Learn Japanese fast! You're almost ready to go sightseeing in Japan! There are just a few additional important concepts for you to master and then you'll be ready to go! You may need to ask questions such as, “Can I get there on foot?” and “When will the bus come?” Because it's so important, you'll also want to review the ways to talk about time and formal and informal Japanese verbs. That's exactly what you'll find in this amazing Beginner Japanese article. Begin by learning some useful vocabulary words, including takusan (“a lot”) and aruku (“to walk”). Next, you'll find a review of indispensable Japanese concepts including time-periods and negative forms of verbs, both formal and informal. This Japanese article contains some of the most important information yet. Don't miss it!
Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:
daibutsu – “a large statue of Buddha”
jiyuu-jikan – “free time”
zannen – “too bad, regrettable, deplorable”
takusan – “many, a lot, much”
aruki – “a walk, walking”
kurai / gurai – “approximately, about”
Hasedera – “Hasedera temple”
desukara – “therefore”
hoteru – “hotel”
roku-jikan – “six hours”
daitai – “about, approximately”
Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:
Useful Vocabulary and Phrases
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takusan – “a lot, many, much“
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Please notice that quantity words such as takusan (“a lot”) and chotto (“a little, a few”) can either precede or follow the direct object.
For example:
- Jiyuu-jikan ga takusan arimasu.
- Jiyuu-jikan ga chotto arimasu.
- Takusan jiyuu-jikan ga arimasu.
- Chotto jiyuu-jikan ga arimasu.
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aruki – “walking, on foot”
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Aruki is a noun form of the verb aruku (“to walk”). Toho also means “walking” or “on foot.”
Means of transportation can be described in the following format:
[Transportation] [de] / “by transportation”
[kuruma de] / “by car”
[basu de] / “by bus”
[takushii de] / “by taxi”
[densha de] / “by train”
[chikatestu de] / “by subway”
[jitensha de] / “by bicycle”
[aruki de] / “on foot”
[toho de] / “on foot”
*Aruite also means “on foot.”
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Example
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-
(Watashi wa) mainichi gakkoo made aruki de ikimasu.
“I walk to school everyday.”
Literal translation: I go to school on foot. -
Aruki de juppun gurai desu.
“It's about ten minutes on foot.”
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gurai
goro
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Although both words mean “approximation,” we cannot always use them interchangeably.
The basic rules are…
- [quantity / period (duration) of time / specific point of time ] + gurai or kurai
- [specific point of time ] + goro
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Example
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- [quantity] + gurai
Takushii de happyaku-en gurai desu.
“It's about 800 yen to go by taxi.” -
[time period] + gurai
Uchi kara kaisha made juppun gurai desu.
“It's about ten minutes from home to work.” -
[specific time] + gurai or goro
Maiasa, juu-ji gurai ni kaisha ni ikimasu.
Maiasa, juu-ji goro ni kaisha ni ikimasu.
“I go to work at around ten every morning.” -
Rainen, gogatsu gurai ni kekkon shimasu.
Rainen, gogatsu goro ni kekkon shimasu.
“I'm going to get married in May of next year.”
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Grammar Review
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In this article, we are going to review:
- Period (duration) of time (minutes and hours)
- Negative forms of verbs (formal and informal)
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Roku-jikan gurai arimasu.
“We have about six hours.”
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Time durations: see Nihongo Doojoo: “Welcome to Style You” Article 18
Hours and Minutes
Counter for hours: -jikan
Counter for minutes: –fun kan or -fun
Hours / Japanese / Minutes
1 / ichi-jikan / ippun (kan)
2 / ni-jikan / ni-fun (kan)
3 / san-jikan / san-pun (kan)
4 / yo-jikan / yon-fun (kan)
5 / go-jikan / go-fun (kan)
6 / roku-jikan / roppun (kan)
7 / shichi-jikan, nana-jikan / nana-fun (kan)
8 / hachi-jikan / happun (kan)
9 / ku-jikan / kuu-fun (kan)
10 / juu-jikan / juppun (kan)
How many? / nan-jikan / nan-pun (kan)
*For half an hour, it's sanjuppun (kan), but NOT hankan.
