We have finally arrived at the last lesson of this huge part on Japanese particles. It is finally time to move on to a recap of everything we have seen since the start of this second season : Japanese sentence construction, grammatical particles, DOC, IOC and many other things.
I will also try to deepen some notions that, normally you should have assimilated, in short, I will go into details. I will also give you some tips on the most common mistakes you should not make for the future.
I start with a recap of all the grammatical particles we have seen so far. I will classify them for you according to the different categories to which they belong.
We start with the binding particles which make it possible to create a nominal group, glue and weld nouns between them. We saw :
1/ the particle の to define a belonging, possession, more broadly determine a noun with another.
2/ the particle と which is the particle of the enumeration.
3/ the particle や the non-exhaustive enumeration, and recently the particles か and なり which makes it possible to draw up a choice. Exhaustive with か, and non-exhaustive with なり.
I remind you that you already had a small recap of these particles in the previous course on Japanese logical connectors.
We then have the syntactic particles which indicate the role of the complement in the sentence, which orders the sentence, this is what we call the syntax :
– と so you can say « with ».
– に which has four different uses : to indicate the place where nothing is happening, to indicate the end point of a movement, to indicate the IOC and to indicate a complement of time time-precise.
– で which has two uses : to indicate the place in which something is happening and also the means with which actions are carried out.
– へ which indicates direction as part of a directional displacement verb.
– を which is pronounced [o], (even if some people also pronounce it [wo], it is possible) which has two uses : to indicate the COD of the verb and also to indicate the route when we have in the sentence a verb of movement.
– から and まで to indicate respectively the beginning and the end of an action as well in space as in time.
– が to indicate the subject of the verb and a very important complement but that we will not use very often because we had seen that it is preferable to use は instead.
– I より to indicate just like the particle から the starting point of an action as well in space as in time, and secondly, to define the basis for a comparison.
I continue with the adverbial particles : だけ, のみ, しか and ばかり which all four correspond to the idea of « only » :
– のみ being the same as だけ but in a more polite version,
– しか used with a negative sentence and ばかり bringing a pejorative nuance,
– くらい which defines an approximation, ころ which does the same when it comes to a fixed point in time, both often pronouncing ぐらい and ごろ,
– ほど to make a comparison,
– など to reinforces the idea of non-exhaustiveness.
We had also seen なんか but I think I’ll keep なんか for season three. For now, just keep that in mind.
To be exact, the particle まで is also an adverbial particle to indicate a degree, the degree to which things are done both in space and in time, but being generally considered to be inseparable from the particle から, I prefer to classify it in syntactic particles. This particle, like many others, will be further developed in season three.
Let’s continue with the emphasis particles :
– は that we write with the hiragana は but that we pronounce effectively [wa] to make from a complement of the verb the topic of the sentence to highlight it. This announces what we are going to talk about.
– も to indicate that we are dealing with a repetition, « too » and « also ».
– こそ to insists on the complement on which it is placed.
– さえ and でも which each in English will be translated « same » but not with the same nuance, さえ, it’s to show something that normally shouldn’t happen and でも to take something ridiculous as an example.
All these particles of emphasis are placed after the syntactic particles. Except が and most of the time を they replace, and in the previous lessons I told you that they also replace は. And in fact, は, is also an emphasis particle. Understand that it is impossible to have an emphasis particle on は.
I quickly come back to しか which is also an emphasis particle. This is why, in the sentence in which I illustrated its use :
パンダは竹しかを食べない。
パンダはたけしかをたべない。
Pandas only eat bamboo.
We didn’t have a particle を, because the emphasis particle replaced the を of the DOC.
Then we saw the end-of-sentence particles, you remember, that come after the verb to accompany the attitude with which things are said. We saw よ, ね, な, わ, ざ, とも, ぞ, さ, か and かしら.
In order to refresh your memory, feel free to come back to the corresponding course. However, I am assuming that you are already supposed to master the end-of-sentence particles.
We had also seen compositions of end-of-sentence particles in particular かな, synonymous with かしら. We also talked about the explanatory form のだ with this の which sometimes can be related to a particle at the end of a sentence. Remember well : さ, か and かしら in a sentence that ends with だ replace the だ of end-of-sentence. This is not the case with all the other end-of-sentence particles.
