The Word for Termite in Japanese

I just thought everyone would like to know a little thing I learned in Japanese but never made a correlation to it in English. This great discovery is that ants aren't too much different from termites. In fact, it is only the color that changes the insect.

In Japanese

ants = ari 蟻 or アリ - in katakana
termites = shiro ari  シロアリ - white ant

Shiroi is the Japanese word for white. Since shiroi, or 白い is in adjectivial form, before a noun we take away the i, or い , so that we have "shiroari", 白アリ or termite instead of shiroi ari. (In the case above, the word for termite is written in all Katakana, which implies that the Japanese think that termites aren't of Japanese origin. However, they still call them white ants because of the shiro part, they just don't use the kanji part for white, 白い.)

That is to say that termites are just ants that are white, or white ants. Doesn't that make sense? In English we totally get screwed up thinking that termites are an all together different species of insect, but really, they are just white ants that like to eat wood.

How to say WTF in Japanese

Nan ba shiyo^ to^? - What the hell are you doing? This is one way to say it.

As always
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

japanese adjectives

Japanese Adjective discussion

Forming honorific adjectives
Honorific adjective Constructions

Ai
II
UI
EI - irregular
OI

AI  OU + GOZARU

II  UU + GOZARU

UI  UU + GOZARU

EI – DE GOZARU

OI  OU + GOZARU

Examples:

1. akai  akou + gozaru = akou gozaimasu
2. atarashii  atarashuu + gozaru = atarashuu gozaimasu
3. boroi  borou + gozaru = borou gozaimasu
4. furui  furuu + gozaru = furuu gozaimasu
Towards Better Japanese
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Early Beginning Japanese Words for Good Use

Here are some useful Japanese words from my personal collection:

1. baibai suru - deal; trade in
2. hatsuyuki - the first snow fall
3. beisaku - rice crop
4. tengen - a dotted line
5. inyo^ suru - to quote or to put in quotes
6. shu^ten - the last stop; final stop; the end of the line (train etc.)
7. kikoku - homecoming, (kikoku suru)
8. mizutama - a drop of water
9. cho^kan - morning paper
10. aseru - be in a hurry; be impatient

Today's Bunpo^ - P.F. + Tori ni -










Towards Better Japanese
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Useful Japanese Adverbs That Intesify Other Japanese Words or Phrases

These Japanese words (mostly adverbs) help intesify or heat up other Japanese words and phrases. Learn these useful Japanese intesifiers.

1.  本当に -
Honto ni - Really

2.  非常に -
Hijo^ ni - Extremely

3.  凄く -
Sugoku - greatly, awfully (very)

4.  とっても-
Tottemo - very

5.  大変-
Taihen - awful (rough, hard)

6. どんなに -
Donna ni... - how...

7.  必ず-
Kanarazu - absolutely

Let's for example say we saw a very pretty woman, and your friend asks you, "How pretty was she...?
In Japanese he would ask you by saying -

Ano onna no hito wa donna ni kirei desu ka? - How pretty is that woman?

To which you could answer:

honto ni kirei desu - really pretty
hijo^ ni kirei desu - extremely pretty or
sugoku kirei desu - awfully pretty etc.

Basic Japanese Grammar - Verb Base II + Nasai

Basic Japanese Grammar Crash Course
Accelerated Japanese Mastery
Base II + NASAI なさい – Lesser command form

To boss people around, or tell people what to do, commanding them in Japanese you will need to know this Japanese Grammar construction:

Verb (base II) + NASAI なさい - Do verb! Command form.

Examples
1.Suwarinasai! 坐りなさい!
“Take your seat!”
a.Suwaru 座る - v. to sit down
b.Suwaru 座るin base II is suwari 坐り
c.Suwari坐り + nasai なさい = suwarinasai坐りなさい Sit!

2.Shukudai o shinasai! 宿題をしなさい
“Do your homework!”
a.suruする – v. to do
b.suru in base II = shiし
c.shiし + nasaiなさい = shinasaiしなさい “DO IT!”


