Posts under Grammar

~ませんか

Posted by Ginny
Nov
18
2009

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!)

 
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Let’s/Shall

Posted by Ginny
Nov
15
2009

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.

 
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に Particle

Posted by Ginny
Nov
6
2009

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.)

 
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The Past Negative

Posted by Ginny
Oct
22
2009

When forming the past negative polite tense, add the ending ませんでした to the conjugated stem of the verb. It’s helpful to know the present polite negative, because knowing how the present polite negative endings can help form the past polite negative. For example, the verb しゃべる (to chatter) in the present polite negative is しゃべりません. To form the past polite negative of しゃべりません, just add でした. Now if you can’t remember how to form the present polite negative, you can also use the present polite affirmative and add ませんでした to しゃべり and drop ます. Though, I do think the present negative is easier.

Here are some examples:

Infinitive: iru (いる) to need

Present Polite Negative: いりません

Past Polite Negative: いりませんでした

Infinitive: asobu (あそぶ) to play

Present Polite Negative: あそびません

Past Polite Negative: あそびませんでした

Infinitive: shinu (しぬ) to die

Present Polite Negative: しにません

Past Polite Negative: しにませんでした

 
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Forming the Past Tense

Posted by Ginny
Oct
19
2009

The affirmative past tense in Japanese is formed by adding ました to the root stem of the verb. The best way to form the past tense is by remembering the formation of the present tense of the verb, leave off the ending, and add ました. For example, the present tense affirmative of かえる (to return) is かえります. Take off the ます and add ました to the stem. You get かえりました as the final product. Here are some more examples:

Infinitive: (はいる)(入る) to enter

Present, polite, affirmative: (はいります)

Past, polite, affirmative: (はいりました)

Infinitive: (する) to do

Present, polite, affirmative: (します)

Past, polite, affirmative: (しました)

Infinitive: (つくる)(作る) to make, build, create

Present, polite, affirmative: (つくります)

Past, polite, affirmative: (つくりました)

Infinitive: (いそぐ) (急ぐ) to hurry

Present, polite, affirmative: (いそぎます)

Past, polite, affirmative: (いそぎました)

 
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