Base TE Japanese Grammar for fun

Japanese Grammar Made Easy – Base TE-て
By Brett McCluskey
Japanese lesson on learning how to use the Base TE-て form of Japanese verbs.

Remembering how verbs are put into base TE-て can be a challenging part of Japanese Grammar, but by singing the following syllables in the following order to the music of Silver Bells will help you better remember which verb ending syllable goes with what te ending.

(To be done to the music of Silver Bells, Bing Crosby’s version works well.)

verse 1

BU MU NU NDE

U TSU RU TTE

KU ITE

GU IDE

That’s the way we put verbs in base TE------

(Play it again Sam) repeat to verse 2

*Verbs ending in BU, MU, or NU become NDE. Verbs ending in U, TSU, RU become TTE or. Verbs ending in KU become ITE and verbs ending in GU become IDE.

Verbs ending in these syllables
Become these base Te endings

BU, MU, or NU - Base TE ending = NDE

U, TSU, or RU - Base TE ending = TTE

KU - Base TE ending = ITE

GU - Base TE ending = IDE

Here are a few examples of putting a verb into base te. The first example, asobu ends in bu so you can either use the above chart or sing the song!

Ex. 1. asobu 遊ぶ - to play – becomes asonde
1. asonde iru = playing
2. asonde kudasai = please play
3. asonde wa naranai = you can’t play here, its against the rules to play

Ex. 2. kamu 噛む – to chew – becomes kande
1. kande iru – chewing
2. kande kudasai – please chew
3. kande wa naranai – you mustn’t chew

Ex. 3. shinu 死ぬ - to die – becomes shinde
1. shinde iru – dying
2. shinde kudasai – please die
3. shinde wa naranai – you mustn’t die

Ex 4. harau 払う– to pay - becomes haratte
1. haratte iru – paying
2. haratte kudasai – please pay
3. haratte wa naranai – you had better not pay.

Ex 5. inoru 祈る – to pray – becomes inotte
1. inotte iru – praying
2. inotte kudasai – please pray
3. inotte wa naranai – its bad to pray here

Ex 6. utsu 打つ
– to hit becomes utte
1. utte iru – hitting
2. utte kudasai – please hit
3. utte wa naranai - its bad to hit here

Ex 7. hataraku働く– to work – becomes hataraite
1. hataraite iru – working
2. hataraite kudasai – please work
3. hataraite wa naranai – it is forbidden for you to work.

Ex 8. oyogu泳ぐ– to swim – becomes oyoide
1. oyoide iru – swimming
2. oyoide kudasai – please swim
3. oyoide wa naranai – you shouldn’t swim around here


Ganbatte ne!
Do your best
Makuarsuki まくらすき

For more Japanese grammar fun see - http://www.japanetics.blogspot.com or http://saketalkie.blogspot.com

How to really say please in Japanese - Japanese Phrases

Ghetto Grammar supplement #95
How to say good-bye in Japanese

There are many different ways to say goodbye in English. Same in Japanese, there are many different ways of saying sayo^nara. It’s strange because of all the expressions used by the Japanese, which could be considered equivalent ways of the saying the same thing, phrase matches etc., for the understanding communication that I am leaving now and will not see you for a while. That is to say goodbye;

I would do a literal translation of the phrase and compare with modern day terminology to determine a more equivalent terminology to express some same meaningful word. Sayo^nara has meaning of So long for a long time, or farewell for a couple of seasons. Sayo^nara is the ancient form and way of saying the so yu form of the a yu ko yu etc. Because A sayo^ de gozaimasu would be the super equivalent of the honorific form of the same phrase as above the In the time I have spent in Japan only on rare occasions(and I mean super rare occasions, {besides Karaoke of course}), have I ever heard the traditional term for goodbye, ‘sayonara’.

Sayo^nara differs from English’s goodbye in a direct translation also because sayo^ is to say “so” versus the English’s term good;The conditional subject marker “nara” has not changed its shape since around 600 A.D. (western reckoning). For nara is still nara of modern Japanese and still functions the same way. However the sayo^ part is much older and more traditionally Japnanese.

The words sayonara and goodbye both have a y in them. That in itself could be a coincidence but I think it proves that at some point in our languages past, but they have similiarities too.

I also remember being a kid in an American elementary school growing up in Southern California and pretending to be asian, I would pull my eyes to make them appear slanted and having the look of an oriental person I would go around saying A so, A so, A so. It wasn’t until I actually visited Japan, that I realized that somehow the phrase or nuance given from the words A so is actually meaningful in the same way as it is mocked. When the Japanese inquire, “A so …?”, they are implying , “Is that right?”, or, “. . . is that so?” It is a short abbreviated way of saying the complete phrase of , “A so^ desu ka? Desu ka is, as you know, is the question mark phrase ending form of the verb, to be, and so^ is of the form –(a yu) , (ko^ yu) , and (so^ yu ), where a – placement over there, ko^ is placement over here and so^ yu is placement there.

So the main point I’m trying to make is, and hopefully show some real life examples of how we say goodbye in both languages.
In English we might say something like the following to signal to another that we are leaving for now and may or may not see them at some point in the future:
Ways of saying – goodbye-- in English
Later dude!
See ya (spoken best when chewed, as in bubble-gum)
See ya later @lligator!
Late my Peeps!
Peace Out!!
Adios - We even say adios taken from the Spanish
If we were elegant we might periventure say
Adieux (…to you and you and you) with a French nasality but we are talking English here, and modern tech English at that. . .
So Long…
Farewell, old chap…
Hit the road! Jack! And don’t you come back no more no more no more
Till next time (…America) gross – Maury P.
Til’ we meet again…
Bye now…
B’ Bye because goodbye takes too long to say anyway.
You say Hello but I say b’bye
Later on Holmes depending on whether you are of latin or Spanish, Conquistadores, Azteca, or Mayan descent
I’m Outta’ here
I’m Splittin’
Tell ‘so and so’ I said hi!
If you all will excuse me, I surely must get going.
Thanks for your hospitality.
Cheerio
Come along now.
See you on the flipside…
Catcha tomorrow
Til den –
I Ketchup wif y’all later ,or, (on the flipside.)
Get outta here
Move it or lose it.
Good Bye

Instead of going back through this great list of ways to say good-bye in English I’m just going to throw out at you instead some similar types of ways to say sayo^nara In Japanese, because languages don’t grow from the alphabet or the symbolic transference of meaning to ink, or written forms of communication; but that it comes from the environment in which the communicators find themselves. So although very similar type ways of saying goodbye exist, they are only rough estimations, playing themselves like a tennis ball bounced from racket to racket, volleying to and fro acting as a feedback mechanism upon which colloquial speech thrives in real time with real meanings backing these distinct phrases and the words which compose them in both languages.

Ways of saying Sayo^nara in Japanese
1. ja ne!
2. ja mata!
3. ja mata ne!
4. Sore Dewa!
5. Go- Chiso Sama Deshita
6. Dewa Mata!
7. Kashikomarimashita
8. Hai Wakarimashita
9. Shitsurei Shimasu
10. Mata O- tanoshimi ni shite imasu
11. Gokuro^ sama deshita
12. Shitsurei Itashimasu
13. Ja mata kondo!
14. Ii desu
15. Kekko Desu
16. Sayo na
17. Kondo ne!
18. Sono toki ni ne!
19. H~~~~ai
20. Wakatta
21. Bow – lowering of the head and exiting
22. Osu
23. Heikai itashimasu
24. Sore ja!
25. Goo buy
26. Dete ike!
27. ii kara
28. ki o tsukete ne
29. buy buy

And that’s a rap, stay tuned for more crazy linguistics, as the world of languages shrinks around us merging as it may into one eventual world tongue.

As always,
Ganbatte Ne! Do your Best

Makurasuki Sensei
Brett McCluskey

Irregular Japanese Verbs

I thought since the last post was about the difference between yo^dan and ichidan verbs, that todays post would be a little about japanese irregular verbs. So what makes a verb irregular? Does it need metamucil? Not enough fiber in its diet? No! Irregular means that it just doesn't fit any where else. The rules that go with ichidan verbs is regular enough. Ichidan verbs are those verbs which end in either an eru or iru. So the examples I gave were something like

iru いる
eru - 得るえる
oshieru- 教えるおしえる
oboeru - 覚えるおぼえる
kazoeru - 数えるかぞえる
hairu - 入るはいる

and yo^dan verbs are any other verbs that don't end in eru or iru.

You'll just have to remember which verbs are irregular. It is fairly obvious to notice the irregular verbs because they do not conjugate the same as ordinary ichidan and yo^dan verbs. So lets look at a few that really threw me for a loop and I could never find a full conjugations of these nor any rules to accompany these offset Japanese verbs. The irregular Japanese verbs act strangeley. With ordinary ichidan and yo^dan verbs, you can expect them to act as they should and abide all the rules of Japanese grammar. With irregulary Japanese verbs you don't know what could happen, sometimes an irregular verb looks like an ichidan and actually conjugates out as a yo^dan or some mixture of the two etc. Without any further ado, here is my list of irregular verbs I hate to love to use. They absoluetely defy all grammar rules and are really confusing until you just by rhote memorize their conjugations etc.

List of Japanese irregular verbs - Confusion causing messed up Japanese verbs

1. Suru - v. to do
2. kiru - v. to cut
3. kiru - v. to wear
4. hashiru - v. to run
5. shiru - v. to know
6. kuru - v. to come

Lets start with these and learn about how they can wreak havoc in the mouth of a beginning Japanese language speaker. The verb suru is probably the most used verb in all the Japanese language. It serves a lot of different purposes and acts irregularly regulary. Suru is a well behaved irregular verb but nonetheless is difficult to remember in so many ways.

