Japanese with Reverse Lesson 20: Directions

Alright, today I’m going to go over how to give and take directions in Japanese. This is something I struggle with a lot, so I’m partially making this post to drill this into my brain. じゃ、始めましょう！

Asking for assistance

To start things off, let’s go over すみません a bit. We all know that すみません is like saying “I’m sorry,” but you can also use it to express thanks. It’s like a humble way to say “thank you,” so think of it like saying, “Sorry to trouble you.”

どうぞ。
Here you are.

すみません。
Thank you. (Sorry to trouble you.)

You can say すみませんでした as well.

Now, let’s get to the focus of today’s post. Let’s say you’re lost and you need help finding some place in Japan. You can say すみませんが to someone in order to indicate that you’re about to ask for help. Note how が is put after すみません; when used in this way, が is like saying “but.” It is also used to express slight hesitation and will make you sound more polite.

すみませんが、本屋はどこでしょうか。（すみませんが、ほんやはどこでしょうか。）
Excuse me, but do you know where the bookstore is?

Note how すみませんが is like saying “excuse me” or “pardon me” and that you end your sentence with the polite でしょう. Remember that でしょう is the polite form of です and that it’s often used to express uncertainty or wonder, thus making you sound more polite.

Since you asked where a bookstore is, someone may tell you the approximate location of the bookstore by indicating a landmark:

映画館の側にあります。（えいがかんのそばにあります。）
It’s next to the movie theater.

To this answer, you would reply with どうもすみません, which is a humble way of saying “thank you” as we discussed.

Telling where things are

Alright, let’s talk about how to answer a question with where something is. You’ve been asked where a bookstore is, so you have to give an answer. In Japanese, it’s very common to repeat the question you’ve just been asked and follow it up with ええと, which is like saying “hm…”

本屋ですか。ええと．．．（ほんやですか。ええと．．．）
The bookstore? Let’s see…

Then, just like in English, you give directions using landmarks, like streets or buildings.

この道をまっすぐ行ってください。そうすると、映画館があります。本屋は映画館の側にあります。（このみちをまっすぐいってください。そうすると、えいがかんがあります。ほんやはえいがかんのそばにあります。）
So straight along this street. Then you’ll see a movie theater. The bookstore is next to the movie theater.

That’s kind of long, isn’t it? Let’s break these sentences down a bit. Notice how in the first sentence, you say ください after the て-form verb, 行って (いって, “go”). この道をまっすぐ (このみちをまっすぐ) means “Go straight along the street,” with この meaning “this,” 道 (みち) meaning “street” and まっすぐ is “straight.”

In the second sentence, we start off with そうすると which is like saying “and then” or “after that.” The particle が always comes after the landmark.

Lastly, the destination is explained in relation to the landmark. Since the bookstore is next to the movie theater, you have to use the particle の after the landmark and before preposition. Remember that prepositions are positioning words like “above,” “below,” or “next to.” You always put に after a preposition. I’ve seen で come after prepositions too, but that’s a little complicated. I think they may be interchangeable or that maybe one is used if the other has already been used in a sentence (kind of like the は and が relationship or the に and へ relationship), but I’d use に just to be safe.

Particles and directions

Like with prepositions, you use の to describe a corner.

信号の角（しんごうのかど）
The corner with the traffic lights

本屋の角（ほんやのかど）
The corner with the bookstore

二つ目の角（ふたつめのかど）
The second corner 

You use を when directing someone to go around, along, or across something.

次の角を曲がってください。（つぎのかどをまがってください。）
Turn at the next corner.

橋を渡ってください。（はしをわたってください。） 
Cross the bridge. 

この道をまっすぐ行ってください。（このみちをまっすぐいってください。）
Go along this street. 

And then, like with prepositions, you use に when you tell someone to go left or right.

信号の角を右に曲がってください。（しんごうのかどをみぎにまがってください。）
Turn right at the corner with the stoplights.  

二つ目の角を左に曲がってください。（ふつめのかどをひだりにまがってください。）
Turn left at the second corner. 

