Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan
\nFrom: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu ()
\nSubject: THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE GRAMMAR (Posted)
\nMessage-ID:
\nSummary: So many people requested it, I decided to post! (LONG!)
\nOrganization: clearer than blir
\nDate: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 00:13:55 GMT
\nLines: 683<\/p>\n
There was pretty strong interest in my guide, so I decided to post it.
\nI didn’t know so many people were reading this group. They sure haven’t
\nbeen *posting* to it lately. Anyway, spin-off threads are welcome as
\nthis group needs some life pumped into it.<\/p>\n
Thanks go to a recent friend I made on the net named Jeff Friedl for
\nproviding the final impetus to produce this. There was another person
\nI talked with via e-mail who said he was interested in such a thing,
\nbut the discussion occured between the last time gibdo was backed up
\nand the day gibdo’s hard disk bit the big one, so I lost his name and
\naddress and can’t give proper credit.<\/p>\n
THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE
\n by Tad Perry<\/p>\n
PREFACE<\/p>\n
Many students of Japanese just want to communicate. Sure, they want to
\nsay things correctly as often as possible, but they also want to get
\ninto the language quickly and start mixing it up early. This QUICK AND
\nDIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE was meant to help you do just that. It makes
\nno pretense of being complete, but tries to pack the most *useful
\ninformation* necessary to achieve the *goal of using Japanese* in the
\n*shortest possible space*. This article therefore only covers *two*
\nthings: Particles (those wa, ga, wo, de, ni and he thingies) and verb
\nconjugations.<\/p>\n
This is my reasoning on this: you can build a vocabulary of nouns,
\njust by looking in a dictionary or asking a native speaker. They
\nalmost never inflect (in any true meaning of the word) and are easy.
\nPlus we won’t be worrying about those strange noun-like things that
\ncan act like adjectives. So *you* can take care of the nouns yourself
\nas you see fit.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the verbs and adjectives inflect so I’ll try to
\npresent the most compact rules conceivable for allowing you to
\nmanipulate every verb you ever encounter and hopefully you can take it
\nfrom their. The less mental overhead for remembering how to do it, the
\nless painful it will be. After knowing the conjugation rules pat, you
\ncan get new vocabulary out of a dictionary or ask a native speaker.<\/p>\n
Now that you have a bunch of nouns and a bunch of verbs and adjectives
\n(that you can inflect), you need to know how to piece them together.
\nThat’s where learning about the particles come in. Remember, this is
\na *Quick and Dirty* guide so don’t expect these generalizations to
\n*always* work, just expect them to work in as many cases as possible
\nbased on what I know.<\/p>\n
Now, in compiling this, I noticed that the descriptions are pretty
\ncomprehensive. So why aren’t these things presented this way in class?
\nWell, an educational institution obviously has a financial stake in
\ndragging out your language learning as long as possible (and confusing
\nyou along the way), now doesn’t it? The also feel obligated to teach
\nyou every little detail so you feel like you’re getting your money’s
\nworth. In the case of this guide, return comments such as: “You made
\ngeneralization X, but for got to mention exceptions Y and Z.” won’t
\nbe appreciated very much. This is a *quick and dirty* guide, remember?
\nSo be forewarned that their are exceptions all over the place, but
\nthat I have tried to be as accurate as space allows. And space is the
\nprimary concern here. Please don’t forget that.<\/p>\n
PARTICLES<\/p>\n
Word Order<\/p>\n
Before talking about particles let’s get into word order. In general,
\nstandard word order for Japanese when using an action verb is:<\/p>\n
[SUBJECT]+TIME+PLACE\/IMPLEMENT+INDIRECT OBJECT+OBJECT+ACTION VERB<\/p>\n
“Ashita, gakkou de sensei ni purezento wo agemasu.”
\n (“[I’m] going to give a present to [my] teacher tomorrow.”)<\/p>\n
For an existence verb it is:<\/p>\n
[SUBJECT]+TIME+LOCATION+EXISTENCE VERB<\/p>\n
“Takahashi wa, ima honsha ni iru.”
\n (“Takahasi is in the main office right now.”)<\/p>\n
For a motion verb it is:<\/p>\n
[SUBJECT]+TIME+ORIGIN+ROUTE+DESTINATION+MOTION VERB<\/p>\n
“Ashita, paatii ni iku.”
