A few Thoughts ON learning Japanese

There is spoken language and the written language. The Japanese language is not so unique as it has borrowed kanji or characters from Kanji has deep meanings contained within each character which represents meaning like words. Much different than what we, who are stifled by the alphabet, are use to. We can see the meaning of things inside the kanji also.

Therefore from the get go, we should try to wean ourselves from the temptation to look up words in a romaji dictionary because it makes it harder later or at least less easier to learn Japanese in depth if you cannot read the language. At the beginning there is no choice other than to study and memorize words that to decipher meaning. We should use a dictionary like sanseido’s daily concise wa-ei jiten.
Week 1 verbs - Drink, Sleep, Eat, go hataraku. Put verbs in all bases. Japanese Nouns: coffee, tea , milk, water, coca cola , sake , aquarius, beer, juice.

Japanese Adjectives - oishii, suteki na, benri na, okii, nagaim samui, atsui, chisai, mijikai.

Grammer masu, masen, mashita, masen deshita etc,
BII +tai desu = I want to. polite form. Without the desu its plain form.
Shall we +verb or let’s +verb = BII + masho (long oh vowel sound)

Be careful when studying Japanese for the first couple of times to make sure and pay attention to some awkward details that might throw your study off. The various types of Romanization techniques used to display the Japanese syllables to westerners varies greatly and should be duly noted. For example putting two a’s together doesn’t equal just one sound it will actually be a then a repeated after it as in okaasan or mother. in Japanese vowels can extend themselves into their double impressions where two vowels are connected into one yet the true pronunciation will be elongated double vowel sound.
Adjectives- are fun to play with Practice putting the adjectives in front of a noun etc
ex.
New car – atarashii kuruma,
Old house – furui ie
Big mouth – okii kuchi
Small flower – chisai hana

Remember that nouns have no plural as such as we do in our western tongue so new cars would still be atarashii kuruma, or big mouths would still be okii kuchi

unique Japanese Grammar Lesson on Base TE

Japanese Grammar featuring Base TE + kurenai
Won’t you do it for me? Will ya? Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?

Verb (base TE) + kurenai (TE + kureru)
Verb (base TE) + moraenai (TE + Morau)

Verb (base TE) + kudasaimasen ka?

Verb (base TE) + itadakemasen ka?

Won’t you do it for me? Where do it = some verb

Example 1.

Would you watch the kids for me?

Kodomo tachi o mite kurenai?

Example 2.

Won’t you do (wash) the dishes for me? Couldn’t I get you to do the dishes?

Sara o aratte moraenai?

Example 3.

Kashite kureru?

Would you loan it to me?

Example 4.

Kaite kudasaimasu ka?

Could I get you to write?

Next lessons will deal with causative like ikasete moraenai

As always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!

Makurasuki

In excess - sugiru

In Excess
Verb (base II) + sugiru

Do you overeat? Are there things which you indulge upon which others consider to be excessive. Gambling, money, sex, watching too much T.V.?

To say that you verb too much use the following constructions

Verb(base II) + SUGIRU

On saying goodbye incom[let

How to Say Goodbye in Japanese
Ghetto Grammar Supplement #95

Just as in the English language we have many ways of saying ‘goodbye’, the Japanese language also has many different ways of saying ‘sayonara.’ It’s strange because of all the expressions used by the Japanese to say goodbye, I rarely and I mean super rarely heard the traditionally taught term for goodbye, ‘sayonara’.
I also remember being a kid in an American elementary school growing up in Southern California and pretending to be Asian, I would pull my eyes to make them appear slanted and having the look of an oriental person I would go around saying, “A So^. A so^, A so^ desu ka. I didn’t know at the time what I was saying but it was fun making fun of my oriental neighbors with whom my future was intertwined with in a way in which I could have not yet known. A so desu in English means, is that so? A so^ desu ka means,” Is that right?”

After you verb in Japanese

Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar JPPGG #109
Verb (Base TE) + KARA – after verb’ing
After, After, and After - 3 ways to say, “after verb’ing” in Japanese

To say that you will do something after doing something else in Japanese, use the following grammar construction:

Take verbs and put them into base TE.

Verbs ending in su becomes shi-te  shite
Verbs ending in ku becomes ku-ite 
Verbs ending in gu becomes ide 

HANASU (v. to speak) – HANASHITE

HON O YONDE KARA NERU TO OMOIMASU. I think I’ll sleep after reading a book.

TABETE KARA SHUKUDAI O SURU. – after I eat I’m going to do homework.

