1

第二課だ い に か

/ CHAPTER 2

毎日まいにち

の生活せいかつ

: Our Daily Lives

Goals and standards

In this chapter, students will learn frequently used verbs, adjectives and adverbs to describe our

daily lives using present and past tense.

After successfully completing this chapter, you will be able to talk about your daily activities that

are typical to college student life.

The chapter begins with a dialogue where a student runs into another student and they talk

about activities using the past, present and future.

Part A: 会話かいわ

と単語たんご

(Conversation and Vocabulary)

I. 会話かいわ

(Conversation)

II. 単語たんご

(Vocabulary)

Part B: Grammar and Practice

I. Action Verbs

II. Particles に 、で and を

III. Adjective Types in Japanese: な and い adjectives

IV. Frequency Adverbs

V. Telling time

VI. Numbers 11-99

Part C: I．漢字かんじ

(Kanji) 大学校先生人小日本川山月男女子

II． 宿 題しゅくだい

(Assignment)

2

I. 会話かいわ

Dialogue 2A-Dialogue

Reiko Yoshida runs into her friend Steven Miller and begin talking about a concert Steve

attended the previous week.

吉田よしだ

あ、スティす て ぃ

ーブンぶ ん

さん、ひさしぶりですね。元気げんき

ですか。

ミラみ ら

ー はい、おかげさまで。

吉田よしだ

あれ？ スティす て ぃ

ーブンぶ ん

さん、それは何なん

ですか。

ミラみ ら

ー ああ、これですか？ 先 週せんしゅう

の金曜日きんようび

にマンハッタンま ん は っ た ん

でジャズじ ゃ ず

のコンサこ ん さ

ートと

が

ありました。そのポスタぽ す た

ーです。

吉田よしだ

そうですか。コンサこ ん さ

ートと

はどうでしたか。

ミラみ ら

ー とてもよかったです。そして、ピアノぴ あ の

はとてもすばらしかったですよ。礼子れいこ

さ

んはジャズじ ゃ ず

を聞き

きますか。

吉田よしだ

はい、時 々ときどき

、ジャズじ ゃ ず

を聞き

きます。好す

きです。

ミラみ ら

ー そうですか。…あのう、明日あした

もロングアイランドろ ん ぐ あ い ら ん ど

でコンサこ ん さ

ートと

があります。…

いっしょに行い

きませんか。*

吉田よしだ

ええ、いいですよ。コンサこ ん さ

ートと

は何時なんじ

に始はじ

まりますか。

ミラみ ら

ー 午後八時ごごはちじ

に始はじ

まります。あのう…じゃあ、その前まえ

に僕ぼく

といっしょに晩ばん

ごはん

を食た

べませんか。*

吉田よしだ

それはいいアイデアあ い で あ

ですね。(Rekio notices the time) あっ！スティす て ぃ

ーブンぶ ん

さん、

ごめんなさい。もう十二時じゅうにじ

です。クイく い

ーンズホん ず ほ

ールる

で十二時五分じゅうにじごふん

から

心理学しんりがく

の 授 業じゅぎょう

があります。

ミラみ ら

ー あ、わかりました。じゃあ、礼子れいこ

さん、後あと

でメめ

ールる

をしますね。

吉田よしだ

はい、ありがとう。またね。

ミラみ ら

ー 礼子れいこ

さん、じゃあ、明日あした

は僕ぼく

とデで

ートと

ですね！

3

吉田よしだ

ええっ！ …デで

ートと

ですか？！

* Dialogue note

A negative question form is commonly used to indicate speaker’s intention to invite listener to do

something (“Would you like to ~”). For example, 行きませんか (it literary means “won’t you

go?”) is a negative question form of 行きます and it means “Would you like to go?”.

II. 単語たんご

Vocabulary

Nouns 2A-Vocab 1

僕ぼく

I (used by male)

授 業じゅぎょう

Lecture

勉 強べんきょう

Study

アイデアあ い で あ

Idea

テレビて れ び

TV

カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

Cafeteria

朝あさ

ごはん Breakfast

昼ひる

ごはん Lunch

晩ばん

ごはん Dinner

メめ

ールる

Email

図書館としょかん

Library

教 室きょうしつ

Classroom

寮りょう

Dormitory

体 育 館たいいくかん

Gymnasium

アルバイトあ る ば い と

or バイトば い と

Part-time job

仕事しごと

Job (in general but sometimes it refer to a full-time job)