\n (“I’m going to a party tomorrow.”)<\/p>\n
SUBJECTs are put in brackets to stress that they are very often
\ndeleted. In general, if a new subject is introduced where another had
\nbeen previously understood, signal the change by placing “wa” after
\nthe subject. If a subject is understood, but for some reason not
\ndeleted (that’s rare) use “ga” or nothing. Often you can move a
\nsubject out after the verb when things start piling up before the
\nverb. Like: “Ashita boku ga kooen de utau.” (I’m singing at the park
\ntomorrow.) often becomes: “Ashita kooen de utau, boku.” For more on
\nSUBJECTs, see the longer description in the next section, “Subjects
\nand Deletion”. Knowing how to delete is a key to sounding natural.<\/p>\n
TIME is usually followed by “ni”. In general, use “ni” for specific
\npoints in time or specific spans of time. So “jyuu gatsu [ni]”
\n(October), “san gatsu mikka [ni]” (March 3rd) take “ni”. A word like
\n“ashita” (tomorrow) that can only be understood by context (it changes
\ndepending on when you say it). These types of words are called
\n“deictic” time words and don’t take “ni”. “Ashita iku” (“I’m going
\ntomorrow.”), but: “sanji ni iku” (“I’m going at 3.”) Even if you have
\ntrouble making the distinction between these two types of time words,
\ndon’t worry: Japanese people can understand what you mean even if you
\nget it backwards.<\/p>\n
PLACE\/IMPLEMENT is followed by “de”. By PLACE, I mean the location
\nthat a volitional *action* occurred. If you’re eating at home, that’s
\n“ouchi de shokuji suru”. If you’re eating with chopsticks, that’s
\n“ohasi de taberu”. The place you do something or the thing you use to
\ndo something takes “de”. If you’re going somewhere by car, you say
\n“kuruma de iku”. It’s not that hard to understand really. (See
\nINDIRECT OBJECT for why DESTINATIONs are different.) Verbs of motion
\nthat tell DESTINATION, or ones of existence that tell the LOCATION of
\nsomething take “ni”. (DESTINATIONs can also take “he”.) Try to
\ndistinguish PLACE from LOCATION by thinking of it this way: PLACE is
\nWHERE SOMETHING IS DONE, LOCATION is WHERE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IS.
\nUse “kara” (“from”) after an ORIGIN and “wo” after a ROUTE. “Gakkoo
\nkara, kooen wo totte, ouchi ni kaeru.” (Lit. “I’m going home from
\nschool through the park.”) There’s usually an intermediate verb in
\nthis type of usage.<\/p>\n
OBJECT is followed by “wo” or nothing. “Hon wo yonde iru” (I’m reading
\na book.) This is a really simple one in most cases. I really don’t
\nknow many Japanese learners who can’t understand this.<\/p>\n
INDIRECT OBJECT is followed by “ni”. By INDIRECT OBJECT, I mean a sort
\nof secondary object that some verbs take. “Kono hon wo anata ni
\nageru.” (“I’m going to give this to you.”) You have “this book” and
\nyou have “to you”. The “this book” part is the OBJECT. The “to you”
\npart is the INDIRECT OBJECT. “Wo” and “ni” are used to distinguish
\nthese two.<\/p>\n
VERB doesn’t take any particles, but it needs to be inflected. There’s
\na big section at the end on how you do that, and useful colloquial
\nEnglish equivalents of what those inflections mean.<\/p>\n
To boil this section down, remember it this way:<\/p>\n
SUBJECT+wa\/ga\/nothing (delete subject if possible, show changes with “wa”)
\nTIME+ni\/nothing (use nothing if it’s a deictic time word)
\nPLACE\/IMPLEMENT+de (is the place where you *do* or where you *are*?)
\nLOCATION+ni (is the place where you *are* or where you *do*?)
\nORIGIN+kara
\nROUTE+wo (is this a place on the way to where you’re going?)
\nDESTINATION+ni\/he (use “ni” over “he” but be aware that both are okay.)
\nINDIRECT OBJECT+ni (use this if you’re out of choices \ud83d\ude42
\nDIRECT OBJECT+wo<\/p>\n
After understanding the descriptions given earlier, these nine lines
\nare the key to knowing what particle to use 90% of the time. Even if
\nthese rules cause you to make a mistake you’re definitely being
\nunderstood.<\/p>\n
Subjects and Deletions<\/p>\n
Usually, you don’t have to worry about whether to use wa or ga,
\nbecause most subjects can usually be deleted. “You can’t get something
\nwrong, if you left it out in the first place.” That’s my philosophy.