Of all those irregular verbs, the one I dislike the most is Kiru. Kiru just doesn't work out at all. It is easily confused with the verb to wear and the verb to cut and yet sounds very much the same when conjugated. It also happens to sound just like kuru when conjugated so that
the stem is ki in all situations except kuru which is ko

so how do you tell the difference between kite, kite, kitte, kiite etc. Its all in the ear. You got to get good at hearing tiny subtle differences.

How to form TA and TE forms for Suru and Kuru (2 irregular verbs)

1. kuru - add TA or Te to base II -
kuru in base II = ki
ki+ta = kita
ki+te = kite

2. suru - add TA or TE to base II
suru in base II = shi
shi+ta = shita
shi+te = shite

The Japanese verbs Iru & Aru - to be

In Japanese, the verb aru is used to signify the existence of something, while the verb iru is used to signify the existence of someone. They shouldn’t be used interchangeably, even though they both mean, "to be", or "exist".

You would do well to get acquainted with these two Japanese verbs because they are used so frequently. Aru is for inanimate subjects or objects, while iru, is for animate subjects or objects. Iru is used when speaking of the existence of living things but more particularly, people;  Aru is used when speaking of the existence of things (inanimate objects, books, pens, lakes, trees.) Aru has other honorific forms. Its' most common polite form is arimasu. Iru can take other honorific or polite forms too, like imasu, irrashaimasu, or orimasu.

If it breathes use iru if not, use aru. Here is a summary and examples:

IRU (v. to be) - People, Animals.

ARU (v. to be) - Place, Things.

Examples:

1. There is a book on the table. - テーブル の上に本があります Teburu no ue ni hon ga arimasu.

2. There is a red car placed there. - 赤い車がすそこにおいてありますAkai kuruma ga soko ni oite arimasu.

3. How many marbles do you have? - B 玉はいくつありますか? B-dama wa ikutsu arimasu ka?

When dealing with live, breathing creatures (i.e animals, humans, and usually even some insects like the kabutomushi兜虫, use iru.

Examples:

1. Is Mr. Tanaka Home? -

Tanakasan irrashaimasu ka? 田中さんいっらしゃいますか?

or

Tanakasan imasu ka?
田中さんいますか?

Or simply

Tanakasan iru?
田中さんいる

To which one could reply, “Hai, orimasu.” はいおります “Yes, he is home.”


2. I have 6 cats. – 猫ろっぴきがいます Neko ga roppiki imasu.

3. How many brothers do you have? - 兄第は何人いますか Kyo^dai wa nannin imasu ka?

4. How many are there? なんこある nanko aru?

Yo^dan and Ichidan Verb Discussion Japanese Vocabulary focus on verbs

In order to put verbs into bases, it’s necessary to understand the difference between Ichidan verbs and Yo^dan verbs. I was taught that there exists three types of verbs but these types are unrelated to the three types of English verbs. In English, the three types of verbs are passive, active and forms of the copula- to be.

With the exception of irregular verbs,
Ichidan verbs are any Japanese verb that end in eru or iru.

Examples of ichidan verbs
Iru
Eru
Obieru
Oshieru


Youdan verbs are any other verbs verbs.

Examples of yo^dan verbs

Yaru
Utsu
Komu
Oyogu

Japanese words and Japanese Grammar for Mae Ni To Verb before real quick

BEFORE ~verb~ - ~verb~ MAE NI 前に

suru mae ni する前に - before I do
before you do,
before he/she does,
before they do,
before any of them do,

asobu mae ni 遊ぶ前に - before I play,
before you play,
before he/she plays,
before they play,
before any of them play,

tsukuru mae ni 作る前に - before I make,
before you make,
before he/she makes,
before they make
before all of em' play

I,you,he,she,they,it,and all the rest.

How to say you should in Japanese

How to say, “You should…” in Japanese.

Ho^ or Hou (方 ) (Pronounced like a Santa’s chuckle …ho, ho, ho…) is the focus of today’s Japanese grammar lesson. I always associated the Japanese word Hou (方 ) to the English word, “way” or “the way”. The kanji for hou (The Chinese character printed next to the word) looks as if it were indicating some direction or person offering a path or showing the way. I also associated Hou to another Japanese word Houhou (方法)which means method or the way of doing things. When we say in English that you ought to lean this way or that way, I could replace them straight way with the Japanese words kono hou or sono hou.

Today’s grammar uses hou after a verb in base TA (た) to help form sentences that indicate that you should, or shouldn’t do something. This isn’t a way of telling someone that they must do something, but only that they should do something.

To say that you should do something in Japanese, use the following Japanese grammar plug and play construction to make your own interesting Japanese sentences:

Verb TA (た) + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです) – …should verb…

First, put a Japanese verb into base TA then add + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです)

Example –
Dasu (出す) – v. to send
Dasu (出す) in base TA = dashita (出した)
Add + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです)
And presto… a new interesting sentence has been born.

You should send that letter. – ano tegami o deshita hou ga ii desuあの手紙を出した方がいいです

To say that you should not do something in Japanese, use the following Japanese grammar plug and play construction to make your own interesting Japanese sentences:
Verb base I+nai (ない) + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです) – …shouldn’t verb…

Example –
Dasu (出す) – v. to send
Dasu (出す) in base I + nai (ない) = dasanai (出さない) don't send
Add + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです)
And presto… a new interesting sentence has been born.

In the negative construction, you first put a verb into base I, add nai (ない), then add hou ga ii desu (方がいいです), desu being the polite form of the copula verb to be

1.Ume o tabeta hou ga ii desu. 梅を食べたほうがいいです – “You** should eat a Japanese plum.” (ume 梅 - plum)* They make sake out of ume called umeshu^ it is delicious

2.Byo^in ni itta hou ga ii desu. 病院に行ったほうがいいです “You should go to the hospital.” or “You better get yourself to a hospital.” *If someone tells you this, you should go anyway.

3.Nakanai hou ga ii desu. 泣かないほうがいいです “It is better not to cry.”, or “You shouldn’t cry.”

4.Konai hou ga ii desu. 来ないほうがいいです “You shouldn’t come.”

**In English, subject pronouns are rarely omitted during a two way conversation. In Japanese, however, the subject is almost always omitted. In Japanese, it is more common to omit the subject than to say specifically who, or what was doing the action in a sentence. Unless you get specific, there is no need to say as for me, or as for you, or as for them etc. Since it is generally understood in the course of a Japanese conversation, who or what is doing the action in a sentence.The Japanese usually omit subject pronouns,

As always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki まくらすき,

Using word association to master Japanese

How To Use Word Association To Master Japanese

A good goal when learning another language is to try to remember words so that you won’t ever forget them. That is a lofty goal. You make absurd associations that are meaningful to you and in this way by making absurd associations between something that reminds you of the meaning of the word in Japanese but sounds like that in English. The more absurd the associations, the less likely you are to forget them, unless you forget the association related to the words you are memorizing. For example tanjo^bi = birthday, anchovies have birthdays too or tan Jo be chilling cuz its her birthday yo wassup! Mentally picture a tan person named Jo talking ghetto cuz she be this and be that! You know what I’m saying. Get down and ghetto you can speak Japanese fluently only if you try. So this tan girl or guy named Jo be hunh? She be what? Who cares! As long as you can relate meaning to sound in a way that helps you remember the word until you reach the plateau of usefulness. Once a word that is new to you in another language is used, from the very first time to the 50th time, you get better with each use of the word.

Another good method I have found that when you are practicing your conversation skills, replace during the day any word that you would want and set aside 2 hours where you speak only in the target language at all costs. No matter what you can always get your meaning across. If you can’t practice this way and act normally in this type of situation then you won’t be able to last long in the land of the rising sun. So how do you do it? Simple! Let’s say you learned the word for paper that day, or you learned the phrase ha o migaku, to brush your teeth. Do you tell your mom or your roommates or whoever you live with that you are going to brush your teeth? NO! You say to them in Japanese and to all who will listen and put up with your intense desire to speak fluently the Japanese language, IIE HA O MIGAKIMASU or something to that effect.

Japanese Word Association Examples

SURU – Suru was the guy who would take over the ship in Star Trek if Captain Kirk couldn’t be there, and he was a busy guy. Suru was the guy who always was doing something. Make an association between the verb to do, and the guy named Suru on Star Trek. You’ll never forget words if they are associated in a meaningful way to you. SURU in Japanese is the verb to do.

NEKO – imagine Cleopatra with a long neck and her long neck cat called necko etc.

MIMI – the little girl whose ears were so cute you would always grab her by the ears O-mimi with the honorific prefix means the honorable ears, the ones affixed to your head.

DENKI – the electric light is so very tiny & dinky in Japan image etc.

Tofu can fly = TOBU means to fly, jump etc.

MUHO^SHU^ moo + hoe +shoe = free service

Young children often KURAI in the dark, I mean cry in the dark!

To sneeze is easy, in Japanese it sounds more like what we actually do than the English word to sneeze. In Japanese to sneeze is KURAKUSHON SURU.

One of the first Japanese I learned was the Don’t touch my mustache or Do Itashimashite

Now don’t go overboard with the associations. There must be a point at which you can enter back into real study mode to pull out the real words and not just what they sound like.

As Always, Ganbatte Ne! Do Your Best!
Makurasuki Sensei

http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar106
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http://squidoo.com/japanesedays

More on Hodo in Japanese grammar

Hodo – to the extent that

Ex. 1 sureba suru hodo shiyasukunaru – The more I do it the easier it gets.

Ex. 2 Aeba au hodo suki ni natte shimau – the more I meet you the more I begin to like you.

Ex. 3 Stephen wa toshi or toreba toru hodo se wa takakunaru - The more Stephen ages, the taller he gets.

