Japanese sentence

Dochi ga ii ka yoku wakaranai - I don't know which one will be better



Towards Better Japanese
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Closer to Mastering Japanese Grammar

Japanese Grammar Plug and Play #107 JPPGG

by Makurasuki Sensei &

Japanetics

Let's say that one day, while visiting Japan, you find yourself wanting to get someone to do you a favor. We must tell them that we need them to do us a favor and the more specific we are, the better . . . I mean . . . you're probably notgoing to want just any old thing, I mean... watcha wa... what do you really want?! What in the world could YOU possibly want? If the sushi is not up to your liking and you find yourself wanting instead some good ol'fashioned American Apple Pie, then you've got to get some Japanese language skills. In some parts of the ghetto they're called skillz!  

This lens will help us acquire those skillz. We'll learn how to rap in Japanese, and learn how to say this kind of stuff in Japanese . . . "but you're getting so much more" . . . "and more" . . . (steps back)," And More!" Furthermore. . . this system is simple. All you have to do is plug words, usually verbs, into the JPPGG Japanese Plug and play Ghetto Grammar constructions. (49 grammar lessons numbered from JPPGG70 to JPPGG119.

Ok so where was I... Oh yeah . . . about you wanting things done, favors you may ask, or things you may need to get done, finished, accomplished, completed etc. During my stay in Japan I sometimes felt homesick. I would want to see a good ol American movie.  I wasn't happy unless I got to see a real American Movie. Not a Chinese movie starring Jackie Chan overdubbed in Japanese for my viewing pleasure... oh no...I wanted something specific and I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I got to watch my favorite American movies starring James Dean or Harrison Ford? (They comprise what are the only movies available in English and rentable  in Japanese video stores.) Yepper's, not much of a selection. . . but,  Look on the btight side, I can recite the dialogue of the movie, Rebel Without A Cause from memory

This lense is about to show you via my simple JLSystem's Japanese Plug & Play Ghetto Grammar or Japanese to the P squared G squared JPPGG® method, how to say that you want something or that you want something done (by someone or something else).

The Japanese word around which we are basing today’s Ghetto Grammar is hoshii. Hoshii is a Japanese adjective and its meaning according to Sanseido’s Daily Concise Japanese English Dictionary is a want, or a wish for. Its kanji is made up of two radicals which resemble the words for tani (valley) and ketsu (lack, or missing, but is also in words related to thirst and throat) and together inside of the kanji for this word hoshii, it makes me think of somebody out in the middle of Death Valley California having no water but really, really wishing that they had something to drink. That is a wish or a want for something. 

The Japanese construction for the equivalent English phrase of

--- I want noun - noun ga hoshii desu or emphatic no desu

Ex. a.)  I want an apple! - Ringo ga hoshii desu! 

Ex. b.) I want it now! - Ima hoshii! Etc.

--- I want you to verb -  Verb (base TE) hoshii desu. Polite form

Plain form would be verb (base TE) hoshii without any copula, or by adding the emphatic all purpose sentence ending ...no da!. This is less polite.

Super polite form would be - verb (base TE) hoshu^ gozaimasu. This may be a little too polite for all circumstances. Because you are in the personal realms anyway you are relaying to someone else your wishes for somebody to do something. This bunpo(grammar) will work when put into question form like the following:

Ex. 1) What do you want done?  Nani shite hoshii desu ka? Or, simply Nani o shite hoshii? (Not as polite - What do you want me to do?)

Putting hoshii into its negative present form you can get sentences that mean I don't want you to do something as in Ex. 2

Ex. 2. I don't want anything done. Nanimo shite hoshikunai desu! (Without the copula)

Ex. 3. I want you to see a television show that I like.  Suki na terebi no bangumi o mite hoshii desu!

Since this adjective serves as an auxiliary, you can also put hoshii into the past or past negative as in Ex.4

Ex. 4. Kite hoshikatta kedo konakatta - I wanted you to come but you never came. (This little phrase turns out to be quite the alliterative tongue-a-twisty. Say it 5 times fast! I dare you!)

Or

Ex. 5) Kurisumasu puresento o akeru no o matte hoshikatta, ammari akete hoshikunakatta no desu, zannen... Mou, shikata ga nai.  I wanted you to wait before you opened the Christmas presents, I really didn't want you to open them at all. Too bad and so sad but I guess there is nothing we can do about it now...

Hoshii can be made into a verb by adding dropping the final i, forming the plain form stem hoshi and adding ku adjective linker adding the verb, "to become" or, naru (One of the most used verbs in all Japanese). Hoshi-i naru becomes hoshikunaru.

Another way of saying the same thing would be by dropping the final i of hoshii and adding garu becoming hoshigaru (v. to wish for, want).