\nSo we’ll work on the parts of sentences that you can delete, starting
\nwith subjects.<\/p>\n
If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly make a statement:<\/p>\n
“Ashita paatii ni iku.”
\n (“[I’m] going to the party tomorrow.”)<\/p>\n
The listener will assume the subject is you. So don’t bother supplying
\nany subject. To do so, is in fact, not natural; a Japanese wouldn’t
\nnormally do it.<\/p>\n
If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly ask a question:<\/p>\n
“Ashita paatii ni iku?”
\n (“[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?”)<\/p>\n
The listener will assume the subject is himself or herself. Easy! Most
\none-on-one conversations where you or the listener is the subject
\n*don’t need an explicit subject*. No chance of screwing up wa\/ga here.<\/p>\n
If you suddenly turn to a Japanese and want to make a statement or ask
\na question about some other person altogether, use “wa” after that
\nperson’s name or title the first time you mention that person:<\/p>\n
“Shachoo wa, ashita paatii ni iku?”
\n (“Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?”)<\/p>\n
Let’s just say the “wa” introduces a change in subject. This time it
\nsignals a change from the default “you the listener” to the “shachoo”.
\nAfter you establish that you’re talking about the president you can
\ngo back to dropping subjects again:<\/p>\n
“Sono ato wa, kaeru ka na?”
\n (“Is he going home after that?”–again some vagueness added with
\n “ka na” (“I wonder”). Don’t be too forward making assumptions
\n about other people. This trick also stops the listener from
\n thinking the question is back to being about themself. There’s a
\n strong tendency for questions to erase understood info and you
\n have to signal that things are unchanged. Usually you play with
\n the verb a little bit to get this across. Note that the change in
\n time being talked about was also signaled with a “wa”.)<\/p>\n
Note that this tendency to delete in Japanese parallels the point
\nwhere an English native speaker would use plain pronouns like, I, you,
\nhe, she, they. When you start a comment about yourself, you use “I”
\n(Japanese delete). When you ask about the listener, you use “you”
\n(Japanese delete). When you’ve first established someone and then keep
\ngoing with that person, you use “he” or “she” (Japanese delete). See?
\nSimple.<\/p>\n
Deleting other Established Info<\/p>\n
Just like with subjects any info that’s been established can be
\ndeleted, and any changes in established info can be signalled using
\n“wa”:<\/p>\n
“Ashita paatii ni iku?”
\n (“[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?”)<\/p>\n
“Un, anata wa?”
\n (“Yeah, how about you?”–info about “paatii ni” and “iku” unchanged,
\n therefore deleted. Subject changed to original questioner, so the
\n change is signaled with “wa”.)<\/p>\n
“Un-n, ikanai”
\n (“No, I’m not going.”–info about “paatii ni” still deleted, “iku”
\n comes back as “ikanai” because it has changed form.)<\/p>\n
“Sono ato no eiga wa?”
\n (“How about the movie afterwards?”–the established info “paatii”
\n changed to “eiga” so we use “wa” to establish the change in
\n understood information. Understood info that *hasn’t* changed is
\n still left out, like the subject “boku” and the action “iku”.)<\/p>\n
“Un-n, ikanai.”<\/p>\n
This is pretty much how deletions work whether it be subjects or
\nsomething else. In general, always go for deletions if possible. This
\nsection also serves the purpose of giving you a feel for “wa”.<\/p>\n
Particle Ga<\/p>\n
In general, you don’t need it. In the instances where you do, you
\ncan slowly build a feel for it. Basically, you need it in situations
\nwhere you’re not expressing a change in subject, but where you want
\nto state the subject even though it is established info. Usually,
\nthis is to add emphasis or avoid ambiguity.<\/p>\n
“Shacho wa, ashita paatii ni iku?”
\n (“Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?”)<\/p>\n
“Un-n, ikanai mitai.”
\n (“No, it doesn’t look like it.”–throw in a “mitai” because you
\n don’t wan’t to act too sure of the actions of others in Japanese.
\n We’re not really covering that though, it’s just a side note.)<\/p>\n
“Nande?”
\n (“Why not?”)<\/p>\n
“Sore ga wakaranai”
\n (“I don’t know why not.”–there’s no real ambiguity in this case,
\n and “wakaranai” alone would have worked, but it is a case where
\n you’re not changing an understood subject to another, you’re
\n restating the understood subject as such for some emphasis. If
\n you’re stating an established subject, for whatever reason, use
\n “ga”. But you could’ve deleted, and if you were following my
\n explanation you should have. This one sentence also helps dispell
\n the huge MYTH that “wa” is for negative sentences.)<\/p>\n
Particle Mo<\/p>\n
Use mo when you’re adding more info on a list of established info. It
\nmay be used alone when marking subjects and objects, and can follow
\nother particles (like ni, de, and he). Put it this way: if “wa” clears
\nthe understood info and replaces it, “mo” adds extra info on top of
\nwhat’s already there without clearing out anything.<\/p>\n
“Ashita paatii ni iku?”