My suggestions for how to master and get good in Japanese

Deal the Zeal : Enthusiasm and its effects on second language Acquisition
Goals for Japanese Fluency
By Makurasuki, Brett McCluskey

This article was created to help those that need a boost to start or re-continue there quest for the acquisition and mastery of Japanese unto fluency.

You can improve your Japanese by following a few techniques I will show you and briefly outline here. In no time, your Japanese speaking skills will be better than you ever thought possible. Your success in second language acquisition should you accept the challenge, will be dependant upon the commitments you make to yourself to memorizing words part1, understanding, learning, memorizing then applying the basic Japanese grammar principlespart3+4 and finally your total amount of zeal you put into your efforts. The amount of success or failure you have in second language acquisition starts with you. The power is within you; now let us try to unlock it.

I want to share with you my zeal for learning another language and perhaps you might catch a little part of it and it might burn like the California fires of 2007 until you too have inspired others through your zeal and mastery of a foreign language. My roommates hated me when I was studying, because not only would I ask them to help me by quizzing me from my vocabulary list from which I studied without fail daily, but I would wake up very early in the morning to practice speaking Japanese. I would repeat sentences I learned like mantras until I got the chance to use what I learned in real life to see which ones actually worked. My roommates hated me. I had zeal for learning Japanese. It takes a great bit of it to be a successful language learner.

You MUST HAVE ZEAL for learning the language or you will become complacent and lazy. Determine within yourself now that you will find a way to harness zeal and enthusiasm towards the improvement of your Japanese unto acquisition. You must also have a purpose for your zeal. My purpose was to be able to speak with the Japanese people themselves, to communicate with them with no impediments of speech. ‘Like they say Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit’, so get going now and find your purpose and zeal it up.

The following is just one way and one example of what kind of language goals a person could set and realistically achieve, while at the same time making it challenging enough to maintain their interest. You might emulate these goals if you were learning Japanese; they are modeled after my own goals. They are in no way the only way to go, but they are, as I said, just one set of possible goals that you can use to help you attain fluency. They helped me acquire that ever-elusive second language (Japanese) and if they are couple with enough zeal, it will be very possible that they will help you get fluency too. Remember though, the amount of zeal you put into your work is exactly how much success you will achieve out of it. With the right amount of zeal, you are bound to be speaking native like a Japanese senator in no time flat. May your Nihongo wa jozu ni naru.

It has been said to be fluent a person must know a minimum 4000 words

Vocabulary –n. a list of words, and often phrases, abbreviations, inflectional forms, etc., usually arranged in alphabetical order and defined or otherwise identified as in a dictionary, or glossary.

It goes on to say that vocabulary is also all the words recognized and understood by a particular person although not necessarily used by him, these may be an interrelated group of nonverbal symbols, signs, gestures, etc. used for communication or expression.

Now let us do some math to see how long it will take us to learn 4000 words, or, what some have called, the minimum amount of vocabulary one must know and be able to use and still be considered fluent.

7 days a week
52 weeks per annum
4 weeks per month
12 months per annum

How long will it take to obtain a 4000 word vocabulary?

Well if we learned 4000 words in one day, it would only take us one day, but is it reasonable to assume that we will retain those words? Unless you have a photographic memory, we should consider something else. How about 4000 words in 1 month? Is that a reasonable goal? I do not think either of those goals are within a typical realizable amount attainable possible. We need a reasonable goal that is attainable that leaves us some breathing room to assimilate the vocabulary into our own speech system. I feel 6-8 words a day might be stretching us thin a little bit but it is the one I will recommend. Actually, the way I did it was to learn 15 words every two days but for sake of clarity, let us stick with words/day.

When learning Japanese or any language don't get burned out. Go at a good pace for you. We do not want to memorize too many words because we will end up worse than learning only one word a week. At one word a week, it would take us 4000 days, or almost 11 years to have such a vocabulary. That is too long if you figure that for an accelerated college degree program you will be spending 4-6 years to obtain your B.A. and still would not be fluent either way, 11 years is too long. These goals will be set for you to learn 4000 vocabulary terms in 1 year and 1 month from your starting date. This is still a very lofty goal. In order to learn 4000 vocabulary in 1 year and 1 month you will need to learn 10-11 words / day
That is the goal, 10-11 words / day, sunawachi everyday with no rest.

Day 1 goal – memorize 10 words today, tomorrow and 10 new words everyday for the next 9 months. Do not get discouraged after 9 months if you stick with your goals you will not be pera pera (fluent), but you will be enabled to handle almost any conversation that comes your way.


Day 2 goal -
Day 3 goal –
Weekly goal
Monthly goal
3-month goal
6-month goal

Beginning

So what exactly is fluency?

How do we measure fluency? There are indubitably quite a few ways to measure fluency. I am not aware of any fluency machine that can instantly measure your fluency like we can measure blood pressure, or body temperature. I have heard it said at least once that fluency is dependant upon total vocabulary memorized. In addition, they put a number on it of 4000 different words. I cannot say I totally agree with that statement. No doubt, other requirements for language fluency certainly exist, other than just knowledge of the vocabulary. Although many other complex processes are involved in fluency, we will start with how to set goals in memorizing words to increase our vocabulary power. Setting goals to memorizing vocabulary is a good place to start. So how much vocabulary power do you have under your belt?

The amount of words that you know and are able to translate those words into and out of your native tongue and into and out of your target language. Know the meaning of words so thoroughly that you can interchange them instantly. I suggest the use of mnemonics as helpful way to memorize Japanese words.

Just as one can word or phrase or apply any manipulation to the language so that its suits our purpose and the main purpose and reason is to get our meaning across. Sharing a As long as the method we use suffices to get our message across it does not even matter if we can speak Japanese or not. In any language, if you look like you have to go ‘pee’ you do not have to say a word people will understand you. If you look tired or motion your hands as if you are sleeping, our knowledge of Nihongo lets body language assume the role.

What is the shortest distance between you and getting what you want? You are allowed to use any and all means necessary to get your meaning across.

Please see my article on circumlocution for sure fire ways to get your meaning across even if you do not know the Japanese words for it. http://ezinearticles.com/?Japanese-Pronunciation-Tips-13&id=472520

About our own Native tongue -

Just in mannerisms and the exact vocabulary and grammatical structure employed by the speaker, can there be vast amounts of missed meanings to occur. Japanese could be spoken in any number of differing ways; intelligently, suave, brave, naive, sophisticated, charming, honorifically, stately, manly cunning, feminine, drunk, legendary all sorts of ways to speak like and just as we have the ish to make something in Nihongo the word becomes -ppoi.

Noun + ppoi = noun ‘ish’ - Beautifully, wonderfully or bold or any other way you can think of, it becomes like it and takes on its characteristic traits.

The levels Keigo and the cultural implications of Kokugo^ must know how to manipulate verbs, while memorizing and strengthening your store of Japanese words to put into your goal oriented language arsenal. With that arsenal and using all of your faculties to summon together the ability to speak inside of another tongue, and also to be able to open your ears to such an extent that they become even more sensitive to different words, consonants, vowels phonemes.
Along with your noun memorization oath. (See appendix) noun (do not take for granted any place names that are presented to you on your quest for complete Japanese mastery. You have to commit yourself to a reasonable yet challenging goal.

Words and terms of Family In Japanese

Quick Japanese Vocabulary Chart demonstrating humble and exalted forms for family related terms for those serious in making Japanese their SL2.


Family words Humble –when speaking of ones own, of oneself Exalted – when inquiring of others
Father chichi - 父 (ちち) o-to^san (long o) - お父さん(おとうさん)
Mother haha - 母 (はは) o-ka^san (long a) - お母さん (おかあさん)
Older Brother ani - 兄 (あに) o-ni^san (long i) - お兄さん(おにいさん)
Younger Brother oto^to - 弟 (おとうと) o-to^tosan - 弟さん (おとうとさん)
Older Sister ane –
姉 (あね) o-ne^san (long e) - 姉 (あね)
Younger Sister imo^to –
妹 ( いもうと) imo^tosan (long o) 妹さん (いもうとさん)
Parents ryo^shin (long o) –
両親 (りょうしん) go-ryoshin (long o) - 御両親 (ごりょうしん)
Husband shujin (lit. my lord) -主人 (しゅじん) go-shujin 御-主人(しゅじん)
Wife kanai – (lit. inside the house)
家内 (かない) okusama, or less exalted okusan - (lit. the person in the far back) 奥さん (おくさん) but still polite and most commonly used as with any word in this column, the suffix san can be exchanged for sama in any case Sama being more honorific.

Also frequently heard is the term for husband or danna. Dannasan or dannasama being the exalted forms.