て-form verbs and directions

When you give directions, you often suggest an action for the recipient to do, like to cross, to turn, to go, etc. When you want to convey these verbs, you have to use the て-form of whatever verb you’re using. In this way, the て-form makes it so that it suggests a command as well as carry the meaning of “and.” And remember, you always use the て-form of a verb coupled with ください.

この道を渡って、次の角を左に曲がってください。（このみちをわたって、つぎのかどをにだりにまがってください。）
Cross this street and turn left at the next corner.

いいですか？これは少し難しいですね。

Alright, that was today’s lesson. This is hard even for me, so hopefully this won’t go completely over your heads. Just study and you’ll get the hang of it eventually. If you have any questions about today’s lesson, please ask and I’ll help you out. 質問がありますか？質問を聞いてください。

Remember that if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions that my ask is always open. If there are any mistakes, please let me know and I’ll correct them right away. I tag all of these posts as “Japanese with Reverse” so you can refer back to them at my blog at any time. You can also find these posts under my new “Japanese” page, so feel free to refer back to that as well.

毎日勉強してください。

Japanese with Reverse Lesson 19: Adverbs

Hi guys, today I’ll discuss adverbs with you all. I’m making this lesson because a follower last night asked me if I could help them out with today’s target subject. As always, I am more than happy to help you guys out with specific Japanese-related things, so if you struggle with something specific, please don’t hesitate to ask me! I’ll definitely help you out.

If you’re a native English speaker, you know adverbs are really weird words. I myself don’t know how to conjugate English adverbs; I just kind of know how. I thought Japanese adverbs would be just as hard, but after studying a bit, I came to find that adverbs in Japanese are pretty easy. I’m sure you all can get the hang of it! Like always, just be sure to pay attention and to practice.

Japanese adverbs are really simple and straight-forward to understand. In addition, the existence of particles in the Japanese language makes it so you can place an adverb anywhere in a sentence as long as it comes before the verb. There are two different sets of adverbs: adverbs that stem from い-adjectives and ones that stem from な-adjectives.

How to change an adjective into an adverb:

• い-adjectives: replace the い with く

例えば：　大きい　－＞　大きく　（おおきい　－＞　おおきく）
Example: great (as in “big”) -> greatly 

• な-adjectives: add the particle に

例えば：　静か　－＞　静かに　（しずか　－＞　しずかに）
Example: quiet -> quietly 

This is pretty simple, isn’t it? It’s really easy to get the hang of Japanese adverbs. Let’s take a look at some example sentences using adverbs. I’ll bold the adverb used in the sentence.

雪ちゃんは朝ご飯を早く食べた。（ゆきちゃんはあさごはんをはやくたべた。）
Yuki ate breakfast quickly. 

I’d like to note that the Japanese word 早く works a little differently from the English word “quickly.” Depending on context, 早く can mean both “quickly” and “early.” For example, the sentence 彼は早く眠った （かれははやくねむった）means “He went to sleep early.” In this context, 早く means “early.”

図書館の中では静かにする。（としょかんのなかではしずかにする。）
In the library, we do things quietly.

However, not all adverbs come from adjectives and don’t need conjugation. These words can be used without particles just like a regular adverb.

例えば：　アニメをたくさん見る。（アニメをたくさんみる。）
Example: I watch a lot of anime. 

例えば：　最近、全然食べない。（さいきん、ぜんぜんたべない。）
Example: Lately, I don’t eat at all.

分かりますか？

Alright, today’s lesson was pretty short. But this is pretty easy, isn’t it? Just practice and you’ll get the hang of adverbs in no time.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, my ask box is always open. If there are any specific Japanese things you don’t understand of struggle with, message me and I can help you out! If there are any mistakes, please let me know and I’ll correct them right away. I tag all of these posts as “Japanese with Reverse,” so feel free to refer back to them on my blog at any time.

毎日勉強してください！

Japanese with Reverse Lesson 18: Plain Form

It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten a post out. Not going to lie, I haven’t been able to think of what to post about! So, before I start things off, if you guys have anything specific you’d like me to cover, just send me an ask and I’ll make a post!

Alright, today we’re going to talk about some very important Japanese. We’re going to discuss plain form today. I’ve gone over plain form a little bit in the past, but today I’ll review and elaborate. Plain form is essentially casual, everyday language, and is also called dictionary form. Dictionary form is basically the form of a word when you look it up in the dictionary. For example, the dictionary form of します is する. Plain form is used in casual and informal situations, such as when you’re with your friends or talking to your family.

