From tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu Sun Mar 28 19:00:46 1993 Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1993 19:51:03 +0200 From: Tad Perry To: haa@nic.funet.fi THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE by Tad Perry PREFACE Many students of Japanese just want to communicate. Of course, they want to say things correctly as often as possible, but they really just want to get into the language quickly and start mixing it up early. This QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE was meant to help you do just that. It makes no pretense of being complete, but tries to pack the most *useful information* necessary to achieve the *goal of using Japanese* in the *shortest possible space*. This article therefore only covers a few things, including: Particles (those wa, ga, wo, de, ni and he thingies) and conjugations. The real goal of this guide is quite narrow: to present only the information that you need to plug vocabulary into acceptable Japanese sentences. Hopefully you could, more or less, take any statement or question and only by looking up the vocabulary items in a dictionary, know how to put together a Japanese sentence comprehendable by a native Japanese speaker. Grammatical patterns such as how to say: "I like X more than Y" ("X yori Y no hoo ga ii") or "The more I study Japanese the more confused I get" ("Nihongo wo benkyou suru hodo konran shite shimau.") are better left to a classroom. This guide is *not* for patterns. It's for getting your verbs and particles straight. PARTICLES Word Order Before talking about particles let's get into word order. In general, there is no strict word order in Japanese. If you get the particles right you could say the words of a sentence in just about any order and be understood. There is however a standard word order for different verb types that allows particles to be left out without the listener being lost by what you are trying to say. For an action verb this word order is: [SUBJECT]+TIME+PLACE/INSTRUMENT+INDIRECT OBJECT+OBJECT+ACTION VERB "Ashita, gakkou de sensei ni purezento wo agemasu." ("[I'm] going to give a present to [my] teacher tomorrow.") For an existence verb it is: [SUBJECT]+TIME+LOCATION+EXISTENCE VERB "Takahashi wa, ima honsha ni iru." ("Takahasi is in the main office right now.") For a motion verb it is: [SUBJECT]+TIME+ORIGIN+ROUTE+DESTINATION+MOTION VERB "Ashita, paatii ni iku." ("I'm going to a party tomorrow.") SUBJECTs are put in brackets to stress that they are very often deleted. In general, if a new subject is introduced where another had been previously understood, signal the change by placing "wa" after the subject. If a subject is understood, but for some reason not deleted (that's rare) use "ga" or nothing. Often you can move a subject out after the verb when things start piling up before the verb. Like: "Ashita boku ga kooen de utau." (I'm singing at the park tomorrow.) often becomes: "Ashita kooen de utau, boku." For more on SUBJECTs, see the longer description in the next section, "Subjects and Deletion". Knowing how to delete is a key to sounding natural. TIME is usually followed by "ni". In general, use "ni" for specific points in time or specific spans of time. So "jyuu gatsu [ni]" (October), "san gatsu mikka [ni]" (March 3rd) take "ni". A word like "ashita" (tomorrow) that can only be understood by context (it changes depending on when you say it). These types of words are called "deictic" time words and don't take "ni". "Ashita iku" ("I'm going tomorrow."), but: "sanji ni iku" ("I'm going at 3.") Note that if English needs a preposition (E.g. In March, On Monday, etc.), Japanese probably needs "ni". If English doesn't use one (E.g. tomorrow, next month), Japanese probably uses nothing. Even if you somehow get it wrong, don't worry: Japanese people can understand what you mean even if you get it backwards. PLACE/INSTRUMENT is followed by "de". By PLACE, I mean the location that a volitional *action* occurred. If you're eating at home, that's "ouchi de shokuji suru". If you're eating with chopsticks, that's "ohasi de taberu". The place you do something or the thing you use to do something takes "de". If you're going somewhere by car, you say "kuruma de iku". It's not that hard to understand really. Verbs of motion that tell DESTINATION, or