For other various Japanese language learning needs, see the following websites

http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar

http://squidoo.com/japanesevocabularyindex

http://saketalkie.blogspot.com

http://squidoo.com/japanese1



Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki Sensei

Japanese Funtime Language Grammar Supplement

The following supplement will help you increase your Japanese vocabulary by showing you how the particle MO is used. MO is more than just a particle. MO is part of the family. Have fun in your Japanese language endeavors!
First, memorize the question words:

Who – dare誰,
What – nani何,
Where – dokoどこ,
When – itsu いつ,
How many things –ikutsuいくつか
How many people – nannin 何人

Question word + mo with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare (誰)+mo (も) anyone nobody
nani (何)+mo (も) anything nothing
doko(どこ)+mo(も) everywhere, anywhere nowhere
itsu (いつ)+mo(も) all the time, always none of the time, never
nannin(何人)+mo(も) many people, a bunch of people not many people

The mo participle carries the meaning of too, or also. It is all inclusive. For example, to say “me too” just add mo to me and there you have it. Watakushi mo or me too. Easy, right? What if your friend wants to come with us too? Then just add mo and presto you have Watakushi no tomodachi mo. My friend too or him too.
Someone might ask,

question word + ka (か) with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare(誰) + ka (か) someone nobody
nani(何 )+ ka (か) something nothing
doko (どこ) + ka (か) somewhere nowhere
itsu (いつ) + ka (か) sometime none of the time, never
nannin (何人) + ka (か) so many people , this many not many people

“Is anybody home?”
“Dareka oraremasu ka?” (“誰かおられますか?”)
“No, Nobody is here.”
Iie, Daremo oraremasen. いいえ, 誰もおられません



Question word + demo with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare (誰) + demo(でも) anybody, whoever nobody
nani (何) + demo,
nandemo (何でも) anything, everything nothing
doko (どこ) + demo(でも) everywhere, anywhere nowhere
itsu (何時) + demo (でも) all the time none of the time, never
nannin (何人) +demo (でも) many people, a bunch of people not many people


What about why? I thought you might ask about the last interrogative. So to say why in Japanese you might use these two words

Words for Why in Japanese:

1.do^ shite ?– (lit. how does it do, or why?) or

2.naze? – why ?

Similar rules can happen with the word do^shite. Like do^shite mo – meaning- for all reasons why. I can’t recall ever hearing nazemo but it is likely that there is such a Japanese word.

Interesting Fact: There is an island off the bottom of kyu^shu^ below the city kagoshima that is in fact named Naze. Of course the kanji are different for this small island city. It is interesting to note, due to its isolate state

kan Japanese

hakubutsukan - the museum

to^shokan - the library

taikukan - the gym

kan... its a great place to be

unless you were invited to the sumo ceremony

Alphabets are Important - Tidbits of Japanese Grammar Sprinkled with Hakata Ben and Adjectives

A Secret So Easy, it will turn the tedious and sometimes daunting task of learning another language into a fun and exciting adventure.

I know what is good for me!
JPPGG© #91
How to say, “I know what to verb so that it would be good.”
NAN NAN SHITARA YOI KA SHITTE IRU
Verb (Base TA) + RA + YOI

YOI is the word for good and for all intents and purposes is equivalent to ii so that
*YOI = ii in any case (pronounced ee)

YOKA – can be heard often in the Fukuoka region. It is a part of the hakata-ben dialect. It means essentially– “Nah...”, or “I’m good!”

TASHIKA is not an adjective like AKAI, UTSUKUSHII, AKARUI, OR SURUDOI. It is irregular like TOMEI therefore it uses the connective particle NA

As is true in the pursuit of any language mastery, you must have an understanding of what is meant by the phrase, “milk before meat”. You cannot expect to learn something hard or complicated, or expect to eat meat with fully-grown canines and flesh piercing teeth before you are able to ingest the milk from a tender mother breast. Therefore, it is wise for any language learner to begin at the beginning, and spend some time there… and hang out…even they should try singing songs about the alphabet. Alphabets being the small parts of a language that when strung together form words, and make languages, living organisms. Learning the alphabet or syllabary for the language you are learning right now will make your progress and improvement in that language easier later by doing so.

Herein lies a key to language mastery. If an alphabet is available for the language, start studying it! The best way for you to get close to a language is by studying, and saying in your mouth the little parts of the language, saying them repeatedly as we all do at one point or another in civilized society. Only through a careful study of the smallest and simplest parts of a language can you get to know it as intimately as you would get to know your native language.

As a child, who does not remember singing an alphabet song, reading a book for the first time, looking up a word in the dictionary for the first time, or simply reciting the alphabet? Language is something that must be learned, and it is true in English and Japanese. Get yourself some Hiragana and katakana flash cards and memorize the look, feel and shape of each one being able to correctly identify each one, just as you do with the English letters. Learning the alphabet in another language is the first step towards understanding. Please take a moment to reflect on the first times you sang ‘The Alphabet Song', or recited your A,B,C’s. Now reflect upon how you came to know that 5 X 5 is = 25.

I know that if you gain a solid grasp of the Japanese Syllabary, the 46 syllables that make up all the sounds of Japanese then learning Japanese will be as a piece of cake for you. It will be easy to learn the Japanese language. That’s it! The trick to learning a foreign language is starts with learning the alphabet. In the case of the Japanese language, their alphabet, is not an alphabet because it is not made up of just letters, it is made up of syllables. There are 46 syllables in Japanese, and even though it is more than the number of letters in the English language (English letters in the alphabet = 26) it really is not that many once you see how it is set up.

The Japanese syllabary consists of 46 syllables and represents all sounds necessary for the formation of any Japanese word. It is just like the English’s Alphabet but it is called the GOJUON, or chart of the 50 sounds. The GOJUON is grouped in a way that facilitates learning of Japanese, especially the adjectives. Endings of adjectives follow the first 5 syllables or the Japanese vowels; a, i, u, e , o. I admonish any aspiring Japanese language learner to earnestly study the 46 syllables of the GOJUON or Japanese alphabet.

By the time we are 12 years of age, we usually forget how we came to be able to speak and utilize the English language and are so familiar with the Alphabet that we have forgotten that it was due to its recitation that we would know what we know. Reading and Writing are two sides of a coin that are wholly influenced by its contributing language’s Alphabet as are Speaking and Listening to a lesser extent. The alphabet itself is so ingrained into our language, it is often hard to remember that in order to be a successful learner of any language, that we must study first the primary components and basic building that we forget to take it for what it was when we try to apply these learning techniques to the way we would learn Japanese.

 For the purposes of learning how to read, write, speak and listen in English, it was necessary to study the core of the language at first, and that was the Alphabet. A good way to get at the core, or the heart of a language is by studying its Alphabet. We can do that in a similar or even the same way you would learn your times tables. How much did you get for memorizing your times tables? Offer yourself a cookie and say to yourself, “If I start my Japanese study (or any language study) by learning the syllables that make up their words then I will be ahead of the learning game later on when it really gets complicated.

Like I said...milk before meat. A house is built on a solid foundation. In other words, boiling it down to what I am trying to relate to those desirous of the ability to speak in another language and communicate, down the line Don’t want to cheat myself out of learning Japanese and retaining it, but good! Your parents, masters, or mentors may have promised you $5 if you memorized the times tables up to 12, but you can also do it for free…on your own… and you can reward yourself with a big surprise.

Be consistently insistent on diligent Japanese study and you will be able to communicate. And the ability to communicate with others of another country can open up whole truck loads of cool stuff. Catch the fever… learn Japanese. Tell everyone at the PTA meetings that Japanese is not a hard language to learn. In my opinion it is much easier than English to learn.

Japanese Adjectives The adjectives follow the syllabic structure found in the vowel row of the Gojuon, or indeci showing the 46 symbols of the Japanese syllabary in this order: A, I, U, E , and O. that represent of all sounds necessary for Japanese word formation.
The first five syllables in the GOJU ON -

あ A
い  I
う  U
え  E*
お O

The first five adjectivial endings + the irregular EI

あい AI
いい II
うい UI
えい EI
おい OI

Example adjectives showing the various endings:

あらい ARAI
あたらしい ATARASHII
ふるい FURUI
きれい KIREI*
おそい OSOI

* EI endings are for the most
TASHIKA itself is the adjective for our English term, “certain”. It is highly likely that the ka of TASHIKA has been artificially transplanted into adjectives in the Fukuoka region. TASHIKA means for certain in English and TASHIKA NI means certainly. As is the case with the irregular Japanese class of adjectives ending in EI, TASHIKA can be followed by the particle NI so that the NI can be roughly translated in sentences involving adjectives as –ly.

Below are some common Japanese adjectives that I have found most useful.

可愛 kawai かわい - cute
恐い kowai こわい - scary
近い chikai ちかい - close
鋭い surudoi するどい sharp
賢い kashikoi かしこい - smart

堅い katai かたい - hard
短い mijikai みじかい - short
細い hosoi ほそい - narrow
長い nagai ながい - long
明るい akarui あかるい - bright

太い futoi ふとい - fat
厚い atsui あつい - thick
熱い atsui あつい - hot
寒い samui さむい – cold
涼しい suzushii すずしい – cool

激しい hageshii はげしい - violent
難し muzukashii むつ"かしい - difficult
簡単 kantan かんたん – easy
眠い nemui ねむい - sleepy
眠たい nemutai ねむたい - sleepy

低い hikui ひくい - low
高い takai たかい - tall
珍しい mezurashii めずらしい - rare
大きい ookii おおきいい - big
小さい chiisai ちいさい – small

古い furui ふるい - old
若い wakai わかい - young
広い hiroi ひろい - wide
安い yasui やすい - cheap, easy
目覚しい mezamashii めざましい - alert

凄い tsumetai つめたい - chilly
強い tsuyoi つよい - strong
弱い yowai よわい - weak
柔らかい yawarakai やわらかい- soft
早い hayai - fast

遅いosoi - slow
重い omoi - heavy
暗い kurai くらい - dark
重たい omotai おもたい - heavy
軽い karui かるい - light

恥ずかしい hazukashii はずかしい - embarassing
喧しいyakamashii やかましい – loud, obnoxious
静か shizuka しずか - quiet
素晴らしい subarashii すばらしい - wonderful
美味しい oishii おいしい – delicious

酸っぱいsuppai すっぱい - sour
甘い  amai あまい - sweet
狭い semai せまい – narrow
悔しい kuyashii くやしい - vexing, mortifying
怪しいayashii あやしい - doubtful, suspicious

辛い tsurai つらい – hard, difficult
美しい utsukushi うつくし - beautiful
面白い omoshiroi おもしろい - interesting
力強い chikarazuyoi ちからずよい - powerful
かっこいい kakkoii – stylish, handsome
惜しい oshii おしい – regretful

Watch the latest videos about anything YouTube.com

 

Japanese Vocabulary 40

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 40
15 Words Every 2 Days.
Learn, Memorize, Drill
Study, Ponder, Get Quizzed,
Rinse and Repeat!
Blasters 40-49
Focus on VERBS

1. harau – to pay
2. jo^tatsu suru – to improve
3. naguru – to hit, to slap
4. kizuku – to notice
5. daiji ni suru – to take well care of, to put at first interest
6. hinan suru – to criticize
7. sadameru – to establish
8. nazukeru* – to name
9. doku mi suru – to test for food poisoning
10. uchikatsu – to conquer
11. kaimono suru – to shop
12. yurusu – to forgive
13. hima o tsubusu - to waste time
14. shinrai suru – to trust
15. ni hokosu – to move to

* nazukeru is made up of two parts, na - from namae or name, and tsukeru- to stick something to something else. So sticking a name on something is basically naming it.