4

Calendar Expressions 2A-Vocab 2

今日きょう

Today

明日あした

Tomorrow

あさって Day after tomorrow

昨日きのう

Yesterday

今 週こんしゅう

This week

来 週らいしゅう

Next week

先 週せんしゅう

Last week

毎 週まいしゅう

Every week

毎 日まいにち

Every day

毎 晩まいばん

Every evening

月曜日げつようび

Monday

火曜日かようび

Tuesday

水曜日すいようび

Wednesday

木曜日もくようび

Thursday

金曜日きんようび

Friday

土曜日どようび

Saturday

日曜日にちようび

Sunday

Time Expressions

午前ごぜん

/ 午後ご ご

AM / PM

Suffixes

～時じ

~ o’clock

～ 分ふん・ぷん

~ minute

～料 理りょうり

Cuisine of ~ （e.g. フランスふ ら ん す

料 理りょうり

“French food”,

中 華 料 理ちゅうかりょうり

“Chinese food”, 日本料理にほんりょうり

“Japanese

food”）

5

Wh-word~

どう How

いつ When

どんな What kind

Particles

を Object marker

に Location marker

に Time expression maker

と With

で At / in

Adverbs 2A-Vocab 3

よく Frequently

たいてい Often

時 々ときどき

Sometimes

あまり Not very / often (Negative polarity item)

毎 日まいにち

Everyday

毎 週まいしゅう

Every week

Adjectives

＜い Adjectives＞

大おお

きい Big

小ちい

さい Small

安やす

い Cheap, inexpensive

高たか

い Expensive

新あたら

しい New

古ふる

い Old

すばらいしい Extraordinary

いい（よい） Good (よい is also “good” but formal expression)

たのしい Fun

かわいい Cute

こわい Scary

＜な Adjectives＞

元気げんき

（な） Lively, healthy

6

立派りっぱ

（な） Splendid

有 名ゆうめい

（な） Famous

好す

き（な） Likable, desirable

ハンサムは ん さ む

（な） Handsome

ひさしぶり（な） After a long time

Verbs 2A-Vocab 4 (We will discuss Japanese verb classes [~る

verb and ~う verbs, and irregular verbs] in chapter X)

<Irregular verb>

します（する） (to) do

来き

ます（来く

る） (to) come

<る verb>

食た

べます（食た

べる） (to) eat

見み

ます（見み

る） (to) see / watch

起お

きます（起お

きる） (to) get up

寝ね

ます （寝ね

る） (to) sleep, go to bed

<う verb>

飲の

みます（飲の

む） (to) drink

読よ

みます（読よ

む） (to) read

行い

きます（行い

く） (to) go

帰かえ

ります（帰かえ

る） (to) return

入はい

ります（入はい

る） (to) enter

あります（ある） (to) have, (to) be held, (to) exist

始はじ

まります（始はじ

まる） (to) start, begin

終お

わります（終お

わる） (to) end

Conjunctions

そして And

それから And then (indicating sequence of events)

でも But

Expressions

7

ごめんなさい Pardon me, I’m sorry

Ritualistic expressions

お元気げんき

ですか/おかげさまで How are you? / I’m fine thank you. (お元気ですか or元気？

is usually used only when you have not seen some one for

a while.

（お）ひさしぶり（です） (Greeting expression）It’s been a while

Useful conversational expressions

あのう Well… (Hesitation)

じゃあ Then

じゃあ、また See you later.

後あと

で Later

前まえ

に Before

Supplemental Vocabularies 2A-Vocab 5

Locations

コンサこ ん さ

ートと

Concert

学 食がくしょく

（ 学 生 食 堂がくせいしょくどう

) Student cafeteria

マンハッタンま ん は っ た ん

Manhattan

ロングアイランドろ ん ぐ あ い ら ん ど

Long Island

ニュに ゅ

ーヨよ

ークく

New York

家うち・いえ

Home, house

トイレと い れ

（お手洗てあら

い） Toilet (traditional: wash room)

リビングり び ん ぐ

（ルる

ームむ

） Living room

キッチンき っ ち ん

（ 台 所だいどころ

） Kitchen (traditional: kitchen)

学 校がっこう

School

公 園こうえん

Park

スす

ーパぱ

ー Supermarket

8

コンビニこ ん び に

Convenience store

デパで ぱ

ートと

Department store, shopping mall

Food

シリアルし り あ る

Cereal

果 物くだもの

Fruit

ごはん Cooked rice

魚さかな

Fish

肉にく

Meat

卵たまご

Egg

野菜やさい

Vegetable

パスタぱ す た

Pasta

そば Buckwheat noodle

うどん Udon noodle

ピザぴ ざ

Pizza

ハンバは ん ば

ーグぐ

Salisbury steak

ハンバは ん ば

ーガが

ー Hamburger

サンドイッチさ ん ど い っ ち

Sandwich

Drink

水みず

Water

コこ

ーヒひ

ー Coffee

牛 乳ぎゅうにゅう

/ ミルクみ る く

Milk

ジュじ ゅ

ースす

Juice

ビび

ールる

Beer

ワインわ い ん

Wine

酒さけ

Sake / rice wine

Activities

さんぽ Walking

運 動うんどう

Exercise

9

テニスて に す

Tennis

バスケットボば す け っ と ぼ

ールる

Basketball

水 泳すいえい

Swimming

バレば れ

ーボぼ

ールる

Volleyball

卓 球たっきゅう

Table tennis

ジョギングじ ょ ぎ ん ぐ

Jogging

ヨガよ が

Yoga

ブログぶ ろ ぐ

Blog

買か

い物もの

Shopping

10

Part B: 文法ぶんぽう

と練 習れんしゅう

Grammar and Practice

I. Action Verbs

Basics

In this chapter, we will first talk about a type of predicate that features action verbs. We will