ones of existence that tell the LOCATION of something take "ni". (DESTINATIONs can also take "he".) Try to distinguish PLACE from LOCATION by thinking of it this way: PLACE is WHERE SOMETHING IS DONE, LOCATION is WHERE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IS. Use "kara" ("from") after an ORIGIN and "wo" after a ROUTE. "Gakkoo kara, kooen wo tootte, ouchi ni kaeru." (Lit. "I'm going home from school through the park.") There's usually an intermediate verb in this type of usage. Note that ORIGIN+"kara" often collocates with DESTINATION+"made" where "made" loosely translates as "until" or "up to". In this case both ORIGIN and DESTINATION can be time words as well as place words. OBJECT is followed by "wo" or nothing. "Hon wo yonde iru" (I'm reading a book.) This is a really simple one in most cases. I really don't know many Japanese learners who can't understand this. INDIRECT OBJECT is followed by "ni". By INDIRECT OBJECT, I mean a sort of secondary object that some verbs take. "Kono hon wo anata ni ageru." ("I'm going to give this to you.") You have "this book" and you have "to you". The "this book" part is the OBJECT. The "to you" part is the INDIRECT OBJECT. "Wo" and "ni" are used to distinguish these two. VERB doesn't take any particles, but it needs to be inflected. There's a big section at the end on how you do that, and useful colloquial English equivalents of what those inflections mean. Also, to form a question word order does not change. All you need to do is ad "ka" at the very end of the sentence or use rising intonation. To boil this whole section down, remember it this way: -------- clip here and memorize :-) ---------------------------------------- SUBJECT+wa/ga/nothing (delete subject if possible, show changes with "wa") TIME+ni/nothing (use nothing like English if it's a deictic time word) PLACE/INSTRUMENT+de (place where something is done/thing it is done with) LOCATION+ni (location where something/someone *is*) ORIGIN+kara ROUTE+wo (a place or medium (like a street) travelled on or thru) DESTINATION+ni/he (use "ni" over "he" but be aware that both are okay.) INDIRECT OBJECT+ni (use this if you're out of choices :-) DIRECT OBJECT+wo -------- end clip ---------------------------------------------------------- After understanding the descriptions given earlier, these nine lines are the key to knowing what particle to use 90% of the time. Even if these rules cause you to make a mistake you're definitely being understood. The only other particle that really needs to be covered is "no". "No" can join just about any two nouns, A and B, together to form a construction like: A no B In simplest terms it means, the "B associated with A". If you say, John no hon It comes out to mean, the "hon" (book) associated with John. Therefore, "John's book." "Yuubinkyoku no tikaku" means the "tikaku" (nearby area) associated with the "yuubinkyoku" (post office), therefore the "area near the post office". Subjects and Deletions Usually, you don't have to worry about whether to use wa or ga, because most subjects can usually be deleted. "You can't get something wrong, if you left it out in the first place." That's my philosophy. So we'll work on the parts of sentences that you can delete, starting with subjects. If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly make a statement: "Ashita paatii ni iku." ("[I'm] going to the party tomorrow.") The listener will assume the subject is you. So don't bother supplying any subject. To do so, is in fact, not natural; a Japanese wouldn't normally do it. If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly ask a question: "Ashita paatii ni iku?" ("[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?") The listener will assume the subject is himself or herself. Easy! Most one-on-one conversations where you or the listener is the subject *don't need an explicit subject*. No chance of screwing up wa/ga here. If you suddenly turn to a Japanese and want to make a statement or ask a question about some other person altogether, use "wa" after that person's name or title the first time you mention that person: "Shachoo wa, ashita paatii ni iku?" ("Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?") Let's just say the "wa" introduces a change in subject. It clears out the one there before, and puts a new one in its place. This time it signals a change from the default "you the listener" to the "shachoo". After you establish that you're talking about the company president you can go back to dropping subjects again: "Sono ato wa, kaeru ka na?" ("Is he going home after that?"