nihongo wo benkyou shitai

WARNING: Today’s entry has taken ages to research and compile. That said, it is not 100% complete. The aim today is to give guidelines as to when は and が should be used and why. Follow this and you will be right, most of the time. Oh yeah, there are other uses of the particle が, but here I am only concerned with when there is confusion with は.

Let me introduce…

When talking to someone (the listener) about something, it’s pretty important to first make sure that the listener understands who or what you are talking about. This is a pretty obvious statement to make, but it is important nonetheless. If the listener isn’t aware of the entity being discussed, then any actions performed by that entity lose context. For example, consider:

ロンドンに行った。

In isolation, this is a largely value-free statement. Many things and people go to London everyday. Let’s add some information:

ディブがロンドンに行った。

I’ve underlined the key bit of information in this sentence. The focus here is on who we are talking about. Now the listener knows that it is Dave that went to London. From here on in, the listener is aware of who we are talking about and so is more concerned about what that person did. So let’s find out:

ディブはレストランで昼ごはんを食ベた。

Again, I’ve underlined the key bit of information in the above sentence. The focus has now shifted onto what Dave was doing.

Notice the particle used to identify Dave changed between the two sentences? In the first we used が and in the second we used は. This highlights one difference between the two particles – a difference of emphasis. が is used to emphasize an entity, は is used to emphasize what the entity did. When we first introduce an entity into a conversation, the important bit is the identity of the entity (it was DAVE that…). After that, what Dave did is the important bit.

Questions, questions…

In fact, this attention to emphasis can be seen elsewhere. Consider the act of asking a question, specifically why you ask a question in the first place. It’s probably because you don’t know the answer. So, whatever the answer is, it is likely to be new information to you. Unsurprisingly, answers to questions use が. However, the question itself may either は or が, depending on how it is phrased. (How to structure a question sentence is a subject for another day, but if the particle comes before a question word, use は, if it comes after, use が.)

English: What kind of food did you eat?
Jenglish: [what kind of][food][eat]
日本語： どんな食べ物が食べましたか。

English: What film did you watch last night.
Jenglish: [last night][film][what][watch]
日本語： 昨夜、映画は何を見ましたか。

Topics and subjects

Of course it’s entirely possible to have は and が in the same sentence. When you see this kind of sentence, it is safe to assume that, whilst a sentence is talking about a particular issue or thing, it is discussing a specific part of. For example consider the sentence:

日本は人口が多いです。

The sentence is about Japan, but specifically about the fact that Japan has a large population. Grammatically speaking, は indicates the topic of the sentence and が marks the subject. This is a tough concept for us poor foreigners as English doesn’t really distinguish between topic and subject – often they are the same and that is just plain confusing. Maybe the following will help clear this up:

日本は人口が多いです。
日本の人口は多いです。

The first sentence states ‘As for Japan, it’s population is large’, whereas the second sentence states ‘As for Japan’s population, it’s large’. It is a subtle difference and frankly I don’t think it matters too much.

An English Sentence

Whilst talking about using both は and が in the same sentence, we should have a quick discussion about subordinate clauses. The structure of a sentence in English is pretty straightforward and consists to just two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the thing being discussed and the predicate is, well, everything else. Together, a subject and a predicate form a clause. In all but the simplest of sentences, you’ll find that clauses contain sub-clauses. There are far too many types to mention, but a key one is the subordinate clause. A subordinate clause exists to add information to the main clause, but has no meaning without the main clause. Consider:

The book that Jack bought last week is very interesting.

The subordinate clause here, is ‘that Jack bought last week’. If we remove this from the main clause, the main clause still makes sense (‘The book is very interesting’). This is an example of a specific type of subordinate clause and is in fact a relative clause. In the 元気２textbook I use, it’s called “Using sentences to qualify nouns”, but “relative clause” sounds much more intelligent.

