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あした、ゆきがふるかもしれない。
Ashita, yuki ga furu kamoshirenai.
It might snow tomorrow.
For example
The adverb 'for example' in Japanese is たとえば.
It is used the same way as in English.
Dogs are really smart. For example, they can understand various words.
いぬはすごくあたまがいいです。たとえば、いろいろなことばがわかります。
Inu wa sugoku atama ga ii desu. Tatoeba, iroirona kotoba ga wakarimasu.
I like playing games. For example, I really like the Pokemon games.
ゲームをするのがすきです。たとえば、ポケモンのゲームがだいすきです。
Geemu wo suru no ga suki desu. Tatoeba, Pokemon no geemu ga daisuki desu.
In the case of 〜とか, it will refer to 'such as', and it implies that there are other things.
What sort of games do you like?
どんなゲームがすきですか？
Donna geemu ga suki desu ka?
I like games such as Pokemon and Spyro (among others).
ポケモンのゲームとか、スパイロのゲームとかすきです。
Pokemon no geemu toka, Supairo no geemu toka suki desu.
It is like an enumeration of things, if you will.
You will see たとえば used with とか sometimes.
What games do you like?
どんなゲームがすきですか？
Donna geemu ga suki desu ka?
I like, for example, Pokemon games and Mario games.
たとえばポケモンのゲームとか、マリオのゲームとかすきです。
Tatoeba Pokemon no geemu toka, Mario no geemu toka suki desu.
So, they can be used together or separately.
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Maybe or perhaps
In Japanese, to say 'maybe' is かもしれない (かもしれません for the polite form).
It somewhat acts as a verb.
VERB (Infinitive) or past casual + かもしれない
い-ADJ. + かもしれない
な-ADJ. な + かもしれない
NOUN + かもしれない
Maybe it will rain tomorrow.
あしたあめがふるかもしれない。
Ashita ame ga furu kamoshirenai.
Next week, I might finally go to the office.
らいしゅうはやっとじむしょにいくかもしれません。
Raishuu wa yatto jimusho ni iku kamoshiremasen.
I brought an umbrella, but maybe it won't rain today.
かさをもってきたけど、きょうはあめがふらないかも。
Kasa wo motte kita kedo, kyou wa ame ga furanai kamo.
In more casual conversations, しれない (しれません) can be dropped, with only かも remaining.
Maybe the manager took some time off yesterday.
きのうマネージャーはやすんだかもしれません。
Kinou maneejaa wa yasunda kamoshiremasen.
It's already this late! The post office might be already closed!
もうじかんだ！ゆうびんきょくはもうしまっているかもしれない！
Mou jikan da! Yuubinkyoku wa mou shimatteiru kamoshirenai!
I don't know. Japanese might be difficult, eh.
わからない。にほんごがむずかしいかもしれないね。
Wakaranai. Nihongo ga muzukashii kamoshirenai ne.
Now that you have more time, it might be best to take the exam.
いまじかんがあるので、しけんをうけるのがいいかもしれません。
Ima jikan ga aru node, shiken wo ukeru no ga ii kamoshiremasen.
Maybe I should have bought more food...
たべものをもっとかえばよかったかもしれないな。。。
Tabemono wo kaeba yokatta kamoshirenai na...
Funny thing, if you ask me 'what do we eat' and I answer 'duck maybe', it will be かもかも!........... that was a bad Japanese pun for you.
For い-adjectives in the negative, simply remove the final い and replace it
with くない + かもしれない.
The test might not be as difficult as I thought.
テストはおもったよりむずかしくないかもしれない。
Tesuto wa omotta yori muzukashikunai kamoshirenai.
For な-adjectives, take off the な.
Climbing up there might be dangerous.
あそこまでのぼるのはきけんかもしれません。
Asoko made noboru no wa kiken kamoshiremasen.
For な-adjectives in the negative, replace な by じゃない + かもしれない.
For the past negative, じゃなかった + かもしれない.
I am taking some piano lessons, but I might not be good at it now.
ピアノのれんしゅうしているけど、いまはじょうずじゃないかもしれない。
Piano no renshuu shiteiru kedo, ima wa jouzu janai kamoshirenai.
I used to live in Tokyo, maybe it wasn't so quiet.
とうきょうにすんでいたから、しずかじゃなかったかもしれない。
Toukyou ni sundeita kara, shizukajanakatta kamoshirenai.
For nouns, you can add かもしれない after the noun and after じゃない (negative), だった (past) and じゃなかった (past negative).
Maybe he is an employee.
かいしゃいんかもしれません。
Kaishain kamoshiremasen.
Maybe he isn't an employee.
かいしゃいんじゃないかもしれません。
Kaishain janai kamoshiremasen.
Maybe he was an employee.
かいしゃいんだったかもしれません。
Kaishain datta kamoshiremasen.
Maybe he wasn't an employee.
かいしゃいんじゃなかったかもしれません。
Kaishain janakatta kamoshiremasen.
To say 'maybe' as an adverb in Japanese, we use the word たぶん.
How many do you want?
いくつですか？
Ikutsu desu ka?
Maybe... three?
たぶん。。。みっつ？
Tabun... mittsu?
To not confuse yourself with たぶん and かも, you can view たぶん as the official word for 'maybe' and かも as the modal verb 'might'.
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To wonder
One way to say 'I wonder' in Japanese is closely related to how we say 'maybe'. Let's see this one first since we just learned how to say 'maybe'.
We will used this verb: でしょう or だろう for the casual form.
The difference between かもしれない and たぶん coupled with でしょう relies on the level of certainty. たぶん and でしょう can be translated to 'probably' whilst かもしれない is mostly used to express your thoughts or feelings.