discuss predicates with adjectives later in this chapter. Unlike the copula verb we discussed in

the previous chapter where it links the subject to the complement, action verbs express what

someone/something does, such as (to) go, (to) see and (to) eat. They are the words we use

frequently in our daily lives.

Polite form vs. plain form basics

Every Japanese verb has a polite form and a plain form. The polite form is spoken with

strangers, different age groups, acquaintances and TV / radio news broadcasting to express

formality and politeness. All polite form verbs end with eitherます orです. Since you are likely

to begin speaking Japanese with strangers and different age groups, we will practice the polite

form first.

On the contrary, the plain form (or dictionary form) is used with family members, very close

friends, young children and among people of the same age group to express closeness,

friendliness and informality.

Let’s see how the polite form and plain form can be used. You would say the following (using

the polite form) to a person you have just met:

お茶ちゃ

を飲の

みますか ? tea drink Question

“Will you drink some tea?”

On the other hand, you would probably say the following (using the plain form) to your close

friend:

お茶ちゃ

(を) 飲の

む (か) ? “Wanna have some tea?”

Some grammatical elements such as copula verb, case markers and SFP か may be omitted

when you use plain form since the conversation is taking place in an informal setting.

In addition, the plain form is commonly used in newspaper articles and essay writing, since it is

shorter, more direct and the foundation of complex compounded verb expression. We will not

practice the plain form in this chapter, but we will come back to it and when we discuss verb

classes (る verb, う verb and irregular verbs) in chapter 5.

Conjugating action verb ending with ます

11

The conjugation pattern of ~ます which ends action verbs is very straightforward. Verbs that end

with ~ます are in the affirmative. To make the verb negative, simply change the verb ending ま

す into ません1 . This is the pattern.

Declarative Negative

食た

べます (to eat) 食た

べません

飲の

みます (to drink) 飲の

みません

見み

ます (to see) 見み

ません

行い

きます (to go) 行い

きません

来き

ます (to come) 来き

ません

Verb tense

Grammatically speaking, Japanese verbs have only present and past tenses. When we say

“grammatically”, we mean in terms of actual verb conjugations. That is, Japanese verbs only

conjugate in present and past tense, whereas English has progressive and perfect tenses in

addition to the present and past tenses. Semantically, similar distinctions exist in Japanese,

and may be understood either through context, or other means. For example, the sentence

below can be translated either present or future tense, depending on the context: “I go to

university” or “I will go to university”

私は大学に行きます。 I -top university -to go

Conjugating verbs into their past tense is very simple as well. The verb ending ます becomes

ました in the past tense affirmative andませんでした in the past tense negation.

Past tense declarative

Past tense negation

食た

べます (to eat) 食た

べました 食た

べませんでした

飲の

みます (to drink) 飲の

みました 飲の

みませんでした

見み

ます (to see) 見み

ました 見み

ませんでした

行い

きます (to go) 行い

きました 行い

きませんでした

来き

ます (to come) 来き

ません 来き

ませんでした

1 There is ないです negation pattern (less formal) but we will not practice this at this moment in the class.

We will come back to this in the chapter X with details).

12

Different types of action verbs

Verbs are categorized into different types according to what the verb requires in the sentence.

Let’s take a look at the following sentences to see what that means.

(1) I slept.

(2) I saw a teacher.

(3) *I gave.

Do these three sentences (1) to (3) seem fine or complete? Sentences (1) and (2) are fine but

(3) should sound a bit ungrammatical; you might have thought “Well, you gave what to whom?”

immediately after reading it. The reason why you might felt that way is because the verb “gave”

needs to have a direct object and indirect object to complete the sentence, i.e., the verb in the

sentence determines the basic structure of sentence.

The type of verbs, such as “saw” in (2), are called transitive verbs. Transitive verbs are kinds of

action verbs that must have an object to receive that action. Within the transitive verbs, there

are few verbs, such as “gave” in (3) and (To) tell, (to) show and (to) lend, are called di-transitive

verbs because those verbs require two objects (direct object and indirect object) to complete the

sentence.

