_________________________________________________________________
これはわたしにとってたいせつなので、がんばりたいとおもいます！
Kore wa watashi ni totte taisetsu nanode, ganbaritai to omoimasu!
Since it is really important to me, I want to do my best!
To think
You cannot talk about your thoughts without knowing to verb 'to think' おもう.
Do not confuse おもう and かんがえる! かんがえる means 'to think about' whereas おもう is simply 'to think'. And do not forget that for verbs like this, we will pronounce it 'o-mo-u' and not 'o-moo' as a long 'o'. Since it is a verb, we must pronounce the final 'u'.
With verbs and い-adjectives:
VERB (infinitive) + とおもう
い-ADJ. + とおもう
(verbs in 〜たい will be like い-adjectives)
With nouns and な-adjectives:
NOUN + だとおもう
な-ADJ. な + だとおもう
I think I will enrol in university.
だいがくににゅうがくするとおもいます。
Daigaku ni nyuugaku suru to omoimasu.
I think I want to enrol in university.
だいがくににゅうがくしたいとおもいます。
Daigaku ni nyuugaku shitai to omoimasu.
I think Tanaka-sensei is nice.
たなかせんせいはやさしいとおもいます。
Tanaka-sensei wa yasashii to omoimasu.
Is it a cat or a dog?
ねこかいぬどちらでしょうか？
Neko ka inu dochira deshou ka?
I think it is a cat.
ねこだとおもう。
Neko da to omou.
Is it pretty?
きれいですか？
Kirei desu ka?
I think it is pretty.
きれいだとおもう。
Kirei da to omou.
Since it is an important event, I want to do my best.
だいじなエベントなので、がんばりたいとおもいます。
Daiji na ebento nanode, ganbaritai to omoimasu.
In this sentence, it is implied that since it is an important event, you have the intention and you are sure you want to do your best.
In cases of verbs in the past, you have to use the casual past form and add the verb おもう in the past.
I thought you wrote this letter.
このてがみをかいたとおもいました。
Kono tegami o kaita to omoimashita.
I mentioned to not mix up おもう with かんがえる. かんがえる means 'to think about', as in 'reflecting about something'.
I am thinking about enrolling in university.
だいがくににゅうがくするのはかんがえます。
Daigaku ni nyuugaku suru no wa kangaemasu.
As you can see, it is another construction altogether.
In this sentence, you mean that you are thinking deeply about enrolling in university.
__________________________________________
To decide
Once again, there are different ways to say 'to decide'. The verb きめる will be used primarily in formal speech.
VERB + ことにきめる
I've decided to enrol in university.
だいがくににゅうがくすることにきめた。
Daigaku ni nyuugaku suru koto ni kimeta.
I chose you! Pikachu!
きみにきめた！ ピカチュウ!
Kimi ni kimeta! Pikachuu!
VERB + ことにする
VERB + ことになる
There is a more colloquial way to say 'to decide' and it is with 〜ことにする/〜ことになる. The difference between the two is that, with 〜ことになる, it implies that someone made the decision for us or that there was the rumour of a decision.
I decided to come to Japan.
にほんにくることにしました。
Nihon ni kuru koto ni shimashita.
You will use this sentence if you decided to go to Japan and that you are now in Japan right now. If you made the decision to go to Japan, but you are not in Japan yet, use this verb tense instead:
I am making the decision to come to Japan.
にほんにくることにしています。
Nihon ni kuru koto ni shiteimasu.
My parents have decided that I will come to Japan.
わたしのようしんがにほんにくることになっている。
Watashi no ryoushin ga nihon ni kuru koto ni natteiru.
Choosing the right verb tense is important in this situation.
します: a new decision
しました: the decision was made
しています: the decision is ongoing
なります: new rumour of a decision
なりました: decision has officially been announced
なっています: decision is ongoing
なっていました: decision was made but has now changed.
To say that something was decided, we will use きまる instead of きめる.
We will see the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs later on.
It's decided! I am going to Japan.
きまりました！にほんにいきます！
Kimarimashita! Nihon ni ikimasu!
Once again, the word and the verb tense will all decide the real meaning of a sentence.
______________________________________________
To become
We might have come across なる a couple of times (such as in the previous examples). This time, we will learn it as the verb 'to become'. This verb is used a lot to describe a change of state.
This verb will require the particle に.
To use it with い-adjectives, take off the い and replace it with く. The particle に will not be used in this case. In all other usage, the words stay the same and に is required.
Oh no, the wind really became stronger, eh?
やばい、かぜがつよくなりましたね。
Yabai, kaze ga tsuyoku narimashita ne.
Sakura really became beautiful, eh?
さくらはほんとうにきれいになりましたね。
Sakura wa hontou ni kirei ni narimashita ne.
We can also use it to say 'turn' or 'turn into'.
I will turn 25 years old this year.
ことしにじゅうごさいになります。
Kotoshi nijuugo sai ni narimasu.
We can also use it to say 'can become'. Don't forget how to say 'can' and 'cannot'!
Do you really think you can become stronger?
ほんとうにつよくなれるとおもうか？
Hontou ni tsuyoku nareru to omou ka?
We also use なる in this form 〜ようになる. This expression means that there was a change in behaviour, e.i. something you couldn't do before, but now, you can.
For instance, 'I can now speak Japanese' will be にほんごがはなせるようになりました。
I finally learned how to ride a bicycle.
やっとじてんしゃにのれるようになったんだ。
Yatto jitensha ni noreru you ni nattanda.
なったんだ or なったんです is the explanatory feeling.
We will see this in another lesson.
You will understand when you will be older.
おおきくなったら、わかるようになるよ。
Ookiku nattara, wakaru you ni naru yo.
My son learned how to dress all by himself.
むすこがひとりでふくをきられるようになりました。
Musuko ga hitori de fuku wo kirareru you ni narimashita.
In the past form, like the example I just gave, it implies that there was a gradual change. For instance, you might have started to be absent from work gradually.
To say you abruptly stopped going to work is another construction entirely.
________________________________________________
You have completed lesson 15!
レッシュン15ができました！