Japanese Lesson #10

Shūmatsu wa dō deshita ka. (How was the weekend?)

The days of the week

getsuyōbi (Monday)

kayōbi (Tuesday)

suiyōbi (Wednesday)

mokuyōbi (Thursday)

kinyōbi (Friday)

doyōbi (Saturday)

nichiyōbi (Sunday)

nan-yōbi (what day?)

eg.

Tokidoki doyōbi ni kaisha e ikimasu. (I sometimes go to the office on Saturdays.)

Kinyōbi no yoru ni eiga o mimashō ka. (Shall we see a movie on Friday evening?)

Past tense verbs

-mashita instead of -masu

iku > ikimasu > ikimashita (went)

kuru > kimasu > kimashita (came)

tomaru > tomarimasu > tomarimashita (stayed)

matsu > machimasu > machimashita (waited)

hairu > hairimasu > hairimashita (entered)

aru > arimasu > arimashita (there was/were)

miru > mimasu > mimashita (saw, watched)

matte iru > matte imasu > matte imashita (was waiting)

mite iru > mite imasu > mite imashita (was watching)

shite iru > shite imasu > shite imashita (was doing)

desu > deshita (was/were)

eg.

Doyōbi no gogo ni, yakyū o mimashita ka. (Did you see the baseball game on Saturday afternoon?)

Mainichi kanji no benkyō o shimashita ga, sugu wasuremashita. (I studied kanji everyday, but I soon forgot them.)

Itsu kaisha ni hairimashita ka. (When did you join your company?)

-negative, add deshita to -masen

kakimasen > kikimasen deshita (didn't write)

ikimasen > ikimasen deshita (didn't go)

tabemasen > tabemasen deshita (didn't eat)

shimasen > shimasen deshita (didn't do)

kaimasen > kaimasen deshita (didn't buy)

kaerimasen > kaerimasen deshita (didn't return)

shite imasen > shite imasen deshita (wasn't doing)

matte imasen > matte imasen deshita (wasn't waiting)

kaite imasen > kaite imasen deshita (wasn't writing)

ja arimasen > ja arimasen deshita/ja nakatta desu(wasn't/weren't)

eg.

Kare no hanashi ga zenzen wakarimasen deshita. (I didn't understand whaat he was saying at all.)

Dō shite kaigi no repōto o kakimasen deshita ka. (Why didn't you write up the report of the meeting?)

Kirei-na tokoro ja arimasen deshita. (It wasn't a pretty place.)

Past tense adjectives

-i adjectives ; past tense, add -katta

oishii desu > oishikatta desu (was delicious)

tanoshii desu > tanoshikatta desu (was enjoyable)

atsui desu > atsukatta desu (was hot)

ii/yoi > yokatta desu (was good)

hazukashii > hazukashikatta desu (was embarrassed, shy)

ōkii desu > ōkikatta desu (was big)

eg.

Hoteru wa yokatta (desu) ga, chotto takakatta desu. (The hotel was fine, but it was a little expensive.)

Totemo oishikatta desu. Go-chisō sama deshita. (That tasted wonderful. Thank you for the meal.)

-i adjectives ; past tense ; negative, -ku arimasen deshita/-ku nakatta desu

eg.

Kanji no tesuto wa amari muzukashiku arimasen deshita ne. (The kanji test wasn't very difficult, was it?)

Maiku san no tanjōbi no pātii de o-sake o takusan nomimashita ga, atama wa zenzen itaku arimasen deshita. (I drank a lot of sake at Mike's birthday party, but I didn't have a headache at all.)

Counting people = add -nin except "one people" and "two people"

nan-nin? (how many people?)

hitori (one person)

futari (two people)

san-nin (three people)

yo-nin (four people)

go-nin (five people)

roku-nin (six people)

shichi-nin (seven people)

hachi-nin (eight people)

ku-nin (nine people)

jū-nin (ten people)

eg.

Sono chiisai gakkō de jū-nin no sensei ga oshiete imasu. (There are ten teachers teaching at that small school.)

Imōto ga hitori to Otōto ga futari imasu. (I have one younger sister and two younger brothers.)

particle ni = to/towards

eg.

