若いうちに楽しい時間を過ごすべきです。- You should have a good time while you're young.
若いうちに楽しい時間を過ごすべきです。(Wakai uchi ni tanoshii jikan o sugosu beki desu) - You should have a good time while you’re young.
若いうちに (Wakai uchi ni) - While young (若い, wakai = young; うちに, uchi ni = literally ‘inside,’ see below)
楽しい (Tanoshii) - Fun
時間 (Jikan) - Time
を (O) - Object marker
過ごす (Sugosu) - To spend (time)
べき (Beki) - Should
です (Desu) - Polite copula
Literally, “While you’re young, you should spend fun times.”
ちゃんと and ばっちり
Both of these words can be used in a variety of ways, but they both are used when you want to talk about something being done perfectly.
ちゃんと perfectly, properly, exactly
A thing I or the homeroom teacher would often say to students is 「ちゃんと聞いてください。」or “Please listen carefully/properly.”
聞いて＝きいて＝the て form of 聞く (to listen/hear/ask)
You could also say 「ちゃんと見てください。」 Please watch carefully/properly.
見て＝みて＝the て form of 見る (to look/see/watch)
At least the way I have seen/heard it, it’s usually used with a command or a kind suggestion. A dentist might say to you ちゃんと歯を磨いていますか？ Are you brushing your teeth well?
歯＝は＝tooth/teeth
磨いて＝みがいて＝the て form of 磨く (to brush)
ばっちり perfectly, just right, totally awesomely done, right on the mark
Something I hear homeroom teachers say often is 「ばっちりできました！」Which is akin to, like, “Wow, you did that perfectly! “
I’ve also seen/heard it just used by itself, like if a student writes a particularly lovely lowercase letter.
ばっちり has that connotation of something being just right on the mark, so you could say something like 彼はばっちりゴールインした。He made the goal perfectly (or made the shot perfectly, either way it was, like, the most beautiful dang shot you have ever seen).
ゴールイン is a word I recently discovered. The borrow word is “goal in,” but as that’s not something I would often say, I don’t often know how to use this one. It’s like to make a goal, or reach a goal.
As always, see something wonky? Let me know!
東京駅はどこかわかりますか？ - Do you know where Tokyo Station is?
東京駅はどこかわかりますか？ (Toukyou eki wa doko ka wakarimasu ka?) - Do you know where Tokyo Station is?
東京 (Toukyou) - Tokyo
駅 (Eki) - Station, attached to the end of the name
は (Wa) - Topic marker
どこ (Doko) - Where
か (Ka) - Attached to the end of question phrases in clauses
分かります (Wakarimasu) - Polite form of 分かる (Wakaru, to know/understand)
か (Ka) - Question marker
次の電車がいつ来るか教えてくれませんか？- Could you tell me when the next train comes?
次の電車がいつ来るか教えてくれませんか？(Tsugi no densha ga itsu kuru ka oshiete kuremasen ka?) - Could you tell me when the next train comes?
次 (Tsugi) - Next
の (No) - Adjective marker with 次
電車 (Densha) - Train
が (Ga) - Subject marker
いつ (Itsu) - When
来る (Kuru) - To come
か (Ka) - Particle attached to the end of question phrases in clauses
教えて(Oshiete) - Te form of 教える (Oshieru, To teach/inform)
くれません (Kuremasen) - Polite negative form of くれる, to give (to me); attached after the -te form to mean “to do __ for someone”
か (Ka) - Question marker
Literally means, “Will you not do me the favor of telling me when the next train comes?”
ペラペラ
ペラペラになりたい！
If you’re studying a language and determined to master it, this might be a phrase you’d want to use. ペラペラになりたい！means, roughly, “I want to become fluent!”
People also use it as a compliment. A new teacher might say I’m ペラペラ with Japanese because she hasn’t had time to become familiar with all my wondrous mistakes yet.
I tell my students they sound ペラペラ when they nail down a particularly difficult pronunciation.
When I tell my teachers which doctor’s office I visit, I tell them it’s because the doctor is 英語ペラペラ, or fluent in English.
Gonna take a stab at a sentence. I checked myself, but if I got it wrong, as always, let me know!
