Japanese For Newbies

Humble form of a verb : O { verb base { shimasu

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III. Expression of the speakers and the heare's desire
A. When you want to say "I want something." say "Nani ka ga hoshii desu."
Examples
1. Kyasshukaado ga hoshii desu.
"I want a cash card."
2. Ii kutsu ga hoshii desu.
"I want a good pair of shoes."
3. Kusuri ga hoshii desu.
"I want some medicine."
4. Kono hon wa hoshiku arimasen.
"I don't want this book."
5. Kinoo kore ga hoshikatta n desu.
"I wanted this yesterday."
In "X ga hoshii desu.," X indicates what the speaker wants. The particle ga does not indicate the subject but the direct object of hoshii, an adjective.

B. When you want to say "I want to do something." say "Nani ka ga shitai desu."
Examples
1. Kono kikai ga tsukaitai desu.
"I want to use this machine."
2. Kono kutsu ga kaitai desu.
"I want to buy this pair of shoes."
3. Sakana ga tabetai desu.
"I want to eat fish."
What are common in these three examples above are :
1. all sentences end with desu, so they are polite ;
2. desu follows a word ending in -tai ; and
3. the particle ga precedes a word ending in -tai.

A word ending in -tai comes from a verb base { -tai. The suffix –tai indicates the speaker's and the hearer's desire and changes a verb into an –I adjective.
The sentence pattern for "I want to do something." is :

X ga verb base -tai desu.

In this sentence pattern also, ga indicates the direct object, but it sometimes changes to the particle o.
Examples
1. Nihongo no hon ga/o yomitai desu.
"I want to read a Japanese book."
2. Sakana wa tabetaku arimasen.
"I don't want to eat fish."
3. Kinoo depaato de kaimono ga shitakatta desu.
"I wanted to do some shopping at a department store yesterday."
C. In Japanese culture, it is not good manners to ask one's superior's desire directly.
Instead, you should say "X wa doo/ikaga desu ka." As explained in Lesson 3,
NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV, ikaga is the polite counterpart of doo, so ikaga is better to use when talking to your superiors.
Example
A : Sensee, koohii wa ikaga desuka.
"Would you like some coffee, professor?"
B : Ee, itadakimasu yo.
"Yes, please."

Expressions of request or polite command

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C. If you replace kudasai with kudasaimasen ka, you will sound more polite.
Cashing a check, making a cash card, etc. are usual services for a bank to offer. However, teaching how to use a machine is an extra one, so Lwin says, "Kono kikai ga tsukaitai n desu ga, oshiete kudasaimasen ka." "I'd like to use this machine. Would you please tell me how to use it?" in the third line, Dialogue 7-3.

D. When you ask your customer to push the button, "Kono botan o oshite kudasai." is not appropriate, because this sentence sounds a little rude. Instead, you should say :
Kono botan o ooshi kudasai.
This sentence sounds more formal than "Oshite kudasai." or "Oshite kudasaimasen ka." Ooshi in the above sentence is obtained by dropping –masu from oshimasu(the polite form of osu "push") and adding o- to it. When the masu part is taken out of a verb ending in -masu, the remaining part will be called the verb base in this textbook.

* Table of the form of the verbs *
Non-polite form -Masu form Verb base O-verb base
ireru
yameru
toru
yomu iremasu
yamemasu
torimasu
yomimasu ire
yame
tori
yomi oire
oyame
otori
oyomi

Examples
1. Rajio o okiki kudasai.
"Will you listen to the radio?"
2. Motto yukkuri ohanashi kudasai.
"Could you speak more slowly?"
3. Kore o omochi kudasai.
"Will you take this one with you?"
O { verb base { kudasai is often used by clerks, salesmen, etc. in situations such as in a bank, a department store or a ceremony. Note that there are some verbs which don't have o { verb base { kudasai : miru, kuru, suru, etc.

Expressions of request or polite command

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A. In this lesson you will learn three ways of expressing your requests or polite commands. In I-A and B you will learn sentences ending in a verb in the –te form { kudasai.
Examples
1. Namae o kaite kudasai.
"Please write your name."
2. Ashita daigaku e kite kudasai.
"Please come to the university tomorrow."
3. Kono kusuri o nonde kudasai.
"Please take this medicine.
The form of a verb ending in -te or- de is called the -te form of a verb. As shown in the above examples, a verb which follows a sentence ending in –te or -de adds some extra meanings such as request, command, etc. to the original sentence. Verbs of this type other than kudasai will be introduced later.

B. The following show how to make the -te form of a verb.

1. Group 1 verbs, or verbs ending in -eru or -iru

Change the final -ru to -te.

* Table of the -te form of Group 1 verbs *

Dicdonary form -Te form masu form
deru
norikaeru
iru
oriru dete
norikaete
ite
orite demasu
norikaemasu
imasu
orimasu

2. Group 2 verbs, or verbs ending in -u

(1) Change -u, -tsu or -ru to -tte.

* Table of the -te form of Group 2 verbs(1) *

Dictionary -Te form masu form
kau
matsu
noru
tooru katte
matte
notte
tootte kaimasu
machimasu
norimasu
toorimasu

(2) Change -bu, -mu or -nu to -nde.

* Table of the -te form of Group 2 verbs(2) *

yobu (call)
yomu
nomu
shinu (die) yonde
yonde
nonde
shinde yobimasu
yomimasu
nomimasu
shinimasu

(3) Change -su to -shite.

* Table of the -te form of Group 2 verbs(3) *
hanasu (speak)
osu hanashite
oshite hanashimasu
oshimasu

(4) Change -ku or -gu to -ite or -ide, respectively.

* Table of the -te form of Group 2 verbs(4) *
oku
kiku
oyogu (swim)
iku oite
kiite
oyoide
itte* okimasu
kikimasu
oyogimasu
ikimasu

Note that the verb with * is an exception to this rule.

3. Irregular verbs
The -te form of kuru is kite.
The -te form of suru is shite.
Examples
1. Otokoro o kaite kudasai.
"Please write your address."
2. Tsuuchoo o tsukutte kudasai.
"Please make my bankbook."(Lit.)
3. Kono kami ni kinyuu shite kudasai.
"Fill in this form, please."
4. Kyasshukaado o irete kudasai.
"Please put in your cash card."
5. Kono botan o oshite kudasai.
"Please push this button."

Some Notes

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I. 0mission of a particle
When speaking informally, the particles wa, ga, o and ni are often omitted.
0mission of these particles results in a subtle change of meaning. You are advised not to omit any particles while you are trying to learn to speak Japanese.

Examples
1. Kore (wa) ikura desu ka.
"How much is this?"
2. Sono shatsu (wa) momen desu ka.
"Is that shirt cotton?"
3. Watashi (ga) ikimasu yo.
"I will go."
4. Kore (o) kaimashita.
"I bought this."
II. Response : Doomo
Doomo is the abbreviated form of "Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu."
The former is less polite than the latter and is used by a customer when he speaks to a clerk, or by a teacher to a student.

Example
Customer : Kore kudasai.
"I'll take this."
Clerk : Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu. 1,000 en gozaimasu.
"Thank you very much. It's 1,000 yen."
Customer : Doomo.
"Thanks."
Clerk : Doomo arigatoo gozaimashita.
"Thank you very much."

III. Full form of ja : De wa
In this text book, ja has used instead of de wa. However, ja is the contracted form of de wa. De wa is used in a more formal situation than the one in which ja
is used. De wa used in the fifth line from the top, Dialogue 6-2 means "then." Ja on the seventh line in the same dialogue also means "then."

Example
A : Kore wa watashi no de wa arimasen.
"This is not mine."
B : De wa kore wa.
"Then, how about this?"
A : Aa. Sore wa watashi no desu.
"Oh, that's mine."

IV. Interjection : Mmmm
Mmmm shows the speaker's negative feeling.

Example
Clerk : Kore wa ikaga desu ka.
"How about this?"
Customer : Mmmm.... Amari yoku arimasen.
"Well, this isn't so good."
Clerk : De wa kore wa ikaga desu ka.
"Then, how about this one?"
Customer : Aa, kore wa ii desu ne.
"Oh, this is fine."

Classification of Japanese sentences

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IX. Humble forms of desu and arimasu : De gozaimasu and gozaimasu
Those forms are called a humble form. They are used when it is necessary for the speaker to humble himself in order to show a respect, or a deference, etc. to the
hearer. They are also used when the speaker realizes the need to be humble talking about the group to which the speaker belongs, or things belonging to the speaker or his group.

A. De gozaimasu means the same as desu. The information girl in Dialogue 6-1 uses this form twice, in lines six and ten. They are :

(Kutsu'uriba wa) Kono kai de gozaimasu.
"The shoe department is on this floor."
Kutsu'uriba wa sono oku de gozaimau.
"The shoe department is beyond that."

Because kutsu'uriba is owned by the department store and the informahon girl is working for the store, she uses de gozaimasu instead of desu when she speaks to their customers.

Examples
1. Ruin de gozaimasu.
"I'm Mr. Lwin."
2. Kanai de gozaimasu. (Kanai: my wife)
"This is my wife."
3. Kono hon wa watashi no ja gozaimasen.
"This book isn't mine.

B. Gozaimasu is used in the same way as arimasu, but is different from de gozaimasu.

Examples
1. a. Koko ni watashi no ga gozaimasu.
"Here is mine."
b. Kore wa watashi no de gozaimasu.
"This is mine."
2. a. Esukareetaa no tonari ni kaban'uriba ga gozaimasu.
"There is the bag department next to the escalator." (Lit.)
b. Esukareetaa no tonari ga kaban'uriba de gozaimasu.
"The department next to the escalator is the bag department."

Classification of Japanese sentences

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VI. Adverbs
Adverbs modify a vervb, an adjective or an adverb which they precede.

Examples
1. Atama ga sukoshi itai desu.
"I have a slight headache."
2. Yukkuri hanashimashita.
"Someone* spoke slowly."
3. Kono kanji wa chotto muzukashii desu.
"This kanji is a little difficult."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

The preceding examples show that adverbs like sukoshi "a little," yukkuri "slowly" and chotto "a little" precede the verb or the adjective they modify.
An adverb can also modify another adverb. Moo "more," for example, can modify sukoshi, chotto, ichido, etc.

Examples
1. Moo sukoshi nomimasen ka.
"Won't you drink a little more?"
2. Moo chotto kaimasu.
"I'll buy a little more."

Some adverbs are always followed by a negative predicate. Amari used on the sixth line of Dialogue 6-2 is one of them. Amari ... arimasen means "not very" or "not so."

Examples
1. Kore wa amari yoku arimasen.
"This is not very good."
2. Kono sandaru wa amari kiree ja arimasen.
"This pair of sandals isn't so pretty."
VII. Volitional form, or -oo form of -masu : - Mashoo
The volitional form indicates the speaker's will to do something.
Examples
1. lkimasu.
"Someone* goes." or " Someone* will go."
2. Ikimashoo.
"Let's go." or "I will go."
3. lkimashoo ka.
"Shall we go?" or "Shall I go?"
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)
In the example above, ikimasu shows a habitual action or a future action of an actor. Ikimashoo shows the will of more than two persons including the speaker's
willingness to do something for other persons in the group.

VIII. Volitional form,or -oo form of desu : Deshoo
Deshoo replaces desu in a question and makes it sound more polite.

Examples
1. Donna no ga yoroshii deshoo ka.
"What kind (of thing) would you like?"
2. Kore wa ikaga deshoo ka.
"How would you like this one?"
Deshoo also indicates the speaker's supposition.

Examples
1. Kono kusuri ga ii deshoo.
"This medicine may be good."
2. Are wa koogakubu no tatemono deshoo.
"I guess that is a building of the Faculty of Engineering."
3. Ruinsan wa genki deshoo.
"Mr. Lwin may be fine."

Classification of Japanese sentences

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V. Numerals, counters and numbers
A. Numerals of Type A from 0 to 10,000 and several counters like -ji for the hour of the day, -en for money, etc., were introduced in either Lesson 1 or 2. As shown there, counters are always preceded by the numerals and never occur as independent words. Japanese has many counters which will be introduced a few at a time.

Examples
-ji - hour of the day
-fun/-pun - minute
-en - money
-guramu - weight
-nin - person
-mai - things like papers
-kai/-gai - floor of a building
-shuukan - week

B. Numerals of Type B, which are of Japanese origin, are introduced here.

1 hitotsu 2 futatsu
3 mittsu 4 yottsu
5 itsutsu 6 muttsu
7 nanatsu 8 yattsu
9 kokonotsu 10 to, too

Numerals of Type B go only as far as 10; beyond 10, Type A numerals are used.

The following are some Japanese numbers.

