Posted by Ginny
For today’s post we’ll take a look at the ませんか construction. Let’s take a look at this sample sentence, “にほんご を べんきょうしませんか“. (にほんご = Japanese language. を = wo. べんきょうしませんか = won’t you study.) In English this sentence would mean “Won’t you study Japanese [with me]?”. To form the “Won’t you” construction, take the present polite negative ません ending and add the interrogative particle か to it. In this case the present polite negative of “to study” is べんきょうしません then add か the question marking particle and you get べんきょうしませんか.
For added emphasis you could add the phrase “with me”, but it’s already implied that you are extending an invitation to someone to do something with you, so you don’t absolutely need to say “with me”. For example, you could have said, “わたし と のみませんか“. (わたし = me. と = with. のみませんか = won’t you drink.) In English this would mean “Won’t you drink with me?” You can also change the pronoun わたしlike in this sentence, “わたしたち と おさか に いきませんか“, which means, “Won’t you go to Osaka with us?” (わたしたち = us. と = with. おさか = Osaka. に = ni particle. いきませんか = won’t you go.)
The English translations for ませんか all vary depending on the author. Some translate ませんか as “Will you…”, others as “Why don’t we…”, still others as “What do you say to…”. Technically there is no set phrase for ませんか in English. As long as the English translation expresses an invitation to someone, it’ll do. One other thing I want to point out is the difference between a question like “えいが を みますか” versus “えいが を みませんか versus “えいが を みましょうか“. (えいが = movie. を = wo particle. みる = to see.) At some point we’ve talked about all three of these types of sentences, but let’s review.
In the very beginning we talked about asking questions using the か particle. So a question like “えいが を みますか” will be “Do you watch movies?” This type of question is different from “えいが を みませんか” (Won’t you watch a movie with me?) because the latter question was a question inviting someone to do something, while the former question was simply just a question. The last question, “えいが を みましょうか” means “Shall we watch a movie?” is different in that this question is a question offering someone a suggestion to do something rather than inviting someone to do something.
Ok, that’s it for today, またね! (later!)
Posted by Ginny
For today’s grammar point, let’s look at a sentence like this, “レストラン に いきましょう“. (レストラン = restaurant. に = ni particle. いきましょう = let’s go.) This sentence means, “Let’s go to [a/the] restaurant”. To form the “let’s” construction, just add ましょう to the stem of the verb. In this case the verb we used was いく, which means “to go”. When you conjugate this verb in the present polite affirmative you get いきます. When you leave off the ます you get the stem いき. Take the stem and attach it to ましょう. So let’s take a verb like たべる following the same steps we used for いく.
In the present polite affirmative たべる becomes たべます. Leave off the ます and attach ましょう. You get たべましょう as the final product. The interesting thing about using the “let’s” construction is that sometimes the “let’s” construction can be a veiled form of a wish or command. For example my housemate had this tendency to sleep late into the afternoon. My host mother would often say in an irritated voice, “いま おきましょう“. (いま = now. おきましょう = get up.) Literally this would mean “Let’s wake up”. Now normally sentences with the “let’s” form is used when you want to suggest a plan of action.
However in this situation, it’s more of a command. Since the host mother is not my housemate’s real mother, she can’t really “command” the housemate to wake up. Also, in an effort to be polite, she is using a gentle method to get the housemate to do something. Sometimes Japanese people are careful so as not to seem overbearing or commanding. That’s why normally verbs with the ましょう ending literally mean “let’s” but it all depends on context. Like in all languages, the tone of the person’s voice (whether the person sounds happy, annoyed etc) can also help you better figure out the context of the situation.
Now let’s look at a sentence like this, “てつたいましょうか“. Here in addition to the ましょう, you have か added to ましょう. In English, the addition of this か turns this sentence in the “shall” form. So in English this phrase would mean, “Shall [I] help?” Now depending on the context, this same phrase may not be a question, but a offer of help. In other words, “てつたいましょうか” could mean “I’ll help”. In turn “あけましょうか” could mean “Shall [I] open [it]?” or it could mean “I’ll open [it]“. If the person is already walking across the room to open a window, this phrase may make more sense to mean “I’ll open [it/window]” but if the person is hesitating and waiting for your response, this phrase may mean “Shall [I] open [it/window]?”. Again, it all depends upon the context.
Posted by Ginny
Today is the Kokumin Saiten (国民さいてん) or the day of the Emperor’s Ascension. The official ceremony for Emperor Akihito’s ascension to the throne was held in 1990 on the twelfth of November. Today is the twentieth anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s ascension. In celebration of this event, there was a concert held at the Koukyo (皇居) or the Imperial Palace. Famous guests included politicians, singers, actors, actresses, and Nobel prize winners. The band Exile (エグザイル) was the last band to perform for the Emperor and the Empress.
The 20th anniversary of the Emperor’s rise to the throne is important because it establishes a long tradition in keeping with Japanese culture and history. Generally speaking the senso (せんそ) or the succession of the Japanese throne was alloted to the male members of the royal family. However there were exceptions where women rose to the throne as empresses. Japanese succession laws are complicated and have endured for over a century. Some of the laws that were established a century ago include the right of the emperor to have several wives. Usually the emperor would have a main wife and several secondary or tertiary wives. Sometimes the emperor would also have concubines in addition to the wives.
Usually the primary wife would come from a distinguished noble family (like the Fujiwara clan). If the primary wife was unable to bear a male offspring, the succession laws permitted the sons of secondary wives to ascend the throne. Japanese history is rife with the stories of multiple wives and ministers all plotting for the seat of the throne. Emperor Akihito is actually the first emperor to marry a commoner as opposed to a daughter from a distinguished noble family. This break of formality was possible through the repealed succession laws after WWII. Currently the Japanese Diet is responsible for the laws regulating succession.
If no suitable male heirs existed, women could ascend the throne as empresses. Of course this was in the past. Currently, women are prohibited from ascending the throne. Soon Japan may face a succession crisis. The only child of Emperor Akihito’s son (who will one day ascend the throne himself) is a girl named Princess Aiko. Since the current succession laws do not recognize females as heirs to the throne, she may be bypassed by another male member of the royal family to the throne. There has been a lot of controversy about whether Japan’s views on succession are in keeping with contemporary ideas about women, but as of now there are still no plans for any changes to the succession laws.
Posted by Ginny
The に particle is a difficult particle to master because it has so many uses. We’ll only take a look at a couple of uses for now, but when we get to the advanced stage of grammar, we’ll talk more about に. In the general sense, you use に when you want to indicate toward who or what the action of the verb is directed to. For example, に can indicate the goal toward which things move. For example in the sentence なごや に いきました would mean “I went to Nagoya”. (なごや = Nagoya. に = ni particle. いきました = went.) Here the に particle takes on the meaning of “to”.
Now take a look at a sentence like this, そふ に てがみ を かきました which means “[I] wrote a letter to [my] grandpa”. (そふ = grandfather. に = ni particle. てがみ = letter. を = wo particle. かきました = wrote). Here the に also means “to” but it’s not used in the sense of direction or place like the example used in “I went to Nagoya”, it’s used as an indirect object marker. Take a look at another sentence, せんせい に しゅくだい を さしあげました which means “I gave the homework to the teacher”. (せんせい = teacher. に = ni particle. しゅくだい = homework. を = wo particle. さしあげました = gave).
The example, “I gave the homework to the teacher” is similar to the example “I wrote a letter to my grandfather”. Now we’ll look at another usage for に that is entirely different from the three examples we used. Take a look at a sentence like this, どうようび に ながの に かえりません which means “[I] will not return to Nagano on Saturday.” (どうようび = Saturday. に = ni particle. ながの = Nagano. に = ni particle. かえりません = will not). Here there are two に particles. Let’s tackle the second に particle that appears in the sentence. The second に serves the function of indicating the goal of movement.
However the first に serves a different function. The second に serves as a time indicator. In this example, どうようび was the specific time indicator. The same goes for this sentence, しちじ に たべます or “[I] will eat at seven o’clock”. (しちじ = seven o’clock. に = ni particle. たべます = will eat.) Here しちじ was the indication of time. Now there are certain time expressions in which people don’t normally use に. For example, words like きょう and あした are not followed by に. (きょう = today. あした = tomorrow) However, some people do use に after words like あさ and よる. (あさ = morning. よる = night.)