On the other hand, “slept” in (1) is called intransitive verb. Intransitive verbs do not require an

object, i.e., the sentence is complete without an object with intransitive verbs. “Rained” in “It

rained” and “sing” in “birds sing” are examples of intransitive verbs.

Transitive verbs and the particle を (object marker)

Transitive verbs such as します (to do), 食べます (to eat), 飲みます (to drink), 見ます (to

see/watch) and読みます require an object. As we discussed in Chapter 1, a noun or NP must

be followed by a case marker to indicate abstract grammatical relation. When we use a

transitive verb, the direct object must be followed by the object marker を. Though を is in w-

line in the Hiragana chart, it is pronounced [o] in modern Japanese.

Topic Topic marker

Direct object Object marker

Verb

大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

は

お茶ちゃ

を

飲の

みます “As for Prof. Ookawa, (she) drinks green tea.”

は as contrast / emphatic marker

Let’s see how a transitive verb and the object marker を work in conversation. The sentences

below are a yes/no question and its answers. Note 野村先生のむらせんせい

は is optional in the reply since a

phrase marked with the topic marker は does not need to be repeated.

Topic Topic marker Direct object

Object marker

Verb SFP

13

野村先生のむらせんせい

は

コこ

ーヒひ

ー を

飲の

みます か。

“Does Prof. Nomura drink some coffee?

Direct object Object marker

Verb

はい コこ

ーヒひ

ー を

飲の

みます。 “Yes, (he) drinks coffee.”

Direct object Contrast marker

Verb

いいえ コこ

ーヒひ

ー は

飲の

みません。 “No, (he) doesn’t drink coffee.”

Now, notice that in the negation, the object is marked with は in the answer instead ofを.

Grammatically speaking, marking the object with を is possible; here, however,

conversationally, は is more natural. Suppose Prof. Nomura does drink other beverages such

as tea and water but the one thing he does not drink is coffee. Typically, this is making contrast

between what Prof. Okawa drinks and not drink in the mind of Japanese native speaker. The

following sentence describe this situation.

野村先生のむらせんせい

は茶ちゃ

を飲の

みますがコこ

ーヒひ

ーは飲の

みません。

“As for Prof. Nomura, (he) drinks tea but he does not drink coffee.”

So, here’s a new information we need know on the particle は. The particle は has two functions,

1) topic marker which indicates the topic of the conversation and appears in the initial position of

the sentence and 2) contrast marker which indicates contrast or emphasis and appears non-

initial position in sentence where contrast is made. This may confuse you a bit right now, but

don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it once we start practicing.

Exercises

Identify the types of verbs (intransitive, transitive or di-transitive verb) in the sentences below.

1. I asked my friend a question.

2. I kicked the ball..

3. The girl laughed.

4. He purchased a gift.

5. My friend drunk some sake.

6. I read New York Times every day.

Answer 1. di-transitive 2. transitive 3. intransitive 4. transitive 5.trasitive 6. transitive

14

Using the same sentences 1 to 6 above, identify the sentences that are required to have a

object marker を when they are translated into Japanese.

Negate the following verbs

1. 読よ

みます

2. 食た

べます

3. 帰かえ

ります

4. 見み

ます

5. します

6. 起お

きます

Transitive verb with the particle で

When used in conjunction with transitive verbs, the particle で indicates the place where an

action takes places. The particle で is translated as at, in or on in English. Also, when used

with an existential verb, the particle で indicates the place where an event takes place.

Existential verbs are “there is” in “there is a concert” or “have” in “I have classes” in English. あ

ります is the Japanese equivalent.

Topic Topic marker

Location of action (noun)

Particle Direct object Object marker

Verb

大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

は

カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

で

コこ

ーヒひ

ー を

飲の

みます。 “As for Prof. Ookawa, (she) drinks coffee at the cafeteria.”

Let’s see how the particle で works in conversation. The following sentences are the answers

for the yes/no question: 大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

はカフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

でコこ

ーヒひ

ーを飲の

みますか。

Answer 1, 2, 4.,5 and 6

Answer

1. 読よみません 2. 食

たべません 3. 帰

かえりません 4. 見

みません 5.しません 6. 起

おきません

15

Location of action (noun)

Particle Direct object

Object marker

Verb

はい カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

で

コこ

ーヒひ

ー を

飲の

みます。 “Yes, (she) drinks coffee at the cafeteria.”

Location of action (noun)

Particle Direct object

Object marker

Verb

いいえ カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

では

コこ

ーヒひ

ー を

飲の

みません。 “No, (she) doesn’t drink coffee at the cafeteria.”

Now, notice that the particle で changed to では when the answer is “no”.

Again, grammatically speaking, marking the location with で is possible here but

conversationally, では is more natural. Suppose Prof. Ookawa drinks her coffee but not at the

cafeteria. The contrastive は kicks in where the contrast or emphasis is expressed.