As Always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki
to see the list of the last 15 words you should have already memorized go to Japanese Vocabulary 39 or go on to memorize your next 15 here at Japanese Vocabulary 41

Rocket Japanese

Japanese Grammar practice - Bakari

Verb (base TA) + bakari desu - to just 'verb'

First putting some verbs into base TA like -

iku --> itta
dasu --> dashita
suru --> shita
kuru --> kita
umu --> unda
deru --> detta
tatsu --> tatta
abiru --> abita
suwaru --> suwatta
umareru --> umareta
etc.

then adding the polite sentence ending desu to bakari (just)

verb (base TA) + bakari desu - to just 'verb"

ex.1 suwatta bakari desu. I just sat down

ex.2 deta bakari da! He just left.

ex.3. umareta bakari desu. He (It) was just born.


As Always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!

Makurasuki

Verb in Base II + SO DESU - On the Verge of Verbing

Here is yet another grammar construction that you can use plug and play style. What I mean by this is that you stick verbs into the construction and you can make sentences that make sense. Practice speaking Japanese by inserting in the place of To say that someone seems ‘about to’ verb in Japanese, use the following construction:

Japanese Grammar construction #109 Verb (Base II) + So^ desu.


This one is an easily constructed grammar principle. First take a Japanese verb of our choosing then transform it or put it into base II. It is a pre-requisite for learners just beginning their study of the Japanese language to know thoroughly the concepts surrounding verb conjugation and how to put verbs into bases.

There are five bases which correspond to the first five syllables (also called mora) of the Japanese language.. If you want to start using this grammar today however, I can cheat for you just this once so that you can start speaking today without even knowing anything about verb bases and Japanese verb conjugation. But… I might get reprimanded and other teachers may call me ghetto. Oh thats righ… this is ghetto grammar…it is JPPGG or Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar … I forgot….

Don’t delay too long, the study of the Japanese verb bases and how to use them and what they do etc. However, just today, I’ll make it easy for anybody to start speaking Japanese with the verbs you choose from a dictionary you might have or online. All you need is a dictionary or have in your possession or knowledge Japanese verbs. (I hate any Japanese dictionary that allows you to read it in Roman letters (Romaji), but for today’s purpose of getting you to be able to speak in the Japanese language quickly, we will bypass a few things, cut corners and proceed without too much hassle. Today I’ll even let you use the despised Romaji EI-WA dictionary.)

Use any verbs or action words you like at all. Some examples might be

Go – IKU
Leave – DERU
Love – AI SURU
To be absent - SHUSSEKI SURU


I’ll explain to you how to put verbs into base II, but first let me briefly state a few ke points to keep in mind about Japanese verbs. All Japanese verbs will end in some sort of consonant + u combination. U itself is an ending as are the following. (Please refer to a katakana chart or hiragana chart to find the middle row that contains the syllables that end in u)our letter the u (pronounced ooh in Japanese), and it also may end with 9 other possible consonant combinations.

Instructions for putting regular Japanese verbs into base II:

1. Look in your English Japanese dictionary for the verb you want to use.
2. Put your chosen verb into base II


(In order to use the JPPGG (Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar) system, you’ll really need to know how to we put Japanese verbs into their various bases. I admonish you to begin your study now if you intend on having any degree of skill speaking in the Japanese language.)

I can tell you that all verbs listed in the dictionary are in a form know as plain form. All verbs will end in one of the following syllabic combination

ku,
su,
tsu,
nu,
h, (no fu line)
mu,
y, (no yu line)
ru,

and u

Instrutions: Take the dictionary form and decide which type of verb it is, whether it be an ichidan or a yodan verb. This distinction will determine how to make it base II.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that in Japanese grammar, there is an I before E except after C type rule. Now you should realize the two types of Japanese verbs. Verbs ending in eru or iru are called ICHIDAN verbs. The other type of verbs, that is, any verb that doesn’t end with the three roman letters of eru or iru, are called Yo^dan verbs.

With each of the these verbs comes distinctly separate rules or ways to form them, or put them into base II. Today’s grammar construction says to put the verb into base II then add + so^ desu. If we can form this construction, we will then be able to makes sentences that make sense and convey meanings to other speakers of Japanese. So First we must learn how to put verbs into base II.

Rule #1
Putting ICHIDAN verbs into base II:

Drop the final syllable of the verb, “ru”, so that only either i or e remain.

Here is an example of putting an ichidan verb into base II. Ochiru ends in iru making it an ICHIDIAN verb, we drop the ru and leave the i., so that

ochiru – ru = ochi
ochiru in base II is ochi

OCHIRU (落ちる) - to fall - Ochiru (base II) = OCHI


Ochi would be considered the stem before putting the verb into any base, as is the case with ichidan verbs. It is often referred to as the stem.

Rule #2
Putting Yodan verbs into base II is to drop u and change u into an i with whatever consonant may have preceded it.

Possible outcomes -

If verb ends in ku then the verb in base II will end in ki,
If verb ends in gu then the verb in base II will end in gu,
If verb ends in bu then the verb in base II will end in bi,
If verb ends in pu then the verb in base II will end in pi,
If verb ends in su then the verb in base II will end in shi,
If verb ends in tsu then the verb in base II will end in chi,
If verb ends in nu then the verb in base II will end in ni,
If verb ends in mu then the verb in base II will end in mi,
If verb ends in ru then the verb in base II will end in ri.

Hopefully you are gaining a handle on this base II stuff. Ganbatte Ne. Do your best!

All we have left to do for this grammar construction and start making sentences that make senses is to add the + SO^ DESU to our verbs in base II. Simple. For IRU and ERU ending verbs (i.e. ichidan verbs) simply drop off the last syllable ru and add + SO^ DESU. For all other verbs put into i ending of the consonant combination that precedes the u and and add + SO^ DESU

When you practice pronouncing the sentences that you create by using the above construction remember the double vowels, to hold them longer on the So^ desu. Note the ^ symbol stands for the double vowel sound so So^ is sounded Sou ,or so with a long o.

HANASU (話す) - to speak -
HANASU(base II) = HANASHI

NAKU ( 泣く) - to cry
NAKU (base II) = NAKI

By adding So^ + desu to a Japanese verb in base II, the verb takes on a nuance that the verb in question the action word is about to take place. It could also be interpreted to mean , “ It looks like (seems, appears as if etc.) that they (he, she, it, them , us , we, her, my granddad etc) are going to verb soon. I find it unnecessary to think of the sentences I construct in this way as - seems ‘about to’ verb. On the verge of verb’ing

HANASHI SO^ DESU (話しそう)
HANASHISO^ DESU - It seems he is about to speak

OCHI SO^ DESU (落ちそう です)
OCHISO^ DESU - looks like they are about to fall down

As always, Ganbatte Ne!
Do your best!
Makurasuki

A special thanks to NJ Japanese word processor which concocted the following _

話す - 話し -

落ちる- 落ち -

泣く - 泣き - 泣きそう

出席する

行く

愛 する

Favorable favors in Japanese Grammar

This will show you how to get someone to do something for you in Japanese. After you get the hang of these constructions it is advised top use any verb you learn from here on out by making sentences of your own. Be creative as best you can, even making the way you learn the verbs and constructions you put them into sound out-landish, extravagant or otherwise. The more bizarre you make the image of the meaning of words and the way you associate word terms and meanings together the more memorable will be their image and greater will be your vocabulary retention.

Remember, it isn't always the total amount of words that make one fluent. It is found only after mastery of the various grammar forms are handled as well as total amount of vocabulary held at your disposal. My advice to any do-it your-self-er Japanes language learner will greatly benefit from practicing Japanese with sentences which the studier creates from scratch. Using in a sentence some grammatical construction featuring verbs which are well retained and at one's disposal.

There are mainly three levels of politeness in Japanese. There is also many shades in between these levels which can be obtained and implied through the various endings a verb can take. There are three distinct latitudes or heights (Or depths as some may see it) at which spoken Japanese can be vocalized and interpreted, all different yet all manifesting levels of politeness.

Politeness levels are in large part determined by the age difference between locutors in a two way conversation. In Japanese, one would speak in more respectful ways to persons who are upwards of your age or older than you. It is natural to speak less formally to people who are in your same graduating class or to people younger than you, in other words, it is acceptable to speak to those of equal or lesser value in standard or plain form Japanese.

It is usually all right to speak in plain form to people your age or less unless it is people who you have just met or the boss of your company, grandparent or god-father. The shacho or boss of a company is always spoken to in the highest possible forms of polite forms of Japanese. In these constructions, aru is replaced by its specialized counterpart gozaru, so instead of arimasu(polite aru baseII+masu) you would use gozaimasu. (gozaru is the super polite form of the verb aru, de aru is plain form of desu, de gozaru = de aru = desu.)