And then to finish, we very recently saw the connective particles which make it possible to link two propositions between them. Earlier in the section on binding particles, I put those that allow nouns to be linked together. We saw :
– が, けれども and のに to indicate a concession,
– から and ので to indicate a cause.
So, have we seen all the particles ? No, we haven’t seen all the Japanese particles. We have seen a great majority of them and especially the most important ones, but there are others that we will see later. Everything in its time.
Regularly practice making a summary of these particles, remembering the function of each of them in order to be sure that you all remember them. Remember that a grammatical particle corresponds to a grammatical function and not to words that could be translated from English to Japanese. For example if we want to say :
I wonder if Nicolas would be on the baseball field ?
The « I wonder if », are not words that we are going to look for directly in a Japanese translation, it is an option that expresses doubt, the fact that we are asking ourselves the question. And so, it is the particle に because it is the one that will mean that wording in English. Never try to translate from English to Japanese and the reverse word for word, it is impossible. And then, on these particles I can already give you some little novelties.
When we have possession with の, it is possible to imply the possessed by not saying it. In English, it is equivalent to the pronoun « ‘s ». I show you below an example :
It’s Fabien’s ball.
Well, a very simple sentence, in Japanese that gives us :
ファビアンのボールだ。
Well, I can imply the possessed by just saying :
ファビアンのだ。
In English :
It is Fabien’s’.
This is something we can do. But something we won’t do to refer to human beings, out of respect. For example if we want to say :
This is Fabien’s sister. → This is Fabien’s.
We can’t imply a human being like that, it wouldn’t be very respectful.
And then, the particle でも after a noun can also have the meaning of « or other » when we make a proposition, when we imply terms, choices of the same kind as what we have already said. Okay, we already made the sentence :
お茶は如何ですか。
おちゃはいかがですか。
Do you want some tea ?
Now let’s see the same sentence. Simply, we put でも in place of は :
お茶でも如何ですか。
おちゃでもいかがですか。
Do you want some tea or something ? (r something like that, another hot drink, for example)
We will now go on a little summary of all the different types of verbs that we have seen together.
First, we have the most important, the verb « to be of description », だ to make very simple sentences when describing things. You will have more details in season three on what precisely this verb is だ, where did it come from, etcetera.
We then have the « presence verbs », いる and ある which are used in the case of a place in which no action is taking place, いる referring to humans and animals and ある overall to everything else. We have also seen that there are other presence verbs like 残る . のこる which means « to stay ». « To stay », in itself, it is not an action. We are somewhere but we are still there, we are staying in the same place. We also have 住む . すむ which means « to live, to inhabit », similar it is just a verb of presence. We are somewhere but we indicate that we are there in a sedentary way. And for example, 泊る . とまる, means « to spend a night ». So there, once again we are simply in a place to spend the night. You recognize, it’s the same kanji as 泊 . ハク that we saw in the course on units of measurement, which means « the overnight stay ».
In season three, we’ll see more presence verbs. I won’t bother you with that any more just yet. Learn all the verbs we have seen so far, this will be an excellent basis for the coming season.
Then we have the action verbs that describe an action. Well, that’s obvious to understand !
Finally, we have seen the verbs of directional movement that we will use with the particle へ when we want to indicate the direction in which we are moving or with the particle に when we want to indicate the end point of our movement.
Now I am going to highlight a few mistakes that should not be made, mistakes that are generally quite frequent. For example, you really need to clearly distinguish the difference between « to be of description » and « to be of presence ». On one side だ, on the other it is いる and ある. In English, it’s the same verb, but in Japanese, they’re two very different things. If we say :
This is a cat.
We just describe what we see :
猫だ。
ねこだ。
And when we say for example :
The cat is in the park.
In the sentence above, we indicate the presence of the cat, we say where he is, and therefore it is :
猫は公園にいる。
ねこはこうえんにいる。
いる because the cat is therefore an animal. If it had been a baseball bat or ball, for example, we would have said ある. To be successful in determining whether it is one or the other, if you can ask the question :
« What is it ? It’s a cat. »
So it will be the verb « to be of description » that must be used in the sentence. What if you can ask the following question :
« The cat is where ? / Where is the cat ? », « The cat is in the park. »,
So, it will be the verb « to be of presence » that must be used in the sentence. Sometimes we will be able to use だ, « to be of description », and いる and ある, « to be of presence ». For example when we indicate the location of a place :
図書館は動物園の前にある。
としょかんはどうぶつえんのまえにある。
The library is opposite the zoo.
