BeginnersJapanese words

*Welcome to the Beginner Japanese course!* In this course, we will introduce new grammar parts that will improve your skills! "い" *Adjectives* In Japanese, adjectives are similar to verbs, also being *able to conjugate* for tense, polarity, etc. There are *two types* of adjectives and it is good to distinguish between them from the beginning. The first type is called *い-adjectives*. They are a little bit trickier than na adjectives. Let's have a look at the conjugation together! *Present affirmative*: "たかいです" *Present negative*: 　"たかくないです" or "たかくありません" *Past affirmative*: 　"たかかったです"　 *Past negative*: 　　"たかくなかったです" or "たかくありません" As you see, you work with the ending い, which changes into: "くない" in the present negative "かった" in past affirmative "くなかった" in the past negative, followed by です to preserve the polite form. Be careful, there is one exception with the adjective "いい" - good: "いいです" "よくないです" "よかったです" "よくなかったです"

"な" *Adjectives* The second type is *な-adjectives*. The conjugation is easier: *Present affirmative*: "ひまです" *Present negative*: 　"ひまではありません" or "ではないです" *Past affirmative*: 　"ひまでした"　 *Past negative*: 　　"ひまではありませんでした" or "ひまではなかったです" With *な-adjectives*, the final syllable "な" is dropped and the stem is followed by "です" conjugated in the desired way. Both "い" and "な" are the adjectives' last syllables when they modify nouns.

*I like, I dislike* With knowing how to conjugate adjectives, it is easy to express what one likes or dislikes by using the adjectives "すきな" and "きらいな". To do so, we have to keep two things in mind. 1) The person that likes or dislikes something is followed by the particle "は" 2) The person or object that is being liked or disliked is followed by the particle "が": My father likes cars. = ちち"は"くるま"が"すきです。 My little sister dislikes maths. = いもうと"は"すうがく"が"きらいです。 The whole conjugation of *like* and *dislike* goes as follows: アニメ"がすきです"。I like anime. アニメ"がすきではありません"。I do not fancy anime. アニメ"がきらいではありません"。I do not mind anime. アニメ"がきらいです"。I dislike anime. To express that you *love* or *hate* you can use the intensified forms: アニメ"がだいすきです"。I love anime. アニメ"がだいきらいです"。I hate anime. For *expressing that you neither like nor dislike something*, you can usually use: 好き"でもきらいでも"ありません。I neither like nor dislike.

*Location words* Let's learn how to *describe where things are*! To describe the location of an item relative to another item, we use this formula: ほん"は"かばん"の"なかです。The book is inside the bag. If you want to say, that something is *between* something else, the sentence goes as follows: テレビ"は"本"と"ラジオ"の"あいだです。 Here you put the particle "と" between the respective nouns.

*Te forms - verbs* In this chapter, you will learn how to form sentences such as *Please sit down and* *May I have a cup of tea*. *Te-forms* are mainly used for 1. *forming sentences that describe two or more activities* 2. *making a request* 3. *giving or asking for permission* 4. to tell *someone* not to *do something*. You can form *te-forms* from both verbs and adjectives. The following explains how to form them from verbs first. Depending on the ending of each verb, te-forms can be formed differently: For the *verb ru*, take the ending "る" and add "て" instead. "みる" = "みて" *U* verbs are trickier, but their conjugation is considerably more complex: "う"Verbs ending in "つ", "る": "会う" = "あって" "持つ" = "もって" "切る" = verbs ending in "きって" "む", "ぶ", "ぬ": "住む" = "すんで" "呼ぶ" = "よんで" "死ぬ" = verbs ending in "しんで" "く": "聞く" = "きいて" Never mind verbs ending in "行く" = "いって" "ぐ": "泳ぐ" = Verbs ending in "およいで" "す": "話す" = "はなして" *Describes two or more activities* The *te-form* can be used to *combine two or more verbs* to describe a *series of events or* actions (e.g. I woke up, had a coffee, and went to work). Put simply, the *te-form* does *the* work of the verb *and* works with the verb (you cannot add "と" to connect two verbs, as you can with nouns!) . As an example: "起きて、コーヒーを飲んで、仕事に行きました。" I woke up, had a coffee, and went to work.

*Describing two or more activities* *Te-forms* can be used for *combining two or more verbs* to describe a *sequence of events or actions* (fe. I woke up, had a coffee, and went to work). Simply said, the *te-form* does the work of *and* with verbs. Note, that you cannot connect two verbs by adding "と" as in the case with nouns! Example: "起きて、コーヒーを飲んで、仕事に行きました。" I woke up, had a coffee, and went to work.

*Making requests* To say *Please, sit down* or *Please, explain it to me*, you also use the *te-form* and "ください". Example: "すわってください。" *Please, sit down.* "おしえてください。" *Please, explain it to me.*

*May I?* *You must not*. By using *te-form* you can also *give or ask for permission* as well as say that something is *forbidden*. "てもいいです" *You may...*. "てもいいですか" *May I...?* "てはいけません" *You must not*.