Maybe she has a boyfriend?
かのじょはたべんかれしがいるでしょうか？
Kanojo wa tabun kareshi ga iru deshou ka?
Sometimes, you will see this construction with a ん before the verb.
Maybe she has a boyfriend?
かのじょはかれしがいるんでしょうか？
Kanojo wa kareshi ga irun deshou ka?
Maybe (I wonder) it will rain tomorrow?
あしたあめがふるんだろうか？
Ashita ame ga furun darou ka?
In these examples, however, the ん will give a sense of explanation. You can read more about this kind of construction in this article Seems to feel like 〜がる (〜garu) + Explanatory feel 〜んです、〜んだ (〜ndesu, 〜nda) + Want something to happen 〜てほしい (〜te hoshii).
The second way is by using two small words that roughly translate to 'I wonder'.
かな can be used by anyone, whereas かしら is used by women only. They are placed at the end of sentences. These words do not work with the 〜ます form.
I wonder if it will snow tomorrow.
あしたゆきがふるかな。
Ashita yuki ga furu kana.
あしたゆきがふるかしら。
Ashita yuki ga furu kashira.
Even though Japanese does not have genders, sometimes the way people speak will depend on their gender. Some words are reserved only for women, such as かしら or the end-of-sentence particle わ, and some words are reserved for men, such as the end-of-sentence particles ぞ or ぜ.
Some pronouns as well will technically have a gender. We will see them in another lesson!
I would like to come back to でしょう for a minute.
There is a sentence construction we can also use it with.
I told you to stop, didn't I?
やめてっていってたんでしょう！
Yametette ittetan deshou!
In this case, we can translate is as 'I wonder if I told you to stop', which roughly means 'I told you to stop, didn't I'?
Be careful with this, as でしょう is not necessarily used for sentence structures like this. When you use sentences in English like 'you did it, didn't you?' there is no exact translation in Japanese.
You told a lie, didn't you?
あなたはうそついたでしょう？
Anata wa uso tsuita deshou?
あなたはうそついたよね？
Anata wa uso tsuita yo ne?
The first sentence sounds a bit like 'you lied, didn't you?' and the second one 'you lied, right?' which both would mean the same thing.
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Please do or do not
To say 'please' in Japanese, we can say おねがい (します).
I want water, please.
おみず、おねがいします。
Omizu, onegai shimasu.
ください
ください with nouns require the particle を.
NOUN + を + ください
I want water, please.
おみずをください。
Omizu o kudasai.
*Keep in mind that for nouns, we will most likely use おねがいします. This is because ください used with nouns somewhat means 'give me'. Despite the fact that it is totally grammatical, it can be a bit rude if you use NOUN + を + ください at a restaurant for example.
Thus, we will prefer to use おねがいします
Water, please.
おみず、おねがいします。
Omizu, onegai shimasu.
We will mostly use ください with verbs.
VERB (te-form) + ください
With verbs, ください requires verbs in their 〜て form.
Please sit down.
すわってください。
Suwatte kudasai.
Please eat it while it is still warm.
これはもうあたたかいうちにたべてください。
Kore wa mou atatakai uchi ni tabete kudasai.
Please, make sure you bring this letter to Reina.
このてがみをれいなにもってきてくださいね。
Kono tegami wo Reina ni motte kite kudasai ne.
ください cannot stand on its own. If you want to say 'please' by itself, you will have to use おねがい(します).
This cat is so cute! I want a cat! Please!
このねこちゃんはとてもかわいい！ねこがほしい！おねがい！
Kono neko wa totemo kawaii! Neko ga hoshii! Onegai!
In more casual conversations, ください can be omitted. In this case, the verbs in their 〜て form will act as an order.
Where is my book? Give it back.
わたしのほんはどこ？かえして。
Watashi no hon wa doko? Kaeshite.
Do not
To say 'do not', there are two ways you can say it. The first one is the more direct one. We will use the 〜ない form of verbs + で + ください.
Please, do not drink coffee before sleeping.
ねむるまえにコーヒーをのまないでください。
Nemuru mae ni koohii o nomanaide kudasai.
In more casual conversations, you can drop the ください.
ねむるまえにコーヒをのまないで。
Nemuru mae ni koohii o nomanaide.
Sometimes, in even more casual conversations, you will hear な instead.
VERB (Infinitive) + な
Do not eat this apple.
このりんごをたべるな。
Kono ringo o taberu na.
Don't cry.
なくな。
Naku na.
The case of だめ as an imperative
In the case of だめ, it can be used in a lot of sentences.
As a negative imperative, it will require the 〜て form of verbs + は + だめ + です.
Do not turn the meat over.
にくをひっくりかえしてはだめです。
Niku o hikkuri kaeshite wa dame desu.
This case is not exactly like the imperative, but it somewhat acts like it. It means more like 'turning the meat over is no good'.
You cannot eat and drink in the classroom.
きょうしつでいんしょくしてはだめです。
Kyoushitsu de inshoku shite wa dame desu.
You can use it in different sentences as well.
I am no good with spicy food.
からいものはだめです。
Karai mono wa dame desu.
In casual conversations, you can drop the particle は and the verb です.
Do not steal my little sister's doll.
いもうとのにんぎょうをぬすんでだめ。
Imouto no ningyou o nusunde dame.
だめ itself means 'no good'. So, paired with verbs in this way will mean 'doing this is no good'. It can also mean 'should not' as in 'you shouldn't steal my little sister's doll'.
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You have completed lesson 17!
レッシュン17ができた！
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