We can also say :
図書館は動物園の前だ。
としょかんはどうぶつえんのまえだ。
The library is in front of the zoo.
And so, we say pretty much the same thing using in one case the verb « to be of presence » and in the second the verb « to be of description ». And we can also do the same when we ask a question :
« Where is the station ? »,
We can do this by asking the question in both ways.
Another mistake not to make. Don’t rely on the appearance of something to infer its grammatical function. For example, when I say : « I visit the zoo. », « The zoo », yes in general it is a place, we agree, but in my sentence « the zoo » is not a place, it is the DOC of the verb « to visit ».
So be careful not to get confused with the appearance of certain words, the meaning of certain words that could confuse you about their grammatical function in the sentence. And besides, when we talk about DOC, there is never any DOC therefore particles を before だ, neither in front of いる, nor in front of ある. Never ever. It’s totally impossible. If you ever do a sentence and all of a sudden you end up with a を in front of だ, いる, ある, it is necessarily that there is a problem. It’s impossible in Japanese. In front of だ, we can only put nouns because that’s what we are describing. And いる and ある are usually placed before the particle に which indicates where the presence or particle is が when we indicate the subject of the verb « to be of presence ».
In season three we will see that it is possible to have a formulation in である, I don’t tell you more, just remember it.
Well, I told you a lot about it at the start of season two but I think it’s important to make a reminder : the topic of the sentence is something different from the subject of the verb and has no syntactic value. This is a noun or nominal group that is always at the beginning of the sentence and announces what the sentence is about. This is something that is seen a lot when we have a given topic after a syntactic particle, for example には, では, からは.
You have understood correctly, I hope, that the topic is put in addition to these syntactic particles which indicate the function of the complement towards the verb. But when we have a particle は on its own, it’s always a complement of the verb we are emphasizing. Usually, this is the subject of the verb or the DOC because remember that the particle は replace が and を. When I say :
ジェイソンは男だ。
ジェイソンはおとこだ。
Jason is a man.
Jason is, in this sentence, the subject of the descriptive verb だ but I make a theme with my particle は. Now observe the following sentence :
漫画は子供と大人が日々読む。
まんがはこどもとおとながひびよむ。
Manga, children and adults read it every day.
漫画 . マンガ is actually DOC of the verb 読む . よむ which means « to read », but here I make it my topic with the particle は and we can also have a particle は all alone on a word if we do not necessarily want to specify which complement it is in relation to the verb. I give you as an example a sentence that you already know :
フランスでは子供と大人が漫画を読む。
フランスではこどもとおとながまんがをよむ。
In France, children and adults read manga.
In this sentence, you have フランスでは. It is the place in which the action takes place but we are not necessarily obliged to put で if we do not necessarily want to imply that フランス is the place in which the action takes place. And this will especially be the case when we indicate possession with いる and ある. I give you an example that we had already seen in a previous course :
犀は角がある。
さいはつのがある。
The rhino has horns.
In fact, the strictly correct sentence is :
犀には角がある。
さいにはつのがある。
The particle に indicates that there are horns related to the rhinoceros. Of course, if you say :
犀は角がある。
さいはつのがある。
It’s still the same sentence but without the particle に. You can phrase the sentence this way, a Japanese will understand you. No worries.
In the sentence above, the particle に is a kind of IOC : there are rhino horns. And so, if I don’t put the particle に, I don’t necessarily say that 犀 . さい is what there are horns opposite so I can just say 犀は . さいは , although in general we use 犀には . さいには instead, we use [something] + には when we want to indicate possession.
We will come back to the particle に too in season three.
In Japanese, it is possible to have a syntactic particle followed by the particle の to determine. I show you, I can add the particles から + の to add the origin and the belonging by saying for example :
私はウェンディからの手紙を読む。
わたしはウェンディからのてがみをよむ。
I read Wendy’s letter.
Well, the translation is probably not easy when you are not used to it but you have to understand the sentence like this : I read the letter from Wendy.
