Pets

Are you ready for a visit to Japan?

Learn Japanese fast! You’re almost ready to go sightseeing in Japan! There are just a few additional important concepts that you need to master and then you are good to go! You may need to ask questions like, “Can I get there on foot?” and “When will the bus come?” Because it is so important, you will also want to brush up on ways of talking about tense and formal and informal Japanese verbs. That is exactly what you will find in this amazing Japanese article for beginners. Get started by learning a few useful vocabulary words, including takusan (“a lot and aruku (“walk”). Below you will find a review of must-see Japanese concepts, including time periods and negative forms of verbs, both formal and informal. This Japanese article contains some of the most important information so far. Do not miss it!

Vocabulary: In this article, you will learn the following words and phrases:

daibutsu – “a large statue of Buddha”

jiyuu-jikan – “free time”

zannen – “very bad, regrettable, deplorable”

takusan – “many, much, much”

aruki – “a walk, walk”

kurai / gurai – “about, about”

Hasedera – “Temple of Hasedera”

desukara – “Thus”

hoteru – “hotel”

roku-jikan – “six hours”

daitai – “approximately, approximately”

Grammar: In this article, you will learn the following words and phrases:

Useful phrases and vocabulary

————————————————– ——————————–

takusan – “a lot a lot a lot

————————————————– ——————————–

Note that quantity words like takusan (“a lot and chotto (“a little, a few”) can precede or follow the direct object.

For example:

  1. Jiyuu-jikan ga takusan arimasu.
  2. Jiyuu-jikan ga chotto arimasu.
  3. Takusan jiyuu-jikan ga arimasu.
  4. Chotto jiyuu-jikan ga arimasu.

————————————————– ——————————–

aruki – “walking, on foot”

————————————————– ——————————–

Aruki is a noun form of the verb aruku (“walk”). Toho it also means “walk” or “on foot”.

The means of transport can be described in the following format:

[Transportation] [de] / “by transport”

[kuruma de] / “by car”

[basu de] / “by bus”

[takushii de] / “in taxi”

[densha de] / “by train”

[chikatestu de] / “by subway”

[jitensha de] / “cycling”

[aruki de] / “walking”

[toho de] / “walking”

*Aruita it also means “on foot”.

————————————————– ——————————–

Example

————————————————– ——————————-

  1. (Watashi wa) mainichi gakkoo made aruki from ikimasu.
    “I walk to school every day.”
    Literal translation: I go to school walking.
  2. Aruki from juppun gurai desu.
    “It’s about a ten minute walk.”

————————————————– ——————————–

gurai

goro

————————————————– ——————————–

Although both words mean “approximation”, we cannot always use them interchangeably.

The basic rules are …

  1. [quantity / period (duration) of time / specific point of time ] + gurai gold kurai
  2. [specific point of time ] + goro

————————————————– ——————————–

Example

————————————————– ——————————-

  1. [quantity] + gurai

    Takushii by happyaku-en gurai from his.
    “It costs about 800 yen by taxi.”

  2. [time period] + gurai
    Uchi kara kaisha did juppun gurai from his.
    “It’s about ten minutes from home to work.”
  3. [specific time] + gurai gold goro
    Maiasa, juu-hee gurai neither kaisha nor ikimasu.
    Maiasa, juu-hee goro neither kaisha nor ikimasu.
    “I go to work around ten every morning.”
  4. Rainen, gogatsu gurai ni kekkon shimasu.
    Rainen, gogatsu goro nor kekkon shimasu.
    “I will get married in May of next year.”

————————————————– ——————————–

Grammar review

————————————————– ——————————–

In this article, we are going to review:

  1. Period (duration) of time (minutes and hours)
  2. Negative forms of verbs (formal and informal)

————————————————– ——————————–

Roku-jikan gurai arimasu.

“We have about six hours.”

————————————————– ——————————–

Time durations: watch Nihongo Doojoo: “Welcome to Style You” Article 18

Hours and minutes

Hour meter: -jikan

Minute counter: –funny kan gold -fun

Hours / Japanese / Minutes

1 / ichi-jikan / ippun (khan)

two / ni-jikan / no-fun (khan)

3 / san-jikan / san-pun (khan)

4 / I-jikan / yon-fun (khan)

5 / go-jikan / have fun (khan)

6 / roku-jikan / roppun (khan)

7 / shichi-jikan, nana-jikan / lullaby-fun (khan)

8 / hachi-jikan / happy (khan)

9 / ku-jikan / kuu-fun (khan)

10 / juu-jikan / juppun (khan)

Many? / nan-jikan / nan-pun (khan)

*For half an hour, it is sanjuppun (khan), but not hankan.