On first meeting someone in Japan, it would be rude to automatically assume that you were acquainted with them enough to speak plain form Japanese. There is something to say about polite speech. Polite speech makes people feel good. It makes the person you are speaking to feel like he is important and it makes you the speaker feel good when the same type of speaking is spoken back to you. We really can’t get this same feeling in English. It is possible that some event, like a royal wedding where everything was done prim and proper, or at a wedding and you are the bride or groom, then you may feel what it is like to be spoken up to and through speech made to feel good about yourself because of polite speech.

Otherwise, I have never felt so good as when someone speaks to me in Keigo compared to not having such a thing in English America. When first meeting someone always assume that he or she is your great uncle who had died and left you his fortune. Don't automatically assume enough familiarity with them to speak to them in the plain form or anything lower in politeness to anybody ever. You can get yourself in deep trouble. The Japanese are nice but words are a two edged sword powerful enough to cause wars so take car to always be as polite as you can. Remember plain form is the type of language that is spoken to dogs, so how much respect does a human being deserve over a dog, and plus, it’s easy if you tongue doesn’t become lazy. Just always practice speaking in polite Japanese and you won’t have any trouble.

It is important to understand the distinctions made between the levels of politeness in speech. Plain form just isn't polite, try to avoid it by always keeping your mouth clean and out of trouble. If you are a gaijin, your mouth and manners are already out of thwack with the customs and traditional courtesies of the Japanese nation. When in Rome we do as the Romans do and when in Japan our feet can't stink.

In order to avoid sounding like a beast with no manners, try always speaking in Japanese at higher more respectful levels. There are two levels of speech and 2 conditions of the verbs + future, - future, past +, past -. plain form. One above that level and another beneath. In all three levels. We can make sentences that are crystal clear and come out in our speech imbued with beautiful hues and hints of wonderful meanings making our Japanese not different from a samurai overlord.

In the present tense, plain form verbs always end in one of five vowels, a, i u e, or, o which corresponding to the five bases (I,II,III,IV,V) of a verb.
The polite form of a verb is made up of a verb in base II or the i line of the syllabayry and by adding ~masu. The ~masu ending is always adequately polite. Speaking in plain form or leaving the verb in dictionary form or base (III) is less polite and could be construed as very rude speech. (*In my Ghetto Grammar lesson plain form is denoted P.F.)Polite form is also categorized in degrees or levels of politeness.
In Japanese there are 4 basic states or tenses a verb can take. There are 2 present tense verb forms that are polite and 2 in the past tense, each tense having its' affirmative or + side and, or its' negative , {future/present + or - } and {past + or -}. In Japanese, the latter part of the verb is where the conjugations occur, at the tail of a verb, not the stem. There are many endings which can be constructed. Each ending can change the meaning of the Japanese words ever so subtley, yet significantly. In other words, there are many levels of politeness possible even using the same word(s).

When asking a favor of someone, you'll have to consider how polite you’ll want to sound with that person. You won't get very far by getting your boss to give you a raise when speaking to him in less polite language which equivocal to what is know as plain form Japanese. Not being careful of your politeness level can really get you into trouble. With the boss example it could give him more reason to dislike you or even fire you for insubordination. Sometimes speaking in the plain form Japanese can be dangerous, making you sound even barbaric at times, childish at others, straight out rude at times, piggish, bossy, arrogant to name a few of the ways you jeopardize your potential to speaking fluid, beatifully perfect Japanese speaking. Be mindful that respect to others is shown through the Japanese langauge via the levels of speech:

Politeness levels in the Japanese Language - From low to high:

1. Base speech (rude, raunchy and raw Japanese, spoken to lesser creatures, animals, underlings, fledglings and disciples.

2 . Plain form or basically neutral status speaking Japanese, or the humble and exalted levels of speech. Humble and exalted levels of speech considered from the same tree and is globally known as

3. Honorifics

In getting a commitment for your request, use the verb ITADAKU, the same verb that is used in the expression, “Itadakimasu” before eating.

You will put this with a verb in base TE to get a yes or no answer. However, if your demands weren't that impending, or is not in need of immediate attention, then there are 3 further choice of verbs for those requests to become actions. The verbs involved in getting someone to do an action for you in Japanese, are these:

MORAU - (to get, be given, receive),

KURERU - (to receive from) and

KUDASARU - ( to be so kind as to receive from )
with the masu ending being the highest.

• ITADAKU means literally to humbly partake of something or someone doing something for you that equates to a will you…? Or similar type English sentence.

Constructions for "Will you verb (for me)?" in Japanese.

Verb (base TE) + MORAU V (て) + もらう
Do you think you could verb for me?

Verb (base TE) +YARU V (て) + やる
I will verb for you. (This is least polite and only said amongst the closest of friends, more masculine.)

Verb (base TE) + KURERU V (て) + くれる-
Would you verb for me? (Either because I physically or otherwise can't do it myself or simply because you are kind or respected by me).

Verb (base TE) + AGERU V (て) + あげる
I'll verb for you.

Verb (base TE) + KUDASARU V (て) + 下さる
Will you kindly verb for me?

*Kudasaruくださる is one of the first learned Japanese words. It’s kanji represents the word meaning below, underneath, under, or down. The meaning is opposite to that of the word UE上 (Up, on top, above etc.)

This is where the construction for -please verb- or verb (base TE) + kudasai comes from.

Verb (base TE) + itadaku (The commitment word evoking only a yes or no answer). Equivalent to "Will you verb?" in English.

1. Will you quit smoking.
Tabako o su^ no o yamete itadakemasu ka?
たばこを吸うのを止めて頂けますか

2. Can I get you to turn the light off for me?
Denki o keshite moraimasu ka?
電機を消してもらいますか

3. Could you turn the light off for me?
Denki o keshite kuremasu ka?
電機をけしてくれますか


4. Will you kindly lend me $1000 dollars Grandmother?
Oba^chan@ ano 1 sen doru o kashite kudasaimasu ka?
おばあちゃん! あの 一千＄貸してくれますか

5. Could you tell me your phone number?

a. Denwa bango o oshiete kudasaimasu ka?
電話番号を教えて下さいますか?

b. Denwa bango o oshiete kuremasu ka?
電話番号を教えてくれますか

c. Denwa bango o oshiete itadakemasu ka?
電話番号をいただけますか

a.,b.,c. Will you tell me your phone number?

Itadaku - the yes or no verb
Itadaku頂く is special in that it forms changes from the itadaki to itadake form either Yes, or, No? Using the verb itadaku is ultimately polite yet it elicits only two answers from which to form a reply..

6. Shall I open it for you?
Akete yaro^ ka? (Less polite form V of verb yaru, downward politeness)
開けてやろうか?

7. Shall I read it for you?
Yonde agemasho^ ka? (masho^ is more polite, spoken to peers and above)
読んで挙げましょう

8. Lets get him to pay for us.
Haratte moraimasho^
払ってもらいましょう

9. I wanted him to draw a picture for us.
E o kaite moraitakatta n' desu.
絵を画いてもらいたかったのです.

10. I am going to need you to come in on Sunday (too).
Nichiyoubi nimo kaisha ni kite moraitakatta no desu ga…?
日曜日にも会社に来てもらいたかったのですが
That is straight out of “office space” yo!

Until next time, that’s the end of this short lesson in Japanese grammar. As always, I wish you the best in your endeavors towards better Japanese …

Ganbatte Ne!
頑張ってね
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki. まくらすき

Polite Japanese Words

Politeness levels In the Japanese Language

This article will show you how to get someone to do something for you in Japanese. After you get the hang of these constructions it is advised top use any verb you learn from here on out by making sentences of your own.

Be creative as best you can, even making the way you learn the verbs and constructions you put them into sound out-landish, extravagant, or otherwise. The more bizarre you make the image of the meaning of words and the way you associate word terms and meanings together the more memorable will be their image and greater will be your vocabulary retention.

Remember, it isn't always the total amount of words that make one fluent. It is on the founded only after mastery of the various grammar forms are handled as well as total amount of vocabulary held at the locutors disposal as well. My advice to any do-it your-self-er Japanese language learner will greatly benefit from practicing Japanese with sentences which the student creates from scratch. Using in a sentence some grammatical construction featuring verbs which are well retained, and at one's disposal for usage.

There are mainly three levels of politeness in Japanese. There is also any shade in between these levels which can be obtained and implied through the various endings each verb in a sentence can take. There are three distinct latitudes or heights (Or depths as some may see it) at which spoken Japanese can be vocalized and interpreted, all different yet all manifesting meaning. Politeness levels are in large part determined by the age difference between locutors in a two way conversation.

In Japanese, one would speak in more respectful ways to persons who are upwards of your age. It is natural to speak less formally to people who are in your same graduating class or to people younger than you. It is usually all right to speak in plain form to people your age or less unless it is people who you have just met or the boss of your company, grandparent or god-father. The Shacho^san or boss of a company is always spoken to in the highest possible forms of politeness in Japanese.
In these constructions, aruある is replaced by its specialized counterpart gozaru, so instead of arimasu あります(polite aruある. (base II) + masuます) you would use gozaimasu. (Super-polite form of aruある.) On first meeting with someone in Japan, it would be rude to automatically assume that you were well acquainted with them or assumed that you knew him/her.

When first meeting someone always assume that he or she is your great uncle who had died and left you his fortune. Don't automatically assume enough familiarity with them to speak to them in the plain form or lower levels of speech. Remember plain form is the type of language that is spoken to dogs, so how much respect does a human being deserve over a dog.

It is important to understand the distinctions made between the levels of politeness in speech. Plain form just isn't polite, try to avoid it by always keeping your mouth clean and out of trouble. If you are a gaijin, your mouth and manners are already out of thwack with the customs and traditional courtesies of the Japanese nation.