1. day of the month

1st tsuitachi 2nd futsuka
3rd mikka 4th yokka
5th itsuka 6th muika
7th nanoka 8th yooka
9th kokonoka 10th tooka
llth juuichinichi l2th juuninichi
13th juusannichi 14th juuyokka
15th juugonichi 20th hatsuka
24th nijuuyokka 30th sanjuunichi

2. month of the year

January ichigatsu February nigatsu
March sangatsu April shigatsu
May gogatsu June rokugatsu
July shichigatsu August hachigatsu
September kugatsu October juugatsu
November juuichigatsu December juunigatsu

3. minute in the hour

1 ippun 2 nifun
3 sanpun 4 yonpun
5 gofun 6 roppun
7 nanafun 8 happun/hachifun
9 kyuufun 10 jippun
15 juugofun 20 nijippun
30 sanjippun,han 40 yonjippun
50 gojippun 60 rokujippun

4. floor of a building

1 ikkai 2 nikai
3 sankai 4 yonkai
5 gokai 6 rokkai
7 nanakai 8 hachikai
9 kyuukai 10 jikkai

5. person(s)

1 hitori 2 futari
3 sannin 4 yonin
5 gonin 6 rokunin
7 shichinin/nananin 8 hachinin
9 kyuunin/kunin 10 juunin

C. Compounds that consist of a numeral { a counter are called numbers. Numbers
are considered nouns in Japanese but often act like adverbs.

Examples
1. Kyoo wa goji ni okimashita.
"Someone* got up at five o'clock today."
2. ichidoru wa nihyakunijuuhachi en desu.
"One dollar is 228 yen."
3. Kono kaban wa happyaku guramu desu.
"This bag weighs 800 grams."
4. Sono eega o sando mimashita.
"Someone* saw the film three times."
5. Gakusee ga sannin kimashita.
"Three students came."
6. Kami ga sanmai arimasu.
"There are three sheets of paper."
7. Niku o sanbyaku guramu kaimashita.
"I bought 300 grams of meat."
8. Kitte o juumai kaimashita.
"I bought ten stamps."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

Classification of Japanese sentences

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IV. Question words
You have already learned 17 question words which are summarized below here.
If you want to ask about :

A. things or events which you don't know, use nani or nan ;

Examples
1. Eki no tonari ni nani ga arimasu ka.
"What is there next to the station?"
2. Are wa nan desu ka.
"What is that?"

B. the hearer's choice between the two things, use dochira ;

Examples
1. Hon to kyookasho no dochira o yomimasu ka.
"Which will you read, a book or a textbook?"
2. Wada sensee wa dochira desu ka.
"Which is Prof. Wada?"
(This sentence also means "Where is Prof. Wada?" See
NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV - H of this lesson.)

C. the hearer's choice among more than two, use dore or dono berore a noun ;

Examples
1. A. Dore o kaimasu ka.
"Which one will you buy?"
B. Kono akai no o kaimasu.
"I'll buy this red one."
2. A. Dono hito ga sensee desu ka.
"Which person is the teacher?"
B. Ano shizuka na hito desu.
"That quiet person is."

D. condition of things, persons, etc., in reference to "what kind of," use donna before a noun ;

Examples
1. Donna eega o mimashita ka.
"What kind of movie did you see?"
2. Wada san wa donna hito desu ka.
"What kind of person is Mr. Wada?"
3. Taihen shizuka na hito desu.
"He is a very quiet man."

E. how a thing or a person is, use doo or ikaga (the polite counterpart of doo);

Examples
1. Konogoro doo desu ka.
"How have you been, these days?"
2. Nihongo no benkyoo wa ikaga desu ka.
"How is your study of Japanese?"

F. a way of doing something, use doo yatte ;

Examples
1.Sakae e wa doo yatte ikimasu ka.
"How can l get to Sakae?"
2. Kore wa doo yatte tabemasu ka.
"How can l eat this?"
G. time, use itsu ;

Examples
1. Itsu Nihon e kimashita ka.
"When did you come to Japan?"
2. A : Daigaku e wa itsu ikimasu ka.
"When will you go to the university?"
B : Ashita ikimasu.
"I'll go there tomorrow."

H. place, use doko or dochira (the polite counterpart of doko);

Examples
1. Nagoya daigaku wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is Nagoya University?"
2. Sensee, dochira e.
"Where are you going, professor?"

I. number of things, size or age, use ikutsu ;

Examples
1. Kasettoteepu wa ikutsu kaimashita ka.
"How many cassette tapes did you buy?"
2. Ruin san wa ikutsu desu ka.
"How old is Mr. Lwin?"

J. money, use ikura ;

Examples
1. Kono hon wa ikura desu ka.
"How much is this book?"
2. Kore wa ikura no kaban desu ka.
"How much is this bag?"

K. approximate number or quantity, use 'dono kurai'/'dono gurai' or 'dore kurai'/ 'dore gurai';

Examples
1. Kono daigaku ni gakusee ga dono kurai imasu ka.
"About how many students are there in this university?"
2. A : Nihon ni dore gurai imasu ka.
"How long will you stay in Japan?"
B : Ninen gurai imasu.
"I'll be here for about two years."

L. the name of a person you don't know, use dare ;
Example
Ano gakusee wa dare desu ka.
"Who is that student?"

M. a thing which is someone's possession, use dare no.

Example
Are wa dare no hon desu ka.
"Whose book is that?"

In addition, + nan { a counter (-ji for hour of the day, -en for money, -nichi for date, etc.)is used.

Examples
1. lma nanji desu ka.
"What time is it now?"
2. Kore wa 'nan en'/ikura desu ka.
"How much is this?"
3. Kyoo wa nannichi desu ka.
"What's the date today?"

Nani { a noun is also used to ask about nationality, language, color, etc.; nanujin "what nationality," nanigo "what language," nani'iro "what color," etc.

Examples
1. A : Arisu san wa nanijin desu ka.
"What's Alice san's nationality?"
B : Ejiputojin desu.
"She's an Egyptian."
2. A : Arisu san wa nanigo o hanashimasu ka.
"What language does Alice san speak?"
B : Arabiago desu.
"She speaks Arabic."

Classification of Japanese sentences

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III. Normal order of noun phrases
When more than two noun phrases precede a verb, they are normally arranged in the following order.

SUBJECT + TlME { PLACE { OBJECT { VERB
noun GA + noun (NI) { noun (DE) { noun O { verb

Examples
1. Arisu san wa rokuji ni kissaten de koohii o nomimashita.
"Alice san drank a cup of coffee at the coffee shop at six o'clock."
2. Kaarin san wa kinoo daigaku de Hasegawa sensee ni aimashita.
"Karin san met Prof. Hasegawa at the university yesterday."

Classification of Japanese sentences

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II. Four types of desu
Desu is classified into four types according to its usage.

A. Desu shows the equality of the two nouns.

Examples
1. Arisu san wa Ejiputojin desu.
"Alice san is an Egyptian."
2. Ano otoko no hito wa Ruin san desu.
"That man is Mr. Lwin."

B. Desu used with a -na adjective

Examples
1. Kyoo wa genki desu.
"Someone* is fine today."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)
2. Ano tatemono wa kiree ja arimasen.
"That building isn't beautiful."

C. Desu makes the polite form of an -i adjective.

Examples
1. Migi no me ga akai desu yo.
"Your right eye is red."
2. Mainichi isogashii desu.
"Someone* is busy everyday."(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

D. Desu used as a substitute for a verb mentioned previously

Examples
1. A : Shokudoo wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the cafeteria?"
B : Koogakubu no mae desu.
"It's in front of the Faculty of Enginnerring."
2. A : Kinoo dare ni aimashita ka.
"Who did you meet yesterday?"
B : Kaarin san desu.
"I met Karin san."

As mentioned in Lesson 4, NOTES ON CONVERSATIONAL GRAMMER I, desu cannot be used alone. It follows a noun.

Classification of Japanese sentences

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I. Classification of Japanese sentences
Japanese sentences are classified into four and only four types according to the part of speech of the predicate.

A. Sentences ending in a verb (Introduced in Lesson 1)

Examples
1. Ja,kore o kudasai.
"Then,I'll take this."
2. Esukareetaa no tonari ni kaban'uriba ga arimasu.
"There is a bag department next to the escalator."
3. Aoi no wa gozaimasen.
"We don't have a blue one."
4. Asoko no annaigakari de kikimashoo ka.
"Shall we ask at the information desk over there?"
5. Saizu o machigaemashita.
"I bought the wrong size."

B. Sentences ending in a noun { desu (Introduced in Lesson 2)

Examples
1. Gosenmon wa nan desu ka.
"What is your major?"
2. Ano kutsu wa 9,800 en desu.
"That pair of shoes is 9,800 yen."
3. Saizu wa emu ja arimasen.
"The size is not medium."
4. Ruin san wa Birumajin desu.
"Mr. Lwin is a Burmese."
5. Kaarin san wa Nagoya daigaku no gakusee desu.
"Karin san is a student at Nagoya University."

C. Sentences ending in - i adjective (Introduced in Lesson 3)

Examples
1. Watashi no wa akaku arimasen.
"Mine isn't red."
2. Sukoshi takai desu ne.
"It's a little too expensive, isn't it?"
3. Kono sandaru wa yoku arimasen.
"This pair of sandals isn't good."
4. Atama ga itakatta desu.
"I had a headache."
5. Mainichi isogashii desu.
"Someone* is busy everyday."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.
D. Sentences ending in -na adjective (Introduced in Lesson 3)

Examples
1. Nihongo no koosu wa taihen desu.
"The Japanese Course is tough."
2. Sore wa shitsuree desu.
"That's rude."
3. Arisu san wa genki desu.
"Alice san is fine."
4. Hidari no me wa daijoobu desu.
"The left eye is all right."
5. Ogenki desu ka.
"How are you?"

Phrase : Saa and Anoo

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Phrase : Saa
Saa is used when someone asks about something and the person who is asked cannot find a proper answer.
Saa in Dialogue 5-2 was uttered because Lwin didn't know if No. 85 bus goes to Yagoto.

Example

A : Kore wa Tanaka san no hon desu ka.
"Is this Mr. Tanaka's book?"
B : Saa, wakarimasen.
"Well, I don't know."

Phrase : Anoo
Anoo is used when the speaker hesitates to say something because what he wants to say may sound unpleasant to the hearer. Anoo in Dialogue 5-2 was uttered, because Alice felt too many questions might bother the man.

Example

A : Anoo, sumimasen.
"Excuse me."
B : Hai.
"Yes."
A : Kono densha wa Sakae ni ikimasu ka.
"Does this train go to Sakae?"

Particles : Wa...ga...construction

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As mentioned in Lesson 1, NOTES ON CONVERSATlONAL GRAMMAR I, wa indicates a topic, and a wa-noun phrase is followed by a comment. A comment may or may not have the subject. If the subject must be mentioned, the whole sentence will be X wa Y ga shimashita. X wa Y ga benri desu, etc.

Examples
1. Arisu san wa, atama ga itai desu.
"Alice san has a headache."
2. Arisu san wa, kanji no shukudai ga taihen desu.
"Alice san has a lot of kanji homework."
3. Yagoto wa, basu ga benri desu.
"The bus is more convenient, if you go to Yagoto."

Mo "also" is quite similar to wa, and you will see X mo Y ga shimashita type sentences somewhere in this textbook.

Example

A : Yagoto wa, basu ga benri desu yo.
"The bus is more convenient, if you go to Yagoto."
B : Sakae wa.
"How about Sakae?"
A : Sakae mo, basu ga benri desu.
"The bus is also more convenient, if you go to Sakae."

Particle : Ga

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Before you start the main part of a conversation on the phone, you may tell your name to the listener, "This is A speaking, but...." Before you ask a stranger for a direction on the street, you may say "Excuse me, but...."
"This is A speaking.," "Excuse me.," "etc. will be called introductory remarks. They are necessary to make a conversation go smoothly. Japanese tend to use
introductory remarks fairly often.
Examples
1. Sumimasen ga.
"Excuse me, but...."
2. Chotto ukagaimasu ga.
"Excuse me, but may l ask a question?"
3. Moshimoshi. Kochira wa Ruin desu ga.
"Hello. This is Lwin speaking, but...."
As you have already noticed, all sentences above are followed by ga. Ga is added to the end of an introductory remark and the main part of a coversation follows it.
The function of ga can be said to combine an introductory remark and the main part. The particles which have a similar function as ga will be called Group 4 particles. The basic function of Group 4 particles is to combine two sentences.

Question words : Doo yatte, ikutsu and ikura

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A. Doo yatte meansehow" or "what way."

Examples
1. Doo yatte Nihongo o benkyoo shimasu ka.
"In what way do you study Japanese?"
2. Yagoto made doo yatte ikimasu ka.
"How do you go to Yagoto?"
Koo yatte "this way," soo yatte "that way" and aa yatte "that way" act in the same way as doo yatte. The difference among them is the same as that among kore, sore, are and dore.

B. Ikutsu means "how many" and "how old." It is used to ask the number of things or the age of a person. Ikura means "how much." It is used for talking about money.

Examples
1. Teepu wa ikutsu kaimasu ka.
"How many cassette tapes do you buy?"
2. Ruin san wa ikutsu desu ka.
"How old is Mr. Lwin?"
3. Are wa ikura desu ka.
"How much is that?"
4. Sakae made ikura desu ka.
"How much is it to Sakae?"

Question word ka or mo

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A. In the conversation below nani ka means "something" or "anything" and nani
means "what."
Example
A : Kesa nani ka tabemashita ka.
"Did you eat anything this morning?"
B : Hai.
"Yes, I did."
A : Nani o tabemashita ka.
"What did you eat?"
B : Pan o tabemashita.
"I ate some bread."

In the first sentence, A wants to know whether B ate something this morning or not, so A uses nani ka instead of nani o. B needs not refer to the thing he ate in
his answer. In the second sentence, A wants to know what B ate, and A uses nani o. When question words such as nani, dare, doko, etc. are followed by the particle
ka, their meanings change. Notice how the meanings of the question words change by the addition of ka.

