Season 4Lesson 1: な-adjectives.There are two types of adjectives in Japanese - な-adjectives and い-adjectives (well, there are also の-adjectives, but they are basically nouns with the particle の).
When you look up a word at
jisho.org, it shows what part of speech it is. For adjectives, it also shows, what type of adjective it is.
The
な is actually not a part of the な-adjectives (in dictionaries the な-adjectives are written without
な); it's added at the end of it when a な-adjective is said or written right before the noun it discribes :
これは便利な椅子です。 - This is a convenient chair.
When a な-adjectives is said or written after the noun it discribes - no
な is added:
この椅子は便利です。 - This chair is convenient.
The adjectives
好き and
嫌い (as well as
大好き and
大嫌い), that we learned in the previous season, are actually な-adjectives.
私は好きな野菜を食べます。 - I eat my favorite vegetables.
私は野菜が好きです。 - I like vegetables.
私は嫌いな野菜を食べません。 - I don't eat hated vegetables.
私は野菜が嫌いです。 - I hate vegetables.
We've already talked about
これ、
それ and
あれ. For example,
これは短刀です means "This is a dagger". But if we want to say "This dagger is inconvenient", instead of
これ we should use
この:
この短刀は不便です.
Same goes for
それ - その<thing> and
あれ - あの<thing>:
それは花です。 - That is a flower.
その花は綺麗です。 - That flower is pretty.
あれは町です。 - That over there is a town.
あの町は賑やかです。 That town, over there, is lively.
な-adjective conjugation is quite simple, because they conjugate exactly as nouns. All you have to do is replace
です with
じゃありません,
でした or
じゃありませんでした.
あの温泉は人気です。 - That hot spring is popular.
林さんは正直な店員です。 - Hayashi is an honest clerk.
あの温泉は人気じゃありません。 - That hot spring is not popular.
林さんは正直な店員ではありません。 - Hayashi is not an honest clerk. (I used
ではありません instead of
じゃありません to remind you that this form is also used - and it's more common in written text).
あの温泉は人気でした。 - That hot spring was popular.
林さんは正直な店員でした。 - Hayashi was an honest clerk.
あの温泉は人気ではありませんでした。 - That hot spring was not popular.
林さんは正直な店員じゃありませんでした。 - Hayashi was not an honest clerk.
Lesson 2: い-adjectives.While the
な in the な-adjectives is added only when they are said/written before the word that they describe (their dictionary form is without
な), for い-adjectives the
い ending is part of them, no matter where they stay (in dictionaries, the い-adjectives are written with
い). Therefor, if an adjective ends with
い, it's usually an い-adjective. There are exceptions however, for example,
嫌い and
綺麗.To see this difference, lets look at examples with the adjective dangerous, because it has both な-adjective version
(危険) and い-adjective version
(危ない) in Japanese:
これは危険な車です。 - This is a dangerous car. (We are using the な-adjective version
危険 that is written before the word it describes -
車, so we are adding
な).
これは危ない車です。 - This is a dangerous car. (We are using the い-adjective version
危ない).
この車は危険です。 - This car is dangerous. (We are using the な-adjective version
危険 that is written after the word it describes -
車, so we are not adding
な).
この車は危ないです。 - This car is dangerous. (We are using the い-adjective version
危ない).
Lesson 3: い-adjectives conjugation.It's important to understand that when an adjective stands directly before the noun, it becomes one entity with it. In other words, the conjugation of a <な-adj. + noun> or <い-adj. + noun> combination doesn't affect the adjective:
これは危ない車です。 - This is a dangerous car.
これは危ない車じゃありません。 - This is not a dangerous car.
これは危ない車でした。 - This was a dangerous car.
これは危ない車じゃありませんでした。 - This wasn't a dangerous car.
As you can see in theese examples, the only thing that changed was the
です in the end of the sentence.
When an adjective after after the noun it discribes, however, it becomes a different entity. With な-adjectives it wasn't a problem, because they are conjugated exactly as nouns. い-adjectives have their own rules of conjugation, however, if an い-adjective stands after the noun it describes (and therefor becomes a different entity), it's the い-adjectives that changes, while
です at the end stays the same.