3.Ikinasai!行きなさい
“Go!”
a.iku 行く– v . to go
b.iku 行く in base II is iki 行き
c.iki行き + nasaiなさい = ikinasai行きなさい “GO!”

Plug in your favorite Japanese verbs into this Japanese Grammar Construction and start making your own cool sentences then test them on your Japanese friends.

As always,
Ganbatte Ne! 頑張ってね
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki まくらすき

Basic Japanese Grammar Donoyona

Basic Japanese Grammar to construct basic Japanese phrases that relay
“What kind of…”, “This kind of…”, and “It is sort of like…”
Japanese lesson on words that relate similitude or likeness.

To say, “How do you verb…?” use the following construction:

DO^NOYO^NI + verb + ka

In question form –

To form questions, add + the question participle ka to
DO^NOYO^NI and DO^NOYO^NA so that you have

どうのように and どうのような + ka?

Here we have either do^ no yo^ ni followed by a verb or
Do^no yo^ na followed by an adjective.

NI – Verb
NA - Adjective

Do^ no yo^ ni kanjimasu ka?
どうのように感じますか?
How do you feel? (about it)

Basic Japanese Grammar

1. A wa B no yo^ na {noun} desu.
A is a {noun}like B.
a. Tanaka san wa Ita san no yo na sensei desu.
田中さんは井田さんのような先生です.
Mr. Tanaka is a teacher like Mr. Ita.

Karl Malone wa Michael Jordan no yo^ na senshu^ desu.
マーイケルジョルダンは ローバルトパッリシュのような選手です
Karl malone is a athlete like Michael Jordan.

Bill Gates wa do no yo^ na bijinesu man desu ka?
ビール- ゲーツはどうのようなビジネスマンですか
What kind of business man is Bill Gates.

Bill Gates wa do no yo^ ni bijinesu o yarimasu ka ?
ビール- ゲーツはどうのようにビジネスをやりますか
How does Bill Gates conduct business?

Japanese grammar noun ga hoshii

Japanese noun fun with hoshii

noun ga hoshii = noun is wanted


so that

ringo ga hoshii = I want an apple

suteki na bo^shi ga hoshii = I want a cool hat

okii ie ga hoshii - I want a big house

okane ga hoshii - I want some money

to make these Japanese phrases polite, add desu to hoshii so that the entire construction becomes noun ga hoshii desu

itchi oku en ga hoshii desu etc.
etc. have a decent day

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

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

Just verb and See Japanese Grammar Base TE + Miru

Japanese Grammar Plug and Play
Japanese Lesson #95

Base TE + Miru – To see about verb’ing, to verb and see.

Putting verbs into base te

Bu, mu, nu, --> NDE
U, TSU, RU, --> TTE
KU --> ITE
GU--> IDE

Irregular
Suru --> shite

In all the examples, miru - to see

1. Hanashite miru 話して見る
I’ll try talking to him. (Talk to him and see, hanashite miru)
Hanasu – v. to speak (with)

2. ITTE MIRU 行って見る
I’ll go check it out (Go and see, itte miru)
Iku – v. to go,

3. Tabete miyo^ ka? 食べて見ようか?
Shall we try it? (The food) Let’s eat and see.
Taberu – v. to eat

4. Nonde mitara 飲んで見ったら
What if you tried to drink it, go ahead, see what it tastes like. (Drink and see) Nomu – v. to drink

5. Monku o iute mitara ..? 文句を言ってみたら
What about voicing your complaints? (Complain and see)
Monku o iu – v. to complain, to say a ‘monku’.

6. Yonde mireba…? 読んで見れば
Why don’t you read it and see? Try reading it for yourself, could you?
Yomu – v. to read

7. Tanonde miru 頼んで見る
Ask and see.
Tanomu 頼む– v. to request, ask a favor, to ask

8. Yatte miru やって見る
Try it and see.
Yaru – v. to do, to try.

9. Mite mitara 見て見ったら
Look and see.
Miru – v. to see.


Til lates,
Ganbatte Ne!

Makurasuki