Grammar

TABLE OF CONTENTS

II. Informal Speech

Short forms of verbs and adjectives are used instead of long forms. In order to change the regular short forms into the casual speech style, there are additional rules as follows:

1. Omit sentence-ending particle か from question sentences. Add a question marker "?" in writing since you cannot tell if they are questions or not otherwise. In speaking, you need to raise the tone at the end.

ex. あした、何する？⤴（あした何をしますか。）

いっしょに行かない？⤴（いっしょに行きませんか。）

2. Particles は, が and を are often omitted as well as the sentence ending particle か in question sentences.

ex. ともだちととしょかんで日本語べんきょうする。（ともだちととしょかんで日本語を勉強します。）

3. Omit だ for non-past affirmative な-adjectives/nouns if ね or よ does not follow them. Keep だ when they are followed by ね or よ.

ex. 山田さんは元気です。 → 山田さん元気。

山田さんは元気ですか。 → 山田さん元気？

山田さんは元気ですよ。 → 山田さん元気だよ。

4. Use うん／ううん instead of はい／いいえ, and choose informal or neutral words over formal words such as ごかぞく, ごきょうだい, 父, 母, etc.

ex. いっしょに行く？ － うん、行く？

高かった？ － ううん、高くなかった。

父、母、あに、ごかぞく, etc. are used in formal/semi-formal speeches, and not in casual speeches. Use お父さん、お母さん、おにいさん、かぞく, etc. instead.

Formal: 父、母、そふ、そぼ、あに、あね、おとうとさん、いもうとさん、ごかぞく、ごきょうだい

Replace with: お父さん、お母さん、おじいさん (or おじいちゃん)、おばあさん (or おばあちゃん)、おにいさん (or おにいちゃん)、おねえさん (or おねえちゃん)、おとうと、いもうと、かぞく、きょうだい

III. Expressing Opinions/Guesses and Quoting What Someone Said: "と思（おも）います" & "と言（い）っていました"

• Use Short Form + と思います for expressing opinions/guesses (to say "I think...").

• Use Short Form + と言っていました to tell someone what someone else said.

• Use Short Form + と言いました to quote what someone said.

1. ～と言っていました for Quoting What Someone Said

ex. メアリーさんは何と言っていましたか。 (What did Mary say?)

あしたのパーティーにおそくなると言っていました。 (She said that she would be late for tomorrow's party.)

Compare the above with the direct quotation:

メアリーさんは「私はあしたのパーティーにおそくなります。」と言いました。

Note 1: The Japanese quotation marks (「 」)are called かっこ. They can be used both vertically and horizontally. When used vertically, you need the beginning quotation mark at the upper right hand corner (the vertical line starts from the right size of the horizontal line) and the ending quotation mark at the lower left hand corner (the horizontal line extends to the right instead of the left.

Note 2: 私 needs to be deleted from the original utterance if you are talking about what the person said about himself/herself. You also need to adjust vocabulary when the person is talking about him/her own family members.

Direct Quotation: メアリーさんは「私はあにが一人います。」と言いました。

Indirect Quotation: メアリーさんはおにいさんが一人いると言っていました。

In indirect quotations, ～と言っていました is more common to use than ～と言いました. However, if you did not understand what someone just said and ask the person or someone close to you what was said on the spot, use 何と言いましたか instead of 何と言っていましたか.

2. ～と思います for Expressing Guesses/Opinions

～と思います is used to express your guesses and/or opinions, which means that you cannot use it when you want to have more time to think or when you want to say you will consider something. Use the verb かんがえます for such situations.

When expressing what you DO NOT think, use the negative form + と思います instead of using the affirmative + 思いません.

ex. あのえいがはおもしろくないと思います。 (I don't think that movie is interesting.)

あしたはあめがふらないと思います。 (I don't think it will rain tomorrow.)

Use ～をどう思いますか／～についてどう思いますか to ask for someone else's opinions. ～について means "regarding..." or "concerning..." and makes the question sound more formal. Use ～について if you are seeking a variety of opinions and/or want to have a discussion on the topic. If you are looking for a short and straight answer, use ～を instead.

ex. A: えみ子さんをどう思いますか。

B: かわいくて、やさしい人だと思いますよ。

A: 今の日本のけいざいについて、どう思いますか。

B: そうですね…。あまりよくないと思います。

Remember that 私は is often omitted when you express your opinion/guess in conversations. In other words, even if the sentence begins with "someone は," the subject is most likely to be "I" or "you."

ex. 山田さんは大学四年生だと思います。 (I think Yamada is a college senior, NOT "Yamada thinks someone is a college senior.")

たけしさんはパーティーにくると思いますか。 (Do you think Takeshi will come to the party? NOT "does Takeshi think someone will come to the party?")

IV. Negative Request: "ないでください" (Please don't...)

To ask someone NOT TO do something, use ないフォーム+ でください.

ex. ここでたばこをすわないでください。 (Please do not smoke here.)

でんしゃの中ででんわをかけないでください。 (Please do not make phone calls in the train.)

Note that this pattern is used to make a request. When expressing prohibition, use the てフォーム + はいけません／だめです instead.

V. Gerund Form: Verbの + が好（す）きです ／ きらいです ／ 上手（じょうず）です ／ 下手（へた）です

To express what you like/dislike/are good at/bad at doing, use the gerund form of a verb: じしょフォーム + の before 好き・きらい・上手・下手.

ex. 私は本をよむのが好きです。 (I like reading books.)

山田さんはおすしをつくるのが上手です。 (Yamada-san is good at making sushi.)

Note that this is different from Te-forms which are used for making requests, expressing ongoing actions, etc. The gerund form function in the same way as nouns and can be replaced with pronouns.

VI. Subject Marker が

Subject Marker が is used to put an emphasis on the subject of the sentence, which differs from the use of Topic Marker は. You have learned to use が to describe existences and likes/dislikes. Here are how the sentences should be interpreted:

ex. あそこに山田さんがいます。 (There's Yamada over there; Yamada (and not someone else) is over there.)

私はおすしがすきです。 (As for me, sushi (and not something else) is likable.)

When you use は to mark the subject, the focus is on the content in the predicate (the part that contains a verb or です). Therefore, you can often omit the subject when it is understood from the context. On the other hand, when using が, the noun (subject) that is marked with it cannot be omitted because it is the part that you want to convey.

Make sure to remember to use が when there is an interrogative in the subject.

ex. 今ばんのパーティーにだれがきますか。 (Who is coming to tonight's party?)

- とおるくんと はるみさんがきます。 (Toru and Harumi are coming.)

どのえいががおもしろいですか。 (Which movie is good/interesting?)

- 「きみのなは」がおもしろいですよ。 ("Kimino Na wa" (Your Name) is interesting.)

VII. 何か and 何も

何か means "something/anything" and is used in affirmative sentences and questions. 何も is used in negative sentences and means "nothing/not ...anything."

ex. あそこに何かありますよ。行きましょう。 (There is something over there. Let's go.)

何か食べましょうか。 (Shall we eat something?)

しゅうまつ何かしましたか。 (Did you do anything over the weekend?)

けさ何も食べませんでした。 (I didn't eat anything this morning.)

You can also use 何か／何も with a noun.

ex. 何かスポーツをしますか。 (Do you play any sports?)

私は何もスポーツをしません。 (I don't play any sports.)

Note that you can apply the same rules for other interrogatives such as だれか (someone/anyone) and だれも (no one). However, other interrogatives often require another particle and have an additional rule for it. You will learn more details in Lesson 10.