A common mistake made in Japanese is to mis-pronounce double vowels as single vowels. Two ii together in Japanese needs to be pronounced like two different i's. Actually you re-utter the second i. A lot of times double vowels will sound like the same vowels just drawn out. 

Here is a good example of which witch is which. Don't mistake hoshii, the adjective for wanting, with hoshi, the noun for the word star. The former being having its final vowel sound i held twice as long. 

***BONUS SENTENCE - Not available in any text book anywhere! ***

***Zutto mae kara kanojo o hoshigatte iru no ja nai to desu ka? Didn't you want to make her your girlfriend like forever now? Or, "You have been wanting that chick for a while now haven't you?”

This concludes today's Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar bunpo method JPPGG© for the month of July. Stay tuned for more incredible methods to help improve your Japanese language skills.

What about a lense on the middle school teenager girl who died because she was 1-2 minutes late to school and the gate closed in on her. Japan is strict on things like school and stuff yo! No joke about that. Conform! Conform! Conform! Conform! ... Just kidding.

 

Ganbatte ne! Do your Best! Makurasuki Sensei.

 

 

 

 

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.

Some useful Japanese words and phrases

Here are some useful Japanese words and phrases and their colloquial English equivalents.

1. とんでもない -
ton demo nai - It is nothing at all or, no big deal.

2. 大したもんじゃない -
taishita mon ja nai - It is no big thing or, nothing special at all.

3.  多分-
tabun - probably

4.  その通りです-
sono to^ri desu - That's it Watson!. That is it exactly, precisely.

5. たしかに -
tashika ni - For sure, surely, definately.

6. もちろん -
mochiron - Of course.

7. そんなことないよ ! -
sonna koto nai yo! - No way Jose! That isn't right! It isn't like that at all.

8.  成程 -
naruhodo - I see..., or now I get it.

9. やっぱり-
yappari - As you would think, or I thought so, or after all, naturally, obviously 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

A secret for Learning Japanese + Japanese adjectives fun

Easy Japanese – Japanese lesson on “I know what’s good for me!”
Japanese Grammar Plug & Play

How to say, “I know how to verb”
NAN NAN SHITARA YOI KA何何したら良いか

Verb (Base TA) + RA + Yoi - I know what is good if I did it.

Yoi良い is the word for good and for all intents and purposes is equivalent to iiいいso that *yoi = ii in any case (Yokaよか – can be hear much in Fukuoka to mean – “Nah,” or “I’m good”)

TASHIKA たしかis not an adjective like AKAI 赤い, UTSUKUSHII 美しい, AKARUI 明るい, TOMEIとめい, OR SURUDOI 鋭い.

A Secret So Easy, It will turn the tedious and sometimes daunting task of learning another language fun to making language learning easy.

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 can’t 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 lays a key to language mastery. If an alphabet is available for the language, by all means 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 time and time again as we all do at one point or another in civilized society. Through a careful study of the smallest and simplest parts of a language you can get to know it as intimately as you would get to know you own native language and fluency is its byproduct.

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 平仮名, and katakana 片仮名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 you’re 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 the Japanese language, then learning Japanese will become a lot easier. It will be easy to learn the Japanese language. That’s it!

The trick to learning a foreign language starts with learning the alphabet of that language. In the case of the Japanese language, their alphabet, isn’t an alphabet because it is not made up of just letters, it is made up of syllables. There are 46 syllables in Japanese, and although that is more than the number of letters in the English language, (English letters in the alphabet = 26) it really isn’t that many more once you see how the Japanese alphabet is set up.

The Japanese syllabary is made up of 46 syllables and represents all sounds necessary to form any Japanese word. It is simiilar to the English Alphabet in a few respects and is called the gojuon 五十音, or chart of the 50 sounds. It is grouped into roughly 10 colums and 5 rows. The rows are of particular interest because from these we can transform verbs into other forms varying the meaning of verbs and this makes the learning of Japanese a lot easier.

Set up in groups that follow the first 5 syllables or the Japanese vowels:

a - あ,
i - い,
u - う,
e - え , and
o - お.

By the time we are 12 we usually forget that we had ever even learned 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 is so ingrained into our language that we forget to take it for what it was when we try to apply new learning techniquesto our already stubborn hard formed study habits.

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 it’s 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 really not that bad. Also I ask all of those who may harrow in their souls hatred against the Japanese people to end it now so that we can live peaceably amongst each others, and learn from one another.

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.
vowel combos

AI - あい
II - いい
UI - うい
EI - えい and
OI - おい

Here are a few Japanese adjectives for example:

KAWAI - 可愛
ATARASHII - 新しい
FURUI - 古い
KIREI - きれい
BOROI - ぼろい

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

Odds and Ends thoughts on Learning Japanese

Why would anyone think that Japanese is harder than any other language to learn?

