7 posts tagged “japanese”

Particles are similar to propositions in function, but they are placed after independent words/ verbs/ phrases etc.
Click here for Part I.

14. ~koso ~こそ
Emphasizes a person/ thing/ animal etc
   これこそ私の探していた本だ。
   Kore koso watashi no sagashite ita hon da.
   This is the exact book I had been looking for.

   私こそおわびしなければなりません。
   Watashi koso owabi shinakereba narimasen.
   I should be the one to apologize.

   今度こそうまくやらなくては。
   Kondo koso umaku yaranakute wa.
   I can’t fail this time/ it’s now or never.

15. ~sae ~さえ
Even (in comparison)
   子供さえそんなことはわかる。
   Kodomo sae sonna koto wa wakaru.
   Even a child knows that.
   
   空には一点の雲さえなかった。
   Sora ni wa itten no kumo sae nakatta.
   There isn’t even a speck of cloud in the sky.

Besides, above that
   私には病気の母がいる上に多大の借金さえある。
   Watashi ni wa byouki no haha ga iru ue ni tadai no syakkin sae aru.
   Besides having a sick mother, I also have a lot of debts.

   寒くてたまらないのに雨さえ降ってきた。
   Samukute tamaranai no no ame sae futte kita.
   It’s already very cold, to make things worse it rained.

If only, as long as [used with ~ba ~ば (if)]
   お金さえあれば旅行行けるのに。
   O-kane sae areba ryokou ikeru no ni.
   If only I have the money, I will travel abroad.

   お天気さえよければいいんだがなあ。
   O-tenki sae yokereba iin da ga naa.
   If only/ how I wish the weather was fine.

   酒さえ飲み過ぎなければいい男なんだが。
   Sake sae nomisugi nakereba ii otoko nanda ga.
   If only he doesn’t drink that much, he’d make a great guy.

   あなたさえよければこの映画を見ましょう。
   Anata sae yokereba kono eiga o mimashyou.
   As long as it’s fine with you, let’s watched this movie.

   人間は水さえあれば1カ月は生きられる。
   Ningen wa mizu sae areba 1ka getsu wa ikirareru.
   Human can survive for a month as long as there is water.

   君さえいてくれればほかに何もいらない。
   Kimi sae itekurereba hoka ni nani mo iranai.
   As long as you’re around, I don’t want anything else.

16. ~demo ~でも
Even so, no matter, even if
   雨でも出発します。
   Amedemo shuppatsu shimasu.
   I will go out even if it rains.

   いくら顔が奇麗でも彼女と結婚する気になれない。
   Ikura kao ga kirei demo kanojyo to kekkon suru ki ni narenai.
   No matter how beautiful she may be, I can’t bring myself to marry her.

   彼は忙しくて日曜でも休むことができない。
   Kare wa isogashikute nichiyou demo yasumu koto ga dekinai.
   He is so busy that he can’t taken the day off even if it’s a Sunday.

Denotes plan: maybe, let’s ~, might
   テレビでも見ようかな。
   Terebi demo miyou kana.
   Maybe I’ll watch TV.

   来週でも会いましょう。
   Raishyuu demo ai mashyou.
   Let’s meet again next week.

Any, whichever
   どっちでもいいよ。
   Docchi demo ii yo.
   Anything will do.

   気がついたことは何でも言ってください。
   Ki ga tsuita koto wa nan demo itte kudasai.
   If you haveany comments, please speak up.

But
   でも、やっぱり君の言うことは可笑しい。
   Demo, yappari kimi no iu koto wa okashii.
   But, what you’re saying is indeed funny.

17. ~shika ~しか
Only (none other than)
   この仕事は君しかできない。
   Kono shigoto wa kimi shika dekinai.
   No one else can take up this job except you.

   今はこれしか言えない。
   Ima wa kore shika ienai.
   For now, there’s nothing more I can say.

   これしか方法はない。
   Kore shika houhou wa nai.
   There is no other way.

18. ~bakari ~ばかり
About, around, …or so
   彼は2時間ばかり前に出かけた。
   Kare wa 2jikan bakari mae ni dekaketa.
   He went out about 2hours ago.

   コップに半分ばかりの水が入っている。
   Koppu ni hanbun bakari ni mizu ga haitte iru.
   The cup is about half full of water.

Just (past tense)
   昨日彼女に会ったばかり。
   Kinou kanojyo ni atta bakari.
   I just met her yesterday.

   今朝食を終えたばかりだ。
   Ima chyoushyoku o oeta bakari da.
   I just finished my breakfast.

   彼女は大学を卒業したばかりだ。
   Kanojyo wa daigaku o sotsugyou shita bakari da.
   She just graduated from university.

   私も来たばかりです。
   Watashi mo kita bakari desu.
   I just reached here myself.

   結婚したばかりカップル。
   Kekkon shita bakari kappuru.
   Newly-married couple.

Only, nothing but, nothing more than, merely
   彼女は泣いてばかりだ。
   Kanojyo wa naite bakari da.
   She does nothing but cry.

   彼は怠けてばかりいる。
   Kare wa tamakete bakari iru.
   He is always idle.

   彼は金持ちであるばかりにねたまれる。
   Kare wa kane mochi de aru bakari ni neta mareru.
   He is envied merely because he is rich.

Almost, nearly
   私の心は悲しみで張り裂けんばかりだった。
   Watashi no kokoro wa kanashimi harisaken bakari datta.
   My heart almost burst with grief.

