Posts from February 2010

We’ve seen the particle used in certain grammatical expressions like:

先生が好きです = I like the teacher.

(先生 = せんせい/teacher. = ga particle. 好きです = すきです/like)

and 傘がありません = I don’t have an umbrella.

( = かさ/umbrella. = ga particle. ありません = don’t have)

There are also other uses of . The particle can be used for emphasis:

山下さんがそれをします = Mr. Yamashita will do it (that).

(山下 = やました/Yamashita. さん = Mr. = ga particle. それ = that/it. = direct object particle. します = do)

Also, is used after interrogative words:

誰が来ましたか = Who came [here]?

( = だれ/who. = ga particle. 来ました = きました/came. = question marking particle.)

is also used as a topic marking particle of a sentence:

あの人が鈴木さんです彼女はここの学生です = That person over there is Ms. Suzuki. She is a student here.

(あの = That over there. 人 = ひと/person. が = ga particle. 鈴木 = すずき/Suzuki. さん = Ms. です = is.)

(彼女 = She. は = subject marking particle. ここ = here. の = possession marking particle. 学生 = student.です = is)

The first sentence uses because the topic of the conversation concerning Ms. Suzuki hasn’t been introduced yet. The second sentence uses because Ms. Suzuki has already been introduced and therefore she is now the subject of the sentence. Therefore is used when we haven’t been introduced to someone’s identity yet.

The 七福神 (しちふくじん) or the Seven Lucky Gods are deities that occur frequently in Japanese art and mythology.

布袋 (ほてい) is the god of good health and abundance. He is depicted as a plump and bald man with a protruding belly. Somtimes he is seen holding a bag full of presents. He also symbolizes happiness, which is why he is always depicted as smiling or laughing.

寿老人 (じゅろうじん) is the god of long life. He is depicted as an old man with a long beard. Sometimes he is seen with animals that symbolize longevity, such as the crane and tortoise. According to mythology, he has a scroll that contains the written life span of all living things.

福禄寿 (ふくろくじゅ) is the god of happiness, wealth and longevity. = happiness. = wealth. 寿 = longevity. He’s often depicted with an elongated, bare forehead and has the ability to resurrect the dead.

毘沙門天 (びしゃもんてん) is the guardian of warriors. He is depicted as armored and holding a spear. Legend says that he punishes those who are evil and guards the temples where the Buddha resides.

弁財天 (べんざいてん) is the goddess of music, art, beauty and knowledge. She is often depicted with a 琵琶 (びわ) or a Japanese lute. Before she was assigned as one of the seven lucky gods, she was known as the protector of the Japanese nation and its people.

大黒天 (だいこくてん) is the god of wealth, business, commerce and trade. He is usually depicted with chubby cheeks and sagging earlobes. His trademark is his mallet and he is often seen with mice. The mice symbolizes abundance of food.

恵比寿 (えびす) is the guardian over fisherman and merchants. He is often depicted with a fishing rod and a large sea bream. According to mythology, he was born without legs and was tossed into the sea. He managed to grow legs and consequently, became a sea god.

から can be used in a variety of situations. One way から is used, is to express when something begins.

昼御飯は午後十二時からはじまります.

(昼御飯 = ひるごはん/lunch. = topic marking particle. 午後 = ごご/pm. 十二時 = じゅうにじ/12 o’clock. から = from. はじまります = begins)

In English this sentence would mean, “Lunch begins at 12pm”.

から can also be used to express a range of times :

夏休みは六月から九月までです.

( = なつ/summer. 休み = やすみ/vacation. = topic marking particle. 六月 = ろくがつ/June. から = from. 九月 = くがつ/September. まで= to. です = is.)

Translation: “The summer vacation is from June to September.”

から can also be used to denote place :

長崎から名古屋まで電車で来ました.

(長崎 = Nagasaki. から = from. 名古屋 = Nagoya. まで = to. 電車 = train. = by. 来ました = came.)

Translation: “I came from Nagasaki to Nagoya be train.

から can also be used to form “because” sentences:

あした仕事があるから、私は早く寝ます.

(あした = tomorrow. 仕事 = しごと/work. = ga particle. ある = have. から = because. = わたし/I. = ha particle. 早く= はやく/early. 寝ます/sleep.)

In English, this would mean, “I will sleep early, because I will have work tomorrow.”

Toyota (トヨタ) has been in the news recently, and not for very postive reasons. A series of recalls, including the most recent recall for anti-lock brakes in Toyota hybrids, has consumers worrying about the safety of Toyota cars. The recalls have coincided with Toyota’s struggle to emerge out from the recession. Due to the recalls, Toyota plants in the U.S. have also been affected. Toyota dealerships and plants in the U.S. are already cutting workers and preparing for the worst. As a whole, Toyota may lose profits numbering in the billions.

Before any of the recalls took place, Toyota was a small company headed by Kiichiro Toyoda (豊田 喜一郎 or とよだきいちろう) in 1937. The inspiration for the name Toyota came from Kiichiro’s last name Toyoda. However, Toyoda in kanji means “fertile rice paddies” and Toyoda wanted to avoid this agricultural connotation with the company. He decided to modify the name of his company to Toyota, which in katakana is composed of eight strokes. Eight is considered a lucky number in Japan, and so it was thought that Toyota would be a more fitting name for the company.

Although it’s hard to believe now, Toyota received its first Quality Control Award in the 1980s. With the oil crisis in 1973, Toyota was the preferred choice for American consumers who wanted fuel economy cars. One of the phrases best associated with Toyota was, “I love what you do for me, Toyota!“. In fact, in a poll conducted by Rasmussen in 2010, Toyota was viewed favorably by 59% of Americans, 22% viewed Toyota very favorably, with only 29% viewing Toyota unfavorably. Perhaps there is a chance after all for Toyota to recover from this recall crisis.

Toyota’s philosophy has centered on five golden principles: (1) (チャレンジ) challenge (2) (かいぜん) improvement (3) (げんちげんぶつ) go and see (4) (けい) respect (5) (きょうりょく) cooperation. These principles have made Toyota successful over the years. These principles however, have not been indoctrinated in factories outside of Japan. As a result of the recalls, training institutes in places like the U.S. are being established. The recalls have an effect not only in Japan, but in Europe, Asia, America and Latin America. Hopefully this will be the last of recalls, but we’ll have to see…

The form will be useful to learn because it’s used for various grammatical purposes. First, let’s learn how to form the form. In the next post, we’ll learn the various uses for this form.

With RU verbs, the form is constructed by taking off the and adding :

おきる (to get up) becomes おきて

ねる (to sleep) becomes ねて

With U verbs, it’s a little complex.

For U verbs that end in drop the and add いて:

きく (to listen, to hear) becomes きいて

There is an exception to this rule:

いく (to go) becomes いって

For U verbs that end in , , , drop the last syllable and add って

てつだう (to help) becomes てつだって

もつ (to hold, carry) becomes もって

はいる (to enter) becomes はいって

To form the form of U verbs that end in , , and , drop the last syllable and add んで

やすむ (to rest) becomes やすんで

はこぶ (to carry) becomes はこんで

しぬ (to die) becomes しんで

To form the form of verbs, drop the and add いで

いそぐ (to hurry) becomes いそいで

With U verbs that end in , drop the and add して

けす (to erase) becomes けして

する (to do) is irregular and will be して

くる (to come) is also irregular and will become きて

 

 

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