The negative form is made by replacing the the
い with
くない:この車は危なくないです。 - This car is not dangerous (please note that
です didn't change to
ではありません or
じゃありません).
The past tense is made by replacing the
い with
かった:この車は危なかったです。 - This car was dangerous (please note that
です didn't change to
でした).
The past tense negative form is made by replacing the
い with
くなかった:この車は危なくなかったです。 - This car was not dangerous (please note that
です didn't change to
ではありませんでした or
じゃありませんでした).
There is also one weird い-adjective:
良い (good). In positive form, present/future tense, it can be pronunced both as
いい or
よい. And while
いい is more common is this form and tense, only
よい can be conjugated:
良い (いい or よい) - good
良くない (only よくない) - not good
良かった (only よかった) - was good
良くなかった (only よくなかった) - wasn't good.
By the way,
よかった! is a word that is often said when something went good.
The unchangable part of the い-adjective (the part before the い) is called the stem form - just like verbs, adjectives have stem forms too (In case of な-adjecitves, the stem form is the part before な and it is the same as their dictionary form).
One of the interesting things about the Japanes grammar is that you can never be sure of the meaning of a sentence, until you read or hear it completely. It's the ending of the sentence that determines the form and tense. So, there are lot's of jokes in Japanese that are based on this feature. It's like when you say in English: "This suit is black..." pause "NOT!"
However, while in English it sounds a bit weird (it would be more natural to say "This suit isn't black", but such structure renders this kind of jokes impossible), in Japanese it's quite natural.
For example:
あの犬はあぶな... is about the dog in question being dangerous, but without the ending, we can't say whether the dog is dangerous, isn't dangerous, was dangerous or wasn't dangerous.
Also, it's almost always the ending that determines the politeness of the sentence (we'll talk about it in the next season).
By the way, if you want to break your tongue,
こういち先生 recommends conjugating い-adjective
温かい (あたたかい) - warm. Just try to say
温かい、温かくない、温かかった、温かくなかった quickly. To tell you the truth, I was unable to do it at first try.
Lesson 4: What do you want.In Japanese, to say that you want to do something, you need to take the stem form (the part before the
ます) of the verb you want to do and add
たい to it. In other words, the pattern is v.stem +
たい. This pattern conjugates exactly like an い-adjective:
私は日本語を習いたいです。 - I want to learn Japanese.
田中さんは寿司を食べたくないです。 - Tanaka doesn't want to eat sushi.
林さんは歩きたかったです。 - Hayashi wanted to walk.
スミスさんはあの本を読みたくなかったです。 - Smith didn't want to read that book.
When the desire is aimed not at an action, but at an object - an い-adjective
ほしい is used. The pattern here is <the one who wants>
は<the desired object>
がほしいです。Naturally, being an い-adjective,
ほしい conjugates like one:
私は林檎がほしいです。 - I want an apple/apples.
山田さんはクッキーがほしくないです。 - Yamada doesn't want cookies.
高山さんは新聞がほしかったです。 - Takayama wanted a newspaper.
山本さんは万年筆がほしくなかったです。 - Yamamoto didn't want a fountain pen.
Lesson 5: Adjectives + Verbs = Adverbs.Just like adjectives describe nouns, adverbs describe verbs.
Just like in the word "adverb", the order of the adverbs in Japanese is: adverb + verb.
Some adverbs are made by modifying adjectives.
To turn a な-adjectives into an adverb, you should follow the pattern: な-adjective (without
な) +
に + verb. For example:
田中さんは静かに出かけました。 - Tanaka left quietly.
To turn an い-adjective into an adverb, you should replace it's final
い with
く and then put it right before the verb. For example:
田中さん速く出かけました。 - Tanaka left quickly.
As you can see, when the combination of adverb and verb is conjugated, it's only the verb that gets conjugated.
