SUBJECT:	JAPANESE LANGUAGE
TOPIC:	Doing This and That
SOURCE:	Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (1994) Japanese for Busy People I (Revised Edition) Lesson 19
DATE:	10 Mar 2003

LESSON DIALOGUE

Mrs. Smith is telling Mr. Hayashi about her friend Linda who has just arrived in Japan.

Sumisu:	Kinō Amerkida kara tomodachi no Rinda-san ga kimashita.
Hayashi:	Rinda-san wa itsu made Nihon ni imasu ka.
Sumisu:	Konshū no kin-yōbi made Tōkyō ni imasu. Tōkyō ni mikka dake imasu. Sorekara watashi to issho ni ryokō o shimasu.
Hayashi:	Doko ni ikimasu ka.
Sumisu:	Kyōto to Nara ni itte, furui o-tera ya niwa o mimasu. Soshite Rinda-san wa raishū no moku-yōbi ni Amerika ni kaerimasu.

Sumisu-san no tomodachi no Rinda-san wa kinō Amerika kara kimashita. Raishū no moku-yōbi made Nihon ni imasu.

Translation

Smith:	My friend Linda came from America yesterday.
Hayashi:	How long (literally until when) is Linda staying in Japan?
Smith:	She’ll be in Tokyo until this Friday. She’ll only be in Tokyo three days. Then she’s taking a trip with me.
Hayashi:	Where are you going?
Smith:	We’ll go to Kyoto and Nara and see (things like) old temples and gardens. Then Linda returns to America on Thursday of next week.

Mrs. Smith’s friend Linda arrived yesterday from America. She is staying in Japan until Thursday of next week.

Vocabulary

imasu konshū mikka dake sorekara o-tera

stay this week (for) 3 days only after that temple

GRAMMAR

All the verbs presented so far have been in, or derived from, the –MASU form. Here are two other important verb forms, the –TE form and the –NAI form.

1. –TE form

Regular I
Buy	Kai-masu	Katte	Go	Iki-masu	Itte*
Return	Kaeri-masu	Kaette	Read	Yomi-masu	Yonde
Wait	Machi-masu	Matte	Call	Yobi-masu	Yonde
Write	Kaki-masu	kaite	Push	Oshi-masu	Oshite
Regular II
Eat	Tabe-masu	Tabete	See	mi-masu	Mite
Show	Mise-masu	Misete	Get off	Ori-masu	Orite
Irregular
Come	Ki-masu	Kite	Do	Shimasu	Shite

* irregular change

As shown above, the –TE form can be made from the –MASU form, although most Regular I verbs undergo a phonetic change.

Use of –TE form: The –TE form of the verb occurs in the middle of sentences or combined with KUDASAI to form the polite imperative. It is used extensively and has various meanings which should be learned.

2. –NAI form

Regular I
Buy	Kai-masu	Kawanai	Write	Kaki-masu	Kakanai
Return	Kaeri-masu	Kaeranai	Go	Iki-masu	Ikinai
Wait	Machi-masu	Matanai
Regular II
Eat	Tabe-masu	Tabenai	See	Mi-masu	Minai
Show	Mise-masu	Misenai	Get off	Ori-masu	Orinai
Irregular
Come	Ki-masu	Konai	Do	Shi-masu	Shinai

Use of the –NAI form: A negative verb when used in mid-sentence usually takes the –NAI form, rather than the –MASEN form it has at the end of a sentence. Here, only the following use of the –NAI form is given: verb –NAI DE KUDASAI, “please do not…”

This verb –NAI + DE + KUDASAI is a polite prohibition. (White not included here, it should be noted that the –NAI form does end negative sentences in familiar speech, which uses the dictionary form for present and future and the –TA form for the past tense.)

As can be inferred from the above, the conjugation of Japanese verbs fall into the following three categories.

Regular I: Five-vowel conjugation

Regular II: Single-vowel conjugation

Irregular: There are only two irregular verbs, SHIMASU and KIMASU.

Regular I verbs are conjugated according to the Japanese vowel order A, I, U, E, O. Regular II verbs are based on the vowels I and E only. From the –NAI form it can be seen whether a verb is Regular I or Regular II. If the vowel preceding –NAI is A, it is a Regular I verb. If it is I or E, it is a regular II verb.

	Regular I	Regular II
-nai form	Kaka-nai	Tabe-nai
-masu form	Kaki-masu	Tabe-masu
dictionary form	Kaku	Taberu
conditional form	Kake-ba	Tabere-ba
volitional form	Ka-kō	Tabeyō
-te form	Kaite	Tabete
-ta form	kaita	Tabeta

NOTES

1. Since we hear about Linda for the first time in the first sentence, she takes the subject marker GA. As soon as the existence of Linda is understood by both speaker and listener, she becomes the topic, and then takes the topic marker WA.

2. Kyōto to Nara ni itte, furui o-tera ya niwa o mimasu.

When one action is followed by another, the first clause is terminated by the verb –TE form. The subject of the first clause and the second clause is the same. This cannot be done unless the mood and the tense of both sentences are the same. The following two sentences cannot be connected by the verb –TE form.

A. Statement: Watashi wa kippu ga 2-mai arimasu. “I have two tickets.”

B. Suggestion: Ashita issho ni eiga ni ikimashō. “Let’s go to the movies tomorrow.”

USEFUL VOCABULARY

-kan dake donogurai no ato de (shigoto no ato de) no mae ni (asa-gohan no mae ni) sorekara sukoshi imasu -jikan konshū mikka o-tera -shukan

for only how long after (after work) before before breakfast after that a little stay (for) hours (counter) this week (for) 3 days temple weeks (counter)

KEY SENTENCES

1. (Watashi wa) Kinō shigoto no ato de tomodachi to shokuji o shite, 9-ji ni uchi ni kaerimashita.

2. Kurāku-san wa kyonen no 5-gatsu kara Nihon ni imasu. Soshite rainen no 3-gatsu made (Nihon ni) imasu. “Mr. Clark has been in Japan since last May and will stay until next March.

3. Tanaka-san wa mainichi 2-jikan benkyō o shimasu. “Mr. Tanaka studies two hours every day.”

4. Hayashi-san wa asa-gohan no mae ni rajio de nyūsu o kikimasu. Shokuji no ato de shimbun o yomimasu. “Mr. Hayashi listens to the news on the radio before breakfast. After the meal, he reads the newspaper.”

SHORT DIALOGUES

Japanese Dialogue 1

Yamada:	Howaito-san wa donogurai Nihon-go no benkyō o shimashita ka.
Howaito:	4-shūkan dake shimashita. Mainichi 2-jikan shimashita.
Yamada:	Nihon-go no benkyō wa dō deshita ka.
Howaito:	Sukoshi muzukashikatta desu ga, omoshirokatta desu.

Translation

Yamada:	How long did you study Japanese?
White:	Only 4 weeks, 2 hours a day.
Yamada:	How did you find Japanese?
White:	It was a little difficult but fun.

Japanese Dialogue 2

Tanaka:	O-sake wa ikaga desu ka.
Hayashi:	Kyō wa kekkōdesu.
Tanaka:	Dōshite desu ka.
Hayashi:	Kuruma de kimashita kara.

Translation

Tanaka:	Will you have some sake?
Hayashi:	No thank you, not today.
Tanaka:	Why?
Hayashi:	Because I came by car.