When in Rome we do as the Romans do and when in Japan our feet can't stink.
In order to avoid sounding like a beast with no manners, try always speaking in Japanaese at higher more respectful levels. There are two levels of speech and 2 conditions of the verbs + future, - future, past +, past -. plain form. One above that level and another beneath. In all three levels. We can make sentences that are crystal clear and come out in our speech imbued with beautiful hues and hints of wonderful meanings making our Japanese not different from a samurai overlord.

In the present tense, plain form verbs always end in one of five vowels, a, i u e, or, o which corresponding to the five bases (I,II,III,IV,V) of a verb.

The polite form of a verb is made up of a verb in base II or the i line of the syllabary and by adding ~masuます. The ~masuます ending is always adequately polite. Speaking in plain form or leaving the verb in dictionary form or base (III) is less polite and could be construed as very rude speech.

*In my Ghetto Grammar lesson plain form is denoted P.F.)

Polite form is also categorized in degrees ,or levels of politeness. In Japanese there are 4 basic states or tenses a verb can take. There are 2 present tense verb forms that are polite and 2 in the past tense, each tense having its' affirmative or + side, and, or, - negative , {future / present ,+, or, - } and {past, +, or, -}.
In Japanese, the latter part of the verb is where the conjugations occur; at the tail of a verb, not the stem. There are many endings which can be constructed. Each ending can change the meaning of the Japanese words ever so subtley, yet significantly. In other words, there are many levels of politeness possible even using the same word(s).

When asking a favor of someone, you'll have to consider how polite you’ll want to sound with that person. You won't get very far by getting your boss to give you a raise when speaking to him in less polite language which equivocal to what is know as plain form Japanese. Not being careful of your politeness level can really get you into trouble. With the boss example it could give him more reason to dislike you or even fire you for insubordination.

Sometimes speaking in the plain form Japanese can be dangerous, making you sound even barbaric at times, childish at others, straight out rude at times, piggish, bossy, arrogant to name a few of the ways you jeopardize your potential to speaking fluid, beatifully perfect Japanese speaking. Be mindful that respect to others is shown through the Japanese langauge via the levels of speech:

Politeness levels in the Japanese Language - From low to high:

1. Base speech (rude, raunchy and raw Japanese, spoken to lesser creatures, animals, underlings, fledglings and disciples.

2 . Plain form or basically neutral status speaking Japanese, or the humble and exalted levels of speech. Humble and exalted levels of speech considered from the same tree and is globally known as

3. Honorifics

In getting a commitment for your request, use the verb ITADAKU, the same verb that is used in the expression, “Itadakimasu” before eating.

You will put this with a verb in base TE to get a yes or no answer. However, if your demands weren't that impending, or is not in need of immediate attention, then there are 3 further choice of verbs for those requests to become actions. The verbs involved in getting someone to do an action for you in Japanese, are these:

MORAU もらう - (to get, be given, receive),

KURERU くれる - (to receive from)

KUDASARU 下さる - ( to be so kind as to receive from )
with the masu ending being the highest.

• ITADAKU いただく - means literally to humbly partake of something or someone doing something for you that equates to a will you…? Or similar type English sentence.

Constructions for "Will you verb (for me)?" in Japanese.

Verb (base TE) + MORAU V (て) + もらう
Do you think you could verb for me?

Verb (base TE) +YARU V (て) + やる
I will verb for you. (This is least polite and only said amongst the closest of friends, more masculine.)

Verb (base TE) + KURERU V (て) + くれる-
Would you verb for me? (Either because I physically or otherwise can't do it myself or simply because you are kind or respected by me).

Verb (base TE) + AGERU V (て) + あげる
I'll verb for you.

Verb (base TE) + KUDASARU V (て) + 下さる
Will you kindly verb for me?

*Kudasaruくださる is one of the first learned Japanese words. It’s kanji represents the word meaning below, underneath, under, or down. The meaning is opposite to that of the word UE上 (Up, on top, above etc.)

This is where the construction for -please verb- or verb (base TE) + kudasai comes from.

Verb (base TE) + itadaku 頂く (The commitment word, itadaku, evokes only a yes or no answer). Equivalent to "Will you …verb?" in English.

1. Will you quit smoking.
Tabako o su^ no o yamete itadakemasu ka?
たばこを吸うのを止めて頂けますか

2. Can I get you to turn the light off for me?
Denki o keshite moraimasu ka?
電機を消してもらいますか

3. Could you turn the light off for me?

Denki o keshite kuremasu ka?
電機をけしてくれますか


4. Will you kindly lend me $1000 dollars Grandmother?
Oba^chan@ ano 1 sen doru o kashite kudasaimasu ka?
おばあちゃん! あの 一千＄貸してくれますか

5. Could you tell me your phone number?

a. Denwa bango o oshiete kudasaimasu ka?
電話番号を教えて下さいますか?

b. Denwa bango o oshiete kuremasu ka?
電話番号を教えてくれますか

c. Denwa bango o oshiete itadakemasu ka?
電話番号をいただけますか

a.,b.,c. Will you tell me your phone number?

Itadaku - the yes or no verb
Itadaku頂く is special in that it forms changes from the itadakiいただき to itadake いただけ form. Only either Yes, or, No? Using the verb itadaku いただく is ultimately polite yet it elicits only two answers from which to form a reply..

6. Shall I open it for you?
Akete yaro^ ka? (Less polite form V of verb yaru, downward politeness)
開けてやろうか?

7. Shall I read it for you?
Yonde agemasho^ ka? (masho^ is more polite, spoken to peers and above)
読んで挙げましょう

8. Lets get him to pay for us.
Haratte moraimasho^
払ってもらいましょう

9. I wanted him to draw a picture for us.
E o kaite moraitakatta n' desu.
絵を画いてもらいたかったのです.

10. I am going to need you to come in on Sunday (too).
Nichiyoubi nimo kaisha ni kite moraitakatta no desu ga…?
日曜日にも会社に来てもらいたかったのですが
That is straight out of “office space” yo!

Until next time, that’s the end of this short lesson in Japanese grammar. As always, I wish you the best in your endeavors towards better Japanese …

Ganbatte Ne!
頑張ってね
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki. まくらすき

Making Wishes in Japanese

Japanese Grammar Lesson #98
How to Make Wishes in Japanese
or How to say , "If I could only verb" in Japanese.

Base IV + ba ii no ni or
A verb in its conditional state + ii no ni + ば いい の に
To wish (something), (I wish I could verb, despite it being cool)

To make sentences that will express your wishes or longing for something put a Japanese verb into its conditional state and add ii noni. The noni part I always took as meaning in spite of or despite something. Ii is the word for good, so that yoi could be used or even other adjectives of different shapes and sizes.

For this construction, any Japanese verb in its condtional form conditional will suffice for this lesson’s construction. The use of nara is also acceptable. So that you could have
-noun nara ii noni etc.

The Japanese conditional being either a verb in base IV as in iku -->? ik(e) (baseIV) + ba = ikeba or if (I) go or verb in base TA + RA, so that iku --> itta + ra or ittara

The verb iku 行く in base IV is 行け
- add the conditional extendor ば to the base so that 行け + ば = 行けば

ikeba ii no ni 行けば いい のに -
It would have been cool if I could have went, or I wish I could have gone.
literally this phrase means something more like Despite it being good, if I go.

In the same way you may say it this way, iku in base TA is itta
- add ra to form the conditional. So that
itta + ra = ittara
- than add ii no ni to complete the phrase that you wish would happen.
行った + ら = 行ったら

I have always Below are some examples to get you going. Make your own interesting sentences. Make questions out of them. Use them in Japan on real Japanese people to test them out and make sure they work. You never know what you might be able to say with your new grammar construction for making wishes in Japanese.

Examples

1. Yasukattara ii noni 安かったら いいのに
- I sure hope it is cheap, (lit. if it were cheap it would be good despite the fact that its probably not.)

2. Ittara ii noni or ikeba ii noni 行ったらいいのに or 行けば いい のに
- I wish I could go

3. Kirei dattara or kirei nara ii noni きれい だったら いいのに or きれいなら
- If she were cute that would be cool, or I hope she is pretty. (lit. Despite it being good if (she) is pretty.)

4. Shicchan ga ittara ii noni しっちゃん が いったら いい のに
- it would be cool if shi chan (a girl whose name starts with Shi)

5. Mite mireba ii noni. 見て 見れば
- I wish you would go check it out. or It would be cool if you could go look at it.

6. okane mochi nara ii noni – I wish I were rich, or if only I had a lot of money how cool would that be…etc.

As always,
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Japanese and your B.A.C

Their are 3 main beer brewing companies in Japan. Of Kirin, Sapporo, and Asahi, I have a personal preference for Asahi super dry. It being based in Fukuoka, one of my favorite places on the globe. The Asahi brand is a good brand. However, Japanese beer is made from rice not from wheat or any other thing. Kirin has an Ichiban shibori which means first wort. Kirin also has that cool logo of the Kirin which in modern Japanese means Giraffe but in days of old could have meant dragon or griffon.
www.kirin.com/

Now don't get me wrong, you can get very sick off of rice beer. I know first hand how bad things can get if you drink that big 2 liter bottle of Sapporo ichiban shibori. Remember to drink responsibly, and .4 is death on the BAC chart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asahi_Breweries

Sharing my Japanese Photo

 

ghettogramar99" It's My Prerogative –
Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar #99
How to get somebody to do something for you in Japanese.