We've already mentioned, that the い-adjective
いい/よい is a bit weird. Well, here is another part of its weirdness: its adverb version can only be
よく。
読者さんはこの文がよく分かりますね。 - You understand this sentence well, reader, don't you?
Other adverbs are more like nouns -
何時も (
いつも - always)、
沢山 (
たくさん - many)、
大体 (
だいたい - generally)、 etc. With them the usual pattern is: adverb + verb (no need to add
に or modify the final character) or adverb+noun/adjective+
です:
学校に学生は沢山ありますね。 - There is
a lot of students in the school, isn't it?
山田さんはもう二十歳ですね。 - Yamada is
already twenty years old, isn't he/she?
Lesson 6: When the going get's tough.In Japanese, one of the ways to say that something is hard or easy to do is by using the pattern: v.stem +
にくい (if it's hard to do)
食べにくい - hard to eat,
読みにくい - hard to read, etc.
or v.stem +
やすい (if it's easy to do).
食べやすい - easy to eat,
読みやすい - easy to read, etc.
You might notice, that these patterns look very similar to い-adjectives. Well, in fact they are い-adjectives, so they are used and conjugated accordingly:
あの本は読みにくいです。 - That book is hard to read
あの本は読みにくくないです。 - That book isn't hard to read.
あの本は読みにくかったです。 - That book was hard to read.
あの本は読みにくくなかったです。 - That book wasn't hard to read.
あの本は読みやすいです。 - That book is easy to read
あの本は読みやすくないです。 - That book isn't easy to read.
あの本は読みやすかったです。 - That book was easy to read.
あの本は読みやすくなかったです。 - That book wasn't easy to read.
Lesson 7: Colorful adjectives.In Japanese there are basically three groups of color indicating words:
First group consists of five colors: three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and also black and white.
Their adjective versions are い-adjectives.
Color | Noun | い-adjective
|
Red | 赤 | 赤い |
Blue | 青 | 青い |
Yellow | 黄色 | 黄色い
|
Black | 黒 | 黒い |
White | 白 | 白い |
Second group is the largest. These colors are always treated like nouns, which means that their adjective versions are の-adjectives.
Some of them are:
Color | Noun | の-adjective
|
Green | 緑
| 緑の |
Purple | 紫 | 紫の |
Brown | 茶色 | 茶色の
|
Gray | 灰色 | 灰色の
|
Silver | 銀 | 銀の |
Gold
| 金
| 金の
|
All of the members of this group can have
色 at the end, but some are used mostly with
色 while others aren't.
Third group consists of pure colors (pure white, pure black, pure red) that are treated as な-adjectives:
Color | Noun | な-adjective
|
Pure white
| 真っ白
| 真っ白な |
Pure black
| 真っ黒 | 真っ黒な |
Pure red
| 真っ赤 | 真っ赤な
|
Interesting fact: in Japan blue color has been considered a shade of blue for a very long time.
That's why
青森 is not "blue forest", but "green forest".
Lesson 8: What you'll go do.If you go/come to do something, the pattern is: v.stem +
に +
行きます/来ます。 For example:
私は食堂へ食べに行きます。 - I go to cafeteria to eat.
鼠は猫を見に来ません。 - Mice won't come to watch a cat.
昨日、高山さんは話にきました。 - Yesterday, Takayama came to talk.
田中さんは泳ぎに行きませんでした。 - Tanaka didn't go to swim.
Lesson 9: Social learning.To type in Japanese you'll need an IME (Input Method Editor). There are different IMEs, but Google IME is considered one of the best.
Installing IME:1. You can download it
from here. Press ダウンロード.
2. Follow the instructions (despite the first button being in Japanese, the instructions will be in English, so no need to worry).