Subordinate clauses are like mini-sentences in that they can have their own verb and everything. So it’s quite possible to have multiple verbs in a single sentence. When this happens, it’s pretty important to ensure that we know exactly which verb applies to the relative clause’s subject – in our example above, this is Jack. So, what we can do is mark the relative clause’s subject with が which tells the listener that the next verb they hear relates to the subject of the relative clause. If we turn this sentence into Jenglish, we get:

English: The book that Jack bought last week is very interesting.
Jenglish: [last week][Jack][bought][book][interesting][is]
日本語： 先週ジャークさんが買った本はとても面白いです。


This blog entry could go on forever. The confusion over は and が has existed, like, forever. And even after writing this, I’m still not 100% sure of all situations. But, that’s cool as that was never the aim of this article. The aim was to get me to be about 75% right. Below is a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ summary of how to decide between these two particles. It’s taken from the fantastic “All About Particles” book by Naoko Chino. Buy it. Love it. Her list of uses seem to match my research on the web, so it probably a good list to keep.

When to use は

• to mark information already introduced to the listener.
• in question sentences, before the question word.
• to mark the topic of a sentence.
• to emphasize a topic in negative sentences.

When to use が

• to mark newly introduced information.
• to mark the subject of a relative clause.
• to mark he subject of a sentence.
• to mark the subject of an intransitive verb.
• in question sentences, after the question word.
• with verbs of existence (ある, いる etc).
• with verbs of ability (can, understand etc).
• with verbs of sensation (hear, see, taste, feel, smell etc).
• with verbs in potential form.
• in sentences conveying necessity (need…).
• in sentences conveying desire (want…).
• to mark the object of a verb or adjective of emotion.

またね。。。

Today we'll examine another particle, good old humble を.

• It marks the direct object of the sentence. In other words, it comes after the thing being acted upon by the verb.

　　　　English: Tomorrow she intends to buy some new shoes in Harajuku.
Jenglish: [tomorrow][Harajuku][in][she][new shoes][buy + intend]
日本語： 明日はらじゅくに彼女は新しい靴を買うつもりです。

• Used in causative sentences to mark the person made to do.

This is a tricky one and essentially you can ignore it. If you want to know why, read on! Japanese grammar enforces the ‘double-o constraint. This means that a sentence cannot have more than one をparticle in it. This can cause problems in causative sentences as を is used to mark the person or thing made to do something. If you the have a verb that also takes the を particle, you have a problem. In such cases the person who is made to do in causative sentences takes the に particle.

English: I made him open the window.
Jenglish: [I][him][window][open]
日本語： 私は彼に窓を開かせました。

• Marks the location where movement begins.

The particle から has a similar function, but usually implies a point-of-departure and a direction. から can be better translated as ‘from’.

English: I’ve left the station.
Jenglish: [I][station][left]
日本語： 私は駅を出ました。

• Indicates a space on, in, across, through or along something or someone moves. It is NOT used to indicate to.

English: 　　When I go to work, I usually walk along the canal.
Jenglish: [I][work][go][when][usually][canal][walk].
日本語： 私は仕事場に行った時、よく運河を散歩します。

• Indicates movement from a smaller to larger place. This can mean either physically or conceptually. For example, consider the sentence

English: I’ll get off the train at Basingstoke.
Jenglish: [Basingstoke][at][train][get off + plan]
日本語： ベージングストークで電車を降りる予定です。

---

またね。。。

OK. You can't avoid particles in Japanese, so let's have a look at their use. Today, we'll look at で.

1. Indicates a place where an action occurs. (at, in)

English: I ate dinner at the restaurant.

Jenglish: [I][restaurant][at][dinner][ate]

日本語： 私はレストランで晩ご飯を食べました。

2. Indicates a means by which an action is achieved (by, with)

English: I go to London by train.

Jenglish: [London][to][train][by][go]

日本語： ロンドンに電車で行きます。

3. Comes after items used in the making/construction of something (made of, with)

から has a similar function, but is used if the items used are not distinguishable in the finished item. For example:

English: This house is made with bricks.

Jenglish: [this house][bricks][with][made]

日本語： この家は煉瓦で作りました。

English: The cake was made with fruit and nuts.

Jenglish: [cake][fruit and nuts][with][made]

日本語： ケーキは果物とナッツから作りました。

4. Indicates the reason for something (because)

And so do から and ので. However, で is used after nouns.

English: Because of the rain, I didn’t go out.

Jenglish: [rain][because][didn’t go out]

日本語： 雨で出ません。

5. Indicates the location of something being described by a superlative (in).

English: Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world.

Jenglish: [Tokyo][world][most][expensive city][is]

日本語： 東京は世界で一番高い市です。

6. Indicates an amount (money, time etc.) (in, for)

English: He bought the guidebook for 900 yen.

