______________________________________________________________
ええ、にほんごがむずかしそう。。。
Ee, nihongo ga muzukashisou...
Eeeh, Japanese looks difficult...
Asking permission
When asking permission, we will use a certain sentence structure; we do not use 'can' to ask permission. We will use the 〜て form of verbs + もいいですか.
It is like asking 'is it okay if I....?'
The first sentence that students usually learn is トイレにいってもいいですか？which is 'may I go to the bathroom?'
Can I open my present?
わたしのプレゼントをあけてもいいですか？
Watashi no purezento o akete mo ii desu ka?
Can we meet at 5 o'clock? (Favour)
ごじにあってもいいですか？
Go ji ni atte mo ii desu ka?
It is also common to drop the も
Can I open my present?
プレゼントをあけていいですか？
Purezento o akete ii desu ka?
In casual speech, it is common to drop the も and です.
Here, your present.
はい、プレゼント。
Hai, purezento.
Can I open it?
あけていい？
Akete ii?
To answer in the positive, you simply say はい or いいです.
To answer in the negative, you can say だめ or だめです.
Can I open my present?
プレゼントをあけてもいいですか？
Purezento o akete mo ii desu ka?
Yes, of course / you can.
はい、どうぞ / いいですよ。
Hai, douzo / ii desu yo.
No, not now.
いいえ、いまだめです。
Iie, ima dame desu.
Remember that this is the only way to ask permission; we cannot use 'can' in this context, like in English.
Can I watch TV after doing my homework?
しゅくだいのあとで、テレビをみてもいいですか？
Shukudai no ato de, terebi o mite mo ii desu ka?
________________________________________________
To seem, to sound and to look like
There are several ways to say 'it seems' or 'it looks like'. Sometimes, they cannot be interchangeable, and their constructions will differ from one another.
みたい
The first (and the easier one) is with みたい.
In front of nouns, we will add な. It is treated like an adjective.
Fruits like apples
りんごみたいなくだもの
Ringo mitaina kudamono
The words will be reversed in Japanese.
I like days like today.
きょうみたいなひがすきです。
Kyou mitaina hi ga suki desu.
Do not forget. We are like family.
わすれないで。わたしたちはかぞくみたいなものです。
Wasurenaide. Watashi tachi wa kazoku mitaina mono desu.
We can put みたい following a verb, a い or な-adjective, or a noun. We won't add な in this case.
This guy always looks tired.
あいつはいつもつかれてるみたいです。
Aitsu wa tsukareteru mitai desu.
Passing the exam was like a lie.
ごうかくするなんてうそみたいです。
Goukaku suru nante uso mitai desu.
This town seems peaceful, isn't it?
このまちはしずかみたいですね。
Kono machi wa shizuka mitai desu ne.
Nobody seems to know her name.
だれもかのじょのほんみょうをしらないみたいだ。
Daremo kanojo no honmyou o shiranai mitai da.
There is no lights. I think Tanaka-san went to bed already.
でんとうがついていない。たなかさんはもうねたみたいだ。
Dentou ga tsuiteinai. Tanaka-san wa mou neta mitai da.
You are 45 years old? You really don't look like it!
よんじゅうごさいですか？ぜんぜんみたいじゃないんです！
Yon juu go sai desu ka? Zenzen mitai janain desu!
らしい
The second way is with 〜らしい. This suffix roughly translates to 'likeness' and is used to express the likeliness of something.
I like manly men.
おとこらしいおとこがすきだ。
Otoko rashii otoko ga suki da.
Today is a cold winter-like day.
きょうはふゆらしいさむいひです。
Kyou wa fuyu rashii samui hi desu.
〜っぽい
The third way is with 〜っぽい, which means 'somewhat' or 'ish'.
He speaks like a child (his way of speaking is like a child).
かれのはなしかたはこどもっぽいです。
Kare no hanashikata wa kodomoppoi desu.
I have a feeling I am feverish...
ねつっぽいきがする。。。
Netsuppoi ki ga suru...
I have a small tendency to forget.
ちょっとわすれっぽい。
Chotto wasureppoi.
〜そう
The fourth way is the most complex one. 〜そう is roughly translated to 'seems' or 'looks like'. It is used with verbs, い and な-adjectives.
Affirmative form (stems of 〜ます)
With verbs in the affirmative, we will take the stem of the verbs.
なきます -- なき -- なきそう
Oh no, it seems like Takeshi will cry.