Examples
nani "what" - nani ka "something" or "anything"
dare "who" - dare ka "someone"or"anyone"
doko "where" - doko ka "somewhere"or"anywhere"
Question words with ka can be used in affirmative sentences or in interrogative sentences. They can be followed by Group 1 particles.

Examples
1. Dare ka kimashita.
"Someone came."
2. Nani ka nomimashita ka.
"Did you drink anything?"
3. Doko ka de koohii o nomimashita ka.
"Did you drink coffee somewhere?"
4. Dare ka ni shookai shimashita ka.
"Did you introduce him to someone?"

B. Question words like dare "who," doko "where," etc. can also be followed by the particle mo.

Examples
1. Dare mo kimasen deshita.
"Nobody came here."
2. Nani mo yomimasen deshita.
"I didn't read anything."

A question word + mo before a negative predicate means "nobody," "nothing," "nowhere,"etc. Some question words { mo before an affirmative predicate have an all-inclusive meaning, "always." "everyone" and "both."
*Table of the meaning of question words { mo construction*

Question word {mo {Negative {Affirmative

dare "who" dare mo "nobody" *
nani "what" nani mo "nothing" *
doko "where" doko mo "nowhere" "everywhere"
itsu "when" itsu mo "never" "always"
dore "which" dore mo "none" "everything"
dochira "which" dochira mo "neither one" "both"

Remember that the particle mo replaces particles ga and o, but follows other
Group 1 particles.

(See Lesson 1, NOTES ON CONVERSATIONAL GRAMMAR II.)

Examples
1. A : Dare ka kimashita ka.
"Did anyone come here?"
B : Dare mo kimasen deshita.
"Nobody came."
2. A : Doko e ikimashita ka.
"Where did you go?"
B : Doko e mo ikimasen deshita.
"I didn't go anywhere."
3. Itsu mo shinbun o yomimasu.
"Someone* always reads a newspaper."
4. Dochira mo tabemasu.
"Someone* will eat both of them."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

Group 1 particles : De, o, made and ka

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A. De means "by," "by means of" or "with." It is different from de indicating the
place of an action.
(See Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV - D.)

Examples
1. Daigaku e basu de ikimasu.
"Someone* goes to the university by bus."
2. Hashi de sakana o tabemasu.
"We eat fish with chopsticks."
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)

B. In this lesson you will learn two more meanings of the particle o.

1. "through" or "along"

Examples
1. Kono chikatetsu wa Yagoto o toorimasu ka.
"Does this subway go through Yagoto?"
2. Yamatedoori o arukimasen ka.
"Won't you walk along Yamate Avenue with me?"

2. "from"

Examples
1. Meedaimae de basu o orimashita.
"I got off the bus at Meedaimae."
2. Mainichi hachiji ni uchi o demasu.
"I leave home at eight everyday."

C. Made means "as far as," "to" and "until." A noun of place or time precedes made.

Examples
1. Kinoo Tookyoo made ikimashita.
"I went as far as Tokyo yesterday."
2. Daigaku kara ryuugakusee kaikan made 20ppun gurai kakarimasu.
"It takes about 20 minutes from the university to the Foreign Students' House."
3. Rainen no sangatsu made Nihon ni imasu.
"I'll stay in Japan till next March."
4. Sanji made koko ni imashita.
"I was here until three o'clock."

D. Ka is equivalent to English "or." It appears between nouns.

Examples
1. Basu ka chikatetsu de daigaku e ikimasu.
"I go to the university by bus or by subway."
2. Nihongo ka Chuugokugo o benkyoo shimasu.
"I'll study Japanese or Chinese."
N.B.
Don't confuse this ka with Group 3 particle ka : the former is used between nouns, and shows the alternative between them, while the latter comes at the end of a sentence as a question marker.

Demonstrative pronouns : Sono and sore

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Sono and sore are used to refer to what was just mentioned.

Example Alice : Toire wa doko desu ka.
"Where is the rest room?"
Kuno : Kaidan no migi ni 21ban kyooshitsu ga arimasu.
"Room 21 is on the right of the stairs."
Alice : Hai.
"I see."
Kuno : Toire wa sono mae desu.
"The rest room is in front of it."

Sore was introduced in Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR II. The function of sore in Lesson 2 is different from sore as used in the conversation above. Sore can also be used to indicate something that was just mentioned.
Sono in the above stands for 21ban kyooshitsu no.

Examples
Kinoo sakana o tabemashita. Sore wa oishikatta desu.
"I ate fish yesterday, It was good."
A : Kinoo Satoo san ni aimashita.
"I met Mr. Satoo yesterday."
B : Sono hito wa donna hito desu ka.
"What kind of person is he?"

Response : Hai

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The basic meaning of hai is "what you have just said is right." It is used in the
answer to a question. Hai also has other usages.

1. It is used when handing something over to someone.

Example
Lwin : Sakanafuraiteeishoku o onegai shimasu.
"I'll have sakanafuraiteeshoku."
Cashier : 350 en itadakimasu.
"350 yen, please."
Lwin : Hai.
"Here you are."
Cashier : Arigatoo gozaimashita.
"Thank you very much."

2. It is used to indicate that the hearer expects the speaker to continue to talk.

Examples
Alice : Sumimasen.
"Excuse me."
Kuno : Hai.
"Yes."
Lwin : Shitsuree shimasu.
"Excuse me."
Office worker : Hai.
"Yes."
In the above examples, ee cannot be used instead of hai.

Substitute : Desu as a substitute for a verb

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Examples
1. A : Nanji ni okimasu ka.
"What time do you get up?"
B : Rokuji desu.
"I get up at six o'clock."
2. A : Doko e ikimasu ka.
"Where are you going?"
B : Kyooto desu.
"I'm going to Kyoto."
2. A : Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
B : Shokudoo desu.
"She's in the cafeteria."
In each of the examples above, desu serves as a substitute for the verb used in the previous sentence : okimasu "get up," ikimasu"go" or imasu "be." Desu is used to avoid repeating the verb mentioned previously. Desu cannot be used alone. It follows a noun. The Group 1 particles, ga, o, e and ni, are omitted before desu,
while kara, made, etc. are kept.

Examples
1. A : Arisu san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where's Alice san?"
B : Shokudoo desu.
"She's in the cafeteria."
2. A : Kaarin san wa doko desu ka."
"Where is Karin san?"
B : Seekyoo desu.
"She's in the Co]op."
3. A : Ruin san wa doko kara kimashita ka.
"Where did Mr. Lwin come from?"
B : Biruma kara desu.
"He's from Burma."
Alice : Ruin san wa nani o tabemasu ka.
"What will you eat?"
Lwin : Watashi wa sakana desu.
"I'll eat fish."
Alice : Kaarin san wa.
"How about you, Karin san?"
Kalin : Niku desu.
"I'll eat meat."

The sentence "Watashi wa sakana desu." may sound strange. But this desu does not mean the equality of two nouns. You should get used to this desu as soon as possible.
Desu can replace not only the imperfective form of a verb but also the perfective
form of a verb.

Examples
1. A : Kinoo doko e ikimashita ka.
"Where did you go yesterday?"
B : Tookyoo desu.
"I went to Tokyo."
2. A : Depaato de nani o kaimashita ka.
"What did you buy at the department store?"
B : Teepurekoodaa desu.
"I bought a tape recorder."

Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

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Examples
1. A : Kore wa dare no hon desu ka.
"Whose book is this?"
B : Watashi no desu.
"It's mine."
2. A : Akai kaban wa dare no desu ka.
"Whose is the red bag?"
B : Ruin san no desu.
"It's Mr. Lwin's."
3. A : Aoi no wa.
"How about the blue one?"
B : Arisu san no desu.
"It's Alice san's."

In a modifier { noun, like noun + no + noun, -i adjective { noun, etc., a modified noun can be replaced by no, when the referent is obvious between the speaker and the hearer. And omit one no in case of noun { no { no. Take Ruin san no hon for example. When hon is replaced by no, you may expect Ruin san no no. However, the correct form is Ruin san no.
Examples
1. A : Kore wa anata no kutsu desu ka.
"Are these your shoes?"
B : Iie, watashi no ja arimasen. Ruin san no desu.
"No, they aren't mine. They are Mr. Lwin's."
2. A : Kono aoi no wa doo desu ka.
"How about this blue one?"
B : Ee, sore o kudasai.
"That's good. I'll it."

Location of a thing or a person

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"I watch TV in the room."
D. The following are some nouns of place used in a phrase indicating a location.

1 „ shokudoo "cafeteria"
daigaku "university"
heya "room", etc.
2 „ koko "here"
soko "there" or "the hearer's area"
asoko "over there"
doko "where"
3 „ Ruin san no tokoro "place where Mr. Lwin is" "MrLwin's place."
Ishihara san no tokoro "place where Mr. Ishihara is" "Mr. Ishihara's place."
Tomodachi no tokoro "place where a friend is" "a friend's place.", etc.
4 „ tatemono no mae ni "in front of the building"
ushiro ni "behind the building"
naka ni "inside the building"
soba ni "near the building"
tonari ni "next to the building"
tsukue no ue ni "on the desk"
shita ni "under the desk"

The relationship among koko, soko, asoko and doko in 2„ is the same as that of kore, sore, are and dore.
3„ shows that Ruin san is a noun of person, while Ruin san no tokoro is a noun of place. You should say "Ruin san no tokoro e ikimashita." instead of "Ruin san e ikimashita.," when you want to say "I went to Mr. Lwin's."

Recall that when a noun modifies another noun, the modifying noun comes first and the modified noun follows the modifying noun { the particle no. You cannot say mae no tatemono but tatemono no mae in order to express "the front of the building."

Examples
1. Ruin san no tokoro ni teepurekoodaa ga arimasu.
"The tape recorder is at the place where Mr. Lwin is."(Lit.)
2. Shoogakukin wa Mugishima san no tokoro ni arimasu.
"The scholarship is in Mr. Mugishima's place(office)."(Lit.)
3. Asoko ni shiroi tatemono ga arimasu.
"There is a white building over there."
4. Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
5. Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.
"There is a book on the desk."
6. Koogakubu no soba ni seekyoo ga arimasu.
"There is a Co-op near the Faculty of Engineering."
7. A : Kaban wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the bag?"
B : Tsukue no shita ni arimasu.
"It's under the desk."

E. This pattern is also used to express an abstract idea.

Examples
1. Watashi ni iken ga arimasu.
"I have an opinion."
2. Ano gakusee no Nihongo ni mondai ga arimasu.
"There is a problem with that student's Japanese."

Location of a thing or a person

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A. All things or all persons occupy a definite place. For example, the tape recorder you are using is on your desk, the cafeteria where you go everyday is near the Faculty of Engineering, or Mr. Lwin is now in the classroom, etc.
The basic English pattern used to express these ideas is "There is something/someone somewhere."In Japanese, all of these are expressed by the following
pattern.

(Place) ni (thing) ga arimasu
(Place) ni (person) ga imasu

Examples
1. Daigaku ni shokudoo ga arimasu.
"There is a cafeteria at the university."
2. Daigaku ni toire ga arimasu.
"There is a restroom at the university."
3. Daigaku ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin at the university."
4. Daigaku ni sensee ga imasu.
"There are teachers at the university."

B. The verb arimasu is used when the noun preceding ga, the subject of a sentence, isa non-living or non-moving thing. The verb imasu is used with living things which can move themselves, that is human beings and animals.
Examples
1. Keezai gakubu ni kenkyuushitsu ga arimasu.
"There are professor's offices in the Faculty of Economics."
2. Keezai gakubu ni Hasegawa sensee ga imasu.
"There is a Prof. Hasegawa on the Faculty of Economics."
3. Ryuugakusee kaikan ni robii ga arimasu.
"There is a lobby in the Foreign Students' House."
Ryuugakusee kaikan ni Arisu san ga imasu.
"There is an Alice san in the Foreign Students' House."

C. In this pattern the place or the location is signaled by the particle ni. Ni indicates the place where a thing or a person is located, while de, which has already been introduced in Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV-D, indicates the place where an activity takes place.

Examples
1. Shokudoo ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin in the cafeteria."
2. Ruin san wa shokudoo de tabemasu.
"Mr. Lwin eats in the cafeteria."
3. Heya ni terebi ga arimasu.
"There is a TV in the room."
4. Heya de terebi o mimasu.
"I watch TV in the room."

I. Formation of the -te form of -i adjective and desu

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These kinds of the -te forms are different from those which are made with verbs.
They never precede kudasai.

A. -I adjective
The -te form of an -i adjective can be obtained by changing the final -i to -kute. For example, the -te form of atarashii is atarashikute, furui is furukute, etc., but the te form of ii "good" is yokute.

* Table of the -te form of -i adjectives *
Non-polite forms of -i adjective -Te form
muzukashii
yasashii muzukashikute
yasashikute

B. Desu
The -te form of desu is de, and this form occurs when either the base of a –na adjective or a noun precedes desu. For example, the -te form or shizuka desu is shizuka de, and that of gakusee desu is gakusee de, etc.