Why the learning of the Japanese language has been unfairly labeled as a difficult language, I'll never know. I feel that if you want to learn a language you should try the Japanese language. There are plenty of reasons why but let me first tell you a few of the reasons why I think that Japanese is in fact one of the easier languages to learn.

One reason why Japanese might be an easier language to learn is because there are only four tenses in which a verb can take. A lot less than English which has a multitude of various irregularities to deal with. Another big reason why Japanese might be easier to learn than other languages is because, there are so many common words that are exactly the same in Japanese as they are in English. It only takes a little bit of time before one can start getting use to Japanese pronunciation, but when one does then a plethora of vocabulary words will be at your command.

The Japanese language is a fascinating language to learn. They use different letters and script for writing their words. Their system for writing words and communicating through ideographs is very old. The kanji (symbols-ideographs-ideas represented by pictures or even pictographs) has been used in Japan for quite a long time. is a very ancient tradition and the language has evolved Let me tell you something: You can do anything you put your mind to! Now having said that, I would like to give a couple of reasons why I feel that Japanese is in fact an easier language to learn than English.

The symbol shown above is the Kanji, or Chinese character, which represents the word ai, or love in Japanese. Start today to recognize parts of the kanji as you would a constellation. The ai kanji itself is made up of various components (the heart kanji among other ones) that will become easier to recognize the more times you see it. Who said a little drill and kill will hurt you?

There are a lot of reasons why people might think that the Japanese language is a hard language to learn. People seem to think that learning Japanese is too big a task. A mountain can be moved with a little persistence and some good goals, so get to setting them up!
A couple of more Ideas on how to overcome the fear of learning Japanese
How to study Japanese for the first week and why kanji is so cool.
There is spoken language and the written language. Kanji has deep meanings contained within each one. This is much different from what we are expecting, because we have become through continuous use of our own native language, stifled by the alphabet. We can see the meaning of things inside the kanji. Therefore from the get go, we should try to wean ourselves from the temptation to look up words in Romaji to decipher meaning. We should use a dictionary like Sanseido's daily concise wa-ei jiten.

Week 1

Verbs - Drink, Sleep, Eat, Go, Work (nomu, neru, taberu, hataraku).
- Be able to put learned verbs in all their bases. Bases I - V
- create sentences using all base forms from I - V
- Test your created sentences on an actual Nihonjin to make sure they really work.

Nouns: coffee, tea, milk, water, coca cola, sake, Aquarius, beer, juice (KO-hi, o-cha, gyu^nyu^, mizu, koka kora, sake, akuariusu, bi-ru, ju-su

Adjectives - oishii, suteki na, benri na, okii, nagai, samui, atsui, chisai, mijikai. (Delicious, cool, convenient, big, long, cold, hot, small, short etc.)
- Adjectives- are fun to play with. Practice putting the adjectives in front of nouns etc

Grammar - Know the masu, masen, mashita, masen deshita etc (polite formations of verbs)
- Become acquainted with the various levels of politeness; humble, honorific, plain form

Example Grammar Construction -

Verb (Base II) + Tai desu = I want to verb - polite form. - Without desu, its plain form or P.F.

Verb (Base II) + masho^ = Shall we +verb or let's +verb

Pronunciation - (distinguish between long and short vowel sounds) =

Be careful when studying Japanese for the first couple of times to make sure and pay attention to detail. The Romanization methods employed by the various types of Romanization of the Japanese Syllabary should be duly noted. For example in Japanese vowels can extend themselves into their double impressions where two vowels are connected into one yet the true pronunciation will be an elongated double vowel sound.
Amazon Spotlight on Sanseido English Japanese Dictionary
Wa Ei or Ei Wa, Either way, you are covered!
The mother load when it comes to Japanese to English or English to Japanese Dictionaries. Essential for any serious Japanese language student.

Sanseido's New Concise Japanese English Dictionary
The biggest and most worthy of Dictionaries available to you. The mother load is in Blue. Sanseido has always been my reliable back pocket friend. I love my sanseido. Mua!

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

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?

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.

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

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

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.

japanese adjectives

Ghetto Grammar #70 Japanandjafunmagic
Japanese Adjective Fun

all adjectives end in a dipthong created from the 5 vowels of the Japanese syllabary.

The endings are these adjectives are thus:

a + i = ai; hayai, arai, asai, mijikai, nagai, akai, nemutai, chiisai, suppai, amai, takai, aoi

i + i = ii; utsukushii, mezurashii, subarashii, itashii, shitashii, muzukashii, atarashii, mezamashii, okii

u + i = ui; usui, minikui, zurui, furui, nemui,

e + i = ei; kirei, teinei, burei,

and

o + i = oi; shitsukoi, hidoi, kuroi, osoi, noroi, boroi, hiroi, kashikoi, shiroi,