\n (“[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?”)<\/p>\n
“Un, iku yo.”
\n (“Yeah, I’m going, how about you?”–note what was deleted and why.)<\/p>\n
“Boku mo iku.”
\n (“I’m going too.”–add yourself to the understood subject.)<\/p>\n
Mo is easy, so we won’t waste any more time with it. Just trying to be
\ncomplete and it only took a few lines to do.<\/p>\n
VERB CONJUGATIONS<\/p>\n
Another thing that many Japanese learners need is an easy method of
\narriving at all the verb conjugations and a highly reduced set of
\nrules for how to get them right on the different types of verbs.
\nThat’s easy enough really because there are only three major verb
\ntypes: -ru verbs, -u verbs, and -aru verbs (a polite type not much
\nused except for “gozaru\/gozaimasu”). People really hate Eleanor Jordan
\nfor this kind of naming, but in language learning you take what’s easy
\nand go with it; there’s no need to worry about theoretical linguistics
\nhere. Also note that I changed romanization styles at this point to
\none that makes the changes in verbs appear much more uniform.<\/p>\n
-Ru verbs are those that end in -ru like taberu and ireru. “-u” verbs
\nend in u, ku, gu, bu, mu, nu, su, tu, or [a,i,u,o]+ru (rarely e+ru
\nbecause those are almost always -ru verbs like taberu. I only know of
\nthree like that: keru\/kick, heru\/decrease and heru\/elapse–there are
\nprobably more, but I have a feeling they would also only be two
\nsyllables like these). So the only real overlap worth worrying about
\nis “i+ru”. If you memorize two forms for each of these (like:
\nireru\/irete and hairu\/haitte) you can keep them straight.<\/p>\n
-Ru Verbs<\/p>\n
Everything’s done by dropping or replacing -ru with something else.
\nJust remember the different uses of each conjugation.<\/p>\n
drop -ru to add things like -masu, -yasui (easy to):\ttabe
\n (tabeyasui (easy to eat))<\/p>\n
replace with “-te” for gerund:\t\ttabete
\n (gerund is for “and”-ing verbs (eat and go, “tabete iku”) and simple
\n orders (eat that, “are tabete”)<\/p>\n
replace with “-ta” for past tense:\ttabeta<\/p>\n
replace with “-tara” for meaning “if”: tabetara
\n (if I\/someone eats)<\/p>\n
replace with “-tari” for meaning “do things like”: tabetari
\n (I did things like eating–tabetari sita. not used much)<\/p>\n
replace with “-reba” for another “if”:\ttabereba
\n (if I\/someone eats. A little different from “-tara” but don’t worry
\n about that now, they’re pretty much interchangeable.)<\/p>\n
replace with “-yoo” for “let’s”:\ttabeyoo
\n (let’s eat)<\/p>\n
replace with “-ro” for rude orders:\ttabero
\n (eat dammit!)<\/p>\n
replace with “-nai” for negative:\ttabenai<\/p>\n
replace with “-rareru” for “can”:\ttaberareru <- these are now -ru verbs
\n (I can't eat this! kore taberarenai yo! Good in cafeteria's.)<\/p>\n
replace with "-saseru" for "make (someone) do":\ttabesaseru <- now a -ru verb
\n ("Kore tabesasenai de yo!" Don't make me eat this. A negative request
\n equal in level to "tabete" is "nai" plus "de")<\/p>\n
replace with "-rareru" for passive "was X-ed": taberareru hanasi (talk)
\nkiku -> kiki (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogi (swim)
\nyobu -> yobi (call)
\nnomu -> nomi (drink)
\nsinu -> sini (die)
\ntukuru -> tukuri (make)
\nmatu -> mati (wait)
\nharau -> harai (pay)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -ite for do “X and Y” and for simple commands.
\n (types not following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasite (talk)<\/p>\n
kiku -> kiite (walk) (replace entire -ku)
\noyogu -> oyoide (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ide)<\/p>\n
yobu -> yonde (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nde)
\nnomu -> nonde (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nde)
\nsinu -> sinde (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nde) <\/p>\n
tukuru -> tukutte (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tte)
\nmatu -> matte (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tte)
\nharau -> haratte (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -tte)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -ita for past tense.
