Jis A Mid-term Study Guide

Mid Term Study Guide Grammar: adverb An adverb describes how a verb is done. In English, they are often followed by an –ly ending. For example, “He came quickly”; “She wrote neatly”; “He played the piano beautifully”. “Quickly”, “Neatly”, and “Beautifully” all describe how the actions were done. In Japanese there are basically two ways to make an adverb. Adjectives: Change the final い to く. Nouns: Change です to に. NOTE: Remember that しずか, じょうず, きれい, etc. are all considered nouns in Japanese. NOTE: The adverbial form of いい is よく. The adverb is typically placed right before the verb it modifies. 例: 今日は早く帰りましたね。

You came home quickly today!

しず

静かにしてください。

Please be quiet (literally: please do it quietly).

There are a number of verbs that use the adverb in Japanese in a way that you might not think of in English. One is なる (to become). With なる, the adverb that appears before なる is the result of the action of becoming. In other words, the adverb is what something becomes. 例: さいきんさむ

最近寒くなりましたね。 recently).

It’s gotten cold recently! (literally: it has become cold

れんしゅう

練 習 しているから、きっと上手になるでしょう。 She’s practicing, so she’s sure to get good (literally: become skillful). 医者さんになりたい。 I want to be a doctor (literally: become a doctor). NOTE: なる is often used in Japanese in situations where we would say “be” in English.

Grammar: Contrastive wa Particle は (wa) is highly contrastive. It can be paired with other particles to indicate contrast, or to indicate that you are not commenting on anything but the thing marked by は. When using は, it will replace particles が and を. For other particles, such as へ, に, で, と, etc. は comes after the particle. 例: すしは食べなかった。 スペイン語は分からない。 先生は来なかった。 東京には行かなかった。 あそこでは食べましたよ。

I didn’t eat sushi (but I ate other things). I don’t speak Spanish (but I speak other languages). The teacher didn’t come (but other people came). I didn’t go to Tokyo (but I went other places). I did eat there (but there are other places I didn’t eat at).

When は occurs in the subject position, the contrastive reading is usually less strong, as in 今日はいいお天気ですね or それは何ですか. However, it should be remembered that even in the subject position は can be contrastive. Grammar: Deshoo One way to say “probably” is to use でしょう. Add でしょう to the plain form (普通 形) of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. 例: 山下さんは来年日本へ行くでしょう。 Yamashita-san’s probably going to Japan next year. 高いでしょう。 It’s probably expensive. In a noun+です sentence where the plain form is noun+だ, replace だ with でしょう. あの人は日本人でしょう。

That person is probably Japanese.

NOTE 1: でしょう is not typically used to refer to oneself. For something like “I’ll probably go”, use かもしれない or と思う. NOTE 2: でしょう is often used to be indirect, and as a result will often be used just to be polite. NOTE 3: The plain form of でしょう is だろう. However, でしょう is often used even in casual speech, especially among women.

Grammar: modifiers A modifier describes a noun. In English, some examples of this are: “black pen”; “beautiful scenery”; “long movie”; “boring book”; “scared person”; etc. In Japanese there are four different kinds of modifiers: adjectives, verbs, nouns, and nanouns. Adjectives: Put the adjective in front of the noun. NOTHING goes in between. なが

くろ

むずか

例: 長い本；黒いペン； 難 しいテスト Verbs: Put the verb in front of the noun. NOTHING goes in between ちが

ふと

例: 違うところ；太っている人；こわがっている人 Na-Nouns: Put the na-noun in front of the noun, with な in between. じょうず

例: きれいなところ；上手な人；元気な人 Nouns: Put the noun in front of the noun, with の in between. 例: グレーの車；病気の人；東京の大学 NOTE: While most describing words in Japanese are either adjectives or na-nouns, there are exceptions, as the examples above show. NOTE: There is no easy way to tell the difference between a na-noun and a noun. They must be memorized.