やばい、 たけしはなきそうです。
Yabai, Takeshi wa nakisou desu.
It looks like the sakura are already blooming.
さくらがもうすぐさきそうです。
Sakura ga mou sugu sakisou desu.
The temperature is too high, so the snowman looks like it's melting.
きおんがたかいからゆきだるまがとけそうだ。
Kion ga takai kara yukidaruma ga tokesou da.
Negative verbs: option 1
The first option is with the negative casual form of verbs and dropping the final い and add そう.
あめがふる -- ふらない -- ふらなそう
The lion at the zoo is always sleepy and doesn't move much.
どうぶつえんのライオンはねてばかりであまりうごきなそうです。
Doubutsuen no raion wa nete bakari de amari ugokinasou desu.
Negative verbs: option 2
We can take the verb stem of the affirmative 〜ます form and add (に) (も) ない.
くる -- きそう -- きそう（に）（も）ない
We can use only に or も or both at once. If you use both, it strengthens your speech.
It seems like Satoshi won't be coming.
さとしはきそうにない。
Satoshi wa kisou ni nai.
Of course, you can put this into the polite form with ありません instead of ない.
さとしはきそうにありません。
Satoshi wa kisou ni arimasen.
There is a nuance between those two options. With the first option, it is based on your thoughts and opinions. Like in あめがふらなそうです, you base yourself on what you see.
With the second option, あめがふりそうにない, you have more than what you see. Not only the sky is clear, but you also looked at the weather app and it said it won't rain.
Using も instead of に puts more conviction, and if you use both particles, it puts even more conviction in what you are saying.
With adjectives: い-adjectives
With い-adjectives, we will replace い with そう.
おいしい -- おいし -- おいしそう
This cake looks delicious.
このケーキはおいしそうです。
Kono keeki wa oishisou desu.
If you want to say 'this looks like a delicious cake', you will add な.
おいしそうなケーキです。
Oishisouna keeki desu.
Kanji looks difficult, doesn't it?
かんじがむずかしそうですね。。。
Kanji ga muzukashisou desu ne...
Negative: い-adjectives
For the negative, we replace the い in くない and add さそう.
むずかしい -- むずかしくない -- むずかしくなさそう
Japanese doesn't look very difficult.
にほんごはあまりむずかしくなさそうです。
Nihongo wa amari muzukashikunasasou desu.
With adjectives: な-adjectives
With な-adjectives, we take off the な and add そう.
べんりな -- べんりそう
This car seems convenient.
このくるまはべんりそうです。
Kono kuruma wa benrisou desu.
Once again, if we want to say 'this seems to be a convenient car', we add な.
べんりそうなくるま
Benrisouna kuruma
Negative: な-adjectives, option 1
There are two ways to conjugate these adjectives in the negative. The first is to conjugate ではない.
ではない -- ではな -- ではなさそう
It doesn't seem to be famous.
ゆうめいではなさそうです。
Yuumei dewanasasou desu.
Negative: な-adjectives, option 2
The second option is to negate the adjectives with ではない.
べんりそう -- べんりそうではない
This car doesn't look convenient.
このくるまはべんりそうではない。
Kono kuruma wa benrisou dewanai.
そうじゃない vs. なさそう
Both of these negatives mean virtually the same, but there is a nuance between them.
Using adjectives + なさそう, you are giving your opinion. However, using そうじゃない, you contradict something that someone said.
For example, your friend finds pugs to be really cute. Using なさそう would just imply that you think pugs are not cute. But with そうじゃない, you challenge your friend's opinion that pugs are cute.
Let's look at examples to help us differentiate the nuance.
Look! I adopted this dog.
ほら！このいぬをさいようしました。
Hora! Kono inu o saiyou shimashita.
It doesn't look cute at all...
ぜんぜんかわいなさそう。。。
Zenzen kawainasasou...
And...
Look! I adopted this dog. Don't you think it's cute?
ほら！このいぬをさいようしました。かわいくない?
Hora! Kono inu o saiyou shimashita. Kawaikunai?
No, it isn't cute at all...
いや、ぜんぜんかわいそうじゃない。。。
Iya, zenzen kawaisou janai...
You see the nuance?
Also, 〜そう is not attached to nouns to express 'looks like' 'seems like'.
But 〜そう can also be used in a context where you heard something. In this context, 〜そう can be attached to verbs, adjectives and nouns.
With verbs
With verbs, it will signifies that there is hearsay that someone will do something or something will happen.