--there's some vagueness added with "ka na" ("I wonder"). Don't be too forward making assumptions about other people. This trick also stops the listener from thinking the question is back to being about themself. There's a strong tendency for questions to erase understood info and you have to signal that things are unchanged. Usually you play with the verb a little bit to get this across. Note that the change in time being talked about was also signaled with a "wa".) This tendency to delete in Japanese parallels the point where an English native speaker would use plain pronouns like, I, you, he, she, they. When you start a comment about yourself, you use "I" (Japanese delete). When you ask about the listener, you use "you" (Japanese delete). When you've first established someone and then keep going with that person, you use "he" or "she" (Japanese delete). Simple. Deleting other Established Info Just like with subjects any info that's been established can be deleted, and any changes in established info can be signalled using "wa": "Ashita paatii ni iku?" ("[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?") "Un, anata wa?" ("Yeah, how about you?"--info about "paatii ni" and "iku" unchanged, therefore deleted. Subject changed to original questioner, so the change is signaled with "wa".) "Un-n, ikanai" ("No, I'm not going."--info about "paatii ni" still deleted, "iku" comes back as "ikanai" because it has changed form.) "Sono ato no eiga wa?" ("How about the movie afterwards?"--the established info "paatii" changed to "eiga" so we use "wa" to establish the change in understood information. Understood info that *hasn't* changed is still left out, like the subject "boku" and the action "iku".) "Un-n, ikanai." This is pretty much how deletions work whether it be subjects or something else. In general, always go for deletions if possible. This section also serves the purpose of giving you a feel for "wa". Particle Ga In general, you don't need it. In the instances where you do, you can slowly build a feel for it. Basically, you need it in situations where you're not expressing a change in subject, but where you want to state the subject even though it is established info. Usually, this is to add emphasis or avoid ambiguity. "Shacho wa, ashita paatii ni iku?" ("Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?") "Un-n, ikanai mitai." ("No, it doesn't look like it."--throw in a "mitai" because you don't wan't to act too sure of the actions of others in Japanese. We're not really covering that though, it's just a side note.) "Nande?" ("Why not?") "Sore ga wakaranai" ("I don't know why not."--there's no real ambiguity in this case, and "wakaranai" alone would have worked, but it is a case where you're not changing an understood subject to another, you're restating the understood subject as such for some emphasis. If you're stating an established subject, for whatever reason, use "ga". But you could've deleted, and if you were following my explanation you should have. This one sentence also helps dispell the huge MYTH among Japanese language learners that "wa" is for negative sentences.) Particle Mo Use mo when you're adding more info on a list of established info. It may be used alone when marking subjects and objects, and can follow other particles (like ni, de, and he). Put it this way: if "wa" clears the understood info and replaces it, "mo" adds extra info on top of what's already there without clearing anything. "Ashita paatii ni iku?" ("[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?") "Un, iku yo." ("Yeah, I'm going, how about you?"--note what was deleted and why.) "Boku mo da." ("Me too."