UNDO WO SHITE KARA SHAWA O SURU KOTO GA SUKI DESU. –
I like to take a shower after I exercise.

After verb – verb (base TA) + ATO DE –

SAKE O NONDA ATO DE NEMUKUNATTA –
I got sleepy after drinking some* sake.

After verb – verb ( base TA) + NOCHI NI

Nomu - (v. To drink) –
Nomu (base ta)
Bu, mu or nu
ta  nda
Nomu in base ta is NONDA

SAKE O NONDA NOCHI NI INU O SAMPO SHI NI ITTA –
(After I drank some sake I took the dog for a walk.)

Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar JPPGG #109
Verb (Base TE) + KARA – after verb’ing
After, After, and After - 3 ways to say, “after verb’ing” in Japanese

To say that you will do something after doing something else in Japanese, use the following grammar construction:

Take verbs and put them into base TE.

Verbs ending in su becomes shi-te à shite
Verbs ending in ku becomes ku-ite à
Verbs ending in gu becomes ide à

HANASU (v. to speak) – HANASHITE

HON O YONDE KARA NERU TO OMOIMASU. I think I’ll sleep after reading a book.

TABETE KARA SHUKUDAI O SURU. – after I eat I’m going to do homework.

UNDO WO SHITE KARA SHAWA O SURU KOTO GA SUKI DESU. –
I like to take a shower after I exercise.

After verb – verb (base TA) + ATO DE –

SAKE O NONDA ATO DE NEMUKUNATTA –
I got sleepy after drinking some* sake.

After verb – verb ( base TA) + NOCHI NI

Nomu - (v. To drink) –
Nomu (base ta)
Bu, mu or nu
ta à nda
Nomu in base ta is NONDA

SAKE O NONDA NOCHI NI INU O SAMPO SHI NI ITTA –
(After I drank some sake I took the dog for a walk.)

norandoki - "Let's just not ride it ... ok?!" or " We'll just NOT ride that ____ for good measure. "

learn more Japanese

The following supplement will help you increase your Japanese vocabulary by showing you how our good friend mo is more than just a particle. Mo is part of the family. . Have fun!
First, memorize the question words.
Who – dare,
What – nani,
where – doko,
when – itsu,
how many –ikutsu, nannin

Question word + mo with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare + mo anyone nobody
nani +mo anything nothing
doko + mo everywhere, anywhere nowhere
itsu + mo all the time, always none of the time, never
nannin + mo many people, a bunch of people not many people

The mo participle carries the meaning of too, or also. It is all inclusive. For example to say me too just add mo to me and there you have it. Watakushi mo. Easy, right? What if your friend wants to come with us too? Then just add mo and presto you have Watakushi no tomodachi mo. Him too.
We might ask,” is anybody home?”
Dareka oraremasu ka?
Nobody is here.
Daremo oraremasen.

Question word + ka with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare + ka someone nobody
nani +ka something nothing
doko + ka somewhere nowhere
itsu + ka sometime none of the time, never
nannin + ka so many people , this many not many people


Question word + demo with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare + demo anybody, whoever nobody
nani +demo, nandemo anything, everything nothing
doko + demo everywhere, anywhere nowhere
itsu +demo all the time none of the time, never
nannin +demo many people, a bunch of people not many people