* Table of the -te form of desu *
Desu with -na adjective and noun -Te form
genki desu
hima desu
hon desu
kaze desu genki de
hima de
hon de
kaze de

III. Set phrase : Sumimasen

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Sumimasen used to be used as a word of apology, but recently the range of usage of this phrase has become wider and is now used :
l. to attract attention as in the first line of Dialogue 7-1 ; and
2. to thank someone for his help as in the 13th line, Dialogue 7-3.

Example
A : Sumimasen.
"Excuse me."
B : Hai.
"Yes."
A : Kono basu wa Yagoto o toorimasu ka.
"Does this bus go through Yagoto?"
B : Hai, toorimasu.
"Yes, it does."
A : Soo desu ka. Doomo sumimasen deshita.
"I see. Thank you very much."

I. Set phrase : Onegaishimasu

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A. 0negaishimasu is used to ask someone to do something, without stating clearly what he/she is asked to do, if the action to be taken is clear from the context or the situation.

Examples
1. Sakae made onegaishimasu. (to a taxi driver)
"Please take me to Sakae."
2. Denwabangoo o onegaishimasu. (to a person filling in a form)
"Please write your telephone number."
3. Clerk : lrasshaimase.
"Welcome!"
4. Customer : Onegaishimasu.
(handing the clerk money and a deposit bankbook)
"Please take care of this."

B. 0negaishimasu is also used to attract attention of clerks, cashiers,etc., before asking them to do something.

Example
A : Onegaishimasu.
"Excuse me."
B : Hai.
"Yes."
A : Kore o onegaishimasu.
"I'll take this one."
B : Hai,200 en desu.
"200 yen, please."

II. Adverbs : Mazu, sore kara and saigo ni

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When one describes or explains some actions which are supposed to be done in order in a certain period of time, these words are used in the order shown in the following example. Read Dialogue 7-3 carefully.
Example
A : Mazu hatsuon o benkyoo shimasu.
"First you'll study pronunciation."
B : Hai.
"Yes."
A : Sore kara kaiwa o benkyoo shimasu.
"Secondly you'll study conversation."
B : Hai.
"Yes."
A : Saigo ni dokkai o benkyoo shimasu.
"At the end, you'll study reading comprehension."

V. Particle : Ni

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Two of the usages of ni are introduced here.
A. Ni in "Kore ni otokoro to onamae o kaite kudasai." in the fourth line, Dialogue 7-1 indicates the place where something is to be written or filled in. It belongs to Group 1 particles.
Examples
1. Kono kanji o nooto ni kakimashoo.
"Let's white this kanji in the notebook.
2. Kokuban ni namae o kaite kudasai.
"Please write your name on the blackboard."

B. Ni in "Raishunu tori ni kimasu." in the eighth line, Dialogue 7-2, shows purpose. This ni follows a verb base. A verb following ni must be the verb showing motion like going, coming, etc.

Examples
1. Kinoo wa eega o mi ni ikimashita.
"I went to see a movie yesterday."
2. Sensee ni ai ni kimashita.
"I came here to meet my teacher."
3. Gohan o tabe ni shokudoo e ikimasu.
"I'll go to the cafeteria to eat a meal."(Lit.)

IV. Verb modifiers : Koo, soo, aa and doo

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Koo means "this way," soo "that way" and aa "that way." Doo means "how." These words are similar to kore, sore, are and dore. They modify the verb they precede.
Examples
1. Kono kanji wa doo kakimasu ka.
"How do you write this kanji?"
2. Koo kakimasu.
"We write it this way."
3. Kono kikai wa doo tsukaimasu ka.
"How do you use this machine?"
4. Koo tsukaimasu.
"We use it this way.

I. Expressions of request or polite command

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III. Expression of the speakers and the heare's desire

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A. When you want to say "I want something." say "Nani ka ga hoshii desu."
Examples
1. Kyasshukaado ga hoshii desu.
"I want a cash card."
2. Ii kutsu ga hoshii desu.
"I want a good pair of shoes."
3. Kusuri ga hoshii desu.
"I want some medicine."
4. Kono hon wa hoshiku arimasen.
"I don't want this book."
5. Kinoo kore ga hoshikatta n desu.
"I wanted this yesterday."
In "X ga hoshii desu.," X indicates what the speaker wants. The particle ga does not indicate the subject but the direct object of hoshii, an adjective.

B. When you want to say "I want to do something." say "Nani ka ga shitai desu."
Examples
1. Kono kikai ga tsukaitai desu.
"I want to use this machine."
2. Kono kutsu ga kaitai desu.
"I want to buy this pair of shoes."
3. Sakana ga tabetai desu.
"I want to eat fish."
What are common in these three examples above are :
1. all sentences end with desu, so they are polite ;
2. desu follows a word ending in -tai ; and
3. the particle ga precedes a word ending in -tai.

A word ending in -tai comes from a verb base { -tai. The suffix –tai indicates the speaker's and the hearer's desire and changes a verb into an –I adjective.
The sentence pattern for "I want to do something." is :

X ga verb base -tai desu.

In this sentence pattern also, ga indicates the direct object, but it sometimes changes to the particle o.
Examples
1. Nihongo no hon ga/o yomitai desu.
"I want to read a Japanese book."
2. Sakana wa tabetaku arimasen.
"I don't want to eat fish."
3. Kinoo depaato de kaimono ga shitakatta desu.
"I wanted to do some shopping at a department store yesterday."
C. In Japanese culture, it is not good manners to ask one's superior's desire directly.
Instead, you should say "X wa doo/ikaga desu ka." As explained in Lesson 3,
NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV, ikaga is the polite counterpart of doo, so ikaga is better to use when talking to your superiors.
Example
A : Sensee, koohii wa ikaga desuka.
"Would you like some coffee, professor?"
B : Ee, itadakimasu yo.
"Yes, please."

I. Expressions of request or polite command

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IV. Interjection : Mmmm

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Mmmm shows the speaker's negative feeling.

Example
Clerk : Kore wa ikaga desu ka.
"How about this?"
Customer : Mmmm.... Amari yoku arimasen.
"Well, this isn't so good."
Clerk : De wa kore wa ikaga desu ka.
"Then, how about this one?"
Customer : Aa, kore wa ii desu ne.
"Oh, this is fine."

III. Full form of ja : De wa

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In this text book, ja has used instead of de wa. However, ja is the contracted form of de wa. De wa is used in a more formal situation than the one in which ja
is used. De wa used in the fifth line from the top, Dialogue 6-2 means "then." Ja on the seventh line in the same dialogue also means "then."

Example
A : Kore wa watashi no de wa arimasen.
"This is not mine."
B : De wa kore wa.
"Then, how about this?"
A : Aa. Sore wa watashi no desu.
"Oh, that's mine."

I. 0mission of a particle

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When speaking informally, the particles wa, ga, o and ni are often omitted.
0mission of these particles results in a subtle change of meaning. You are advised not to omit any particles while you are trying to learn to speak Japanese.

Examples
1. Kore (wa) ikura desu ka.
"How much is this?"
2. Sono shatsu (wa) momen desu ka.
"Is that shirt cotton?"
3. Watashi (ga) ikimasu yo.
"I will go."
4. Kore (o) kaimashita.
"I bought this."

I. 0mission of a particle

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IX. Humble forms of desu and arimasu : De gozaimasu and gozaimasu

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Those forms are called a humble form. They are used when it is necessary for the speaker to humble himself in order to show a respect, or a deference, etc. to the
hearer. They are also used when the speaker realizes the need to be humble talking about the group to which the speaker belongs, or things belonging to the speaker or his group.

A. De gozaimasu means the same as desu. The information girl in Dialogue 6-1 uses this form twice, in lines six and ten. They are :

(Kutsu'uriba wa) Kono kai de gozaimasu.
"The shoe department is on this floor."
Kutsu'uriba wa sono oku de gozaimau.
"The shoe department is beyond that."

Because kutsu'uriba is owned by the department store and the informahon girl is working for the store, she uses de gozaimasu instead of desu when she speaks to their customers.

Examples
1. Ruin de gozaimasu.
"I'm Mr. Lwin."
2. Kanai de gozaimasu. (Kanai: my wife)
"This is my wife."
3. Kono hon wa watashi no ja gozaimasen.
"This book isn't mine.

B. Gozaimasu is used in the same way as arimasu, but is different from de gozaimasu.

Examples
1. a. Koko ni watashi no ga gozaimasu.
"Here is mine."
b. Kore wa watashi no de gozaimasu.
"This is mine."
2. a. Esukareetaa no tonari ni kaban'uriba ga gozaimasu.
"There is the bag department next to the escalator." (Lit.)
b. Esukareetaa no tonari ga kaban'uriba de gozaimasu.
"The department next to the escalator is the bag department."

VIII. Volitional form,or -oo form of desu : Deshoo

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Deshoo replaces desu in a question and makes it sound more polite.

Examples
1. Donna no ga yoroshii deshoo ka.
"What kind (of thing) would you like?"
2. Kore wa ikaga deshoo ka.
"How would you like this one?"
Deshoo also indicates the speaker's supposition.

Examples
1. Kono kusuri ga ii deshoo.
"This medicine may be good."
2. Are wa koogakubu no tatemono deshoo.
"I guess that is a building of the Faculty of Engineering."
3. Ruinsan wa genki deshoo.
"Mr. Lwin may be fine."

VI. Adverbs

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Adverbs modify a vervb, an adjective or an adverb which they precede.

Examples
1. Atama ga sukoshi itai desu.
"I have a slight headache."
2. Yukkuri hanashimashita.
"Someone* spoke slowly."
3. Kono kanji wa chotto muzukashii desu.
"This kanji is a little difficult."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

The preceding examples show that adverbs like sukoshi "a little," yukkuri "slowly" and chotto "a little" precede the verb or the adjective they modify.
An adverb can also modify another adverb. Moo "more," for example, can modify sukoshi, chotto, ichido, etc.

Examples
1. Moo sukoshi nomimasen ka.
"Won't you drink a little more?"
2. Moo chotto kaimasu.
"I'll buy a little more."

Some adverbs are always followed by a negative predicate. Amari used on the sixth line of Dialogue 6-2 is one of them. Amari ... arimasen means "not very" or "not so."

Examples
1. Kore wa amari yoku arimasen.
"This is not very good."
2. Kono sandaru wa amari kiree ja arimasen.
"This pair of sandals isn't so pretty."

VII. Volitional form, or -oo form of -masu : - Mashoo

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The volitional form indicates the speaker's will to do something.
Examples
1. lkimasu.
"Someone* goes." or " Someone* will go."
2. Ikimashoo.
"Let's go." or "I will go."
3. lkimashoo ka.
"Shall we go?" or "Shall I go?"
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)
In the example above, ikimasu shows a habitual action or a future action of an actor. Ikimashoo shows the will of more than two persons including the speaker's
willingness to do something for other persons in the group.

V. Numerals, counters and numbers

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C. Compounds that consist of a numeral { a counter are called numbers. Numbers
are considered nouns in Japanese but often act like adverbs.

Examples
1. Kyoo wa goji ni okimashita.
"Someone* got up at five o'clock today."
2. ichidoru wa nihyakunijuuhachi en desu.
"One dollar is 228 yen."
3. Kono kaban wa happyaku guramu desu.
"This bag weighs 800 grams."
4. Sono eega o sando mimashita.
"Someone* saw the film three times."
5. Gakusee ga sannin kimashita.
"Three students came."
6. Kami ga sanmai arimasu.
"There are three sheets of paper."
7. Niku o sanbyaku guramu kaimashita.
"I bought 300 grams of meat."
8. Kitte o juumai kaimashita.
"I bought ten stamps."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

V. Numerals, counters and numbers

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A. Numerals of Type A from 0 to 10,000 and several counters like -ji for the hour of the day, -en for money, etc., were introduced in either Lesson 1 or 2. As shown there, counters are always preceded by the numerals and never occur as independent words. Japanese has many counters which will be introduced a few at a time.

Examples
-ji - hour of the day
-fun/-pun - minute
-en - money
-guramu - weight
-nin - person
-mai - things like papers
-kai/-gai - floor of a building
-shuukan - week

B. Numerals of Type B, which are of Japanese origin, are introduced here.

1 hitotsu 2 futatsu
3 mittsu 4 yottsu
5 itsutsu 6 muttsu
7 nanatsu 8 yattsu
9 kokonotsu 10 to, too

Numerals of Type B go only as far as 10; beyond 10, Type A numerals are used.

The following are some Japanese numbers.

1. day of the month

1st tsuitachi 2nd futsuka
3rd mikka 4th yokka
5th itsuka 6th muika
7th nanoka 8th yooka
9th kokonoka 10th tooka
llth juuichinichi l2th juuninichi
13th juusannichi 14th juuyokka
15th juugonichi 20th hatsuka
24th nijuuyokka 30th sanjuunichi

2. month of the year

January ichigatsu February nigatsu
March sangatsu April shigatsu
May gogatsu June rokugatsu
July shichigatsu August hachigatsu
September kugatsu October juugatsu
November juuichigatsu December juunigatsu

3. minute in the hour

1 ippun 2 nifun
3 sanpun 4 yonpun
5 gofun 6 roppun
7 nanafun 8 happun/hachifun
9 kyuufun 10 jippun
15 juugofun 20 nijippun
30 sanjippun,han 40 yonjippun
50 gojippun 60 rokujippun

4. floor of a building

1 ikkai 2 nikai
3 sankai 4 yonkai
5 gokai 6 rokkai
7 nanakai 8 hachikai
9 kyuukai 10 jikkai

5. person(s)

1 hitori 2 futari
3 sannin 4 yonin
5 gonin 6 rokunin
7 shichinin/nananin 8 hachinin
9 kyuunin/kunin 10 juunin

III. Normal order of noun phrases

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E. how a thing or a person is, use doo or ikaga (the polite counterpart of doo);

Examples
1. Konogoro doo desu ka.
"How have you been, these days?"
2. Nihongo no benkyoo wa ikaga desu ka.
"How is your study of Japanese?"