いく -- いくそう
I hear Tanaka-san will go to the party.
たなかさんはパーティーにいくそうです。
Tanaka-san wa paatii ni ikusou desu.
I heard Mei will quit her job.
めいはしごとをやめるそうです。
Mei wa shigoto o yamerusou desu.
I hear that according to the weather report it won't rain tomorrow.
てんきよほうによると、あしたはあめがふらないそうです。
Tenkiyohou ni yoru to, ashita wa ame ga furanaisou desu.
With adjectives
With い-adjectives, we will attach そう to the adjectives as is.
I hear it is fun.
たのしいそうです。
Tanoshii sou desu.
Thus, たのしそう and たのしいそう have different connotations. The first one, as we saw, means 'this looks fun', whereas the second one mean 'I hear it is fun'. This is why you have to make the difference between the long and short syllables.
For the negative, we will attach そう to the adjectives as is.
I hear it isn't fun.
たのしくないそうです。
Tanoshikunai sou desu.
Again, たのしくなさそう and たのしくないそう have different meanings.
I heard Tanaka-san received some flowers from her boyfriend, but she is not happy. I wonder why...
たなかさんはかれしからはなをもらったのに、うれしくないそうです。どうしてかな。。。
Tanaka-san wa kareshi kara hana o moratta noni, ureshikunai sou desu. Doushite kana...
This sentence is quite long, so let's examine it!
たなかさんはかれしからはなをもらった means 'Tanaka-san received flowers from her boyfriend.' かれしから means 'from (her) boyfriend' and はなをもらった is 'received flowers.' のに in this case means 'even though' as in a negative statement. Even though Tanaka-san's boufriend did a nice gesture towards her (he gave her flowers), her reaction is a negative one.
We will see のに in a later lesson.
With な-adjectives
With な-adjectives, you will take off the な and add だそう（です）.
げんきな -- げんき -- げんきだそう
I hear that everyone in the family is well!
かぞくはみんなげんきだそうです！
Kazoku wa minna genki da sou desu!
In the negative, we negate the adjective and add そう.
きれいではない -- きれいではないそう
I heard that Satoshi's room is not that clean.
さとしのへやはあまりきれいではないそうです。
Satoshi no heya wa amari kirei dewanai sou desu.
With nouns
With nouns, we attach だそう, like with な-adjectives.
I hear she is a student.
がくせいだそうです。
Gakusei da sou desu.
For the negative, you can use ではないそう or じゃないそう.
I hear she is not a student.
がくせいじゃないそうです。
Gakusei janai sou desu.
In these sentences, I alternated between 'hear' and 'heard', but there is no distinction in Japanese, so keep that in mind.
It seems like it was a huge lesson! Again, keep in mind that some sentence structures are not interchangeable in Japanese, even if in English they practically mean the same thing. Japanese is a very nuanced language, if you haven't noticed by now.
_______________________________________________
Instead
We are not even done with the lessons yet! We have to learn the expression かわりに.
It can either means 'instead of', 'as a substitute of' or 'in exchange of', 'to make up for'.
VERB (infinitive) + かわりに
NOUN + の + かわりに
かわりに can be split in two categories: one is the meaning of 'instead of', 'as a substitute' or 'on behalf of'.
I am thinking of hiring Watanabe-san and entrusting him with the management of this restaurant on my behalf.
わたしはわたなべさんをやとって、わたしのかわりにこのレストランのけいえいをまかせることをかんがえている。
Watashi wa Watanabe-san wo yatotte, watashi no kawari ni kono resutoran no keiei o makaseru koto o kangaeteiru.
Here's how to dissect this sentence!
やとって is from the verb やとる, which means 'to hire'. けいえい means 'management'. まかせる is a verb that means 'to leave to someone'. こと in this context is a nominalizer that will turn the verb 'entrusting' into a noun, and かんがえている is 'to think about'.
I will have to start giving long sentences as examples, so you can learn how to form them more easily.
The second meaning is 'in exchange of' or 'in return'.
In return for the public who pays, they must receive a good service.
たいしゅうはかねをはらうかわりに、よいサーヴィスをもとめるけんりがあります。
Taishuu wa kane o harau kawari ni, yoi saavisu o motomeru kenri ga arimasu.
So, when the public pays, in return they receive good services.
_____________________________________________________________________
You have completed lesson 20!
レッシュン20ができた！
No comments:
Post a Comment