*For an hour and a half, it's ichi-jikan han, but NOT ichi-jinan hankan.
Compare:
-
ni-ji gojuu san-pun – “2:53”
ni-jikan gojuu san-pun – “2 hours and 53 minutes” -
go-ji han – “half past five”
go-jikan han – “five and a half hours”
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Practice
Please answer the following questions in Japanese.
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From the place you live now…
- Kuukoo made dono kurai desu ka.
- Tookyoo made dono kurai desu ka.
- Ginkoo made dono kurai desu ka.
* donokurai means, “how long.”
* kuukoo means, “airport.”
* ginkoo means, “bank.”
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“We are not going to go to Kamakura Daibutsu.”
Formal: Kamakura Daibutsu e wa ikimasen.
Informal: Kamakura Daibutsu e wa ikanai.
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Negative form of a verb
For more information about:
- Formal Negative: see Nihongo Doojoo: “Welcome to Style You,” Article 24
- Informal Negative see Nihongo Doojoo: “Beginner Series Season 4: Meet the Parents,” Articles 23 and 24
Verb Conjugation
Formal negative form of a verb:
- Change -masu to -masen.
Informal negative form of a verb:
- Class 1 verbs – Change the final –u to –a nai
- Class 2 verbs – Change the final –ru to –nai
- Class 3 verbs – Irregular: suru becomes shinai, kuru becomes konai
Exception
- Verbs ending with hiragana -u – the -u becomes wanai
- Verb aru (“to exist”) – The negative form of aru is nai, NOT aranai.
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Class 1 Verbs
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“English” / Informal Plain / Informal Negative / Formal Plain / Formal Negative
*”to buy” / kau / kawanai / kaimasu / kaimasen
“to go” / iku / ikanai / ikimasu / ikimasen
“to speak” / hanasu / hanasanai / hanashimasu / hanahimasen
“to stand” / tatsu / tatanai / tachimasu / tachimasen
“to die” / shinu / shinanai / shinimasu / shinimasen
“to drink” / nomu / nomanai / nomimasu / nomimasen
“to ride” / noru / noranai / norimasu / norimasen
“to exist” (inanimate) / aru / nai / arimasu / arimasen
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Class 2 Verbs
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“English” / Informal Plain / Informal Negative / Formal Plain / Formal Negative
“to eat” / taberu / tabenai / tabemasu / tabemasen
“to exist” (animate) / iru / inai / imasu / imasen
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Class 3 Verbs
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“English” / Informal Plain / Informal Negative / Formal Plain / Formal Negative
“to do” / suru / shinai / shimasu / shimasen
“to come” / kuru / konai / kimasu / kimasen
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Practice
Fill in the blanks to complete the chart.
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“English” / Informal Plain / Informal Negative / Formal Plain / Formal Negative
“to meet” / au / ___ / ___ / ___
“to return” / ___ / ___ / kaerimasu / ___
“to study” / benkyoo suru / ___ / ___ / ___
“to think” / ___ / kangaenai / ___ / kangaemasen
“to turn” / ___ / magaranai / ___ / ___
“to stop” / tomeru / ___ / ___ / ___
“to bring” (something) / motte kuru / ___ / motte kimasu / ___
“to bring” (someone) / ___ / tsurete konai / ___ / tsuretekimasen
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Formal and Informal Speech
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- “Are you going to study Japanese tonight?”
Formal Question: Konya nihono-go o benkyoo shimasu ka.
Informal Question: Konya nihono-go, benkyoo (o) suru? - “No, I'm not.”
Formal Answer: Iie, shimasen.
Informal Answer: Uun, shinai.] - “Do you smoke?”
Formal: Tabako o suimasu ka.
Informal: Tabako (o) su? - “No, I don't.”
Formal: Iie, suimasen.
Informal: Uun, suwanai.