--add yourself to the understood subject. The "da" is male speech. The usage is hard to explain but it's exactly identical in meaning (but not in "maleness") to if the "da" had been omitted. If you're male and you don't want to sound female, use "da" everywhere possible.) Mo is easy, so we won't waste any more time with it. Just trying to be complete and it only took a few lines to do. An Anecdote For a good idea of how useful particles can be, here's an actual conversation(?) I heard in a Shibuya department store while in Japan: (A girlfriend is speaking to her boyfriend.) GF: "Kore mite." ("Look at this.") BF: [ignores her as he looks at something else] GF: "Ne, mite." ("Hey, [come on] look.") BF: [ignores her] GF: (whining) "Ne tte ba!" ("I said look, dammit!") BF: [still ignored her!] What are the chances these two are still together? Scary thought. VERB CONJUGATIONS Another thing that many Japanese learners need is an easy method of arriving at all the verb conjugations and a highly reduced set of rules for how to get them right on the different types of verbs. That's easy enough really because there are only three major verb types: -ru verbs, -u verbs, and -aru verbs (a polite type not much used except for "gozaru/gozaimasu"). People really hate Eleanor Jordan for this kind of naming, but in language learning you take what's easy and go with it; there's no need to worry about theoretical linguistics here. Also note that I changed romanization styles at this point to one that makes the changes in verbs appear much more uniform. -Ru verbs are those that end in -ru like taberu and ireru. "-u" verbs end in u, ku, gu, bu, mu, nu, su, tu, or [a,i,u,o]+ru (rarely e+ru because those are almost always -ru verbs like taberu. I only know of two like that: keru/kick and heru/decrease--there are probably more, but I have a feeling they would also only be two syllables like these). So the only real overlap worth worrying about is "i+ru". If you memorize two forms for each of these (like: ireru/irete and hairu/haitte) you can keep them straight. Assuming an e+ru verb is a -ru verb is a pretty safe bet, but be aware that you *could* be wrong. -Ru Verbs Everything's done by dropping or replacing -ru with something else. Just remember the different uses of each conjugation. As described, these verbs can end in i+ru (called Kami-Ichidan in Japanese) or in e+ru (called Shimo-Ichidan). drop -ru to add things like -masu, -yasui (easy to): tabe (tabeyasui (easy to eat)) replace with "-te" for gerund: tabete (gerund is for "and"-ing verbs (eat and go, "tabete iku") and simple orders (eat that, "are tabete") replace with "-ta" for past tense: tabeta replace with "-tara" for meaning "if": tabetara (if I/someone eats) replace with "-tari" for meaning "do things like": tabetari (I did things like eating--tabetari sita. not used much) replace with "-reba" for another "if": tabereba (if I/someone eats. A little different from "-tara" but don't worry about that now, they're pretty much interchangeable.) replace with "-yoo" for "let's": tabeyoo (let's eat) replace with "-ro" for rude orders: tabero (eat dammit!) replace with "-nai" for negative: tabenai replace with "-rareru" for "can": taberareru <- these are now -ru verbs (I can't eat this! kore taberarenai yo! Good in cafeteria's.) replace with "-saseru" for "make (someone) do": tabesaseru <- now a -ru verb ("Kore tabesasenai de yo!" Don't make me eat this. A negative request equal in level to "tabete" is "nai" plus "de") replace with "-rareru" for passive "was X-ed" and honorific "[my social superior] "does": taberareru <- now a -ru verb (looks exactly like "can" for this type verb. "Raion ni taberareta." "I was eaten by a lion." Use "ni" for "by" to show the agent.) replace with "-saserareru" for "be made to": tabesaserareru (this follows from just putting two separate types above together. My mom made me eat chicken. "Okaasan ni chikin wo tabesaserareta." Putting it in passive makes you seem like you didn't want to and you feel sorry for yourself.) -U Verb -RU verbs are by far the easiest to conjugate: you drop -ru and add something else. Simple. -U verbs (called Godan in Japanese) aren't that easy but almost. Typically you drop -u and add something else. The problem is that there might be a phonetic change (such as when ha becomes pa, or ta becomes da) for some of the types. See the other chart for simple-English meanings of the conjunctions, this one just tries to keep the conjunction rules clear. First, there are some -u verbs that end in -ru. We have to get that out of the way right now. Real -ru verbs (where -ru gets dropped) always end in "iru" or "eru", if you see one that ends: "aru" (exist) "uru" (sell) - or - "oru" (break) It's