Contrastive は realized in two patterns

You may be wondering why the object marker を was entirely replaced by the contrastiveは

whereas the location marker で became the double particleでは in negation. These differences

derive from two different types of particles, case marker and post-position, as defined in Chapter

1. Recall that case markers are particles that are abstract (pointing out grammatical function)

and do not have an English equivalent. By contrast, post-positions have English equivalents

which resembling prepositions. This distinction determines how the contrastive は reifies itself.

The contrastiveは completely replaces case markers such as が andを while the contrastiveは

is stacked onto the post-positions such as で and に. The following chart summarizes those two

patterns

Case markers In contrast

が

を

に

は

は

は

Post-positions In contrast

で

に

へ

では

には

へは

Hence, the following conversation sounds very natural to the native Japanese speakers.

あのう、すみません。今日きょう

は図書館としょかん

で 勉 強べんきょう

しますか。

“Ah, pardon me. Are (you) going to study at the library today?”

16

いいえ、図書館としょかん

ではしませんがカフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

で 勉 強べんきょう

しますよ。

“No. (I) am not going to study at the cafeteria (today) but (I will) study at the cafeteria.”

Exercises

Answer the following questions.

1. テレビて れ び

を見み

ますか。はい、＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。

いいえ、＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。

2. 本ほん

を読よ

みますか。はい、 ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。

いいえ、＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。

3. 寮りょう

で食た

べますか。はい、 ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。

いいえ、＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。

Directional verb with the particle に

There are certain verbs that express movement with directionality. Though these verbs, such

as (to) go and (to) come in English, are intransitive verbs, they always co-occur with

prepositional phrase, for example, “to Japan” and “into the woods,” which contains a preposition

and a N or NP designating a location. In this textbook, we will call these verbs directional verbs.

In Japanese, verbs such as 行きます “(to) go”, 来ます “(to) come”, 帰ります “(to) return”, and 入

ります “(to) enter” are directional verbs. When you use directional verbs in Japanese, post-

position に or (location marker に) follows the N or NP in Japanese.

Location Location marker

に

Directional verb

日本にほん

に

帰かえ

ります。

“(I will) return to Japan.”

Contrastive は with the particle に

Answer

1. (はい、) テレビてれび

を見みます。(いいえ、) テレビ

てれびは見みません。 2. (はい、) 本

ほんを読よみます。(いいえ、) 本

ほん

は読よみません。 3. (はい、) 寮

りょうで 勉 強べんきょう

します。(いいえ、) 寮りょう

では 勉 強べんきょう

しません。

17

We talked about how contrastive は is realized in the sentence in the previous section. How do

you think contrastive は is used with post-positionに? Let’s think about how to answer the

following yes/no question.

Topic Topic marker

Location of action (noun)

Post-position

に

Directional verb

SFP

大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

は

カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

に

行い

きます か。

“As for Prof. Ookawa, does (she) go to a cafeteria?”

As you probably predicted, since the particle に is a post-position, it will be realized as the

double particle には in the negation.

Location of action (noun)

Post-position に Directional verb

はい カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

に

行い

きます。 “Yes, (she) goes to a cafeteria.”

Location of action (noun)

Post-position に Directional verb

いいえ カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

には

行い

きません。 “No, (she) doesn’t go to cafeteria.”

Particle に vs. へ

As we have seen, the particle に attaches on to an N or NP that indicates a destination or a

goal. Similarly, the particle へ is used with the directional verbs but it has a slightly different

nuance; it indicates a direction towards something or someone. For example, “大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

へ

(Dear Prof. Ookawa)”, is conventional way to address a receiver in the opening line of a letter.

Although へ is normally pronounced [he] as in “hexagon”, it is pronounced as [e] when it is used

as a particle. You will learn the contrast between に and へ in details in intermediate Japanese

class. So for now, you can use に and へ interchangeably with directional verbs (though note

that へ occurs less frequent in speaking and writing).

Location of action (noun)

Post-position Directional verb

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カフェテリアか ふ ぇ て り あ

に / へ

行い

きます。

Existential verb, あります with subject marker が

あります and います (we will discuss this verb in chapter 3) are verbs that express the

existence of things and animate objects (living things such as people and animals) so that they

are referred as existential verbs. In English, the most commonly used existential verb used is

be verb led by there (e.g., there is a God). The simplest sentence expressing existence in

Japanese will be Noun-が (subject marker) +あります and it can be translated as “there is

~“ and “I have~”.

Noun Subject marker

Existential verb

本ほん

が あります

There is (are) book (s).

Noun Subject marker

Existential verb

授 業じゅぎょう

が あります

I have a class.

Since the subject marker is a case marker, in the negation が will switched over to は to sound

natural.