Jenglish: [he][guidebook][900 Yen][for][bought]

日本語： 彼は旅行案内書を900円で買いました。

English: I can drive to work in an hour.

Jenglish: [I][work][hour][drive + can]

日本語： 私は会社に1時間で運転できます。

むしのしらせにもかかわらず、今日のブログは簡単です。

This is a good thing as it is something you will probably make a lot of use of. Today we are going to look at how to describe something changing state. First, some examples:

1. The weather has become warm.
2. She has become very pretty.
3. When she gave him a compliment, he turned red.
4. My friend has become a doctor.
5. I want to make her happy.

The thing to note is that despite the use of the word become in the examples, in English we have several ways to indicate change. However, in Japanese, there are only two. Moreover, Japanese is very clear on which one to use in which circumstance: If the change is brought about by someone (in other words the change is volitional) use する. If the change you are describing is a either a natural event or a non-volitional change, use なる. 簡単ですね.

Both of these have the same conjugation pattern:

• いーadjectives, replace the い with く and add なる or する.
  
• なーadjectives, replace な with に and add なる or する.
  
• With nouns, add に and then either なる or する.
  

That's it!


English: The weather has become warm.
Jenglish: [weather][warm][become]
日本語： 　天気が温かくなります。

English: She has become very pretty.
Jenglish: [she][pretty][become]
日本語： 彼女がきれいになる。

English: When she gave him a compliment, he turned red.
Jenglish: [she][him][compliment][gave][when], [red][became]
日本語： 彼女は彼にお世辞をくれた時、赤くなる。

English: My friend has become a doctor.
Jenglish: [my friend][doctor][become]
日本語： 友達が医者になります。

English: I want to make her happy.
Jenglish: [I][her][happy][make + want]
日本語： 私は彼女をうれしくしたい。

Hmmm. Any corrections on the Japanese gratefully accepted!

またね。。。

Well, this is a fairly simple one tonight. I say simple, but as you know this is Japanese we're talking about. Let's just say it's easier than most.


Have just done...

It's often pretty handy to tell someone that something has just been done. Check out these examples:

1. I've just been to the supermarket.
2. She's just been in a hot air balloon.
3. He's just spent all weekend revising.

You get the idea. The inference is that whatever is being talked about has just occurred. What is perhaps less obvious is what we mean by 'just'... Just can mean one of two things: (1) the topic of the sentence has just occurred or (2) the topic has just occurred in relative terms. In Japanese these can be translated as ところ and ばかり respectively.

English: I've just been to the supermarket
Jenglish: [supermarket][went][just]
日本語：　　スーパーに行ったところ。

English: She's just been in a hot air balloon
Jenglish: [She][hot air balloon][ridden][just]
日本語：　　　彼女は熱気球に乗ったばかり。

English:　　　He's just spent all weekend revising.
Jenglish: [He][all weekend][revising][just]
日本語：　　　彼は全ての週末復習したところ。

In the first and third sentences above, the events had just taken place, whereas in the second sentence, the event had occurred recently, though not necessarily just then. So, the main difference between ところ and ばかり is that with ところ, there is a suggestion that whatever was being discussed really was done 'just now'. With ばかり we are suggesting that whatever was being discussed was done in the near past, relatively speaking. Compare these two sentences:

English: I just returned from holiday
Jenglish: [holiday][returned][just]
日本語：　　休みから帰ったところ。
日本語：　　休みから帰ったばかり。

In the first translation, the implication is that you literally just got back. You've probably unpacked, but that's about it. In the second sentence, you may have been back a week or so - relatively speaking compared to the rest of the year, you've just returned.

Notice how I didn't use です once in the examples? Boy, I'm getting a bit informal here, but rest assured, you can use です after ところ and ばかり if you want to be polite.


About to do...

Easy one this. Just put ところ after the plain present (base 3) form of the verb. If you like, you can stick です on the end to make it more polite.

English: I am about to drink a cold beer.
Jenglish: [cold beer][drink][about to]
日本語：　　冷たいビールを飲むところ。

Which is exactly what I'm about to do!

またね。。。

I think I have discovered a new rule-of-thumb for Japanese study: the shorter the English word, the harder it is to translate. For a long time now, I have been struggling to understand how to translate a very simple word. The reson I’ve been having trouble is that Japanese seems to have about 9 billion different translations. It’s a real pain as this word is used all the time in English – you simply cannot avoid it. The word? The word is for.