3. The final step depends on your operating system.
Windows XP: 1. Open your “Control Panel” by clicking the Start button and clicking “Control Panel”
2. Choose “Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options”
3. Choose “Add Other Languages”
4. Choose the “Languages Tab” and then click “Details”
5. In the “Settings” Tab click “Add.” Do not change the Default Input Language (for example, “English”)
6. Select Google’s Japanese Input Method under “Keyboard Layout / IME”
7. Hit Okay, and do a little dance
8. An “EN” will appear in your start bar. Click this and change to あ (Hiragana) to start typing in Japanese
Windows Vista: 1. Open your “Control Panel” by clicking on the Start orb and clicking “Control Panel”
2. Open “Clock, Language, and Region”
3. Click on “Change keyboards or other input methods”
4. Click “Change keyboards…” in the “Keyboards and Languages” tab
5. Click “Add…” in the “General” tab
6. Select Google’s Japanese Input Method
7. Hit Okay
8. An “EN” will appear in your start bar. Click this and change to あ (Hiragana) to start typing in Japanese
Windows 7: 1. Open the “Control Panel” via the Start Orb
2. Open “Clock, Language, and Region”
3. Open “Change keyboards or other input methods” via the “Regional and Language” tab
4. Click “Change keyboards…” in the “Keyboards and Languages” tab
5. In the “General” tab, click “Add”
6. Select Google’s Japanese Input Method
7. Confirm and hit “Okay”
8. An “EN” will appear in your start bar. Click this and change to あ (Hiragana) to start typing in Japanese.
Mac OS X:1. Open “System Preferences” from your dock or Applications folder
2. Click “Language & Text”
3. Choose “Input Sources”
4. Click the Google Japanese Input box and choose “Hiragana” and (optional:) “Romaji” and “Katakana” – I’d leave half width katakana and full-width Alphanumeric unchecked.
5. Up at the top right of your screen there should be a symbol showing your language. Click on that, and choose “あ Hiragana” to start typing in Japanese.
Linux:Instructions on TextFugu forum.IME usage:First, switch to the IME. In some cases, you may need to press alt+Caps Lock after switching to the IME.
To type in hiragana, type the sounds with English keys, then press enter.
To type in katakana, do the same, but press F7 between typing an pressing enter.
Combination sounds:
Sound | Typing
|
きゃ | kya |
しゃ | sya/sha |
ちゃ | cya/cha |
にゃ | nya |
ひゃ | hya |
みゃ | mya |
りゃ | rya |
きゅ
| kyu
|
しゅ
| syu/shu
|
ちゅ
| cyu/chu
|
にゅ
| nyu
|
ひゅ
| hyu
|
みゅ
| myu
|
りゅ
| ryu
|
きょ
| kyo
|
しょ
| syo/sho
|
ちょ
| cyo/cho
|
にょ
| nyo
|
ひょ
| hyo
|
みょ
| myo
|
りょ
| ryo
|
As you remember, small version of
つ (っ) is used to repeat the following consonant. So, to type it, you should just type that consonant twice - and you'll get the necessary character. For example, to get
っぽ, you should type "ppo". Also, you can always create small versions of characters by typing "x" before them:
Character
| Typing
| Smaller version
| Typing
|
や | ya
| ゃ | xya |
ゆ | yu | ゅ | xyu |
よ | yo | ょ
| xyo |
あ | a | ぁ | xa |
い | i | ぃ | xi |
う | u | ぅ | xu |
え | e | ぇ | xe |
お | o | ぉ | xo |
つ
| tu/tsu
| っ
| xtu/xtsu
|
The following table shows how to type some "weird" katakana sounds (don't forget to press F7 after typing them, but before pressing "enter"):
Character | Typing |
ウィ
| wi
|
ウェ | we |
ウォ | uxo |
ヴァ
| va |
ヴィ | vi |
ヴ
| vu |
ヴェ | ve |
ヴォ | vo |
シェ | she |
ジェ | je |
ファ | fa |
フィ | fi |
フェ | fe |
フォ | fo |
ティ | texi |
トゥ | toxu |
ディ
| dexi |
ドゥ | doxu |
チェ | che |
To type kanji, press space or down arrow between typing and pressing "enter". This way you'll be able to choose the necessary kanji from the kontext menu. To confirm the selection - press "enter", to decline - press "esc". This way you can sometimes type whole sentences, pressing "enter" only once, but it's more recommended to press "enter" after every word or every combination of a word and particle.