Noun Subject marker

Existential verb SFP

授 業じゅぎょう

が あります か

Do you have a class?

Noun Contrast Existential verb

いいえ 授 業じゅぎょう

は ありません

No, I don’t have a class.

Exercises

Translate the following English in Japanese.

1. Prof. Ookawa has a class at class.

2. There is a dormitory.

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3. Prof. Ookawa has a class at the university at 4PM.

Notes

Concept of 行い

きます and 来き

ます: Japanese directional verbs indicate movement that is

relevant to the speakers. 行い

きます means the speaker goes or moves to a point X and

来き

ます means something/someone comes towards the speaker. We should remember

this since the English equivalents are used slightly differently. For example, when a

Japanese person say 家いえ

に来き

ますか “Are you coming to my house?”, you may want to

answer はい、来き

ます to mean “Yes, I’m coming over” as a speaker of English, yet in

Japanese, this utterance it sounds a bit off. Since you (the speaker) are going to your

friend’s house, はい、行い

きます would sounds more natural.

Concept of 帰かえ

ります: indicates the motion of the speaker returning to the origin. An

action of “going home” is returning to your home so let’s translated it as 家いえ

に帰かえ

ります.

If you say 家いえ

に行い

きます, it sounds like you are going to someone else’s (not your own)

home or house.

Clarifying the particle で andに: Frequently the difference between the particle で and

に bewilders many students because they both indicate a location. So, here’s a recap.

The particle に typically co-occurs with the directional verbs to indicate the location that

the speaker moves toward to. On the other hand, the particle で co-occurs with

intransitive and transitive verbs to indicate the location where something happens.

Since particles are strongly tied to grammatical functions, identifying the main verb of the

sentence provides a clue to which particle to use appropriately.

III. Adjectives

Basics

In English, you probably know that adjectives are words that that can be used to describe or

modify other things in a sentence. For example, in the phrase, “a red book,” the word red

Answer

1. 大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

は 授 業じゅぎょう

があります。 2. 寮りょう

があります。

3. 大 川 先 生おおかわせんせい

は大 学だいがく

で2２

時じ

に 授 業じゅぎょう

があります。

20

describes some quality or aspect of the book. Similarly, the phrase “an expensive car” also

describes some quality of the car as ‘expensive.”

In English, an adjective can come directly before the noun, as in the example above, or it can

come in the predicate position, as in the sentence: “The book is red.” You will see a similar

distinction in Japanese: adjectives can modify nouns directly, or they can be found in the

predicate position. One major difference is that in Japanese, there are two types of adjectives,

which behave differently according to the type. Most Japanese language textbooks identify the

two types as い adjectives and the な adjectives, respectively. Some linguists consider only

い adjective as true adjectives, and な adjective as “nominal adjectives” because grammatically

they behave almost like nouns (with some important distinctions). When you are first introduced

to an adjective, pay attention to the type; most textbooks and dictionaries will indicate this in

some way.

Using adjectives before the noun to modify it

Both い adjectives and な adjectives can directly modify nouns. However, note the following

distinction. い adjectives appear directly before the noun unchanged; when you use a な

adjective before the noun, you must add な between the adjective and the noun. See the

following examples:

い adjectives

大おお

きいテレビですね It’s a big television, isn’t it.

いいアイデアですね That’s a good idea, isn’t it.

高たか

い車です。 It’s an expensive car.

な adjectives

元気げんき

な子供こども

ですね。 That’s a peppy/healthy child, isn’t it.

立派りっぱ

な大 学だいがく

に行きました。He/She went to a splendid/fine university

有 名ゆうめい

な寺てら

です。 It’s a famous temple.

Notice that the い adjectives appear directly before the nouns they modify and that な

adjectives have a な inserted between the end of the basic adjective form and the nouns they

modify. Look at the list of adjectives at the beginning of the chapter. Try making phrases with

these adjectives. Remember to insert な before the noun when the adjective is a な adjective.

Using adjectives in the predicate position

Now let’s look a little more closely at using adjectives in the predicate position. The first thing to

note is that, just as in English, the predicate doesn’t have to be in the present tense: it could be

21

in the past tense. Similarly, it could be in the negative form. For example, I could say, “The

movie was expensive,” to refer to a movie that I went to last weekend. I could also say “The

movie wasn’t good” if you didn’t enjoy it.

な adjectives in predicate position

な adjectives, or nominal adjectives are very easy to use in the predicate position because

grammatically they behave just like nouns in the N+ です pattern. Notice that you don’t use the

な ending in the predicate position.

田中さんは元気です。 Mr. Tanaka is peppy.

田中さんは元気じゃありません／（元気じゃないです） Mr. Tanaka isn’t peppy.

田中さんは元気でした。 Mr. Tanaka was peppy.

田中さんは元気じゃありませんでした。 Mr. Tanaka wasn’t peppy.