Japanese 4 all

Plug and Play
Japanese Ghetto Grammar #107
Jappermon Alliance of Japanetic enthusiasts.
Let's say that one day, while visiting Japan, you find yourself wanting to tell someone in Japanese that you need them to do you something. We must tell them that we are desirous of something. We need to be specific... I mean you can't just want any old thing, I mean... watcha what do you really want?! What in the world could YOU possibly want? If the sushi is not up to your liking and you find yourself wanting rather a good ole' fashioned American Apple Pie, then you are going to need to tell the Japanese in their language. This will help you say this kind of stuff and more. Furthermore... by plugging in your favorite verbs into the construction, you can take your ghetto grammar over to the east side if you want. Even to a deluxe apartment in the sky. Let’s hope that everybody's Japanese is moving on up! Ok so where was I... Oh yeah about you wanting things done or just stuff you might want in General. Sometimes if I felt myself start to miss my family back in America I would want to see a good ole American movie. I wasn't happy unless I got to see a real American Movie. Not a Chinese movie starring Jackie Chan overdubbed in Japanese for my viewing pleasure... oh no...I wanted something specific and I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I got to watch my favorite American movies starring James Dean or Harrison Ford? (Those are the only movies in English that one could rent at the video store in Japan. Yeah not much of a selection but hey I can recite Rebel without a cause to you without a script.
Well, this is about to show you via my Japanese Plug & Play Ghetto Grammar or Japanese to the P squared G squared JPPGG method, how to say that you want something or that you want something done (by someone or something else).
The Japanese word around which we are basing today’s ghetto grammar is hoshii. Hoshii is a Japanese adjective and its meaning according to Sanseido’s daily concise Japanese English Dictionary is a want, or a wish for. Its kanji is made up of two radicals which resemble the words for tani (valley) and ketsu (lack, or missing, but is also in words related to thirst and throat) and together inside of the kanji for this word hoshii, it makes me think of somebody out in the middle of Death Valley California having no water but really, really wishing that they had something to drink. That is a wish or a want for something.
The Japanese construction for the equivalent English phrase of
--- I want noun - noun ga hoshii desu or emphatic no desu
Ex. a.) I want an apple! - Ringo ga hoshii desu!
Ex. b.) I want it now! - Ima hoshii! Etc.
--- I want you to verb - Verb (base TE) + hoshii desu. Polite form
Plain form would be verb (base TE) + hoshii without any copula, or by adding the emphatic all purpose sentence ending ...no da. This is less polite.
Super polite form would be - verb (base TE) + hoshuu gozaimasu. This may be a little too polite for any circumstance. Because you are in the personal realms anyway because you are sharing with someone else that you wish for or want somebody to do something. This bunpo will work when asked questions like the following:
Ex. 1) What do you want done? Nani shite hoshii desu ka? Or, simply Nani o shite hoshii? (Not as polite meaning what do you want me to do?)
Putting hoshii into its negative present form you can get sentences that mean I don't want you to do something as in ex 2.
ex. 2) I don't want anything done. Nanimo shite hoshikunai desu! (Without the copula)
ex. 3) I want you to see a television show that I like. Suki na terebi no bangumi o mite hoshii desu!
Since this adjective serves as an auxiliary, you can also put hoshii into the past or past negative as in ex.4
ex. 4) Kite hoshikatta kedo konakatta - I wanted you to come but you never came. (This little phrase turns out to be quite the alliterative tongue-a-twisty.) Say it 5 times fast! I dare you!)
Or
ex. 5) Kurisumasu puresento o akeru no o matte hoshikatta, ammari akete hoshikunakatta no desu, zannen... Mo^, shikata ga nay - I wanted you to wait before you opened the Christmas presents, I really didn't want you to open them at all. Too bad and so sad but I guess there is nothing we can do about it now...
Hoshii can be made into a verb by adding dropping the final i, forming the plain form stem hoshii and adding + ku adjective linker + adding the verb to become nark (One of the most used verbs in all Japanese)naru becoming hoshikunaru. Another way of saying the same thing would be by dropping the final i of hoshii and adding + garu becoming hoshigaru (v. to wish for, want),
A common mistake made in Japanese is to miss-pronounce double vowels as single vowels. Two ii together in Japanese needs to be pronounced like two different i's. Actually you re-utter the second i. A lot of times double vowels will sound like the same vowels just drawn out.
Here is a good example of which witch is which. Don't mistake hoshii, the adjective for wanting, with hoshi, the noun for the word star. The former being having its final vowel sound i held twice as long.
***BONUS SENTENCE - not available in any text book anywhere! ***
***Zutto mae kara kanojo o hoshigatte iru no ja nai to desu ka? Didn't you want to make her your girlfriend forever now? Or, "You have been wanting that chick for a while now haven't you?”
This concludes today's Japanese Ghetto Grammar Plug and Play bunpo method JPPGG for the month of July. Stay tuned for more incredible methods to help improve your Japanese language skills.
What about a * on the middle school teenager girl who died because she was 1-2 minutes late to school and the gate closed in on her. Japan is strict yo! No joke about that. Conform! Conform! Conform! Conform! ... Just kidding.
Ganbatte ne! Do your Best! Makurasuki Sensei.

Base Te Shimau - To completely verb in Japanese

Today’s lesson: Verb (BaseTE) + 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 all you need do is 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 in 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

grammar boxes example

mamori[1]masu
mamorimasen
mamorimashita
mamorimasen deshita
mamotta
mamoranakatta

[1] ra –base1, ri-baseII, ru- plain form or base III, re – base IV, ro- base V. All polite endings for non-irregular verbs