\n (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasita (talk)<\/p>\n
kiku -> kiita (walk) (replace entire -ku)
\noyogu -> oyoida (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ida)<\/p>\n
yobu -> yonda (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nda)
\nnomu -> nonda (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nda)
\nsinu -> sinda (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nda) <\/p>\n
tukuru -> tukutta (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tta)
\nmatu -> matta (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tta)
\nharau -> haratta (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -tta)<\/p>\n
(In fact, I query search and replaced “e” with “a” on the gerunds to
\nget this if that helps any. The rule breakers are breaking the rule
\nuniformly now.)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -itara for “if”. (Or, just add “ra” to the past.)
\n (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasitara (talk)<\/p>\n
kiku -> kiitara (walk) (replace entire -ku)
\noyogu -> oyoidara (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idara)<\/p>\n
yobu -> yondara (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndara)
\nnomu -> nondara (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndara)
\nsinu -> sindara (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndara) <\/p>\n
tukuru -> tukuttara (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttara)
\nmatu -> mattara (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttara)
\nharau -> harattara (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -ttara)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -itari for “do things like X”. (Or just add “ri” to past.)
\n (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasitari (talk)<\/p>\n
kiku -> kiitari (walk) (replace entire -ku)
\noyogu -> oyoidari (swim) (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idari)<\/p>\n
yobu -> yondari (call) (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndari)
\nnomu -> nondari (drink) (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndari)
\nsinu -> sindari (die) (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndari) <\/p>\n
tukuru -> tukuttari (make) (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttari)
\nmatu -> mattari (wait) (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttari)
\nharau -> harattari (pay) (replace -u, be sure to use -ttari)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -eba for “if”
\n (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanaseba (talk)
\nkiku -> kikeba (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogeba (swim)
\nyobu -> yobeba (call)
\nnomu -> nomeba (drink)
\nsinu -> sineba (die)
\ntukuru -> tukureba (make)
\nmatu -> mateba (wait)
\nharau -> haraeba (pay)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -oo for “let’s do X”.
\n (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasoo (talk)
\nkiku -> kikoo (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogoo (swim)
\nyobu -> yoboo (call)
\nnomu -> nomoo (drink)
\nsinu -> sinoo (die)
\ntukuru -> tukuroo (make)
\nmatu -> matoo (wait)
\nharau -> haraoo (pay)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -e for rude orders “do X dammit”.
\n (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanase (talk)
\nkiku -> kike (walk)
\noyogu -> oyoge (swim)
\nyobu -> yobe (call)
\nnomu -> nome (drink)
\nsinu -> sine (die)
\ntukuru -> tukure (make)
\nmatu -> mate (wait)
\nharau -> harae (pay)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -anai for negative. (This is now an adjective.)
\n (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one type)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasanai (talk)
\nkiku -> kikanai (walk)
\noyogu -> oyoganai (swim)
\nyobu -> yobanai (call)
\nnomu -> nomanai (drink)
\nsinu -> sinanai (die)
\ntukuru -> tukuranai (make)
\nmatu -> matanai (wait)
\nharau -> harawanai (pay) (stick a wa in there, not just an “a”. Makes
\n it easier to say, too. Lucky us!)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -eru for “can do X”. This is now a -ru verb.
\n (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanaseru (talk)
\nkiku -> kikeru (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogeru (swim)
\nyobu -> yoberu (call)
\nnomu -> nomeru (drink)
\nsinu -> sineru (die)
\ntukuru -> tukureru (make)
\nmatu -> materu (wait)
\nharau -> haraeru (pay)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -aseru for “make (someone) do X”. This is now a -ru verb.
\n (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasaseru (talk)
\nkiku -> kikaseru (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogaseru (swim)
\nyobu -> yobaseru (call)
\nnomu -> nomaseru (drink)
\nsinu -> sinaseru (die)
\ntukuru -> tukuraseru (make)
\nmatu -> mataseru (wait)
\nharau -> harawaseru (pay) (Don’t forget to throw a wa in there!)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -areru for “X is done (often to someone)”. This is now
\na -ru verb. (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of
\nthe types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasareru (talk)
\nkiku -> kikareru (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogareru (swim)
\nyobu -> yobareru (call)
\nnomu -> nomareru (drink)
\nsinu -> sinareru (die)
\ntukuru -> tukurareru (make)
\nmatu -> matareru (wait)
\nharau -> harawareru (pay) (Don’t forget to throw a wa in there!)<\/p>\n
Replace -u with -aserareru for “be made to do X by someone”. Same
\nresult as just doing the two conjunctions separately but is taught
\nin most books as a specific conjunction. This is now a -ru verb.