F. a way of doing something, use doo yatte ;

Examples
1.Sakae e wa doo yatte ikimasu ka.
"How can l get to Sakae?"
2. Kore wa doo yatte tabemasu ka.
"How can l eat this?"
G. time, use itsu ;

Examples
1. Itsu Nihon e kimashita ka.
"When did you come to Japan?"
2. A : Daigaku e wa itsu ikimasu ka.
"When will you go to the university?"
B : Ashita ikimasu.
"I'll go there tomorrow."

H. place, use doko or dochira (the polite counterpart of doko);

Examples
1. Nagoya daigaku wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is Nagoya University?"
2. Sensee, dochira e.
"Where are you going, professor?"

I. number of things, size or age, use ikutsu ;

Examples
1. Kasettoteepu wa ikutsu kaimashita ka.
"How many cassette tapes did you buy?"
2. Ruin san wa ikutsu desu ka.
"How old is Mr. Lwin?"

J. money, use ikura ;

Examples
1. Kono hon wa ikura desu ka.
"How much is this book?"
2. Kore wa ikura no kaban desu ka.
"How much is this bag?"

K. approximate number or quantity, use 'dono kurai'/'dono gurai' or 'dore kurai'/ 'dore gurai';

Examples
1. Kono daigaku ni gakusee ga dono kurai imasu ka.
"About how many students are there in this university?"
2. A : Nihon ni dore gurai imasu ka.
"How long will you stay in Japan?"
B : Ninen gurai imasu.
"I'll be here for about two years."

L. the name of a person you don't know, use dare ;
Example
Ano gakusee wa dare desu ka.
"Who is that student?"

M. a thing which is someone's possession, use dare no.

Example
Are wa dare no hon desu ka.
"Whose book is that?"

In addition, + nan { a counter (-ji for hour of the day, -en for money, -nichi for date, etc.)is used.

Examples
1. lma nanji desu ka.
"What time is it now?"
2. Kore wa 'nan en'/ikura desu ka.
"How much is this?"
3. Kyoo wa nannichi desu ka.
"What's the date today?"

Nani { a noun is also used to ask about nationality, language, color, etc.; nanujin "what nationality," nanigo "what language," nani'iro "what color," etc.

Examples
1. A : Arisu san wa nanijin desu ka.
"What's Alice san's nationality?"
B : Ejiputojin desu.
"She's an Egyptian."
2. A : Arisu san wa nanigo o hanashimasu ka.
"What language does Alice san speak?"
B : Arabiago desu.
"She speaks Arabic."

III. Normal order of noun phrases

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When more than two noun phrases precede a verb, they are normally arranged in the following order.

SUBJECT + TlME { PLACE { OBJECT { VERB
noun GA + noun (NI) { noun (DE) { noun O { verb

Examples
1. Arisu san wa rokuji ni kissaten de koohii o nomimashita.
"Alice san drank a cup of coffee at the coffee shop at six o'clock."
2. Kaarin san wa kinoo daigaku de Hasegawa sensee ni aimashita.
"Karin san met Prof. Hasegawa at the university yesterday."

IV. Question words
You have already learned 17 question words which are summarized below here.
If you want to ask about :

A. things or events which you don't know, use nani or nan ;

Examples
1. Eki no tonari ni nani ga arimasu ka.
"What is there next to the station?"
2. Are wa nan desu ka.
"What is that?"

B. the hearer's choice between the two things, use dochira ;

Examples
1. Hon to kyookasho no dochira o yomimasu ka.
"Which will you read, a book or a textbook?"
2. Wada sensee wa dochira desu ka.
"Which is Prof. Wada?"
(This sentence also means "Where is Prof. Wada?" See
NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV - H of this lesson.)

C. the hearer's choice among more than two, use dore or dono berore a noun ;

Examples
1. A. Dore o kaimasu ka.
"Which one will you buy?"
B. Kono akai no o kaimasu.
"I'll buy this red one."
2. A. Dono hito ga sensee desu ka.
"Which person is the teacher?"
B. Ano shizuka na hito desu.
"That quiet person is."

D. condition of things, persons, etc., in reference to "what kind of," use donna before a noun ;

Examples
1. Donna eega o mimashita ka.
"What kind of movie did you see?"
2. Wada san wa donna hito desu ka.
"What kind of person is Mr. Wada?"
3. Taihen shizuka na hito desu.
"He is a very quiet man."

II. Four types of desu

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Desu is classified into four types according to its usage.

A. Desu shows the equality of the two nouns.

Examples
1. Arisu san wa Ejiputojin desu.
"Alice san is an Egyptian."
2. Ano otoko no hito wa Ruin san desu.
"That man is Mr. Lwin."

B. Desu used with a -na adjective

Examples
1. Kyoo wa genki desu.
"Someone* is fine today."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)
2. Ano tatemono wa kiree ja arimasen.
"That building isn't beautiful."

C. Desu makes the polite form of an -i adjective.

Examples
1. Migi no me ga akai desu yo.
"Your right eye is red."
2. Mainichi isogashii desu.
"Someone* is busy everyday."(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

D. Desu used as a substitute for a verb mentioned previously

Examples
1. A : Shokudoo wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the cafeteria?"
B : Koogakubu no mae desu.
"It's in front of the Faculty of Enginnerring."
2. A : Kinoo dare ni aimashita ka.
"Who did you meet yesterday?"
B : Kaarin san desu.
"I met Karin san."

As mentioned in Lesson 4, NOTES ON CONVERSATIONAL GRAMMER I, desu cannot be used alone. It follows a noun.

I. Classification of Japanese sentences

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Japanese sentences are classified into four and only four types according to the part of speech of the predicate.

A. Sentences ending in a verb (Introduced in Lesson 1)

Examples
1. Ja,kore o kudasai.
"Then,I'll take this."
2. Esukareetaa no tonari ni kaban'uriba ga arimasu.
"There is a bag department next to the escalator."
3. Aoi no wa gozaimasen.
"We don't have a blue one."
4. Asoko no annaigakari de kikimashoo ka.
"Shall we ask at the information desk over there?"
5. Saizu o machigaemashita.
"I bought the wrong size."

B. Sentences ending in a noun { desu (Introduced in Lesson 2)

Examples
1. Gosenmon wa nan desu ka.
"What is your major?"
2. Ano kutsu wa 9,800 en desu.
"That pair of shoes is 9,800 yen."
3. Saizu wa emu ja arimasen.
"The size is not medium."
4. Ruin san wa Birumajin desu.
"Mr. Lwin is a Burmese."
5. Kaarin san wa Nagoya daigaku no gakusee desu.
"Karin san is a student at Nagoya University."

C. Sentences ending in - i adjective (Introduced in Lesson 3)

Examples
1. Watashi no wa akaku arimasen.
"Mine isn't red."
2. Sukoshi takai desu ne.
"It's a little too expensive, isn't it?"
3. Kono sandaru wa yoku arimasen.
"This pair of sandals isn't good."
4. Atama ga itakatta desu.
"I had a headache."
5. Mainichi isogashii desu.
"Someone* is busy everyday."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.
D. Sentences ending in -na adjective (Introduced in Lesson 3)

Examples
1. Nihongo no koosu wa taihen desu.
"The Japanese Course is tough."
2. Sore wa shitsuree desu.
"That's rude."
3. Arisu san wa genki desu.
"Alice san is fine."
4. Hidari no me wa daijoobu desu.
"The left eye is all right."
5. Ogenki desu ka.
"How are you?"

Saa and Anoo

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III. Phrase : Saa
Saa is used when someone asks about something and the person who is asked cannot find a proper answer.
Saa in Dialogue 5-2 was uttered because Lwin didn't know if No. 85 bus goes to Yagoto.

Example

A : Kore wa Tanaka san no hon desu ka.
"Is this Mr. Tanaka's book?"
B : Saa, wakarimasen.
"Well, I don't know."

IV. Phrase : Anoo
Anoo is used when the speaker hesitates to say something because what he wants to say may sound unpleasant to the hearer. Anoo in Dialogue 5-2 was uttered, because Alice felt too many questions might bother the man.

Example

A : Anoo, sumimasen.
"Excuse me."
B : Hai.
"Yes."
A : Kono densha wa Sakae ni ikimasu ka.
"Does this train go to Sakae?"

II. Particles : Wa...ga...construction

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V. Words for degrees : Gurai or kurai

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Gurai or kurai means "about." They follow quantity words.
'Dono gurai'/'dono kurai' and 'dore gurai'/'dore kurai' mean "about how much."
'Ikutsu gurai'/'ikutsu kurai' means "about how many."

Example
A : Kanji wa mainichi ikutsu gurai oboemasu ka.
"About how many kanji do you memorize everyday?"
B : 15 gurai oboemasu.
"I memorize about l5 kanji."

I. Particle : Ga

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IV. Question words : Doo yatte, ikutsu and ikura

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III. Question word { ka or mo

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II. Conjunction : Soshite

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Soshite means "and" or "then." It comes between two sentences or two clauses,
and shows the temporal sequence of two events.

Examples
Motoyama made arukimasu. Soshite chikatetsu ni norimasu.
"Someone* walks to Motoyama and then takes the subway."
Kinoo Sakae e ikimashita. Soshite depaato de kaimono o
shimashita.
"I went to Sakae yesterday and did some shopping at a
department store."
(*"Someone" may be the speaker.)

I. Group 1 particles : De, o, made and ka

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II. Response : Hai

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III. Demonstrative pronouns : Sono and sore

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I. Substitute : Desu as a substitute for a verb

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II. Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

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I. Location of a thing or a person (2)

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C. In this pattern the place or the location is signaled by the particle ni. Ni indicates the place where a thing or a person is located, while de, which has already been introduced in Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV-D, indicates the place where an activity takes place.

Examples
1. Shokudoo ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin in the cafeteria."
2. Ruin san wa shokudoo de tabemasu.
"Mr. Lwin eats in the cafeteria."
3. Heya ni terebi ga arimasu.
"There is a TV in the room."
4. Heya de terebi o mimasu.
"I watch TV in the room."
D. The following are some nouns of place used in a phrase indicating a location.

1 „ shokudoo "cafeteria"
daigaku "university"
heya "room", etc.
2 „ koko "here"
soko "there" or "the hearer's area"
asoko "over there"
doko "where"
3 „ Ruin san no tokoro "place where Mr. Lwin is" "MrLwin's place."
Ishihara san no tokoro "place where Mr. Ishihara is" "Mr. Ishihara's place."
Tomodachi no tokoro "place where a friend is" "a friend's place.", etc.
4 „ tatemono no mae ni "in front of the building"
ushiro ni "behind the building"
naka ni "inside the building"
soba ni "near the building"
tonari ni "next to the building"
tsukue no ue ni "on the desk"
shita ni "under the desk"

The relationship among koko, soko, asoko and doko in 2„ is the same as that of kore, sore, are and dore.
3„ shows that Ruin san is a noun of person, while Ruin san no tokoro is a noun of place. You should say "Ruin san no tokoro e ikimashita." instead of "Ruin san e ikimashita.," when you want to say "I went to Mr. Lwin's."

Recall that when a noun modifies another noun, the modifying noun comes first and the modified noun follows the modifying noun { the particle no. You cannot say mae no tatemono but tatemono no mae in order to express "the front of the building."

Examples
1. Ruin san no tokoro ni teepurekoodaa ga arimasu.
"The tape recorder is at the place where Mr. Lwin is."(Lit.)
2. Shoogakukin wa Mugishima san no tokoro ni arimasu.
"The scholarship is in Mr. Mugishima's place(office)."(Lit.)
3. Asoko ni shiroi tatemono ga arimasu.
"There is a white building over there."
4. Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
5. Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.
"There is a book on the desk."
6. Koogakubu no soba ni seekyoo ga arimasu.
"There is a Co-op near the Faculty of Engineering."
7. A : Kaban wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the bag?"
B : Tsukue no shita ni arimasu.
"It's under the desk."

I. Location of a thing or a person

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A. All things or all persons occupy a definite place. For example, the tape recorder you are using is on your desk, the cafeteria where you go everyday is near the Faculty of Engineering, or Mr. Lwin is now in the classroom, etc.
The basic English pattern used to express these ideas is "There is something/someone somewhere."In Japanese, all of these are expressed by the following
pattern.

(Place) ni (thing) ga arimasu
(Place) ni (person) ga imasu

Examples
1. Daigaku ni shokudoo ga arimasu.
"There is a cafeteria at the university."
2. Daigaku ni toire ga arimasu.
"There is a restroom at the university."
3. Daigaku ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin at the university."
4. Daigaku ni sensee ga imasu.
"There are teachers at the university."
B. The verb arimasu is used when the noun preceding ga, the subject of a sentence, isa non-living or non-moving thing. The verb imasu is used with living things which can move themselves, that is human beings and animals.
Examples
1. Keezai gakubu ni kenkyuushitsu ga arimasu.
"There are professor's offices in the Faculty of Economics."
2. Keezai gakubu ni Hasegawa sensee ga imasu.
"There is a Prof. Hasegawa on the Faculty of Economics."
3. Ryuugakusee kaikan ni robii ga arimasu.
"There is a lobby in the Foreign Students' House."
Ryuugakusee kaikan ni Arisu san ga imasu.
"There is an Alice san in the Foreign Students' House."