My misunderstanding of the word for stems from the fact that when used in English it often lacks context. For example, take a look at the following English:

1. This week I am studying for the exam.
2. He bought the guidebook for only 900 Yen.
3. She gave me a copy of her course notes for a beer.
4. I drove for 400 miles.
5. He has left for London.

Each of the above sentences uses for in a different context. In (1), we are preparing for something, (2) paying for something, (3) in exchange for something (4) in reference to time or distance and (5) in heading for somewhere.

Now we have added context, we can begin to see why the Japanese have so many different ways of saying for – they aren’t actually translating for, but rather the contextual meaning.

Let’s take the first example sentence above. "This week I am studying for the exam." implies that the action you are performing is in preparation for some event. One of the verbs for 'to prepare' is 備える. The translation of for in preparation sentences is ーに備えて, so this kind of makes sense. Alternatively, consider "He bought the guidebook for only 900 Yen." Here, the use of for indicates an amount, of money. One of the functions of the particle で is indicate amount or quantity, so here, for is translated as で. And so on. Let's have a look at the common uses of 'for'. One thing to note is that the Japanese equivalent of for comes after the noun that the for applies to.


When preparing FOR something (like an exam)

Here we use ーの備えて, a conjugation of the verb for 'to prepare', 備える.

English: This week I am studying for the exam.
Jenglish: [this week][exam][for][studying]
日本語： 今週、試験の備えて勉強している。


As payment FOR something

We can simply use the particle で as this is one of it's functions.

English: He bought the guidebook for only 900 Yen.
Jenglish: [guidebook][900 yen][only][bought]
日本語： 旅行案内書を900円でだけ買って。


When in exchange FOR something

Here, we use a conjugation of the verb 換える which means 'to exchange' (and yes, so does 替える). The conjugation is: ーと引き換えに

English: She gave me a copy of her course notes for a beer.
Jenglish: [she][me][beer][for][copy of course notes][gave]
日本語： 彼女は私にビールと引き換えに写しのコースのノートをくれました。


When FOR a time period or distance

The Japanese language has no translation for the word for here, so they don't bother!

English: I drove for 400 miles.
Jenglish: [400 miles][drove]
日本語： 400マイルを運転した。


When suitable FOR a purpose

OK, so you're probably seeing the pattern from above, so guess what the verb for 'to suit' is. Yep, it's 適する. We conjugate this to get ーに適して.

English: The park is a good place for eating lunch with friends.
Jenglish: [friends][with][lunch][for][park][good place]
日本語： 友達を昼食に適して公園はいい所です。


When FOR a purpose, FOR a reason, FOR the benefit of

Here we can use ―のために, ―のための, ―に or ―ので, depending on context.　I do wonder what the difference is between 'preparing for', 'suitable for' and this group, so I this as a catchall for those sentences not in the former two groups. This is, of course, probably wrong. Any help gratefully accepted.


And that's it for today! As you can imagine, there are many other uses, but it has taken several hours to research this and I think that the above pretty much covers everyday usage. I'm dead pleased that I've finally managed to have a look at this. No longer with sentences with for in them scare me. Bring It On!!

またね。。。

Have you ever heard the expression"Hey, I'll give you a call on the dog and bone" before? Chances are you won't unless you have English friends or an English English teacher. It's probable that Americans won't understand this either. It is quintessentially English. Welcome to Cockney Rhyming Slang.

First used by the working class in London's East End (aka Cockney's), it was developed so that the East Ender's could have conversations without the rich upper classes understanding them. All you do is substitute the word you want to say for a word or phrase that rhymes. For example:

Phone = dog & bone
Plates of meat = feet
Apples & pears = stairs

To make life harder, Cockneys occasionally shorten the slang, so instead of saying 'apples & pears', they'll say 'apples'.

Now, what surprised me is that some of the expressions I use actually come from Cockney Rhyming Slang. For example, "Wow, take a butcher's at that!". "Butcher's" = "butcher's hook" = "look". Get it?

So next time you want to impress your English friends, trying something like:

"I couldn't Adam & Eve it!"
"You should have seen the butcher's on his Chevvy Chase!"
"You've got lovely mine pies"

Honesty, hours of mirth can be had! For more rhyming slang, check out the following link:

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A649.

Christian... (Christian Slater = Later)