Making sense of japanese grammar
ZELJKO CIPRIS AND SHOKO HAMANO Japanese Grammar A Clear Guide Through Common Problems MAKING SENSE OF Making Sense of Japanese Grammar [...]... the information contained in these pages will illuminate Japanese grammar with surprising clarity Enjoy your study, and please keep in mind that anyone can master Japanese grammar and the Japanese language itself All it takes is good humor and perseverance Good luck! A note to teachers Making Sense of Japanese Grammar will also be of interest to Japanese- language teachers whose specialty is not necessarily... form -desu is not the subject of a sentence This is to prevent various difficulties which might arise later and persist if not properly handled at an early stage Intermediate and advanced students who have been accumulating questions about the structure of Japanese will also benefit from Making Sense of Japanese Grammar, because it gives coherence to many features of Japanese that are treated separately... provide only those pieces of information which are essential to understanding Japanese In other words, we are trying to help you make sense of Japanese grammar in order to master the language We believe that, when apparent differences between Japanese and English are resolved using universal principles, true intercultural communication takes place All of us will become more tolerant of surface differences,... linguistics background may find some parts helpful in their teaching because of the accessible way the concepts are explained We encourage teachers of Japanese to utilize Making Sense of Japanese Grammar as supplementary reading for students at all levels The teacher may choose to assign a few units as early as the first weeks of a beginning class Additional units can be assigned whenever they help to... Dictionary forms of all Japanese adjectives end with -ii, -ai, -oi, or -ui No dictionary form of an adjective in Japanese ends with a single vowel or the sequence -ei Dictionary forms of all adjectives in Japanese end with -ii, -ai, -oi, or -ui The first vowel of these sequences is part of the “root,” and the second vowel is the present tense marker (The fact that no dictionary form of an adjective... question For Japanese speakers, everything but the last part of a sentence can be dropped Kimi-mo kinoo-no rokuji-ni Hachikoo-mae-ni ita-n-desu-ka “Were you in front of [the statue of] Hachiko at 6 yesterday, too?” Ee, (boku-mo) Hachikoo-mae-ni ita-n-desu “Yes, I was in front of [the statue of] Hachiko, too.” Ee, (boku-mo) ita-n-desu “Yes, I was, too.” 7 Always pay attention to the last part of a sentence... object An explicit direct object is not necessary in a Japanese sentence In its absence, a proper direct object is identified from the context This greatly reduces the frequency of pronouns in Japanese In addition to these grammatical factors, there is a social factor which contributes to the reduction of pronouns in Japanese In Japanese, it is often considered rude to use second person pronouns (like... knowledge of linguists specializing in Japanese and comparative grammar We differ from them in addressing non-specialists We do not tax you with superfluous information Even though some linguistic facts are of extreme interest to professional linguists, if we think that you intuitively understand and utilize them in learning or processing Japanese, we do not burden you or ourselves with the tedious task of. .. fact that no dictionary form of an adjective ends with -ei has something to do with the history of Japanese: /e/ has been least utilized throughout the history of Japanese, and some linguists suggest that old Japanese had only four vowels /i, a, o, u/.) By knowing that dictionary forms of all adjectives in Japanese end with -ii, -ai, -oi, or -ui, you can tell that a certain form is not an adjective kirei... want to talk to you (= teacher) once.” ( ) (Sensei-wa) gogo kenkyuushitsu-ni irasshaimasu-ka “Will you (= teacher) be in your office in the afternoon?” Sensei-ni kore-o sashiagemashoo “I will give you (= teacher) this.” Kore-wa sensei-no hon-desu-ka “Is this your (= teacher’s) book?” Checking your comprehension: Translate the following sentence into Japanese: Professor, which is your book? For related . HAMANO Japanese Grammar A Clear Guide Through Common Problems MAKING SENSE OF Making Sense of Japanese Grammar