This article will show you how to get someone to do something for you in Japanese. After you get the hang of these constructions it is advised top use any verb you learn from here on out by making sentences of your own. Be creative as best you can, even making the way you learn the verbs and constructions you put them into sound out-landish, extravagant or otherwise. The more bizarre you make the image of the meaning of words and the way you associate word terms and meanings together the more memorable will be their image and greater will be your vocabulary retention.
Remember, it isn't always the total amount of words that make one fluent. It is on the founded only after mastery of the various grammar forms are handled as well as total amount of vocabulary held at the locutors disposal as well. My advice to any do-it your-self-er Japanes language learner will greatly benefit from practicing Japanese with sentences which the studier creates from scratch. Using in a sentance some grammatical construction featuring verbs which are well retained and at one's disposal.

There are mainly three levels of politeness in Japanese. There is also any shade in between these levels which can be obtained and implied through the various endings each verb in a sentence can take. There are three distinct latitudes or heights (or depths as some may see it) at which spoken Japanese can be vocalized and interpreted, all different yet all manifesting meaning. Politeness levels are in large part determined by the age difference between locutors in a two-way conversation. In Japanese, one would speak in more respectful ways to persons who are upwards of your age. It is natural to speak less formally to people who are in your same graduating class or to people younger than you. It is usually all right to speak in plain form to people your age or less unless it is people who you have just met or the boss of your company, grandparent or god-father.
The shacho or boss of a company is always spoken to in the highest possible forms of polite forms of Japanese. In these constructions, aru is replaced by its specialized counterpart gozaru, so instead of arimasu(polite aru baseII+masu) you would use gozaimasu. (Super polite form of aru.)

On first meeting with someone in Japan, it would be rude to automatically assume that you were well acquainted with them or assumed that you knew him/her. When first meeting someone always assume that he or she is your great uncle who had died and left you his fortune.
Don't automatically assume enough familiarity with them to speak to them in the plain form or lower levels of speech. Remember plain form is the type of language that is spoken to dogs, so how much respect does a human being deserve over a og.

It is important to understand the distinctions made between the levels of politeness in speech. Plain form just isn't polite, try to avoid it by always keeping your mouth clean and out of trouble. If you are a gaijin, your mouth and manners are already out of thwack with the customs and traditional courtesies of the Japanese nation. When in Rome we do as the Romans do and when in Japan our feet can't stink.

In order to avoid sounding like a beast with no manners, try always speaking in Japanaese at higher more respectful levels. There are two levels of speech and 2 conditions of the verbs + future, - future, past +, past -. plain form. One above that level and another beneath. In all three levels. We can make sentences that are crystal clear and come out in our speech imbued with beautiful hues and hints of wonderful meanings making our Japanese not different from a samurai overlord.

In the present tense, plain form verbs always end in one of five vowels, a, i u e, or, o which corresponding to the five bases (I,II,III,IV,V) of a verb.

The polite form of a verb is made up of a verb in base II or the i line of the syllabary and by adding ~masu. The ~masu ending is always adequately polite. Speaking in plain form or leaving the verb in dictionary form or base (III) is less polite and could be construed as very rude speech. (*In my Ghetto Grammar lesson plain form is denoted P.F.)Polite form is also categorized in degrees or levels of politeness.

In Japanese there are 4 basic states or tenses a verb can take. There are 2 present tense verb forms that are polite and 2 in the past tense, each tense having its' affirmative or + side and, or its' negative , {future/present + or - } and {past + or -}. In Japanese, the latter part of the verb is where the conjugations occur, at the tail of a verb, not the stem. There are many endings which can be constructed. Each ending can change the meaning of the Japanese words ever so subtley, yet significantly. In other words, there are many levels of politeness possible even using the same word(s).

When you want to get someone to do something for you, you'll have to consider how polite you want to sound. You won't get very far in getting your boss to give you a raise by speaking to him in less polite language which usual equates to what we call the plain form Japanese. Not being careful of your politeness level can really get you into trouble. With the boss example, it could give him more reason to dislike you or even fire you for insubordination. Sometimes speaking in the plain form Japanese can be dangerous, making you sound even barbaric at times, childish at others, straight out rude at times, piggish, bossy, arrogant to name a few of the ways you jeopardize your potential to speaking fluid, beautifully perfect Japanese speaking.
Be mindful that respect to others is shown through the Japanese language via the levels of speech:

Politeness levels in the Japanese Language - From low to high:

1. Base speech(rude, raunchy and raw Japanese, spoken to lesser creatures, animals, underlings, fledglings and disciples.
2.

2 . Plain form or basically neutral status speaking Japanese, or the humble and exalted levels of speech. Humble and exalted levels of speech considered from the same tree and is globally known as
3.

3. Honorifics

In getting a commitment out of someone you would use the verb itadauku with a verb in base TE to get a yes or no answer. However, if your demands weren't that life threatening, or is not in need of immediate attention, then there are 3 other choices of verb to use when you want somebody to do something for you.
4. The verbs involved in getting someone to do an action for you are these:

morau - (to get, be given, receive),
5.

kureru - (to receive from) and
6.

kudasaru ( to be so kind as to receive from )with the masu ending being the highest.
7.

* Itadaku means literally to humbly partake of something or someone doing something for you that equates to a will you…? type sentence in English.

Here are the constructions for "Will you verb?" in Japanese.

Verb (base TE) + morau - Do you think you could verb for me?

Verb (base TE) +yaru - I will verb for you. (This is least polite and only said amongst the closest of friends, more of a male oriented word).

Verb (base TE) + kureru - Would you verb for me? (Either because I physically or otherwise can't do it myself or simply because you are kind or respected by me).

Verb (base TE) + ageru - I'll verb for you.

Verb (base TE) + kudasaru - Will you kindly verb for me? *Kudasaru is one of the first words you usaully learn in Japanese and it is shown by the kanji for the word meaning below, underneath, under, or down. The meaning is opposite to that of the word Ue (Up, on top, above etc.)

This is where the construction for -please verb- or verb (base TE) + kudasai comes from.

Verb (base TE) + itadaku (The commitment word evoking only a yes or no answer). Equivalent to "Will you verb?" in English.

Ex. 1 Will you quit smoking. Tabako o suu koto o yamete itadakimasu ka?

Ex. 2. Can I get you to turn the light off for me? Denki o keshite moraimasu ka?

Or

Ex. 3 Could you turn the light off for me? Denki o keshite kuremasu ka?

Ex. 4 Will you kindly lend me $1000 dollars Grandmother? Obaachan… ano 1 sen doru o kashite kudasaimasu ka?

Ex. 5 Could you tell me your phone number?

a. Denwa bango o oshiete kudasaimasu ka?

b. Denwa bango o oshiete kuremasu ka?

c. Denwa bango o oshiete itadakimasu ka? Will you tell me your phone number? Yes or no? This is ultimately polite yet evokes only two answers, yes or no.

Ex. 6 Shall I open it for you? Akete yarou ka? (Less polite form)

Ex. 7 Shall I read it for you? Yonde agemashou ka? (more formal form)

Ex. 8 Lets get him to pay for us. Haratte moraimashou.

Ex. 9 I wanted him to draw a picture for us. E o kaite moraitakatta n' desu.

Ex. 10 I am going to need you to come in on Sunday. Nichiyoubi nimo kaisha ni kite moraitakatta no desu?

Thats the end of this article but as always I wish you the best in your endeavors towards better Japanese and Ganbatte Ne! Do Your Best! Makurasuki Sensei.

Nochi Ato de Japanese grammar for after

Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar #94
JPPGG #94 - Three Ways of Saying, '...After... verb(ing') in Japanese.

After, After, and hopefully, happy ever... After...
There are 3 easy ways to say after or "after verbing” in Japanese -

1. verb (base TE) + KARA verb (base て) + から
2. verb (base TA) + ATO DE verb (base た) + あとで 後 = (あと)
3. verb (base TA) + NOCHI NI verb (base た) + のち に 後 = あと(ato),

or 後= のち に (nochi ni)

By themselves KARA (から), ATO DE (あとで) and NOCHI NI (のちに)
indicate the English term "after". Put verbs in base TE then add kara to
create phrases of doing something after doing something else. Put verbs
in base TA then add either ato de or nochi ni to create sentences or phrases
that tell us what will happen after we verb.

***So how do I plug and play? Let me explain: First go learn as many verbs
as you can and even a couple of nouns if you like, but ghetto grammar or
JPPGG consists mainly of knowing how to manipulate verbs. Before you can
manupulate verbs you need to memorize the word and also know how to pronounce
it correctly. What are you talking about when you say plug and play Japanese
Grammar? Preposterous! Its real simple. Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar
works like this:

1. Study hard your vocabulary, or list of Japanese words,

a. Set a goal to memorize 15 new words every two days. This is my best
recommendation for learning to speak in Japanese as quickly as humanly
possible.

b. Drill and kill your tango lists. ( I have plenty of vocabulary lists
or tango lists for you to study, print out or do what you... at
http://squidoo.com/japanesevocabularyindex )

2. Memorize all types of Japanese words and phrases. For the purposes of
being able to start speaking Japanese fast, you are going to have to pay
particular attention to verbs.

This is what I would suggest - Start learning
as many basic verbs as you can, and keep them tucked away under your belt,
memorized and ready to go so that you can use them effectively to communicate
later when your language skills in Japanese have been more fully developed.
We can construct almost any type of meaningful communication as long as we
know a few key Japanese verbs. ( Find the first 100 essential
Japanese vocabulary words here at http://squidoo.com/essentialjapanesewords)


3. Take your solidly retained, and newly memorized verbs from your tango
lists and start plugging them into the JPPGG system or the Ghetto Grammar
Constructions found in lessons 77 - 119).
To see the full index of JPPGG grammar construction pages go to
http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar or just ghettogrammara> to start your plugging.