Another example : と + の, with + possession
明日はジェシカィとのパジャマパーティーだ。
あしたはジェシカとのパジャマパーティーだ。
Tomorrow is pajama party with Jessica. / Tomorrow is Jessica’s pajama party.
へ + の, direction + possession.
西への道だ。
にしへのみちだ。
This is the way in direction to the west.
We can also simply translate :
This is the way to the west.
We will always rephrase so that in English the sentence sounds good. And then sometimes we have two particles that add up and there it gives a whole new meaning. This involves analyzing the sentences on a case-by-case basis, for example :
と + は, is used to give a definition or to ask for it.
マンゴーとはインドからの果物だ。
マンゴーとはインドからのくだものだ。
Mango is a fruit native to India.
Here I give the definition on what mango is and you can note that I have once again からの. It is not just a fruit from India, it is a fruit native to India.
Also, sometimes we will come across particles in frozen expressions. For example, in the word 今日は . こんにちは which means « hello / good morning », the は is actually the topic particle that was put into the expression that is frozen, which now is an integral part of the word.
Finally, beware, we have certain words in sentences that look like particles but are not. For example, when we want to indicate a place where nothing is happening, we will often use にわ but にわ, it can be other things in Japanese. にわ, it can be the garden; にわ, it is also the numeral classifier when we have « two » in the category of birds : 2羽 . にわ. We must therefore be careful, just because we hear things that look like particles does not necessarily mean something else.
I also told you that it was possible to imply the だ at the end of the sentence, that it was something that women and children did often, that it looked cute. But we can also do this without necessarily wanting to look cute when the だ at the end of the sentence is obvious. I take the previous example :
マンゴーとはインドからの果物だ。
マンゴーとはインドからのくだものだ。
Mango is a fruit native to India.
See, we fully understand that we are in the case of a verb « to be of description ».
In Japanese, as in all languages in the world, there are some differences to be aware of between standard Japanese and oral Japanese, which is spoken in everyday life. Until now, I have always told you that the particle was a very important element in the sentence because it gives its grammatical function to the word. And yet, in the Japanese spoken by natives, it is a little different. To better understand, I invite you to observe the sentence below :
私、バナナ食べるよ。
わたし、バナナたべるよ。
I eat a banana !
I can imply the topic particle は by simply saying. And I can even imply the を of the DOC as in the sentence below :
私、バナナ食べるよ。
わたし、バナナたべるよ。
I eat a banana !
So, this is an oral language, it is not a formal language. This way of speaking does not respect the rules of the language, this is not how a sentence is written in Japanese but it is a way of speaking that you will hear a lot in children and adolescents. There are a lot of sentences in which the particles are implied because the context makes them obvious. When I tell you 私、バナナ食べるよ, we don’t need to know that 私 . わたし is topic or subject of the verb and that バナナ is the DOC to understand the meaning of the sentence. Understand that we will often have the particles は, を and then even が which are also implied. It will happen much less often with the other particles because the other particles, if we imply them, it is much more difficult to perceive their grammatical function in the sentence. But は, を and が will very often be implied orally. And this will all the more be the case when these particles will be doubled by an adverbial particle. Here a sentence as an example :
獏は果物や種子だけ食べる。
ばくはくだものやしゅしだけたべる。
Tapirs eat only fruits and seeds.
Well, we have already seen the particle だけ and it is a bit heavy to put the particle を after. There are many Japanese who will remove it because the context tells us very clearly that « Tapirs eat only fruits and seeds », and so in the sentence :
獏は果物や種子だけ食べる。
ばくはくだものやしゅしだけたべる。
Tapirs eat only fruits and seeds.
We understand very well that 果物や種子だけ . くだものやしゅしだけ, this is the DOC of the verb. The particle を is therefore implied and that does not bother anyone.
So, it’s not easy when you learn the Japanese language and you would like to trust the particles to understand the sentence. It is only with the context and the experience through daily practice that you will be able, even without hearing particles, to understand how sentences are organized. And you yourself will also create sentences without the particles to have a level very similar to current Japanese, spoken every day.
Let’s move on.