Grammar: n da / no A common way to either give or ask for an explanation is to use plain form + んです. Just remember that when the plain form is noun + だ, the だ becomes な. 例: A student is putting her stuff away. A) 帰るんですか。 Are you leaving? (i.e. is it because you are leaving that you are putting your stuff away? B) ええ。残りたいんですけど、 Yeah. I want to stay (part of the explanation) but ちょっと病気なんです。 I’m kind of sick. (Which is the reason I’m leaving). When speaking casually, んです can become either んだ or の. There are a couple restrictions on when to use one and when to use the other. 1) For questions, の must be used. (The reason is that だ, the plain form of desu, cannot be used in a question). 2) For statements, の sounds feminine, and can only be used by women. (んだ sounds more masculine, but is used by both men and women). 3) When followed by けど, んだ must be used. (The reason is that けど nearly always follows a predicate: verb, adjective, or noun+desu) 例: A student is putting her stuff away. A) 帰るの？。 Are you leaving? (i.e. is it because you are leaving that you are putting your stuff away? B - male) うん。残りたいんだけど、 Yeah. I want to stay (part of the explanation) but ちょっと病気なんだよ。 I’m kind of sick. (Which is the reason I’m leaving). B - female) うん。残りたいんだけど、 Yeah. I want to stay (part of the explanation) but ちょっと病気なのよ。 I’m kind of sick. (Which is the reason I’m leaving).

NOTE: でも is used to mean “but” at the beginning of a sentence. けど is used to mean “but” in the middle and end of a sentence. (Mistakes related to this will be penalized). NOTE: To add “some” to a question word (e.g. something, someone, somewhere) add か to the question word. (Mistakes related to this will be penalized). 例: something = なにか・なんか; somewhere = どこか; someone = だれか.

Grammar: quantifiers In Japanese, quantity expressions are typically stated as adverbs, and thus placed in the adverb position (right before the verb it modifies). This is different from English. Compare the following two examples: 例: I bought two pens. に ほ ん か

ペンを二本買いました。

(Literal translation: I bought pens to the extent of two.)

In the English example, “two” modifies the pens. In the Japanese example, “二本” modifies the buying. So, when expressing a quantity in Japanese, make sure that it is placed directly preceding the verb, and that there is no particle between the quantity and the verb*. いちまい

いっぽん

ひと

いっさつ

This applies to counters (一枚、一本、一つ、一冊、etc.), which give a specific number, and also quantity expressions that are not specific, such as たくさん and ちょ っと. 例: 昨日、ピザをたくさん食べたんですよ。 ちょっと待ってください。

I ate a lot of pizza yesterday. Please wait a little bit.

But what happens when you have more than one object? For example, how would you say “I bought three pens and two envelopes” in Japanese, if the quantities go in front of the verb? Follow this pattern: noun + particle + quantity + to, noun + particle + quantity + to, … noun + particle + quantity + verb. 例: ふうとう

に ま い か

ペンを三本と、封筒を二枚買いました。 I bought three pens and two envelopes. 赤いのを二本と、黒いのを三本と、青いのを五本ください。 Please give me two red ones, three black ones, and five blue ones.

*

While there are some situations that you can have a quantity expression modify a noun in Japanese, it typically sounds more natural to express a quantity as an adverb. I will therefore ask you to always express quantities as adverbs.

These are the kanji you should know for the mid-term (to read and write): Fact 事実 じじつ Citizen 国民 こくみん Reason 理由 りゆう Freedom 自由 じゆう Participation 参加 さんか Interest 興味 きょうみ Farmer 農民 のうみん Law 法律 ほうりつ Government 政府 せいふ Politics 政治 せいじ Information 情報 じょうほう Husband 夫 おっと Wife 妻 つま International 国際的 こくさいてき Journal 日記 にっき Politician 政治家 せいじか Army 軍隊 ぐんたい Letter 手紙 てがみ Method 方法 ほうほう (from last semester: continues on back) Result 結果 けっか Conflict 対立 たいりつ Type/kind 種類 しゅるい Problem 問題 もんだい Question 質問 しつもん Travel 旅行 りょこう Promise 約束 やくそく Boat 船 ふね Explain/Explanation 説明 せつめい Ride 乗る のる To be different 違う ちがう Opposite/Disapproval 反対 はんたい Impression 印象 いんしょう Necessary 必要 ひつよう Absolutely/Without fail 必ず かならず Opinion 意見 いけん Meaning 意味 いみ Clothes 服 ふく Special 特別 とくべつ

通る 通う 通訳 大統領 伝統 友達 仕事 仕方 要る 結ぶ 結婚 親類

とおる かよう つうやく だいとうりょう でんとう ともだち しごと しかた いる むすぶ けっこん しんるい

To go through To commute Interpretation President Tradition Friend Work/Job Way of doing (something) To be needed To tie, seal, bind Marriage Relative