\n (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types)<\/p>\n
hanasu -> hanasaserareru (talk)
\nkiku -> kikaserareru (walk)
\noyogu -> oyogaserareru (swim)
\nyobu -> yobaserareru (call)
\nnomu -> nomaserareru (drink)
\nsinu -> sinaserareru (die)
\ntukuru -> tukuraserareru (make)
\nmatu -> mataserareru (wait)
\nharau -> harawaserareru (pay) (Don’t forget to throw a wa in there!)<\/p>\n
Now that was long, but it was mostly cut-and-paste because even these
\nare well-behaved when you organize them correctly. When you boil down
\nwhat needs to be done to these verbs to conjugate them correctly, the
\ninformation required is really minimal–even for the oddballs. That’s
\nall you need to be able to conjugate almost every verb in Japanese.
\nMost books say that their are only two irregular verbs in all of
\nJapanese: suru and kuru. Those you have to learn separately, but they
\nkind of make sense. In fact, though, there’s a third one: iku. The
\nreason is that unlike kiita for kiku, you don’t say iita, you say
\nitta. You don’t say, iite, you say itte. But it’s regular in it’s
\nirregularity because it acts like tsukuru for some weird reason.<\/p>\n
kuru (“will come”, or “comes (often, everyday, etc.)”)
\nki (to add “-masu”, note that “-yasui” isn’t used)
\nkite (casual command: “come here”)
\nkita (past tense: “someone came”)
\nkitara (add ra to past) (“if(once) someone comes”, some connotation of when)
\nkitari (ad ri to past)\t (“do things like come”)
\nkureba (“if someone comes”, no connotation of when)
\nkoyoo\t\t\t (“let’s come”, no, it can’t possibly mean orgasms)
\nkoi (rude request: “come here you”)
\nkonai (negative: “won’t come” or “doesn’t come (very much)”)
\nkorareru (“can come”)
\nkosaseru (“make (someone) come”)
\nkorareru (passive–no example comes to mind)
\nkosaserareru (“be made to come (by someone)”)<\/p>\n
suru (“will do”, or “does (often, everyday, etc.)”)
\nsi (to add “-masu”, or “-yasui”)
\nsite (casual command: “do this”)
\nsita (past tense: “someone did”)
\nsitara (add ra to past) (“if(once) someone does”, some connotation of when)
\nX sitari (ad ri to past) (“do things like doing X”)
\nsureba (“if someone does”, no connotation of when)
\nX siyoo\t\t\t (“let’s do X”)
\nsiro (rude request: “do this dammit”)
\nsinai (negative: “won’t do” or “doesn’t do (very much)”)
\ndekiru (really “seru”) (“can do”–“someone I can love”: “ai seru hito”)
\nsaseru (“make (someone) do”)
\nsareru (“be done (by someone”))
\nsaserareru (“be made to do (by someone)”)<\/p>\n
A cool trick to remember suru is that many of the conjugations match
\nwhat you would get if you conjugated a lone “su”, so it’s kind of like
\n“hanasu”. Hanasita–sita. Hanaseru–seru. Hanasaseru–saseru.<\/p>\n
Adjectives<\/p>\n
These aren’t that hard. They always end in [a,i,u,o]+i. They *never*
\nend in e+i that would be a noun. Basically you replace “i” with a form
\nof “ka” to inflect.<\/p>\n
yasashii (“It’s nice”)
\nyasashiku nai (“It’s not nice”)
\nyasashikatta (“It was nice”)
\nyasashikattara (“If it’s nice.”)
\nyasashikattari (possible I suppose but not heard often)
\nyasashikereba (“If it’s nice.”)<\/p>\n
These inflections follow what a “ka+u” verb would do. If you can
\nconjugate “kau” (to buy) you can conjugate every Japanese adjective.
\nJust note that you don’t say: “atsukaseru” for “make something hot”
\nyou say “atsuku suru”. For a command, say: “yasashiku natte” (“be
\nnice”).<\/p>\n
————————————————————————
\nTad Perry Internet: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu
\n CompuServe: 70402,3020
\n NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266
\n————————————————————————<\/p>\n