In Japanese, when we have an enumeration, in the same way we will be able to imply the enumeration particles. I take the following sentence :
狐と熊と蛙
きつねとくまとかえる
We can just say 狐、熊、蛙 by putting a comma. We can also do the same with a nakaten, and thus, we end up with the particle と which is implied. So, we understand that this is an enumeration.
This is a bit like what we also do in English, it only works with と because や, か and なり carry a nuance. The nuance of non-exhaustiveness or choice which would not be perceptible both orally and in writing if we implied the particles. Then, it is possible to use conjunctions bearing with connecting particles, for example そして or あるいは. Usually, we put them before the last word :
狐と熊と蛙きつねとくまとかえる, we can say :
狐と熊と、そして蛙 → « and then a frog ».
狐か熊か蛙きつねかくまかかえる, we can say :
狐か熊か、あるいは蛙 → « or even a frog ».
The conjunctions support the lists. Besides this と and this か that I put you in red, we are not obliged to use them. It’s possible but the そして and the あるいは may just be enough to show that we are introducing a new item to the list.
As promised, I take this opportunity to present you another binding particle so here is the particle に to draw up an enumeration in pairs. Below is an example :
狐に熊
きつねにくま
A fox and a bear
There we are, we create a pair and we can also add something to a pair like this :
狐に熊に蛙
きつねにくまにかえる
I first create the pair « A fox and a bear ». And then I add the frog, « and a frog », it’s a bit as if I added things as and when they occurred to me. So, in addition to creating a pair, this particle に often has this addition use. We enumerate the elements of the list by adding them successively to each other.
And we also have two other non-exhaustive enumeration particles just like に and や which are やら and だの :
狐やら熊やら蛙やら
きつねやらくまやらかえるやら
狐だの熊だの蛙だの
きつねだのくまだのかえるだの
You can again notice that, as was already the case with なり, やら and だの will go after each item in the list. And I would like to remind you once again that, for the moment, we only know how to make enumeration on nouns. It is possible to enumerate on verbs but we will see that in season three, so be patient. Don’t be in a hurry, you still have a lot to learn.
You already know that in Japanese it is possible to reverse the order of the complements in the sentence to provide different nuances, but for now it is clear in your mind that the theme is always at the beginning of the sentence. Well, it’s going to happen that it gets moved. Take a look at the example below to better understand :
ステファニーはタルタルステーキを食べる。
ステファニーはタルタルステーキをたべる。
Stephany eats a steak tartare.
We can have :
タルタルステーキを食べる、ステファニーは。
タルタルステーキをたべる、ステファニーは。
She eats a steak tartare, Stephany.
In the sentence above I describe the action, and then I realize that I forgot to give my topic, so I specify it afterwards. This sometimes happens during a discussion. You may end up with a theme at the end of the sentence. Obviously, you understand very well that Stephany is the topic of what come before. We can have the same with other complements, for example the DOC :
ステファニーは食べる、タルタルステーキを。
ステファニーはたべる、タルタルステーキを。
Stephany eats some steak tartare.
So, you see. I specify the DOC after the main body of my sentence.
Also know that, in the case of a complex sentence with two clauses, we can reverse the order of the clauses :
ステファニーはパリにいるから、タルタルステーキを食べる。
ステファニーはパリにいるから、タルタルステーキをたべる。
Since Stephany is in Paris, she eats a steak tartare.
We can reverse the order of the two clauses so the topic always comes first no matter what, but I can invert my two clauses, which gives me :
ステファニーはタルタルステーキを食べる、パリにいるから。
ステファニーはタルタルステーキをたべる、パリにいるから。
Stephany eats a steak tartare since she is in Paris.
So much for the example. That said, the order of the elements in the sentence is still less natural than in the first sentence and all the other sentences we have seen in previous lessons. But at least the interlocutor understands very well what we meant and it works exactly the same with the other four connective particles that we have seen, notably that of the concession.
Besides, since we are talking about conjunctive particles, we have the binding particle が we can use to connect two clauses. So, here the が is not a concession particle, it will simply link two clauses which are linked. We have exactly the same thing in English. Observe the example sentence below, first in English :
Excuse me but, are we Sunday today ?
Here, the first clause is used to introduce the continuation and in Japanese, we will be able to do the same thing :
すみませんが、今日は日曜日ですか。
すみませんが、きょうはにちようびですか。
Excuse me but, are we Sunday today ?