guaranteed *not* to be a -ru verb. It's probably a -u verb. (With the exception of super-polite oddballs like gozaru/gozaimasu, but effectively, you can forget about those and assume anything ending "aru", "uru" or "oru" is an -u verb.) Verbs like "iru" (exist or need depending on context) can be either type. In fact, "need" is an -u verb (gerund is itte) and and "exist" is a -ru verb (gerund is ite). If you hear an "-iru" verb (like "hairu"), be sure to ask what the gerund ("haitte") or past tense ("haitta") is too, so you can remember what type it is. The same is true for "-eru" verbs, but "-eru" verbs are much less likely to be -u verbs. The following is a short list of verbs that end in "-eru" and that can look like -ru verbs but are really -u verbs. Cases where there is a homonym that is a -ru verb have been indicated in parentheses. kaeru/kaette (go home) (X wo Y ni kaeru/kaete means "change X to Y") keru/kette (kick) heru/hette (decrease) takeru/takette (rage, rave / roar, howl) fukeru/fukette (be absorbed by) (fukeru/fukete means "grow old/late") kageru/kagette (darken, be shaded) shigeru/shigette (flourish, be overgrown) seru/sette (bid) aseru/asette (hasten, be impatient) seseru/sesette (sip) haberu/habette (serve, wait on [somebody]) suberu/subette (slip, slide) teru/tette (shine) hoteru/hotette (blush, glow) neru/nette (knead) (neru/nete means "sleep") shimeru/shimette (moisten) (shimeru/shimete means "shut/close/tighten") numeru/numette (be slimy) nomeru (stumble) (nomeru/nomete means "be good to drink") Except for this list of exceptional "eru" verbs, every other "eru" or vowel+u verb should be obvious by hearing only one form. Even if you forget the list, and always assume that a verb ending in "eru" is a -u verb, you will usually be understood. Much thanks go to Yuzuru Hiraga for providing me with this list of "eru" verbs which can look like -ru verbs but are really -u verbs. Including -u verbs which might happen to end in -ru, these are all the types there are: -su -ku (these two types conjugate similarly) -gu -bu (these three types conjugate similarly) -mu -nu -ru (these three types conjugate similarly) -tu -vowel+u -su is the only one that is well-behaved, -(s)u will change simply to -s(a), -s(i), -s(e), -s(o) in all cases with no odd behavior to remember. Here are the replacements: replace -u with -i to add "-masu", "-yasui", etc. (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types) hanasu -> hanasi (talk) kiku -> kiki (listen) oyogu -> oyogi (swim) yobu -> yobi (call) nomu -> nomi (drink) sinu -> sini (die) tukuru -> tukuri (make) matu -> mati (wait) harau -> harai (pay) Replace -u with -ite for do "X and Y" and for simple commands. (types not following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped) hanasu -> hanasite (talk) kiku -> kiite (listen) (replace entire -ku) oyogu -> oyoide (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ide) yobu -> yonde (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nde) nomu -> nonde (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nde) sinu -> sinde (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nde) tukuru -> tukutte (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tte) matu -> matte (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tte) harau -> haratte (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -tte) Replace -u with -ita for past tense. (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped) hanasu -> hanasita (talk) kiku -> kiita (listen) (replace entire -ku) oyogu -> oyoida (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ida) yobu -> yonda (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nda) nomu -> nonda (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nda) sinu -> sinda (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nda) tukuru -> tukutta (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tta) matu -> matta (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tta) harau -> haratta (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -tta) (In fact, I query search and replaced "e" with "a" on the gerunds to get this if that helps any. The rule breakers are breaking the rule uniformly now.) Replace -u with -itara for "if". (Or, just add "ra" to the past.) (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped) hanasu -> hanasitara (talk) kiku -> kiitara (listen) (replace entire -ku) oyogu -> oyoidara (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idara) yobu -> yondara (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndara) nomu -> nondara (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndara) sinu -> sindara (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndara) tukuru -> tukuttara (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttara) matu -> mattara (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttara) harau -> harattara (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -ttara) Replace -u with -itari for "do things like X". (Or just add "ri" to past.) (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped) hanasu -> hanasitari (talk) kiku -> kiitari (listen) (replace entire -ku) oyogu -> oyoidari (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idari) yobu -> yondari (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndari) nomu -> nondari (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndari) sinu -> sindari (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndari) tukuru -> tukuttari (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttari) matu -> mattari (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttari) harau -> harattari (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -ttari) Replace -u with -eba for "if" (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types) hanasu -> hanaseba (talk) kiku -> kikeba (listen) oyogu -> oyogeba (swim) yobu -> yobeba (call) nomu -> nomeba (drink) sinu -> sineba (die) tukuru -> tukureba (make) matu -> mateba (wait) harau -> haraeba (pay) Replace -u with -oo for "let's do X". (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types) hanasu -> hanasoo (talk) kiku -> kikoo (listen) oyogu -> oyogoo (swim) yobu -> yoboo (call) nomu -> nomoo (drink) sinu -> sinoo (die) tukuru -> tukuroo (make) matu -> matoo (wait) harau -> haraoo (pay) (actually pronounced "harawoo") Replace -u with -e for rude orders "do X dammit". (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types) hanasu -> hanase (talk) kiku -> kike (listen) oyogu -> oyoge (swim) yobu -> yobe (call) nomu -> nome (drink) sinu -> sine (die) tukuru -> tukure (make) matu -> mate (wait) harau -> harae (pay) Replace -u with -anai for negative. (This is now an adjective.) (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one type) hanasu -> hanasanai (talk) kiku -> kikanai (listen) oyogu -> oyoganai (swim) yobu -> yobanai (call) nomu -> nomanai (drink) sinu -> sinanai (die) tukuru -> tukuranai (make) matu -> matanai (wait) harau -> harawanai (pay) (stick a wa in there, not just an "a". Makes it easier to say, too. Lucky us!) Replace -u with -eru for "can do X". This is now a -ru verb. (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types) hanasu -> hanaseru (talk) kiku -> kikeru (listen) oyogu -> oyogeru (swim) yobu -> yoberu (call) nomu -> nomeru (drink) sinu -> sineru (die) tukuru -> tukureru (make) matu -> materu (wait) harau -> haraeru (pay) Replace -u with -aseru for "make (someone) do X". This is now a -ru verb. (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types) hanasu -> hanaseru (talk) kiku -> kikaseru (listen) oyogu -> oyogaseru (swim) yobu -> yobaseru (call) nomu -> nomaseru (drink) sinu -> sinaseru (die) tukuru -> tukuraseru (make) matu -> mataseru (wait) harau -> harawaseru (pay) (Don't forget to throw a wa in there!) Replace -u with -areru for "X is done (often to someone)" or "[my social superior] does X". This is now a -ru verb. (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types) hanasu -> hanasareru (talk) kiku -> kikareru (listen) oyogu -> oyogareru (swim) yobu -> yobareru (call) nomu -> nomareru (drink) sinu -> sinareru (die) tukuru -> tukurareru (make) matu -> matareru (wait) harau -> harawareru (pay) (Don't forget to throw a wa in there!) Replace -u with -aserareru for "be made to do X by someone". Same result as just doing the two conjunctions separately but is taught in most books as a specific conjunction. This is now a -ru verb. (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types) hanasu -> hanasaserareru (talk) kiku -> kikaserareru (listen) oyogu -> oyogaserareru (swim) yobu -> yobaserareru (call) nomu -> nomaserareru (drink) sinu -> sinaserareru (die) tukuru -> tukuraserareru (make) matu -> mataserareru (wait) harau -> harawaserareru (pay) (Don't forget to throw a wa in there!) Now that was long, but it was mostly cut-and-paste because even these are well-behaved when you organize them correctly. When you boil down what needs to be done to these verbs to conjugate them correctly, the information required is really minimal--even for the oddballs. That's all you need to be able to conjugate almost every verb in Japanese. Most books say that their are only two irregular verbs in all of Japanese: suru and kuru. Those you have to learn separately, but they kind of make sense. In fact, though, there's a third one: iku. The reason is that unlike kiita for kiku, you don't say iita, you say itta. You don't say, iite, you say itte. But it's regular in it's irregularity because it acts like tsukuru for some weird reason. kuru ("will come", or "comes (often, everyday, etc.)") ki (to add "-masu", note that "-yasui" isn't used) kite (casual command: "come here") kita (past tense: "someone came") kitara (add ra to past) ("if(once) someone comes", some connotation of when) kitari (ad ri to past) ("do things like come") kureba ("if someone comes", no connotation of when) koyoo ("let's come", no, it can't possibly mean orgasms) koi (rude request: "come here you") konai (negative: "won't come" or "doesn't come (very much)") korareru ("can come") kosaseru ("make (someone) come") korareru (passive not possible, can only be honorific) koreru (a common variant of korareru) kosaserareru ("be made to come (by someone)") suru ("will do", or "does (often, everyday, etc.)") si (to add "-masu", or "-yasui") site (casual command: "do this") sita (past tense: "someone did") sitara (add ra to past) ("if(once) someone does", some connotation of when) X sitari (ad ri to past) ("do things like doing X") sureba ("if someone does", no connotation of when) X siyoo ("let's do X") siro (rude request: "do this dammit") sinai (negative: "won't do" or "doesn't do (very much)") dekiru (really "seru") ("can do"--"someone I can love": "ai seru hito") saseru ("make (someone) do") sareru ("be done (by someone")) saserareru ("be made to do (by someone)") A cool trick to remember many forms of suru is that some of the conjugations match what you would get if you conjugated a lone "su", so it's kind of like "hanasu". Hanasita--sita. Hanaseru--seru. Hanasaseru--saseru. But be careful of the exceptions that don't follow this rule, like "sureba", "siyoo", "sinai" and "shiro". Note that there's a large class of words in Japanese that are both nouns (when they stand alone) and verbs when combined with "-suru". A good example is "benkyou" ("study"). As a stand-alone noun: "Benkyou ga owatta?" ([Have you] finished [your] studies?") But as a verb itself: "Kore kara benkyou-suru" ("[I'm] going to study now.") So, if you look in a dictionary for a verb and find a noun listed, in general it's a safe bet that you need to stick "-suru" on the noun and inflect that. So let's say you want to "record" something. You look in a dictionary for "record" and it lists "rokuon" (audio only) and "rokuga" (audio and video). These definitely aren't verbs (they don't end in an inflectable "-u") so use "-suru" and inflect appropriately. Adjectives These aren't that hard. They always end in [a,i,u,o]+i. They *never* end in e+i that would be a noun. Basically you replace "i" with a form of "ka" to inflect. yasasii ("It's nice") yasasiku nai ("It's not nice") yasasikatta ("It was nice") yasasikattara ("If it's nice.") yasasikattari (possible I suppose but not heard often) yasasikereba ("If it's nice.") Just note that in the case of adjectives not all conjugations that a verb can have are possible. You don't say: "atsukaseru" for "make something hot" you say "atsuku suru". For a command, say: "yasashiku natte" ("be nice"). Just like with verbs, you may look up what you think is an adjective and be confronted with a noun. For instance, you look up the word for "pretty" and find "kirei" listed. Well, that's not an inflectable adjective (Remember why?