Present past

Affirmative ゆうめいです ゆうめいでした

Negative ゆうめいじゃありません。

（ゆうめいじゃないです。）

ゆうめいじゃありませんでした。

（ゆうめいじゃなかったです。）

In the chart above, the ~じゃありません versions are a little more formal.

い adjectives in predicate position

Look at the examples below, which show い adjectives used in the predicate position.

やすいです。 It’s cheap.

やすくありません。／（やすくないです。） It isn’t cheap.

やすかったです。 It was cheap.

やすくありませんでした。／（やすくなかったです。） It wasn’t cheap.

Notice that when い adjectives are used in the predicate position, the ending of the adjective

changes depending upon whether it is in the present, past, negative present or negative past

forms. Study the charts below to see how these forms are created. . Since we are practicing

the plain form ending this semester, the conjugation pattern involves the plain form is in

prentices.

Present past

Affirmative やすいです やすかったです

Negative やすくありません

（やすくないです。）

やすくありませんでした

（やすくなかったです）

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To form the negative form of an adjective, you must first take off the final い, and add く, then

add the negative ending –ありません (or –ないです).

たかい＋く ありません。

（ないです。）

It isn’t expensive.

A note on the difference between い adjectives and な adjectives.

How can you determine which categories adjectives belong to? It’s easier than you think if you

keep the following in mind:

Most adjectives are い adjectives. In their dictionary form, they will always end in

hiragana い.

Some common adjective, like ゆうめい (famous) and きれい (pretty/clean) are actually

な adjectives and they end in い. Just keep in mind what category adjectives are when

you learn them, and keep remembering that the vast majority of adjectives are い adjectives.

You may notice some common adjectives, like おおきい (big) and ちいさい (small) act

like な adjectives in some dialects. Don’t worry too much about that.

V. Telling Time

In chapter one, you began to learn numbers and some counters, including –じ, the counter for

hours, which is used in telling time. In this section you will learn how to tell time.

Q: 今いま

、何時何 じ

ですか。

A: 八時はちじ

です。

Q: “What time is it now?”/A: ”It’s 8 o’clock.”

Notice the use of the noun + です pattern above. The word なんじ is a compound word

consisting of the question word “what” plus the counter for “hour/o’clock.” The question ends

with the question particle か. In the response, replace the question word with the correct time

word. Use the numbers 1-12, followed by じ, the counter for hours. Note that “4 o’clock” is

pronounced よじ。You also learned two ways to say the number seven; in telling time, しちじ

is regularly used, except in some dialects. 今いま

, “now” is optional, but is commonly used.

You can build on this basic sentence pattern when asking and telling about time. For example,

if you wanted to know what time it was in Osaka, you would ask, 大 阪おおさか

は、いま何時なんじ

ですか,

23

indicating the topic of the sentence with the case particle は. You could specify further whether

it was a.m. or p.m. Notice that these words come before the time word, as follows.

午前ごぜん

一時いちじ

です。 It’s 1 a.m.

午後ご ご

一時いちじ

です。 It’s 1 p.m.

The number of minutes and はん “thirty” or “half-past” follows the time word, as in the examples

below. For now, however, we will only practice telling times on the hour and the half hour. (ふん

is a counter for minutes.) We will learn expand upon this in the next chapter.

午前ごぜん

九時半くじはん

です。 It’s 9:30 in the morning.

午後ご ご

一時いちじ

三 十 分さんじゅっぷん

です。 It’s one thirty in the afternoon.

Exercises

I. Look at the digital clock faces below and practice the following conversation.

ex. 9:00 A: 今いま

、何時何 じ

ですか。

B: 9時くじ

です．

1. 1:00 2. 5:00 3. 8:00 4. 11:00

5. 7:00 6. 12:00 7: 2:00 8. 4:00

II. Now tell time using はん to indicate the half hour. If the clock face indicates a.m. or p.m,

incorporate that into your response. Remember, it comes before the hour.

1. 3:30 2. 6:30 p.m. 3. 8:30 4. 9:30 a.m.

5. 10:30 a.m. 6. 12:30 7: 4:30 p.m. 8. 1:30

Answers: 1. さんじはんです。 2. ろくじはんです。 3. はちじはんです。 4. ごぜん くじは

んです。5.ごぜん じゅういちじ はんです。6. じゅうにじはんです。 7. ごご よじはんです。 8. いちじ

はんです。

Answers: 1. いちじです。 2. ごじです。 3. はちじです。 4. じゅういちじです。

5.しちじです。 6. じゅうにじです。 7. にじです。 8. よじです。

24

VI. Frequency Adverbs

In this chapter, you have learned to conjugate verbs in the non-past and past tense. In this

section, we will build on this by adding some common frequency adverbs, in order to talk about

how often (or infrequently) someone does something. First study the list of common frequency

adverbs below.