*Explaining a reason* To explain why you did something or why something happened, you simply add "から" at the end of the sentence. Example: "しゅうまつにべんきょうします。らいしゅうテストがありますから。"　 *I will study this weekend. (Because) I have a test next week.* "ホテルをよやくします。りょこうに行きますから。" *I will make a hotel reservation. (Because) I am going on vacation.* You can also connect the two sentences into one. In this case, you change the order, and the sentence which is stating the reason will come first, followed by "から". "らいしゅうテストがありますから、しゅうまつにべんきょうします。"　 *I will study this weekend. (Because) I have a test next week.* "りょこうに行きますから、ホテルをよやくします。" *I will make a hotel reservation. (Because) I am going on vacation.*

*Te forms - adjectives* As mentioned, we use *-te forms* for verbs and adjectives. In the case of *adjectives*, when connecting them together, we can form *longer sentences* to say more things about a person, object, or situation. We can use *-te forms* both for *い, な adjectives * and nouns. We do not have to use the *-te forms* only for one category, but we can combine them together. In the case of *affirmative*, the *-te form* goes as follows: "い" adjectives: "たかい" = "たかくて"　Exception in "いい" = "よくて" "な" adjectives:　"きれいな" = "きれいで" noun + "です": "先生です" = "先生で" An example of using these in a sentence could be: "山田さんは背が高くて、きれいで、先生です。" The *negative* forms would be the following: "い" adjectives: "たかい" = "たかくなくて"　Exception in "いい" = "よくなくて" "な" adjectives:　"きれいな" = "きれいではなくて" noun + "です": "先生です" = "先生ではなくて"

*Describe the consequences of ongoing actions and changes.* To form sentences such as ' *I* am reading a book' or ' *My sister got married* ', use the auxiliary verb "いる" after the *-te form*. Verbs *describing* ongoing actions "勉強しています" He/she is reading. "食べています" He/she is reading. "見ています" He/she is looking. Verbs *describing* the result of a change: "結婚しています" He/she got married. "知っています" He/she knows. "痩せています" He/she has lost weight.

*Describing physical attributes* The Japanese language has a specific way of describing somebody or something. "象は鼻が長いです。" Elephants have long trunks. (=As for elephants, they have long trunks) "木村さんは耳が大きいです。" Kimura has big ears. "光さんは頭がいいです。" Hikari is smart. The particle "は" is used for the subject and the particle "が" describes the subject.

*Short forms - present tense* So far, we have learned the long/polite forms both for verbs and adjectives ending with "です" or "ます". *Short forms* are used in represented or quoted speech (*I think*, *He said*, *I heard*...), in *casual conversations* (as signs of intimacy), or in making negative requests (*Please don't*). Before we start learning them, there are a few rules worth remembering: →　*Verbs* and *い-adjectives* in the affirmative are the same as their dictionary forms →　*な-adjectives* and *noun + です* in the affirmative replace "です" with "だ" →　*い and な-adjectives* and *noun + です* in the negative replace "ありません" with "ない" *Negative Short Forms* *ru-verbs*: Take the final "る" off and add "ない" Ex: "食べる -> 食べない" *u-verbs*: Take the final "う" off and add "あない" Ex: "よむ -> よまない" Be careful! The negative short forms of verbs that end with "う" are "わない" instead of "あない" *Irregular verbs*: "する -> しない"、"くる -> こない" *Exception*: "ある -> ない" To have everything in one place, we created an easy overview for you: (The short form is on the left and the long form is on the right) *Present tense, affirmative:* "食べる → 食べます" "行く → 行きます" "高い → 高いです" "いじわるだ → いじわるです" "先生だ → 先生です" *Present tense, negative:* "食べない → 食べません" "行かない → 行きません" "高くない → 高くないです" "いじわるではない → いじわるではありません" "先生ではない → 先生ではありません" Below you will find some examples of *informal speech*. Let's practice!

*Quotations* As mentioned, we use short forms also to be able to say *I heard*, *She said*, *I read* or *I think*. In this case, we use a *clause ending with a predicate in the short form* and add: "と思います" *I think* (that) ... "と言っていました" (She) *said* (that) ... "と聞きました" *I heard* (that) ... "と読みました" *I read* (that) ... "と" is a quotation particle, which does the job of both the English word *that* in the indirect quotation and of *quotation marks* in the direct quotation.

*Please don't...* We can use a *negative verbal short form* plus "でください" to request that someone refrain from doing something: "食べないでください" Please don't eat. "行かないでください" Please don't go. "話さないでください" Please don't speak. "しないでください" Please don't do.

*Do you like swimming?* *Short forms* can also helps us to construct sentences like *I like swimming*, *Tom is good at cooking* or *He hates driving*. To do so, we use *short forms* in constructions where verbs and adjectives are to be treated as nouns. How to do it? Just add "の" to a verbal short form to express the idea of *doing something*: "運転するのがきらいです。" (I) hate driving. "歌を歌うのが好きです。" (I) love singing. "料理するのが上手です。" (He) is good at cooking. "絵をかくのが下手です。" (We) are not good at drawing.

*Short forms - past tense* Here we discuss the *past tense of short forms*. The predicates can be used in the same way as the present tense forms. *Points to remember:* → *Verbs*: replace "て/で" in te-forms with "た/だ" → *い-adjectives* in the affirmative and all categories in the negative replace the final "い" with "かった" → *な-adjectives* and *noun+です* in the affirmative replace "だ" with "だった" → *Two irregularities*: "いく"　→　"いった" and "いい"　→　"よかった、よくなかった" *Let's have a look at each of them:* (For comparison, the short form is on the left and the long form is on the right) "見た" → "見ました" "飲んだ" → "飲みました" "買った" → "買いました" "高かった" → "高かったです" "いじわるだった" → "いじわるでした" "先生だった" → "先生でした" "見なかった" → "見ませんでした" "飲まなかった" → "飲みませんでした" "買わなかった" → "買いませんでした" "高くなかった" → "高くなかったです" "いじわるではなかった" → "いじわるでした" "先生ではなかった" → "先生でした"