--because adjectives can end in vowel+i, but *not* e+i, ke+i, etc.) Use "kirei" (and noun type adjectives) before another noun by using "na" in between. End a sentence with some form of "da/desu": "Kirei na otera desu." ("[This] is a pretty temple.") "Miyazawa Rie wa kirei da." ("Rie Miyazawa is pretty.") Conjugations for "desu" are similar to other verbs ending in "-su", but are limited in number by what is grammatically possible: desu desite desita desitara desitari Conjugations for "da" are: da de ("and" ("sekkushii de kirei da"--sexy and pretty)) datta ("was" also often like "used to be" ("wakai koro, kirei datta yo"-- [she] was pretty when [she] was young.")) dattara ("if" with strong connotation of "when") dattari (not so common, but I've heard it) There is also "de aru" the conjugation of which is left as an excercise for the reader. (All the information necessary to do it is in this guide.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tad Perry Internet: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu CompuServe: 70402,3020 NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From saxnot.toppoint.de!panther@toppoint.de Tue Nov 15 20:44 MEZ 1994 Received: from gutemine.informatik.uni-kiel.de by hp1.ang-physik.uni-kiel.de with SMTP (1.38.193.4/16.2) id AA05755; Tue, 15 Nov 1994 20:44:33 +0100 Return-Path: Received: by gutemine.informatik.uni-kiel.de (4.1/SMI-4.1-MHS-7.0) id AA16825; Tue, 15 Nov 94 20:45:09 +0100 Received: by x400-gate.informatik.uni-kiel.de (SXG 7.0a/gutemine.2.3.0) with X.400 id 00imEz0GI001; 15 Nov 94 19:44:51 UT Date: 15 Nov 94 02:48:34+0100 P1-Message-Id: de*d400-gw*toppoint; To: hendrik@hp1.ang-physik.uni-kiel.de, pan02@rz.uni-kiel.d400.de Subject: Re: a list of Japanese slang Message-Id: <"H.ekBL.ODDGeEWneVQ@saxnot.toppoint.de"*@x400-gate.informatik.uni-kiel.de> Reply-To: panther@toppoint.de Organization: Private UUCP-Point, Kiel, Germany X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.14.37 Rev. 16 Apr 1994 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 3358 Status: RO In , you write: >I made a short list of Japanese slang. >Hope you enjoy them. > >------------------- >A SHORT LIST OF JAPANESE SLANG > >1. Sayounara: > "bai bai" [very commone between friends] > "jaane" [ " ] > "matane" [ " ] > "soreja" [among friends or even business men] > "abayo" [very old fasion among men] > "osakini(shitsureishimasu)" [when you leave your office] > "otsukaresama" [when you answer to "osakini"] > >2. Konnichiwa/how are you doing: > "ya ya" [common among men] > "a doumo" [common in meeting someone face to face] > "ya genki?" [ " ] > "saikin do?" [ " ] > "moukarimakka?" [only Kansai area. You are supposed to > answer "bochi bochi den naa"] (usually joke) > "haroo" [common among youngsters] > "chiwassu" [mostly funny young guys] > >3. Sugoi!: > "sugee" [much more slangy, amonqg young men] > "saiko-" [common among youngsters] > "kanpeki" [ " ] > "kiteru(yo)" [ " ] > >4. abbreviations: (at randam) > "karaoke" -- kara no o-kesutora > "pasokon" -- personal computer > "wa-puro" -- word processor > "konbini" -- convenience store > "kuriso" -- cream soda (hmmmm, sounds like very old saying) > "amesha" -- America no kuruma [American car] > "pokekon" -- pocket computer > "pokebel" -- pocket bell [beeper] > "shashoku" -- syain shokudou > "gakushoku" -- gakusei shokudou > "makudo" -- Macdonaldo [in Kansai area, maybe] > "mac" -- " [in Kanto area, maybe] > "famikon" -- family computer game [Nintendo] > "amefuto" -- American football > "dentaku" -- denshi takujouki [calculator] > "kankuu" -- Kansai kokusai shin kuko > "bodi kon gyaru" -- sexy women wearing figure conscious dress > >5. "cho-~~~": > "cho-sugoi" means super great? "cho" means ultra or super. > "cho-onakasuita" -- very hungry > "cho-okashii" -- very funny > "cho-kakkoii" -- very cool > "cho- (anything ok, noun, adjective, adberb, verb)" > > [eldery people doesn't like the word] > >6. "gen-chari" -- moped [very common slang from children to middle] > "chari" -- bicycle > > >7. "shindoi" -- tired, tough, hard > "yopparai" -- drunk guy. > "aru-chyu" -- alcoholic > > >Good luck! > >Miyako > > > > >-- >-------- > MURATA Miyako > murata@bacchus.ee.uec.ac.jp -- Objoke: #110: Sitzen 3 Froesche auf 'nem Telegraphenmast. 1. Frosch: "quak". 2. Frosch: "quak". 3. Frosch: "quak quak". Der 1. Frosch schmeisst den 3. Frosch runter. 2. Frosch: "Warum hast du ihn denn 'runtergeschmissen?" 1. Frosch: "Er wusste zuviel." -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Panther - Privat-Magier - MIDGARD - die Welt des Fantasy-Rollenspiels!