Plain speech is characterized by its use of dictionary form verbs, shorter and more direct sentences, the dropping of particles, and changing です to だ. I’d like to note that sometimes です is simply dropped from speech all together and that だ is more commonly used by men. However, I’ve heard women use だ too, so the rule isn’t set in stone.

Let’s take a look at some examples of plain speech versus polite speech. I’ll use examples for neutral, male, and female Japanese, so please review the post on male and female Japanese if you need to.

Polite speech:

例えば：　あの人は誰ですか。（あのひとはだれですか。）
Example: Who is that person? 

Plain speech:

例えば：　あの人誰？（あのひとはだれ？）
Example: Who is that person? 

The first example is in polite speech and the second is in plain form. Both questions are asking, “Who is that (person)?” but as you can see, the plain form version drops the particle は, です, and the question particle か is replaced by a question mark. It sounds a lot more informal, doesn’t it?

Let’s take a look at male plain form speech.

Polite speech: 

例えば：　あの映画が面白そうですね。（あのえいががおもしろそうですね。）
Example: That movie looks good, doesn’t it?

Plain speech:

例えば：　あの映画、面白そうだね。（あのえいがが、おもしろそうだね。）
Example: That movie looks good, huh?

In this example, I used male Japanese to say that a movie looks appealing to me. I used だ instead of です, and if I were speaking, I’d probably talk in a lower register. I also replaced the particle が with a comma and made the sentence shorter.

The female Japanese version of this sentence in plain form would be あの映画、面白そうね (あのえいが、おもしろそうね). There isn’t much of a difference except that です is completely dropped and だ is not used. You’d also probably speak in a higher register.

I covered verbs back in lesson 15, so please review it if you need to. But I’ll still give a short overview of plain form verbs here.

When speaking to friends and family, you always use plain form. For example, instead of saying 今晩テレビを見ますか （こんばんテレビをみますか） when asking someone in your family if they’re watching TV tonight, you would say 今晩テレビ見る？ （こんばんテレビみる？） It’s just a lot more casual.

The form of plain verbs depends on the type of verb you need to conjugate. For weak verbs, you drop the ～ます stem and change it to る.

例えば：　食べます　－＞　食べる　（たべます　－＞　たべる）
Example: to eat -> to eat 

例えば：　見ます　－＞　見る　（みます　－＞　みる）
Example: to see -> to see 

When you change strong verbs into the plain form, you have to drop the ～ます stem and change any “i” sound to an “u” sound.

例えば：　読みます　－＞　読む　（よみます　－＞　よむ）
Example: to read -> to read

例えば：　買います　－＞　買う　（かいます　－＞　かう）
Example: to buy -> to buy

Please review lesson 15 if you need to. Verbs are hard! 

Asking questions in plain form can be a little different too. When you use a question word (どこ、何、いつ、etc), you use の at the end of the sentence.

例えば：　どこ行くの？（どこいくの？）
Example: Where are you going?

例えば：　いつ来るの？（いつくるの？）
Example: When are you coming? 

Male and female speakers usually respond differently to questions in plain speech. I’ll post a question and answer it with male speech on top and female on the bottom.

例えば：　今日何するの？（きょうなにするの＞）
What are you doing today?

男：　出かけるんだ。（でかけるんだ。）
女：　出かけるの。 （でかけるの。）
I’m going out.

As you can see, males will typically add んだ at the end of their sentence whereas women will simply just say の. It’s also very common for males to simply respond with the place. This same form also applies for the plain form of ～ています verbs.

例えば：　今何してるの？（いまなにしてるの？）
Example: What are you doing?

男：　友達待ってるんだ。（ともだちまってるんだ。）
女：　友達待ってるの。（ともだちまってるの。） 
I’m waiting for my friend. 

If there is no question word, then の is not used and only a question mark is added.

例えば：　このサイン分かる？（このサインわかる？）
Example: Do you understand this sign?

例えば：　うん、分かる。（うん、わかる。） 
Example: Yeah, I do.