Japanese Demonstrative pronouns : Sono and sore

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Japanese Response : Hai

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Japanese Language - Substitute : Desu as a substitute for a verb

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Examples
1. A : Nanji ni okimasu ka.
"What time do you get up?"
B : Rokuji desu.
"I get up at six o'clock."
2. A : Doko e ikimasu ka.
"Where are you going?"
B : Kyooto desu.
"I'm going to Kyoto."
2. A : Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
B : Shokudoo desu.
"She's in the cafeteria."
In each of the examples above, desu serves as a substitute for the verb used in the previous sentence : okimasu "get up," ikimasu"go" or imasu "be." Desu is used to avoid repeating the verb mentioned previously. Desu cannot be used alone. It follows a noun. The Group 1 particles, ga, o, e and ni, are omitted before desu,
while kara, made, etc. are kept.

Examples
1. A : Arisu san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where's Alice san?"
B : Shokudoo desu.
"She's in the cafeteria."
2. A : Kaarin san wa doko desu ka."
"Where is Karin san?"
B : Seekyoo desu.
"She's in the Co�]op."
3. A : Ruin san wa doko kara kimashita ka.
"Where did Mr. Lwin come from?"
B : Biruma kara desu.
"He's from Burma."
Alice : Ruin san wa nani o tabemasu ka.
"What will you eat?"
Lwin : Watashi wa sakana desu.
"I'll eat fish."
Alice : Kaarin san wa.
"How about you, Karin san?"
Kalin : Niku desu.
"I'll eat meat."

The sentence "Watashi wa sakana desu." may sound strange. But this desu does not mean the equality of two nouns. You should get used to this desu as soon as possible.
Desu can replace not only the imperfective form of a verb but also the perfective
form of a verb.

Examples
1. A : Kinoo doko e ikimashita ka.
"Where did you go yesterday?"
B : Tookyoo desu.
"I went to Tokyo."
2. A : Depaato de nani o kaimashita ka.
"What did you buy at the department store?"
B : Teepurekoodaa desu.
"I bought a tape recorder."

Japanese Language - Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

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Examples
1. A : Kore wa dare no hon desu ka.
"Whose book is this?"
B : Watashi no desu.
"It's mine."
2. A : Akai kaban wa dare no desu ka.
"Whose is the red bag?"
B : Ruin san no desu.
"It's Mr. Lwin's."
3. A : Aoi no wa.
"How about the blue one?"
B : Arisu san no desu.
"It's Alice san's."

In a modifier �{ noun, like noun + no + noun, -i adjective �{ noun, etc., a modified noun can be replaced by no, when the referent is obvious between the speaker and the hearer. And omit one no in case of noun �{ no �{ no. Take Ruin san no hon for example. When hon is replaced by no, you may expect Ruin san no no. However, the correct form is Ruin san no.
Examples
1. A : Kore wa anata no kutsu desu ka.
"Are these your shoes?"
B : Iie, watashi no ja arimasen. Ruin san no desu.
"No, they aren't mine. They are Mr. Lwin's."
2. A : Kono aoi no wa doo desu ka.
"How about this blue one?"
B : Ee, sore o kudasai.
"That's good. I'll it."

Japanese Language - Location of a thing or a person (2)

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C. In this pattern the place or the location is signaled by the particle ni. Ni indicates the place where a thing or a person is located, while de, which has already been introduced in Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV-D, indicates the place where an activity takes place.

Examples
1. Shokudoo ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin in the cafeteria."
2. Ruin san wa shokudoo de tabemasu.
"Mr. Lwin eats in the cafeteria."
3. Heya ni terebi ga arimasu.
"There is a TV in the room."
4. Heya de terebi o mimasu.
"I watch TV in the room."
D. The following are some nouns of place used in a phrase indicating a location.

1 „ shokudoo "cafeteria"
daigaku "university"
heya "room", etc.
2 „ koko "here"
soko "there" or "the hearer's area"
asoko "over there"
doko "where"
3 „ Ruin san no tokoro "place where Mr. Lwin is" "MrLwin's place."
Ishihara san no tokoro "place where Mr. Ishihara is" "Mr. Ishihara's place."
Tomodachi no tokoro "place where a friend is" "a friend's place.", etc.
4 „ tatemono no mae ni "in front of the building"
ushiro ni "behind the building"
naka ni "inside the building"
soba ni "near the building"
tonari ni "next to the building"
tsukue no ue ni "on the desk"
shita ni "under the desk"

The relationship among koko, soko, asoko and doko in 2�„ is the same as that of kore, sore, are and dore.
3�„ shows that Ruin san is a noun of person, while Ruin san no tokoro is a noun of place. You should say "Ruin san no tokoro e ikimashita." instead of "Ruin san e ikimashita.," when you want to say "I went to Mr. Lwin's."

Recall that when a noun modifies another noun, the modifying noun comes first and the modified noun follows the modifying noun �{ the particle no. You cannot say mae no tatemono but tatemono no mae in order to express "the front of the building."

Examples
1. Ruin san no tokoro ni teepurekoodaa ga arimasu.
"The tape recorder is at the place where Mr. Lwin is."(Lit.)
2. Shoogakukin wa Mugishima san no tokoro ni arimasu.
"The scholarship is in Mr. Mugishima's place(office)."(Lit.)
3. Asoko ni shiroi tatemono ga arimasu.
"There is a white building over there."
4. Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
5. Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.
"There is a book on the desk."
6. Koogakubu no soba ni seekyoo ga arimasu.
"There is a Co-op near the Faculty of Engineering."
7. A : Kaban wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the bag?"
B : Tsukue no shita ni arimasu.
"It's under the desk."

E. This pattern is also used to express an abstract idea.

Examples
1. Watashi ni iken ga arimasu.
"I have an opinion."
2. Ano gakusee no Nihongo ni mondai ga arimasu.
"There is a problem with that student's Japanese."

Japanese Language - Location of a thing or a person (1)

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A. All things or all persons occupy a definite place. For example, the tape recorder you are using is on your desk, the cafeteria where you go everyday is near the Faculty of Engineering, or Mr. Lwin is now in the classroom, etc.
The basic English pattern used to express these ideas is "There is something/someone somewhere."In Japanese, all of these are expressed by the following
pattern.

(Place) ni (thing) ga arimasu
(Place) ni (person) ga imasu

Examples
1. Daigaku ni shokudoo ga arimasu.
"There is a cafeteria at the university."
2. Daigaku ni toire ga arimasu.
"There is a restroom at the university."
3. Daigaku ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin at the university."
4. Daigaku ni sensee ga imasu.
"There are teachers at the university."
B. The verb arimasu is used when the noun preceding ga, the subject of a sentence, isa non-living or non-moving thing. The verb imasu is used with living things which can move themselves, that is human beings and animals.
Examples
1. Keezai gakubu ni kenkyuushitsu ga arimasu.
"There are professor's offices in the Faculty of Economics."
2. Keezai gakubu ni Hasegawa sensee ga imasu.
"There is a Prof. Hasegawa on the Faculty of Economics."
3. Ryuugakusee kaikan ni robii ga arimasu.
"There is a lobby in the Foreign Students' House."
Ryuugakusee kaikan ni Arisu san ga imasu.
"There is an Alice san in the Foreign Students' House."

II. Particles : Ne and yo

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Ne and yo belong to Group 3 particles and always come at the end of a sentence.
Ne is used to show your own agreement with what was said previously or your expectation that the hearer will agree with you.The intonation of ne is falling in the first case, and rising in the second case.
On the other hand, yo is used to state your own judgement emphatically, regardless of what the hearer might think. It is used to tell someone information he should
know or to tell him what he should do.

Examples
1. A : Doko kara kimashita ka.
"Where are you from?"
B : Biruma kara kimashita.
"I'm from Burma."
2. A : Jaa, Birumago o hanashimasu ne.
"Then you speak Burmese, don't you?"
B : Hai.
"Yes."
3. A : Kono hon o yomimashita ka.
"Did you read this book?"
B : Hai. Omoshiroi desu ne.
"Yes. It's interesting, isn't it?"
4. A : Kono hon o yomimashita ka.
"Did you read this book?"
B : Iie.
"No."
5. A : Omoshiroi desu yo.
"It's really interesting, you know."
B : Soo desu ka.
"Is that so?"

You have to be careful not to overuse yo ; otherwise you might impress others as being an aggressive speaker.

Particles : Ne and yo

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Japanese Particles : Ne and yo

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Sentence ending : N desu

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Examples
1. A : Kaoiro ga warui desu ne.
"You are pale, aren't you?"(Lit.)
2. B : Ee, atama ga itai n desu.
"Yes, (because) I have a headache."
3. A : Sore wa nan no hon desu ka.
"What is that book about?"
B : Nihongo no hon desu. Omoshiroi n desu.
"It's a Japanese book. (I am absorbed in reading it, because) It's interesting."

The conversation in Example 1 starts with A's recognition that B looks unusually pale and A says "You are pale."and B knows that he is pale, so he gives the explanation for it.
The conversation in Example 2 starts with A's recognition that B is unusually absorbed in a book and A is interested in what kind of book B is reading. A asks "What is that book about?" B answers A's question and after that B notices why A asked such a question, so he gives an explanation for that by saying"It is an interesting book."
In both examples, it is inadequate to say itai desu or omoshiroi desu instead of itai n desu or omoshiroi n desu. The basic meaning of a sentence does not change by the addition of n desu to it.
However, the presence of n desu adds certain overtones to the statement, for it indicates some explanation, either of what was said or done, or of what will be said or done.
N desu is preceded by the non-polite form of a verb or an -i adjective, by a –na adjective ending in na, or by a noun { na. Here, only the non-polite imperfective affirmative form of an -i adjective is introduced.
Note that n in n desu receives the timing of a full syllable.
Sentences ending in n desu ka are not used in asking questions to start a conversation unless there is an unusual situation. For example, if you ask someone Isogashii desu ka. "Are you busy?"
you are simply asking whether he is busy or not. But if you ask
Isogashii n desu ka.
it can mean"Do you look tired because you are so busy?", "Are you so busy that you can't come with us to have a drink?"and so forth depending on the situation.
Thus questions ending in n desu ka can imply various emotions such as concern, surprise, irritation or criticism.

Doo, ikaga and To

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Question words : Doo and ikaga
Both doo and ikaga mean "how." They are used to ask about conditions of a thing
or a person. Ikaga is more polite than doo.

Examples
1. Hidari no me wa doo desu ka.
"How is your left eye?"
2. Nihongo no benkyoo wa doo desu ka.
"How is the study of Japanese?"
3. Nagoya daigaku no shokudoo wa doo desu ka.
"How is the cafeteria in Nagoya University?" or
"How do you like the cafeteria in Nagoya University?"

Particle : To
To connects two or more nouns and means"and." It never connects two or more
adjectives, verbs, etc.

Examples
1. Ruin san to Arisu san ga kimashita.
"Mr. Lwin and Alice san came."
2. Ruin san to Arisu san wa sakanafuraiteeshoku to sarada o tabemashita.
"Mr. Lwin and Alice san ate sakanafuraiteeshoku and salad."

III. Suggestions

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Examples
1. Kono kusuri o nomimasu.
"Someone* will take this medicine."
2. Kono kusuri o nomimasu ka.
"Are you going to take this medicine?"
3. Kono kusuri o nomimasen ka.
"Won't you take this medicine?"
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)

Example 2 is a question form of Example 1. Example 3 seems to be a negative question form of Example 1. But Example 3 is used to make a suggestion. In a suggestion, verbs should be imperfective negative form. The perfective form cannot
be used for a suggestion.

Examples
1. Kono hon o yomimasen ka.
"Won't you read this book?"
2. Sarada o tabemasen ka.
"Won't you eat any salad?"
3. Teepu o kikimasen ka.
"Won't you listen to the tape?"

Japanese Language - Na adjective

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Now the fourth type of sentences is introduced.

Examples
1. Kono kaban wa joobu desu.
"This bag is strong."
2. Kono kaban wa joobu ja arimasen.
"This bag isn't strong."
3. Kono kaban wa joobu deshita.
"This bag was strong."
4. Kono kaban wa joobu ja arimasen deshita.
"This bag wasn't strong."
5. Kore wa joobu na kaban desu.
"This is a strong bag."
6. Kore wa joobu na kaban ja arimasen.
"This isn't a strong bag."
7. Kore wa joobu na kaban deshita.
"This was a strong bag."
8. Kore wa joobu na kaban ja arimasen deshita.
"This wasn't a strong bag."
As shown in the above examples, joobu desu has some functions that a noun has but also has some other functions just like an -i adjective. In other words, joobu desu comes at the end of a sentence. Also it modifies the noun it precedes. When -na adjectives modify a noun desu is changed to na.This kind of word will be called a -na adjective in this textbook.