Shūmatsu ni dokoka e/ni ikimashita ka. (Did you go anywhere on the weekend?)

Takahashi san wa itsu Kyōto e/ni kaerimasu ka. (When is Ms. Takahashi going back to Tokyo?)

...mo...mo = both...and...(positive); neither...nor...(negative)

eg.

O-sake mo biiru mo nomimashita ka. Dakara atama ga itai desu yo. (You drank both sake and beer? That's why you have a headache!)

Kōhii mo o-cha mo nomimasen. (I don't drink either coffee or green tea.)

Joining sentences with -te = and regardless of whether the event happened in the past, is happening now or will happen in the future, because it's the verb at the end of the sentence that shows the overall tense of the sentence.

eg.

Doyōbi no asa ni Tōkyo e ikimashita. +

Atarashii sūtsu o kaimashita. =

Doyōbi no asa ni Tōkyo e itte, atarashii sūtsu o kaimashita. (On Saturday morning I went to Tokyo, and bought a new suit.)

Kinō no yoru, uchi ni ite, bideo o mimashita. (Yesterday evening, I stayed at home and watched a video.)

desu = de

Joining sentences with kedo = but/although

eg.

Tenisu wa dai-suki desu kedo, amari jōzu ja arimasen. (Although I really like tennis, I'm not very good.)

-when -i adjective is followed by kedo, the desu can be omitted

eg.

Atama wa chotto itai kedo, daijōbu desu. (My head hurts a little, but I'm okay.)

Sono o-sake wa oishii kedo, chotto takai desu. (That sake is delicious, but it's very expensive.)

final verb is -masu form, any verb which occurs in the middle of the sentence can be in plain form

eg.

Sushi wa tokidoki taberu kedo, amari suki ja arimasen. (Although I eat sushi sometimes, I don't really like it very much.)

Vocabulary

arimashita : was/were

asa : morning

atsukatta : was hot

bideo : video

biiru : beer

chansu : chance, opportunity

dakara : so, therefore

dake : only

deshita : was/were

dō shimashita ka : what happened?

dokoka : somewhere, anywhere

doyōbi : Saturday

ē : yes

futari : two people

getsuyōbi : Monday

gorufu : golf

hairimashita : went in, entered

hazukashikatta : was embarrassed, shy

heta : bad at, unskillful

hitori : one person

hitotachi : people

hontō ni : really, truly

ikimashita : went

itsu : when?

itte : go and...

-jikan : -hours

jōzu : skillful, good at

kaerimashita : went home

kaimashita : bought

kakarimashita : took (time), lasted

kanji : Chinese written characters

kayōbi : Tuesday

kedo : but, although

kesa : this morning

kinō : yesterday

kinyōbi : Friday

kissaten : coffee shop

kondo imashita : was crowded

kurasu : class

machi : town, city

...mo...mo : both...and...,neither...nor...

mokuyōbi : Thursday

nan-nin : how many people?

nan-yōbi : what day?

nanika : something, anything

ni : to, towards

nichiyōbi : Sunday

Nihon Arupusu : Japan Alps

-nin : counter for people

Nyū Yōku : New York

o-sake : sake, rice wine

omoshiroi : interesting, amusing

omoshiroku arimasen deshita : wasn't interesting

onna no hito : woman

onna no hitotachi : women

onsen : hot spring

otoko no hito : man

pātii : party

raishū : next week

Rondon : London

ryokan : Japanease-style inn

sake : sake, rice wine

samukatta : was cold

san-nin : three

senshū : last week

shimashita : did

shūmatsu : weekend

soto : outside

suiyōbi : Wednesday

-tachi : ending for words associated with people

tanoshikatta : was fun

tenki : weather

tokoro : place

tomarimashita : stayed

tomatte imashita : was/were staying

tsukarete imasu : is/are tired

umi : sea, ocean

wakai : young

wasuremashita : forgot

watashitachi : us, we

yama : mountain

yoru : evening

yu : hot water

zannen : pity, unfortunate

Quoted from Berlitz Essential Japanese