   彼は極度に疲労で倒れんばかりだった。
   Kare wa kyokudo no hirou de taoren bakari datta.
   He was so tired that he nearly fell down.

Continous, in addition
   交通事故は年々増えるばかりだ。
   Koutsuu jiko wa nennen fueru bakari da.
   Traffic accidents go on increasing each year.

   情勢は悪化するばかりだ。
   Jyousei wa akka suru bakari da.
   The situation is getting more and more serious.

As if
   「君が正しいんだよ」と言わんばかりに彼はうなずいた。
   “Kimi ga tadashiin day o” to iwan bakari ni kare wa unazu ita.
   He nodded, as if to say “you’re right”.   

19. ~dake ~だけ
Only, alone, simply, merely
   彼を説得できるのはあなただけだ。
   Kare o settoku dekiru no wa anata dake desu.
   You alone can persuade him.

   それを解決できる方法はこれだけだ。
   Kore o kaiketsu dekiru houhou wa kore dake da.
   This is the only way to solve the problem.

   私はあなたのカになりたかっただけだ。
   Watashi wa anata no ka ni naritakatta dake.
   I simply wanted to be of help to you.

   彼について知っていることはこれだけだ。
   Kare ni tsuite shitte iru koto wa kore dake da.
   I only know this much about him/ this is all I know about him.

   彼は今週だけで3回も遅刻した。
   Kare wa konshyuu dake de 3kai mo chikoku shita.
   He has been late 3 times this week alone.

   私だけがその秘密を知っている。
   Watashi dake ga sono himitsu o shitte iru.
   I am the only one who knows the secret.

As… as…, the more… the more…
   できるだけ早く来てください。
   Dekiru dake hayaku kite kudasai.
   Please come as early as possible.

   必要な金額だけ持ってください。
   Hitsuyou na kongaku dake motte kudasai.
   Take as much money as you need.

   好きなだけ滞在していいよ。
   Suki na dake taizai shite ii yo.
   You can stay here for as long as you like.

   高く上がれば上がるだけ、空気は薄いなる。
   Takaku agareba agaru dake, kuuki wa usui naru.
   The higher you go, the thinner the air gets.
   
   彼はやっと暮らせるだけに金をかせいでいる。
   Kare wa yatto kuraseru dake ni kane wo kaseide iru.
   He only earns enough to support himself.

   やれるだけやろう。
   Yareru dake yarou.
   Do it to the fullest.

If only, hopefully
   とりあえず、希望する半分だけでも貸していただけませんか。
   Toriaezu, kibou suru hanbun dake demo kashite itadakemasen ka?
   For the time being, can you please at least lend me half of what I asked for? 

Less formal forms of usage, you can find the formal tenses here.

Forms

3 comments

Here's something I tried doing myself, comparing it to English, hopefully it makes sense. I don't know how to draw a table up here, so I did on my com and took screen caps instead, sorry it must be big so you guys can see clearly... please rotate it yourself if you want to save it cause it's too big for the screen... ^^;

or you'll have to click this, then click on the picture again when you're led to comment on this picture. Then you'll get the full-size picture.

Tenses

These are only a few examples, but you get the idea ^^... In Japanese, Future Tenses are quite similar to Present Tense, so I didn't elaborate much on that.

Keiyoushi [形容詞/けいようし] Adjectives
Basically there are two types of adjectives in Japanese, the ‘iい’ type and the ‘daだ/naな’ type.

Positive Form
Adjectives形容詞/けいようし+Noun名詞/めいし (‘iい’ type)

   井上真央は可愛いです。
   Inoue Mao wa kawaii desu.
   Inoue Mao is cute.
   
*This type is used when the adjective itself has a ‘iい’ behind it, here we have ‘kawaii可愛い’.

Kakugen [格言/かくげん] Proverbs

雨が降って地固まる
Ame futte ji katamaru
(lit) after rain the soil becomes good, meaning: after obstacles there’re rewards

良薬は口に苦し
Ryouyaku wa kuchi ni nigashi
(lit) good medicines are bitter in the mouth, meaning: you tend to dislike things that are actually good for you

火のない所に煙立たず
Hi no nai tokoro ni kemuri tatazu
(lit) a place without fire has no smoke, meaning: there is a cause for everything

The kanji Sai 最 means “the most…” so anything with this has the meaning of “the extreme…”

Indicating point of time
Saisho 最初/ さいしょ The very beginning/ starting of
Saichuu 最中/ さいちゅう (lit) right in the middle, meaning: in the peak of doing something
Saishyuu 最終/ さいしゅう the very last

Particles are similar to propositions in function, but they are placed after independent words/ verbs/ phrases etc. (Being an Arashi fan, I used them as examples as well... hahahaha...)

1. wa は, ga が
Distinction between wa は and gaが
    桜井さん は アイドルです。
   Sakurai-san wa aidoru desu.
   Sakurai-san is a pop idol.
   *wa は emphasizes on the aidoru アイドル, which is the predicate

    桜井さん が アイドルです。
   Sakurai-san ga aidoru desu.
   *ga emphasizes on Sakurai-san, which is the subject

Ga が in positive form, wa は in negative form
    松本さんは車 が あります。
   Matsumoto-san wa kuruma ga arimasu.
   Matsumoto-san has a car..

    大野さんは車 は ありません。
   Ohno-san wa kuruma wa arimasen.
   Ohno-san has no car.