Examples
1. Ruin san wa shizuka desu.
"Mr. Lwin is quiet."
2. Ruin san wa shizuka na gakusee desu.
"Mr. Lwin is a quiet student."
3. Kono shokudoo wa kiree ja arimasen.
"This cafeteria isn't clean."
4. Kore wa taihen na shukudai deshita.
"This was hard homework."

I adjective

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A. So far you have learned two types of Japanese sentences : sentences ending in a verb in its polite form and sentences ending in a noun + desu. Now the third type is introduced.

Examples
1. Atama ga itai desu.
"Head is painful."(Lit.)
("I have a headache.")
2. Kao ga akai desu.
"Face is red,"(Lit.)
("My face is red.")
3. Hon ga yasui desu.
"Books are cheap."(Lit.)
("These books are cheap.")
What is common in these three sentences above is that :
1. all sentences end in desu;
2. all of them contain a word ending in -i directly followed by desu; and
3. a noun + ga always comes first and a word ending in -i + desu follows it.

A word ending in -i will be called an -i adjective in this textbook. A phrase ending in -i + desu is the polite form of an -i adjective. The polite form of

For the polite negative form, replace -i by -ku and add arimasen.
For the polite perfective form, replace -i by -katta and add desu.
For the polite perfective negative form, replace -i by -ku and add arimasen
deshita.

Examples
1. Atama ga itakatta desu.
"Head was painful."(Lit.)
("I had a headache.")
2. Atama ga itaku arimasen.
"Head is not painful."(Lit.)
("I don't have a headache.")
3. Kao ga akaku arimasen.
"Face is not red."(Lit.)
("My face isn't red.")
4. Kao ga akaku arimasen deshita.
"Face was not red."(Lit.)
5. Hon ga yasukatta desu.
"Books were cheap."(Lit.)
6. Hon ga yasuku arimasen deshita.
"Books were not cheap."(Lit.)
There is one exception to this rule : ii desu "be good." The negative form is yoku arimasen. The perfective form is yokatta desu, and yoku arimasen deshita is the perfective negative form.

Examples
1. Sensee ga yokatta desu.
"Teachers were good."(Lit.)
2. Hon ga yoku arimasen.
"The book is not good."
3. Gakusee ga yoku arimasen deshita.
"Students were not good."(Lit.)
B. The -i adjective modifies a noun. It always precedes a noun which it modifies. For this purpose, the polite form is inadequateGthe non-polite form is used instead. The table here shows the inflection of the polite form and the non]polite form of itai desu.

Polite form Non-polite form
Imperfective Affirmative itai desu itai
Negative itaku arimasen itaku nai
Perfective Affirmative itakatta desu itakatta
Negative itaku arimasen deshita itaku nakatta

In this lesson, learn the non-polite imperfective affirmative form only. The rest should be learned in Lesson 9, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR III.

Examples
1. Kore wa yasui hon desu.
"This is a cheap book."
2. Arisu san wa ii gakusee desu.
"Alice san is a good student."
3. Oishii sakana o tabemashita.
"Someone* ate delicious fish."

4. Takai hon o kaimashita ka.
"Did you buy an expensive book?"
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)

V. Question word : Itsu

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Itsu is used to ask time and means "when."

Examples
1. Itsu Nihon e kimashita ka.
"When did you come to Japan?"
2. Daigaku e wa itsu ikimasu ka.
"When do you go to the university?"

NOTES ON CONVERSATIONAL GRAMMAR
Response : "Soo desu ka."
Example
Satoo : Sono hon wa senmon no hon desu ka.
"Is that book one your speciality?"
Lwin : Iie, kore wa Nihongo no kyookasho desu.
"No, it's a Japanese textbook."
Satoo : Soo desu ka.
"I see."

In the above example, "Soo desu ka." is not a question. Satoo is conveying to Lwin a signal of his understanding of what Lwin said. It can also be said that Satoo is giving
a response that makes a conversation go smoothly.
When "Soo desu ka." pronounced with a falling intonation, it means "I see." When it is pronounced with a rising intonation, it shows a doubt or something
unbelievable.

Japanese Particles : Kara, ni and de

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A. Kara means"from"or"since."It follows a noun of place or a noun of time.

Examples
1. Doko kara kimashita ka.
"Where did you come from?"
2. Ruin san ga daigaku kara kaerimashita.
"Mr.Lwin returned from the university"
3. Sanji kara benkyoo shimasu.
"Someone* will study from three o'clock."
4. Ashita kara teepu o kikimasu.
"Someone* will listen to the tape from tomorrow on."
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)

B. Ni indicates time. It follows a noun of time. As was explained in Lesson 1, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV, there are some nouns of time which are never followed by ni.

Examples
1. Ruin san wa shichiji ni okimasu.
"Mr. Lwin gets up at seven."
2. Jugyoo wa ichiji ni hajimarimasu.
"The class begins at one."

C. Ni indicates the place of arrival and means "to," "in" or "at."

Example
1. Ruin san ga shokudoo ni kimashita.
"Mr. Lwin came to the cafeteria."
2. Arisu san ga kinoo Nagoya ni tsukimashita.
"Alice san arrived in Nagoya yesterday."
3. Arisu san ga kinoo Nagoya eki ni tsukimashita.
"Alice san arrived at Nagoya station yesterday."

D. De used here indicates the place where an action takes place. It follows a noun of place.

Examples
1. Ruin san ga shokudoo de hon o yomimashita.
"Mr. Lwin read a book in the cafeteria."
2. Ruin san ga shokudoo de sakanafuraiteeshoku o tabemashita.
"Mr. Lwin ate sakanafuraiteeshoku in the cafeteria."
3. Arisu san ga ryuugakusee kaikan de teepu o kikimashita.
"Alice san listened to the tape in the Foreign Students' House."

Japanese Particle : Noun 1 no Noun 2

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When a noun modifies another noun, the modifying noun is followed by the particle no which cannot be translated in one English word. The modifying noun must precede the modified noun. According to our experience, many students often make a mistake about the word order of these two nouns. They carelessly say Ruin san no Biruma instead of Biruma no Ruin san, when they want to say, "Mr. Lwin from Burma." Do not forget all modifiers always precede the noun they modify.

Examples
1. Ruin san no hon
"Mr. Lwin's book"
2. Ejiputo no Arisu san
"Alice san from Egypt"
3. Nagoya daigaku no shokudoo
"the cafeteria in Nagoya University"
4. Nihongo no sensee
"a teacher of Japanese"
5. Ruin san wa Biruma no gakusee desu.
"Mr. Lwin is a student from Burma."
6. Nihongo no hon o yomimashita.
"Someone* read a Japanese book."
7. Nagoya daigaku no shokudoo e ikimashita.
"Someone* went to the cafeteria in Nagoya University."
8. Are wa dare no hon desu ka.
"Whose book is that?"
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)

Japanese Demonstrative pronouns : Kore, sore, are and dore

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A. When you want to refer to a thing the name of which you don't know or when you want to avoid repetition of the name of the thing you have already referred to, kore, sore and are are used. The difference of kore, sore and are depends on the distance from a thing to the speaker and the hearer, Kore is used for referring to something near the speaker, sore for referring to something close to the hearer but far from the speaker, and are is used for referring to something at a distance from both the speaker and the hearer.

Examples
(A book is near A, but far from B)
1. A : Kore wa nan desu ka.
"What is this?"
B : Sore wa hon desu.
"It's a book."
(A cassettetape is far from A, but near B)
2. A : Sore wa nan desu ka.
"What is that?"
B : Kore wa kasettoteepu desu.
"This is a cassette tape."
(A textbook is far from A and B)
3. A : Are wa nan desu ka.
"What is that over there?"
B : Are wa kyookasho desu.
"That is a textbook."

Dore"which one?"is a question word inquiring about one of more than two. In answering a question with dore, you should use kore, sore or are.

Examples
1. A : Keezai gakubu wa dore desu ka.
"Which one is the Faculty of Economics?"
B : Are desu.
"That one over there."
2. A : Kyookasho wa dore desu ka.
"Which one is the textbook?"
B : Kore desu.
"This one is."

B. Kore, sore, are and dore change to kono, sono, ano and dono respectively before the noun they modify.

Do not say : Kore hon
Say : Kono hon
Examples
1. A : Sore wa nan desu ka.
"What is that?"
B : Dore desu ka.
"Which one?"
2. A : Sono hon desu.
"That book."
B : Kore wa kyookasho desu.
"This is a textbook."
3. A : Ano hito wa dare desu ka.
"Who is that man over there?"
B : Are wa Ruin san desu.
"That is Mr. Lwin."
4. A : Arisu san wa dono gakusee desu ka.
"Which student is Alice san?"
B : Ano gakusee desu.
"That student over there."

C. Kochira, sochira, achira and dochira are often used to refer to a person or a place when speaking more politely. Their difference is the same as that of kore, sore, are and dore.

Examples
1. Kochira wa Ruin san desu.
"This is Mr. Lwin."
2. Achira wa Arisu san desu.
"That is Alice san."
3. Dochira e ikimasu ka.
"Where are you going?"
4. Ashita mo kochira e kimasu.
"I'll come here tomorrow, too."
In the Example 3, doko can substitute for dochira.

Japanese Sentence structure : Noun 1 wa Noun 2 desu

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The idea "Alice san is a student."is expressed in Japanese as :
Arisu san wa gakusee desu. "Alice san is a student."

ln the above example, desu is equivalent to English "is." Desu is placed at the end of a sentence. You should not say "Arisu san wa desu gakusee."

Examples
1. Arisu san wa Ejiputojin desu.
"Alice san is an Egyptian."
2. Ruin san wa gakusee desu.
"Mr. Lwin is a student."
3. Ruin san wa sensee desu.
"Mr. Lwin is a teacher."
The negative form of desu is ja arimasen.
The perfective form of desu is deshita.
The negative form of deshita is ja arimasen deshita.

Examples
1. Arisu san wa Birumajin ja arimasen.
"Alice san is not a Burmese."
2. Ruin san wa sensee deshita.
"Mr, Lwin was a teacher."
3. Ruin san wa gakusee ja arimasen deshita.
"Mr. Lwin was not a student."

III. Omission of some noun phrases in a sentence

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Japanese people frequently omit those noun phrases which the speaker thinks the
hearer knows or can understand from the context or the situation.
Example
A : Shokudoo e ikimasu ka.
"Are you going to the cafeteria?"
B : Ee, ikimasu.
"Yes, I am."
A : Kaarin san wa.
"How about Karin san?"
B : Ikimasen.
"No, she is not."

In the example above, neither the first sentence nor the second sentence contains an actor who goes to the cafeteria. However, speaker A and speaker B know that the actor of the first sentence is anata"you"and that of the second sentence is watashi"I,"because it is quite probable that the speaker is asking about the hearer. In such a situation it is preferable to omit anata and watashi. Frequent use of anata makes speech unnatural to a Japanese ear. Even when"you"(anata) must be used, anata is avoided by a Japanese, and instead of anata the name of the person addressed is used.
This applies to any subjects which can be understood from the context.

Examples
1. Karin : Kinoo daigaku e kimashita ka.
"Did you come to the university yesterday?"
2. Lwin : Iie, kimasen deshita.
"No, I didn't."
3. Karin : Ruin san wa Tookyoo e ikimashita ka.
"Mr. Lwin, did you go to Tokyo?"
4. Lwin : Iie, ikimasen deshita. Kaarin san wa.
"No, I didn't. How about you, Karin san?"
5. Karin : Watashi mo ikimasen deshita.
"I didn't go either."

Japanese Language - Classification of particles

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In this lesson you have learned three types of particles. Ga, o, e, ni, etc. will be called Group 1 particles in this textbook. These particles show a grammatical case, or a relationship between a noun and a verb in a sentence or a relationship between two nouns. Wa, mo, etc. will be called Group 2 particles in this textbook. The most fundamental function of these particles is to indicate the topic
of a conversation. Ka and those which come at the end of a sentence will be called Group 3 particles in this textbook. They change a sentence into a question, make a sentence more emphatic, etc. When Group 1 particles are used together with Group 2 particles, Group 1 particles come first and Group 2 particles follow them. However, there are no�ega wa, ga mo'/'o wa, o mo'combinations. Only wa or mo is used instead. Sakana wa tabemashita is ambiguous because wa can substitute for ga or o.
Examples
1. Sakana wa dare ga tabemashita ka.
"Who ate fish?"
2. Shokudoo e wa dare ga ikimashita ka.
"Who went to the cafeteria?"
3. Kaarin san ni mo aimashita ka.
"Did you also meet Karin san?"
4. A : Shinbun o yomimasu ka.
"Will you read a newspaper?"
B : Iie.
"No."
5. A : Terebi wa mimasu ka.
"Then will you watch TV?"
B : Hai.
"Yes."

Japanese Language - Function of wa and mo

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A. Wa indicates the topic (or something to be talked about) of a sentence and means "as for."

Examples
1. Sakana o tabemashita.
"Someone* ate fish."
2. Sakana ga tabemashita.
"A fish ate something."
3. Sakana wa tabemashita.
"As for fish, someone* ate it."or
"As for fish, it ate something."
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)
ln the above examples, the same noun sakana "fish" and the same verb tabemashita "ate" are used in different sentences. The difference is the particle used in each sentence. Sakana in the first sentence is the object of the action of eating because the particle used in it is o, the object-indicating particle.
Sakana in the second sentence is something which does the action of eating because of the particle ga, the actor -indicating particle.
However, the third sentence cannot be interpreted in one specific way because the particle wa does not give any information about the grammatical case. The two interpretations above are possible because sakana means either an animal which eats, or food which is to be eaten.
The basic function of a wa-phrase is to present the topic of a sentence or a conversation and the rest of the sentence or a series of sentences give comments about the topic. The number of comments given about one topic cannot be limited.
You can give as many comments as you like.