*For an hour and a half, it is ichi-jikan han, but not ichi-jinan hankan.

Compared:

  1. ni-ji gojuu san-pun – “2:53”
    ni-jikan gojuu san-pun – “2 hours and 53 minutes”
  2. go-hee han – “half past five”
    go-jikan han – “five hours and a half”

————————————————– ——————————–

Practice

Answer the following questions in Japanese.

————————————————– ——————————–

From where you live now …

  1. Kuukoo did dono kurai desu ka.
  2. Tookyoo made dono kurai desu ka.
  3. Ginkoo did dono kurai desu ka.

* donokurai means “how long”.

* kuukoo means “airport”.

* ginkoo means “bank”.

————————————————– ——————————–

“We are not going to Kamakura Daibutsu.”

Formal: Kamakura Daibutsu e wa ikimasen.

Informal: Kamakura Daibutsu e wa ikanai.

————————————————– ——————————–

Negative form of a verb

For more information on:

  • Formal negative: watch Nihongo Doojoo: “Welcome to Style You”, Article 24
  • Informal negative watch Nihongo Doojoo: “Season 4 of the series for beginners: Meet the parents”, articles 23 and 24

Verb conjugation

Negative formal form of a verb:

  • Exchange -masu to -more in.

Informal negative form of a verb:

  • Class 1 Verbs – Change Ending –you to –a nai
  • Class 2 verbs – Change the ending –ru to –nai
  • Class 3 Verbs – Irregular: suru becomes shinai, kuru becomes konai

Exception

  • Verbs ending in hiragana -u – the -or becomes wanai
  • Verb aru (“exist”): the negative form of aru it is nai, NOT aranai.

————————————————– ——————————–

Class 1 verbs

————————————————– ——————————–

“English” / Informal plain / Informal negative / Formal plain / Formal negative

* “to buy” / kau / kawanai / kaimasu / kaimasen

“to go” / iku / ikanai / ikimasu / ikimasen

“speak” / hanasu / hanasanai / hanashimasu / hanahimasen

“stand” / tatsu / tatanai / tachimasu / tachimasen

“To die” / shinu / Shinanai / shinimasu / shinimasen

“to drink” / nomu / nomanai / nomimasu / nomimasen

“to ride” / noru / noranai / norimasu / norimasen

“exist” (inanimate) / aru / nai / arimasu / arimasen

————————————————– ——————————–

Class 2 verbs

————————————————– ——————————–

“English” / Informal plain / Informal negative / Formal plain / Formal negative

“eat” / taberu / tabenai / tabemasu / tabemasen

“exist” (animate) / iru / inai / imasu / imasen

————————————————– ——————————–

Class 3 verbs

————————————————– ——————————–

“English” / Informal plain / Informal negative / Formal plain / Formal negative

“to do” / suru / shinai / shimasu / shimasen

“come” / kuru / konai / kimasu / kimasen

————————————————– ——————————–

Practice

Fill in the blanks to complete the table.

————————————————– ——————————–

“English” / Informal plain / Informal negative / Formal plain / Formal negative

“meet up” / to / ___ / ___ / ___

“to return” / ___ / ___ / kaerimasu / ___

“for study” / benkyoo suru / ___ / ___ / ___

“think” / ___ / Kangaenai / ___ / Kangaemasen

“to turn” / ___ / magaranai / ___ / ___

“to stop” / tomeru / ___ / ___ / ___

“bring” (something) / kuru mound / ___ / kimasu mound / ___

“bring” (someone) / ___ / konai tsurete / ___ / tsuretekimasen

————————————————– ——————————–

Formal and informal speech

————————————————– ——————————–

  1. “Are you going to study Japanese tonight?”
    Formal question: Konya nihono-go or benkyoo shimasu ka.
    Informal question: Konya nihono-go, benkyoo (or) suru?
  2. “No, I’m not.”
    Formal answer: Iie, shimasen.
    Informal answer: Uun, shinai.]
  3. “Do you smoke?”
    Formal: Tabako or suimasu ka.
    Informal: Tabako (or) his?
  4. “Not.”
    Formal: Iie, suimasen.
    Informal: Uun, suwanai.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *