Grammar – NIHONGO ICHIBAN

i-adjectives: the sou-form

April 23, 2011 by Nicolas 3 Comments

The sou-form of an i-adjective expresses that something seems to be in a certain way. It translates into sentences such as it looks red (akasou).

It is very easy to build. Just replace the last “i” of the adjective with a “sou”. So 楽しい (tanoshii, enjoyable) becomes 楽しそう (tanoshisou). Here are a few more examples to make it clear.

Plain Form	Romaji	Meaning	sa Form	Romaji
楽しい	tanoshii	enjoyable	楽しそう	tanoshisou
美しい	utsukushii	beautiful	美しそう	utsukushisou
新しい	atarashii	new	新しそう	atarashisou
赤い	akai	red	赤そう	akasou
大きい	ookii	big	大きそう	ookisou

Example sentences:

この料理はとても美味しそうです。

このりょうりはとてもおいしそうです。

kono ryouri wa totemo oishisou desu.

This dish looks very delicious.

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Filed Under: Adjectives Tagged With: Japanese grammar

The Japanese language is very flexible with adjectives. The sa-form allows to use an i-adjective as a noun or in other words to add ~ness to it (e.g. useful => usefulness, powerful => powerfulness, etc.)

It is very easy to build. Just replace “i” at the end of the word with a “sa”. So 楽しい (tanoshii, enjoyable) becomes joy as 楽しさ (tanoshisa). Here are a few more examples to make it clear.

Plain Form	Romaji	Meaning	sa Form	Romaji	Meaning
楽しい	tanoshii	enjoyable	楽しさ	tanoshisa	joy
美しい	utsukushii	beautiful	美しさ	utsukushisa	beauty
新しい	atarashii	new	新しさ	atarashisa	newness
赤い	akai	red	赤さ	akasa	redness
大きい	ookii	big	大きさ	ookisa	size, dimensions

Example sentences:

日本のお寺の美しさが好きです。

nihon no otera no utsukushisa ga suki desu.

I like the beauty of Japanese temples.

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Expressing a position in Japanese

March 28, 2011 by Nicolas 3 Comments

Description

In Japanese positions are expressed by putting position-noun behind the noun whose position is being described. Both nouns are connected using the particle の (no). In addition the Particles に (ni) or で (de) used behing the position-noun indicated that it is about a location.

The general structure of the description of a position is as follows:

[Noun] + の (no) + [position noun] + に (ni) or で (de)

Example

This example gives you an idea on how a sentence explaining a position looks like.

Position-nouns

Kanji	Furigana	Romaji	Translation
上	うえ	ue	above, on, over
下	した	shita	under, below
前	まえ	mae	in front of
後ろ	うしろ	ushiro	behind
右	みぎ	migi	right hand of
左	ひだり	hidari	left hand of
先	さき	saki	before
横	よこ	yoko	next to
隣り	となり	tonari	next to
側	そば	soba	next to
中	なか	naka	inside
辺	へん	hen	around here
角	かど	kado	at the corner of
隅	すみ	sumi	in the corner of
奥	おく	oku	inside the building
外	そと	soto	outside
内	うち	uchi
間	あいだ	aida	in between
近く	ちかく	chikaku	close to, near to

Filed Under: Grammar Tagged With: Japanese grammar

Calendar days in Japanese

March 28, 2011 by Nicolas 1 Comment

The expression of calendar days requires the Japanese as well as the Chinese basic numbers systems. Japanese numbers are used from the first to the tenth as well as for the 14th and 24th day. All other days use the Chinese numbering system. Be careful for the 20th day, which is irregular.

Day	Kanji	Furigana	Romaji
1	一日	ついたち	tsuitachi
2	二日	ふつか	futsuka
3	三日	みっか	mikka
4	四日	よっか	yokka
5	五日	いつか	itsuka
6	六日	むいか	muika
7	七日	なのか	nanoka
8	八日	ようか	youka
9	九日	ここのか	kokonoka
10	十日	とおか	tooka
11	十一日	じゅういちにち	juuichinichi
12	十二日	じゅうににち	juuninichi
14	十四日	じゅうよっか	juuyoka
15	十五日	じゅうごにち	juugonichi
20	二十日	はつか	hatsuka
21	二十一日	にじゅういちにち	nijuuichinichi
24	二十四日	にじゅうよっか	nijuuyokka
31	三十一日	さんじゅういちにち	sanjuuichinichi

Filed Under: Numbers Tagged With: Japanese grammar

List of Japanese classificators

March 28, 2011 by Nicolas 4 Comments

When counting in Japanese certain special counters need to be applied depending on the objects or subject, which is being counted. Below you will find a list of the most commonly used counters.

Objects

Subject	Kanji	Furigana	Romaji	Examples
books	冊	さつ	satsu	一冊 (issatsu), 二冊 (nisatsu), etc.
buildings	軒	けん	ken	一軒 (ikken), 二軒 (niken), etc.
cups	杯	はい	hai	一杯 (ippai), 二杯 (nihai), etc.
flat objects	枚	まい	mai	一枚 (ichimai), 二枚 (nimai), etc.
floors	階	かい	kai	一階 (ikkai), 二階 (nikai), etc.
machines, cars	台	だい	dai	一台 (ichidai), 二台 (nidai), etc.
small objects	個	こ	ko	一個 (ikko), 二個 (niko),
Yen	円	えん	en	一円 (ichien), 二円 (nien),

Living things

Subject	Kanji	Furigana	Romaji	Examples
people	人	にん	nin	一人(hitori), 二人 (futari), 三人 (sannin) etc.
small animals	匹	ひき	hiki	一匹 (ippiki), 二匹 (nihiki), etc.
birds & rabbits	羽	わ	wa	一羽 (ichiwa), 二羽 (niwa), etc.
large animals	頭	とう	tou	一頭 (ittou), 二頭 (nitou), etc.

Occurrences & ranking

Subject	Kanji	Furigana	Romaji	Examples
stays over night	泊	はく	haku	一泊 (ippaku), 二泊 (nihaku), etc.
times	回	かい	kai	一回 (ikkai), 二回 (nikai),
times	度	ど	do	一度 (ichido), 二度 (nido),
rank	番	ばん	ban	一番 (ichiban), 二番 (niban),
book, newspaper issue	号	ごう	gou	一号 (ichigou), 二号 (nigou),

Time

Subject	Kanji	Furigana	Romaji	Examples
seconds	秒	びょう	byou	一秒 (ichibyou), 二秒 (nibyou),
minutes	分	ふん	fun	一分 (ippun), 二分 (nifun, etc.),
clock hours	時	じ	ji	一時 (ichiji), 二時 (niji, etc.),
hours (duration)	時間	じかん	jikan	一時間 (ichijikan), 二時間 (nijikan, etc.),
weeks (duration)	週間	しゅうかん	shuukan	一週間 (isshuukan), 二週間 (nishuukan, etc.),
months (duration)	ヶ月	かげつ	kagetsu	一ヶ月 (ikkagetsu), 二ヶ月 (nikagetsu, etc.),
years (duration)	年間	ねんかん	nenkan	一年間 (ichinenkan), 二年間 (ninenkan, etc.),
years (age)	才	さい	sai	一才 (issai), ニ才 (nisai, etc.),
years (age)	歳	さい	sai	一才 (issai), ニ才 (nisai, etc.),

Filed Under: Numbers Tagged With: Japanese grammar

i-adjectives: the sou-form

i-adjectives: the sa-form