Topic Comment

Ruin san wa Shokudoo e ikimashita.
Sakanafuraiteeshoku o tabemashita.
Sarada mo tabemashita.
Omuraisu wa tabemasen deshita.
E
E
E
Repeating the topic is usually unnecessary because both the speaker and the hearer know what they are talking about.
Wa is also used to show a contrast between two things, two actions, two events, etc.
Examples
1. A : Kinoo teepu o kikimashita ka.
"Did you listen to the tape yesterday?"
B : Iie. Kyoo wa kikimasu.
"No. I'll do so today."
2. A : Kyoo ikimasu ka.
"Are you going today?"
B : Iie, kyoo wa ikimasen. Kinoo ikimashita.
"No, I'm not going today. I went yesterday."

B. Mo also indicates the topic and means"too"or"also"in a positive sentence and "either"in a negative sentence.
Mo, like wa, does not indicate any grammatical case.

Examples
1. Ruin san mo tabemashita.
"Mr. Lwin also ate."
2. Sakana mo tabemashita.
"Someone* ate fish also."or
"The fish also ate something."
3. Ruin san mo sakana o tabemashita.
"Mr. Lwin also ate fish."
4. Shinbun mo Kaarin san ga yomimashita.
"Karin san read a newspaper also."
5. Kinoo ikimashita. Kyoo mo ikimasu.
"I went yesterday. l'll go today, too."
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)

Japanese numerals

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There are two types of numerals in Japanese ; Type A numerals(Chinese origin) and Type B numerals(Japanese origin).

In this lesson Type A numerals are introduced.

Type A numerals show order in a series.

1 ichi	4 shi, yon	7 shichi, nana
2 ni	5 go	8 hachi
3 san	6 roku	9 ku, kyuu
10 juu	20 nijuu	30 sanjuu
11 juuichi	21 nijuuichi	31 sanjuuichi
12 juuni	22 nijuuni	32 sanjuuni
13 juusan	23 nijuusan	33 sanjuusan
14 juushi	24 nijuushi	34 sanjuushi
15 juugo	25 nijuugo	35 sanjuugo
16 juuroku	26 nijuuroku	36 sanjuuroku
17 juushichi	27 nijuushichi	37 sanjuushichi
18 juuhachi	28 nijuuhachi	38 sanjuuhachi
19 juuku	29 nijuuku	39 sanjuuku
40 yonjuu	50 gojuu	60 rokujuu
41 yonjuuichi	51 gojuuichi	61 rokujuuichi
42 yonjuuni	52 gojuuni	62 rokujuuni
43 yonjuusan	53 gojuusan	63 rokujuusan
44 yonjuushi	54 gojuushi	64 rokujuushi
45 yonjuugo	55 gojuugo	65 rokujuugo
46 yonjuuroku	56 gojuuroku	66 rokujuuroku
47 yonjuushichi	57 gojuushichi	67 rokujuushichi
48 yonjuuhachi	58 gojuuhachi	68 rokujuuhachi
49 yonjuuku	59 gojuuku	69 rokujuuku
70 nanajuu	80 hachijuu	90 kyuujuu
71 nanajuuichi	81 hachijuuichi	91 kyuujuuichi
72 nanajuuni	82 hachijuuni	92 kyuujuuni
73 nanajuusan	83 hachijuusan	93 kyuujuusan
74 nanajuushi	84 hachijuushi	94 kyuujuushi
75 nanajuugo	85 hachijuugo	95 kyuujuugo
76 nanajuuroku	86 hachijuuroku	96 kyuujuuroku
77 nanajuushichi	87 hachijuushichi	97 kyuujuushichi
78 nanajuuhachi	88 hachijuuhachi	98 kyuujuuhachi
79 nanajuuku	89 hachijuuku	99 kyuujuukyuu
100 hyaku	700 nanahyaku	4. 000 yonsen
200 nihyaku	800 happyaku	5. 000 gosen
300 sanbyaku	900 kyuuhyaku	6. 000 rokusen
400 yonhyaku	1. 000 sen, issen	7. 000 nanasen
500 gohyaku	2. 000 nisen	8. 000 hassen
600 roppyaku	3. 000 sanzen	9. 000 kyuusen
		10. 000 ichiman

Japanese Particle E and Time Expressions

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Particle : E
E indicates the direction towards which an actor moves.
E is used with verbs like ikimasu"go," kimasu"come," kaerimasu"return,"etc.

Examples
1. Ruin san ga shokudoo e ikimasu.
"Mr. Lwin goes to the cafeteria."
2. Arisu san ga ryuugakusee kaikan e kaerimashita.
"Alice san went back to the Foreign Students' House."
3. Kinoo daigaku e kimashita ka.
"Did you come to the university yesterday?

Time expressions
There are some time expressions which are followed by the particle ni, and sometime expressions which are never followed by it. Kinoo"yesterday," kyoo "today, "ashita"tomorrow" and other such words are used alone without ni.
These time expressions are always nouns and usually come at the beginning of the sentence.

Examples
1. Kinoo Ruin san ga teepu o kikimashita.
"Mr. Lwin listened to the tape yesterday."
2. Ashita Arisu san ga Nihongo o benkyoo shimasu.
"Alice san will study Japanese tomorrow."
3. Kyoo sensee ga Tookyoo e ikimasu.
"Our teacher is going to Tokyo today."

Japanese Verbs

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A. Classification of verbs

Verbs are classified into three types.
1. Group 1 verbs, or verbs ending in -eru or –iru
taberu neru miru okiru
"eat" "sleep" "see" "get up"
2. Group 2 verbs, or verbs ending in -u
yomu kiku iku kau
"read" "listen to" "go" "buy"
3. Irregular verbs
kuru suru
"come" "do
B. Polite form of verbs

The polite form of verbs is used between persons who are not close friends. It shows deference, respect, etc.
Students are expected to use this form when they talk to their teachers. The polite form is obtained in the following way.

1. Group 1 verbs, or verbs ending in -eru or -iru

Drop -ru and add -masu.
* Table of the polite form of Group 1 verbs *

Dictionary form Polite form
taberu tabemasu
neru nemasu
miru mimasu
okiru okimasu
(There are some exceptions such as "hashiru."
which belongs to Group II verbs.)

2. Group 2 verbs, or verbs ending in -u

Change -u to -i and add -masu.

* Table of the polite form of Group 2 verbs *

Dictionary form Polite form
yomu yomimasu
kiku kikimasu
iku ikimasu
kau kaimasu

3. Irregular verbs

The polite form of kuru is kimasu.
The polite form of suru is shimasu.

Verbs ending in -masu are used to describe a habitual action or an action in the
future. For the negative form of verbs ending in -masu, change -masu to -masen.
What has already happened can be described by verbs ending in -mashita instead of -masu. For the negative form of verbs ending in -mashita, drop –mashita and add -masen deshita.

* Table of the polite form of verbs *

-masu -masen -mashita -masen deshita
tabemasu tabemasen tabemashita tabemasen deshita
mimasu mimasen mimashita mimasen deshita
yomimasu yomimasen yomimashita yomimasen deshita
kikimasu kikimasen kikimashita kikimasen deshita
kimasu kimasen kimashita kimasen deshita
shimasu shimasen shimashita shimasen deshita

Examples
1. Ruin san ga teepu o kikimashita. "Mr. Lwin listened to the tape."
2. Ruin san ga shokudoo e ikimasen. "Mr. Lwin won't/doesn't go to the cafeteria."
3. Arisu san ga Nihongo o benkyoo shimasen deshita. Alice san didn't study Japanese."
Since verbs ending in -mashita or -masen deshita describe a completed action, this form of verbs will be called the perfective form of verbs in this textbook. On the other hand, verbs ending in -masu or -masen will be called the imperfective form of verbs in this textbook, because they describe an action not completed. In a dictionary, verbs are not listed in their polite form but in the form seen in Lesson 1, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR II -A, which will be called the non-polite form.

Basic Structure of Sentences in Japanese

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The following are examples of typical Japanese sentences.
Examples
1. Arisu san ga kimasu. "Alice san will go."
2. Ame ga furimasu. "It will rain."
3. Ruin san ga hon o yomimasu. "Mr. Lwin reads a book."
4. Arisu san ga teepu o kikimasu.
"Alice san is going to listen to the tape."
5. Ruin san ga Arisu san o sensee ni shookai shimasu.
"Mr. Lwin introduces Alice san to a teacher."

From the five examples above, you may draw some conclusions. They are :
1. All these sentences end with a word ending in -masu.
2. All of these are verbs(See Lesson 1,NOTES ON SENTENCE
3. GRAMMAR II.). Japanese sentences end in a verb.
4. All verbs are preceded by at least two words(Examples 1 and 2), Arisu san"Alice san," Ame"rain"and ga. Arisu san, Ame, etc. are nouns and ga is a particle. As you can see, nouns are followed by a particle. This applies to hon o in Example 3, teepu o in Example 4, Arisu san o and sensee ni in Example 5. These units will be called a noun phrase in this textbook.
5. Japanese sentences consist of one or more noun phrases { a verb in this order. The number of noun phrases is determined by the meaning of the verb.
6. Particles are those small words which never change their form and are used with a noun which precedes them. For further details, see Lesson 1, NOTES ON CONVERSATlONAL GRAMMAR II.
7. For many students, the selection of a particle is always confusing.
8. However, as is shown in the above examples, ga is added to a noun which ndicates the person who does something or the thing which happens; o is added to a noun which indicates the thing which an actor does and ni is added to a noun which indicates the person who is the recipient of the action. This knowledge will help you select an appropriate particle. But this does not apply to the following case.
Arisu san ga Ruin san ni aimasu.
Alice san will meet Mr. Lwin."

Aimasu is a verb which takes ga and ni and not ga and o, although some students may expect o instead of ni.
It is advisable to memorize verbs with their appropriate particles. In the vocabulary lists in this textbook, each verb is shown with particles, as shown here.

Japanese verb (particles) - English equivalent
taberu (`ga `o) eat

Katakana Chart

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Hiragana Chart

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Japanese For Newbies

Humble form of a verb : O { verb base { shimasu

Expressions of request or polite command

Expressions of request or polite command

Some Notes

Classification of Japanese sentences

Classification of Japanese sentences

Classification of Japanese sentences

Classification of Japanese sentences

Classification of Japanese sentences

Classification of Japanese sentences

Classification of Japanese sentences

Phrase : Saa and Anoo

Particles : Wa...ga...construction

Particle : Ga

Question words : Doo yatte, ikutsu and ikura

Question word ka or mo

Group 1 particles : De, o, made and ka

Demonstrative pronouns : Sono and sore

Response : Hai

Substitute : Desu as a substitute for a verb

Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

Location of a thing or a person

Location of a thing or a person

I. Formation of the -te form of -i adjective and desu

III. Set phrase : Sumimasen

I. Set phrase : Onegaishimasu

II. Adverbs : Mazu, sore kara and saigo ni

V. Particle : Ni

IV. Verb modifiers : Koo, soo, aa and doo

I. Expressions of request or polite command

III. Expression of the speakers and the heare's desire

I. Expressions of request or polite command

IV. Interjection : Mmmm

III. Full form of ja : De wa

I. 0mission of a particle

I. 0mission of a particle

IX. Humble forms of desu and arimasu : De gozaimasu and gozaimasu

VIII. Volitional form,or -oo form of desu : Deshoo

VI. Adverbs

VII. Volitional form, or -oo form of -masu : - Mashoo

V. Numerals, counters and numbers

V. Numerals, counters and numbers

III. Normal order of noun phrases

III. Normal order of noun phrases

II. Four types of desu

I. Classification of Japanese sentences

Saa and Anoo

II. Particles : Wa...ga...construction

V. Words for degrees : Gurai or kurai

I. Particle : Ga

IV. Question words : Doo yatte, ikutsu and ikura

III. Question word { ka or mo

II. Conjunction : Soshite

I. Group 1 particles : De, o, made and ka

II. Response : Hai

III. Demonstrative pronouns : Sono and sore

I. Substitute : Desu as a substitute for a verb

II. Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

I. Location of a thing or a person (2)

I. Location of a thing or a person

Japanese Demonstrative pronouns : Sono and sore

Japanese Response : Hai

Japanese Language - Substitute : Desu as a substitute for a verb

Japanese Language - Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

Japanese Language - Location of a thing or a person (2)

Japanese Language - Location of a thing or a person (1)

II. Particles : Ne and yo

Particles : Ne and yo

Japanese Particles : Ne and yo

Sentence ending : N desu

Doo, ikaga and To

III. Suggestions

Japanese Language - Na adjective

I adjective

V. Question word : Itsu

Japanese Particles : Kara, ni and de

Japanese Particle : Noun 1 no Noun 2

Japanese Demonstrative pronouns : Kore, sore, are and dore

Japanese Sentence structure : Noun 1 wa Noun 2 desu

Humble form of a verb : O { verb base { shimasu

III. Question word { ka or mo