Base 2 + so desu

To say that someone seems about to verb in Japanese, use the following construction:

Verb(base II) So^ desu

This one is an easily constructed grammar principle. First we take any verb we like and put it into base II.

Hanasu - to speak -
Hanasu(base II) = hanashi

Ochiru - to fall -
Ochiru(base II) = ochi

Naku - to cry
Naku(base II) = naki

add So^ desu to the base II of Japanese verbs will make the verb take on the nuance of things which are about to take place or that look like they are going to do it soon, ie. seems about to verb.

hanashi so^ desu
hanashiso^ desu - It seems he is about to speak

ochi so^ desu
ochiso^ desu - looks like they are about to fall down
For iru and eru ending verbs simply drop off the last syllable ru and add  So^ desu. For all other forms put into i ending.

Base TE + shimau

Today's lesson: Verb (Base TE) Shimau. - To completely verb (negative connotation)

Sanseido's Daily concise Japanese - English Dictionary defines the verb shimau as, "to finish completely, or to put an end to".

For this plug and play grammar to work, just take any Japanese verb and put it into base te. (If you need help putting verbs in bases, go here.) In Ex. 1 we have the verbs for taberu (to eat), and nomu (to drink). Putting them into base TE we have tabete, and nonde. Now adding the past tense of the verb shimau, we have:

Ex. 1. Tabete shimatta! I ate it all,
            Nonde shimatta! I drank it all!

o.      Finishing it to the end you want to use base II owaru.
i.e. Yomiowatta - I have finished reading it.
   p.  If  we wanted to put this into the future tense,leave the verb shimau in plain        form or change into polite form shimaimasu.       
i.e. Tabete shimaimasu - I will completely eat it. (Sometime in the future)

Ex.2. Tsukatte shimatta - I used it all, I used all of it. - (tsukau - to use)

Ex.3. Nakushite shimatta - I lost it all, or I lost all of it. (nakusu -  to lose)

Ex. 4 Nurete shimatta - It got completely wet, or it's soaked etc. (nureru - to get wet)


O-Shimai is often used to signify endings in a variety of nouns that have a beginning. . In Japanese you can think of Open  / start (begin) as close / shut (end).

O-Shimai is often said to children get a hurried response from the child which basically is saying, "That's it!…No more playing!." at bedtime when a parent is desirous of hurrying a child to bed, expressing that "it's time to go to bed it is officially over (O-Shimai)" Similarly the word that expresses, "oh crap" in Japanese is shimau in past tense or "shimatta.". Shimatta Japin this case means, to be wrung, or wringed.

Start using your new base TE shimau bumpo on your friends  today! They'll be glad you did. And don't forget to Ganbatte Ne.! Do your Best! McCluskey

Japanese Days of the Week

In Japanese, the days of the week are easy to learn. The days of the week from Sunday to Monday for a total of 7 days, all have one thing in common in Japanese. YO^BI or 'day'.
^ -long vowels

Long vowel that is pronounced like the English word ,"owe". For every day of the week in Japanese, you will find the word yo^bi pronounced like Kobe Bryant's first name. However, when romanizing the Japanese syllabary, it is common practice to pronounce i as an ee as in the word need. The Japanese vowel "e" is pronounced as the "e" in bed. Knowing this will surely improve our Japanese pronunciation.

How to say the "Days of the Week" in Japanese.

As in English, the words for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are the words Saturn's day, Sun's day, and the Moon's day. The word for day like we use in this sense is yo^bi. 
1. Sun   yo^bi
2. Moon yo^bi
3. Fire yo^bi
4. Water yo^bi
5. Wood yo^bi
6. Gold yo^bi
7. Saturn yo^bi    and . . .
                                      Sun = Nichi
                                    Moon = Getsu
                                       Fire = Ka
                                    Water = Sui
                                     Wood = Moku
                                       Gold = Kin
                                     Saturn = Do^ (long vowel O-)
do a little addition and we have  . . .
1. Sunday = Nichiyo^bi
2. Monday = Getsuyo^bi
3. Tuesday = Kayo^bi
4. Wednesday = Suiyo^bi
5. Thursday = Mokuyo^bi
6. Friday = Kinyo^bi
7. Saturday = Do^yo^bi
The only question I have is how did tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday get messed up? Has it anything to do with . . .  the Tower of Babel? I tend to think so.
As always, Ganbatte Ne! Do your Best! Makuarasuki

The 'NO' particle

The NO particle is affixed to a noun and indicates possession. The construction for this easy Japanese grammar principle is easy to apply and use. It will definitely come in handy both in your Japanese conversation and comprehension - The construct is as follows:
NOUN NO = 'S
Ex. 1 The dog's food. Inu no esa. Inu (dog) no = the dog's.
Ex. 2 Tom's car - Tommu no kuruma.
You might be asked, " Who's is it?" to which you could reply, it's mine, or, it's yours or, it's his, or it's theirs or its ours. In each case no would be used to indicate possession as in the following:

it's mine - watakushi no
it's your's - anata no (plural anata tachi no)
it's his - kare no
it's her's -- kanojo no
it's their's - karera no
it's our's - watakushi tachi nowho's? -  dare no?

How to say " I'm deaf" in Japanese

In Japanese, to say that one is hard of hearing, use the phrase -

mimi wa toi desu-

or literally

my ears are far away.

Family honorifics in Japanese

Humble - humble form (lowering), exalted (raising)

Father -  chichi, otosan (long o)

Mother - haha, okasan (long a)

Older Brother - ani, onisan (long i)

Younger Brother - ototo, ototosan (long o)

Older Sister - ane, onesan

Younger Sister - imoto, imotosan

Parents - ryoshin (long o), go-ryoshin (long o)

Husband shujin (lit. my lord), go-shujin

Wife - kanai, okusama or okusan  polite and most commonly used as with any word in this column, sama can be exchanged for san can be exchanged for chan and chama as well in any case where you express exaltedness.

How to say please in Japanese

To form sentences that say please verb , use the following construction:

Verb in Base-TE + KUDASAI = Please verb

Japanese verbs to put into Base-TE

Iku - v. to go
Kaku - v. to write
Taberu - v. to eat
Isogu - v. to hurry (up)
Suwaru - v. to sit down
Hairu - v. - to come in, to enter

Iku in Base-TE = Itte
Kaku in Base-TE = Kaite
Taberu in Base-TE + Tabete
Isogu in Base-TE = Isoide
Suwaru in Base-TE = Suwatte
Hairu in Base-TE = Haitte

To complete the construction all you have to do is add KUDASAI

Itte + KUDASAI = please go
Kaite + KUDASAI = please write
Tabete + KUDASAI = please eat
Isoide + KUDASAI = please hurry up
Suwatte + KUDASAI = please sit down
Haitte + KUDASAI = please enter