毎 日まいにち

every day

いつも always

よく often

たいてい usually

時 々ときどき

sometimes

あまり not often (to indicate “negative” frequency; used with negative predicates)

ぜんぜん never (to indicate “negative” frequency; used with negative predicates)

Now study the example sentences. The frequency adverbs have been underlined. Notice the

location of the frequency adverbs. While it is true that sentence order in Japanese is less

restricted than in English, frequency adverbs often come directly before the predicate phrase.

Notice also that the frequency adverbs あまり and ぜんぜん must be exclusively used with

verbs in the negative form. Therefore they are sometimes referred as Negative Polarity Items.

An example you would find in English is the expression at all. The sentence “I drink coffee at all”

sounds awful because the expression at all only allowed to be used with negation.

毎 日まいにち

がっこうに きます。 (I) come to school everyday

わたしは よく テニスを します I often play tennis

しゅうまつ たいてい えいが を みます I usually watch movies on the weekend.

時 々ときどき

コンサートこ ん さ ー と

にいきます。 Sometimes I go to concerts.

スミスす み す

さんは あまり コーヒーこ ー ひ ー

を のみません。Mr. Smith rarely drinks coffee.

田中たなか

さんは ぜんぜん スポーツす ぽ ー つ

を しません。 Mr. Tanaka never plays sports.

Exercises

25

How often do they…? Look at the chart. Now answer the questions according to the information

on the chart.

Name Eat breakfast Study at the library Play tennis

田中たなか

Yes, every day usually sometimes

吉田よしだ

usually Not very often never

ミラみ ら

ー Not very often often often

キムき む

No, never sometimes Yes, every day

スミスす み す

sometimes never Not very often

Ex. 田中たなか

は よく あさごはんを たべますか。

はい、毎 日まいにち

あさごはんを たべます。

1. 吉田よしだ

さんは よく 図書館としょかん

で べんきょうしますか。

2. スミスさんはよくテニスをしますか。

3. 吉田よしだ

さんはよく朝あさ

ごはんをたべますか。

4. キムき む

さんはよく図書館としょかん

でべんきょうしますか。

5. ミラみ ら

さんは、よくテニスて に す

をしますか。

VI. Numbers from 11 to 99

Counting numbers in Japanese is pretty straight forward. Let us review 1 to 10 before we get to

the bigger numbers.

1 いち 6 ろく

2 に 7 しち・なな

3 さん 8 はち

4 よん・し 9 きゅう

5 ご 10 じゅう

Answers: 1. いいえ、あまり 図書館としょかん

でべんきょうしません。2. いいえ、あまりテニスてにす

をしません。

3. はい、吉田よしだ

さんはたいていあさごはんをたべます。4. はい、ときどきします。 5. はい、よくテニスてにす

をし

ます。

26

Now, how would you say 58 in Japanese? Think of this way; there are five 10s and 8 in this

number. Five is ご, ten isじゅう and eight isはち. ごじゅうはち is the answer.

Notes

Number between 11 to 19

Numbers between 11 to 19 is pronounced with じゅう and the ones digit. That is,

instead of pronouncing いちじゅういち for 11 for example, you should pronounce it as

じゅういち.

Numbers with alternate pronunciations Numbers 4 and 7 has two possible pronunciations. The number 40 is always

pronounced よんじゅう. The number 70 can be pronounced either しちじゅう or な

なじゅう though there are generational and dialectal preferences. For standard

Japanese, ななじゅう is more common.

Exercises

Read the following numbers aloud in Japanese.

1. 12 2. 59 3. 34 4. 40

5. 71 6. 99 7. 35 8. 67

9. 28 10. 83

Read the following phone numbers aloud in Japanese. The phone number is always

pronounced one digit at a time. The number 0 is pronounced ぜろ (れい or まる is used

sometimes) and の is used for the pronunciation of dash.

1. 718-998-5501 2. 215-890-3216 3. 613-402-9132

4. 06-8900-9137 5. 03-1345-9658 6. 0120-192-862

Answer 1．じゅうに 2．ごじゅうきゅう 3．うさんじゅうよん 4．よんじゅう 5．ななじゅういち

6．きゅうじゅうきゅう 7．さんじゅうご 8．ろくじゅうなな・ろくじゅうしち 9．にじゅうはち

10．はちじゅうさん

Answer 1．なないちはちのきゅうきゅうはちのごごぜろいち 2．にいちごのはちきゅうぜろのさんにいちろく

3．ろくいちさんのよんぜろにのきゅういちさんに 4．ぜろろくのはちきゅうぜろぜろのきゅういちさんなな

5．ぜろさんのいしさんよんごのきゅうろくごはち 6．ぜろいちにぜろのいちきゅうにのはちろくに