indicates a place or person as a goal-point of the verb.

Examples:

あきらくんはすぐバスにのります。
Akira-kun wa sugu basu ni norimasu.
Akira-kun will soon get on the bus.

きのうけいこさんにでんわしましたか?
Kinou Keiko-san ni denwa shimashita ka?
Did you call Keiko yesterday?

私はときどきノートにえをかきます。
Watashi wa tokidoki nōto ni e o kakimasu.
I sometimes draw in my notebook.

せんせいにききましたか?
Sensei ni kikimashita ka?
Did you ask the teacher?

4.) Place/Person kara (から) + Origin-Oriented Verbs

The particle kara (から) indicates a place or person as an origin of the verb. The English equivalent is "from".

Examples:

どこでバスからおりましたか?
Doko de basu kara orimashita ka?
Where did you get off the bus?

だれからこのじてんしゃをかいましたか?
Dare kara kono jitensha o kaimashita ka?
From whom did you buy this bicycle?

5.) Using "ne" (ね)

"Ne" at the end of a sentence, depending on the context, can mean "isn't it?", "isn't he/she", "aren't they", etc. It shows the speaker's feeling of wanting to share the statement. If there is a slight rising intonation with "ne", the speaker is asking for light confirmation. If there is a big rising intonation, this means the speaker is clearly asking for a yes or no confirmation.

Examples:

このざっしはあたらしくありませんね。
Kono zasshi wa atarashiku arimasen ne?
This magazine is not new, is it?

トムくんは日本語をはなしますね。
Tomu-kun wa nihongo o hanashimasu ne?
Tom speaks Japanese, doesn't he?

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