So, I place my particle が at the end of the first proposition to introduce the second, we are not in an idea of concession but simply of introduction. And here I put the sentence to you in the polite form with です because using すみません which is already a polite way of apologizing, it is necessary to use the polite form in the whole complex sentence, so です instead of だ.
Courage, we are soon finished. I promised you one last Japanese interrogative word, it is 何故 . なぜ to ask a question about the cause, about the reason. In English, « why ? what… for ? ». So by asking a question about the cause, we are asking for an explanation, so we’ll have to ask the question with an explanatory sentence :
ベティは何故ラタトゥイユを食べるの?
ベティはなぜラタトゥイユをたべるの?
Like that, 何故 . なぜ is usually placed just after the topic, which gives us in English :
Why does Betty eat ratatouille ?
What we can answer with an explanatory sentence :
パリにいるのだ。
It’s because she is in Paris.
But in general, we will respond with a sentence that gives a cause, which then requires a new formulation. Once again, I can end my sentence with から, the conjunctive particle of cause, then だ to say « it is because », by putting all this directly after my verb :
パリにいるからだ。
It’s because she’s in Paris.
Okay, it’s possible to do that with から + だ after my verb. 何故 . なぜ with this form in からだ to ask a question about a cause and to answer by giving a cause.
It looks a lot like the formula のだ but is different from it all the same. The formula のだ can be used to ask and give an explanation. Do not hesitate to revise the course on the explanatory form のだ so as not to mix the brushes.
Finally, there are synonyms of 何故 . なぜ which are 何で . なんで or even どうして. Okay, don’t worry, use 何故 . なぜ and the rest will come with experience. Finally, どうして can also be a synonym of どう, just like どうやって, どうように(して). I’ll not go into the details of all these verbal expressions but if you cross them know that they are synonyms of どう. They therefore make it possible to ask a question on the manner, in English, « how ? ».
Phew ! We finally come to the last point.
It is possible to have a different use of the numeral classifiers in our sentence. Remember, we had :
グウェンはレストランでブッフ・ブルギニョンを2つ支払う。
グウェンはレストランでブッフ・ブルギニョンを2つしはらう。
Gwen pays two Burgundy beefs at the restaurant.
I can put my numeral classifier directly after my noun :
グウェンはレストランでブッフ・ブルギニョン2つを支払う。
グウェンはレストランでブッフ・ブルギニョン2つをしはらう。
Gwen pays two Burgundy beefs at the restaurant.
She pays ブッフ・ブルギニョン2つ (Burgundy beef X2). This way of writing is rather rare but in case you stumble upon it, at least now you know. Finally, I remind you that it is also possible to determine the noun with the numeral classifier, which requires the use of the particle の. This is something that we already did in the course on numeral classifiers :
グウェンはレストランで2つのブッフ・ブルギニョンを支払う。
グウェンはレストランで2つつのブッフ・ブルギニョン2つをしはらう。
Gwen pays two Burgundy beefs at the restaurant.
And here is a new course completed ! The aim of this course is to go a bit deeper into everything we have seen in this part about particles and I think I pretty well managed to explain it all in a clear and detailed manner. Yeah... all I have to do is give you your exercises.
Regarding the exercises, do not hesitate to redo those you have already done previously during this season in order to memorize the grammatical functions of each particle. Going back will do you a lot of good. Also, practice reading the oral sentences in Japanese to get your hearing used to it. If you are lucky enough to have someone to help you, if you are in contact with Japanese people via Skype for example, take the opportunity to improve. Otherwise, you still have YouTube. I think I told you that before but... even if you don’t understand everything at first, that’s okay. Things will come with practice.
We’ve almost completed three quarters of season two. We still have a few lessons to do and I can tell you right away. The following courses will focus on Japanese culture and politeness: Japanese personal pronouns, Japanese possessive plurals and adjectives, Japanese honorific suffixes, the polite prefix お... and more. I think we’re off for fifteen or sixteen more lessons before we finally get to the end of this season.
So, the only thing I can tell you is be brave ! Keep up the good work, never give up ! Yes, I know that I have repeated it again and again but it is important to hammer it !
Have a good day everyone and do your homework properly.
Introduction