Plain form is a very important part of Japanese, so keep all of this in mind. Most of the time you’ll hear informal Japanese, but don’t let that make you neglect polite form! Both are a very important part of the language.

I hope you all learned something new today. It’s impossible to give fast and accurate rules for plain form because patterns are always changing and people always talk differently in real life. Knowing the common patterns is the first step to understanding though!

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, my ask is always open. If there are any mistakes, let me know and I’ll correct them right away! I tag all of these posts as “Japanese with Reverse,” so feel free to refer back to them on my blog at any time.

毎日勉強してください！頑張ってください！

匿名 sent: quick question... you can't use "da" with "i" adjectives, right? like いいだね would be incorrect? i am not sure...

no, using だ with an い-adjective is fine. だ is simply the plain form (casual form) of です, so you can use it in place of です at any time; given you’re being informal, of course.

Review: Particles が, に, and で

A lot of people have problems with particles. Particles are hard. In this review, I’m going to go over some particles that a lot of people struggle with as simply and as thoroughly as I can.

I’ll start with the particle が. が acts as a subject marker just like は does. However, が is often used for emphasis and can be a little stronger than は. It’s also used when は has already been used in a sentence. Let’s look at some examples.

例えば：　猫は遊ぶのが好きです。（ねこはあそぶのがすきです）
Example: My cat likes to play. 

Notice how in this example が is used because は already marked the subject of my sentence. 

例えば：　それがいいね！
Example: That’s good! 

In this example, I’m using が to put more strength on the sentence. Something is good, and by saying が, I’m emphasizing that fact. いいですか？

Next I’ll talk about the particle に. に is a particle that’s pretty hard to grasp. Essentially, に is a directional marker. It shows where something is. Think of it like the English word “to.”

例えば：　本屋にいく。（ほんやにいく）
Example: I’m going to the bookstore. 

You can also use に mark the direction of an action:

例えば：　田中さんに本を貸しました。（たなかさんにほんをかしました）
Example: I loaned a book to Mr. Tanaka. 

You can also use に to indicate a point in time:

例えば：　九時に合いましょう。（くじにあいましょう）
Example: Let’s meet at 9 o’clock. 

Now, let’s talk about で. で can be a little bit weird. で is a lot like に and has lots of uses. It’s usually used to indicate a place of action, kind of like the English word “by.”

例えば：　バスで学校に行く。（バスでがっこうにいく）
Example: I go to school by bus. 

で is also used to indicate where something took place, much like the English word “at.” Also think of it like saying “with,” “means of,” or “in,” the latter pertaining to language.

例えば：　本屋で本を買いました。（ほんやでほんをかいました）
Example: I bought a book at the bookstore. 

例えば：　ペンで書いてください。（ペンでかいてください）
Example: Please write with a pen. 

例えば：　日本語で話してください。（にほんごではなしてください）
Example: Please speak in Japanese. 

Alright, I hope I managed to clarify some things for you guys. Particles are really confusing, so never hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

good ways to study Japanese without legit studying:

• view websites in Japanese (for example, view your Tumblr dashboard in Japanese)
• listen to Japanese music (THIS IS A VOCABULARY GOLDMINE)
• read Japanese song lyrics in Japanese (KANJI GOLDMINE)
• read the Japanese instructions that come with electronics. You don’t even know how to read it; just do it anyway
• watch Japanese dramas. You may also watch subbed anime, but dramas use more everyday language than anime does

for all my followers learning Japanese but are struggling or feel discouraged, it’s okay. Japanese is a pretty hard language to learn. I’ve been a student of Japanese for almost six years now and I’m still not good and I won’t be good any time soon. It takes time, but it also takes dedication. You have to want to learn the language. You need to put forward that effort to learn, especially if you are being self-taught. Japanese takes a lot more personal commitment than most European languages, so you can’t just casually study. You need to practically live speaking Japanese. You need to tell yourself, “I can do this and I will do this.” Because learning Japanese is very possible. You can do this.

皆さん、頑張ってください。

Japanese with Reverse Lesson 17: Male and Female Language

Alright, I apologize for being a little slow with getting these posts out! It’s entirely my fault. Today, we’re going to touch on some pretty important parts of the Japanese language, so be sure to pay attention! Today I will talk about male and female language.

Just like most languages in the world, Japanese has forms of speech that are specific to both males and females. These differences are called “gendered language.” In Japanese, female speech is called 女言葉 (おんなことば, “women’s words”) or 女性語 (じょせいご, “women’s language”). Unlike a lot of European languages, gendered language in Japanese refers to the gender of the speaker and not grammatical gender. For instance, a man using 女言葉 might sound very feminine and polite and a woman using more masculine speech might sound more rough, vulgar, and informal. This is a little bit confusing to a lot of English speakers since English is generally a gender neutral language. However, I wouldn’t think of this as “male” or “female” language; think of it more as rough language and soft language. Male and female language is commonly found in informal speech and there are no gender differences in formal speech.

There are key major differences in the use of Japanese according to the speaker’s gender. Let’s take a look at some of these:

Females:

• use of polite form more often
• use of tag questions more often

A tag question is when a declarative statement is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment. For example, the question “You’re Yuki, aren’t you?” is made into a tag question by taking the phrase “You’re Yuki” and adding “aren’t you?” to the end. In Japanese, a tag questions are used to sound more polite.

• avoidance of dropping honorifics
• use of feminine words
• use of generally softer speech

Males:

• polite forms used less often
• tag questions used less often
• honorifics are dropped more often
• use of masculine words
• use of generally more rough speech

Another huge gender difference in the Japanese language is the use of personal pronouns. I made a post about personal pronouns in lesson 10. Look it over if you need to! It is very common for males to use 僕 (ぼく) or 俺 (おれ) and females will mainly use 私 (わたし) or あたし. Note that 私 is generally gender neutral and can be used by men as well, especially in formal settings.

I’d like to note that these days it is becoming more common for girls to use 僕. Since I am not Japanese and I do not live in Japan I’m not sure what the connotations of a woman using 僕 are or if they are few and far between, but I’m sure it sounds much more tomboyish and more informal. Girls that use 僕 are called ぼくっこ (think the kanji for this term is ボクっ子 or ぼくっ娘, but I’m unsure). However, it’s still pretty uncommon for girls to use 僕, so I’d stick to 私 (or あたし depending on your preferences) just to be safe.

Other main differences in male and female languages are how people end their sentences. Females use softening particles and males use rougher ending particles.

Female:

わ: soft sentence ending

わよ: informative

わね: soft sentence ending. Remember that ね is like saying “don’t you agree?”

の: soft sentence ending

のよ: informative/assertive

のね: explanatory/tag question

かしら: I wonder…

Male:

かい: masculine form of the particle か

ぞ: adds emphasis to a sentence ending; generally more positive than ぜ

ぜ: adds emphasis to a sentence ending

かなぁ: I wonder…

I was also taught that is is more common for men to use the plain form of です, which is だ, than it is for women. Women use です over だ when using 女らしい (おんならしい, “ladylike” speech), but I’m sure it is acceptable to use だ in informal speech. Other characteristics of 女らしい are speaking in a higher register and the use of polite speech more often.

The opposite of 女らしい is 男らしい (おとこらしい, “manly” speech) and are characterized by speaking in a lower register, using polite speech less often and the use of だ over です.

As one might imagine, gender differences in the Japanese language poses a big problem who are learning Japanese as a second language. For instance, if you are a male and you learn Japanese from a female, you may end up sounding like a girl when you talk. If you’re female and you learn Japanese from a male, you might sound really rough and come off as a little bit ruder.  Male and female language also have gender specific phrases, which may make it a little bit harder for a foreign speaker to understand masculine or feminine Japanese. For example, I have a hard time understanding a lot of masculine language simply because I am female. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with any of this because these things can’t be helped, but this is why is is very important to study both male and female Japanese.

Alright, I hope you all got a little bit of insight out of today’s lesson. This is a very important part of the Japanese language, so I encourage you all to study as hard as you can.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about today’s lesson, my ask box is always open and I’ll try my best to help you out. If there are any errors, please let me know and I’ll fix them right away. I tag all of these posts as “Japanese with Reverse,” so feel free to refer back to them on my blog at any time.

毎日勉強してください！