よく勉強できればペラペラになることは可能です。
よくべんきょうできればペラペラになることはかのうです。
If you can study often, the chance to become fluent is possible.
ペラペラになることは is particularly tough to translate. It’s like… it’s the nominalization of “to become fluent,” so it’s like… the actual act of becoming fluent.
Offering Advice: ．．．方がいい
The following construction (方が良い / ほうがいい）is used to offer advice or make a strong suggestion.
た - form of verb OR present negative form of verb + 方がいい（です）
You’d better ([not] do something)
It’s better for you ([not] to do something)
You’d better not; you shouldn’t
Examples:
あの窓にカーテンをつけた方がいいでしょう。
あのまどにかーてんをつけたほうがいいでしょう。
It would be better to put a curtain on that window.
あの人とは話さない方がいいですよ。
あのひととははなさないほうがいいですよ。
It’s better for you not to talk to that person.
出て友達と遊ぶ前にシャワーを浴びた方がいい。
でてともだちとあそぶまえにシャワーをあびたほうがいい。
Before going out and hanging out with your friends, you should take a shower.
Japanese Verb Conjugation: ます
The simplest form of verb conjugation is ～ますform, which is a polite yet general form. It can basically be used for any situation, but is not considered a casual speak. For foreigners, this is probably the best to know…
There are two types of verbs:
～る verbs (which end in a る)
- 食べる (to eat)
- ねる (to sleep)
～う verbs (who’s last vowel is an う)
- 行く (to go)
- 歌う (to sing)
There are also irregulars… which you just have to memorize
- くる (to come)
- する (to do)
Positive Present and Future Tense
For ～る verbs, you must simply remove the る and add ます
食べる → 食べ → 食べます
ねる → ね → ねます
For ～う verbs, you must replace the final う with an い and then add ます
行く → 行き → 行きます
- note how the く changes to き (replacing the final う with an い)
歌う → 歌い → 歌います
you will need to memorize these two…
する → し → します
くる → き → きます
Positive Past Tense
The same thing must be done as in the Present tense, but instead of adding ます, you must add ました
食べる → 食べ → 食べました
行く → 行き → 行きました
する → し → しました
くる → き → きました
Negative Past and Present Tense
Again… all the same steps are applied, but for present you add ません and for past, ませんでした
食べる → 食べ → 食べません／ 食べませんでした
行く → 行き → 行きません／ 行きませんでした
する → し → しません ／ しませんでした
くる → き → きません ／ きませんでした
私の英語の先生は「アメリカで、 たくさんホットドッグを食べました」言っていた
My English teacher said “In America, I ate a lot of Hotdogs”
Any Questions? Feel free to ask anything!
list of Japanese dictionary terms
辞書 [じ・しょ] dictionary
辞書形 [じ・しょ・けい] dictionary form
文章 [ぶん・しょう] text
文 [ぶん] sentence
文節 [ぶん・せつ] phrase
単語 [たん・ご] word
- 自立語 [じ・りつ・ご] independent (freestanding) word
- 活用語 [かつ・よう・ご] conjugated word
- 動詞 [どう・し] verbs
- 五段動詞 [ご・だん・どう・し] godan verb; type 1 verb (う-verb)
- 一段動詞 [いち・だん・どう・し] ichidan verb; type 2 verb (る-verb)
- 形容詞 [けい・よう・し] pure adjective (い-adjective)
- 形容動詞 [けい・よう・どう・し] adjectival noun (な-adjective)
- 動詞 [どう・し] verbs
- 無活用語 [む・かつ・よう・ご] non-conjugated word
- 名詞 [めい・し] noun
- 代名詞 [だい・めい・し] pronoun
- 副詞 [ふく・し] adverb
- 接続詞 [せつ・ぞく・し] conjunction
- 感動詞 [かん・どう・し] interjection
- 活用語 [かつ・よう・ご] conjugated word
- 付属語 [ふ・ぞく・ご] ancillary word
- 助詞 [じょ・し] grammatical particle
- 助動詞 [じょ・どう・し] auxiliary verb
漢字 [かん・じ] Chinese character; kanji
音読み [おん・よ・み] Chinese (おん) reading of kanji
訓読み [くん・よ・み] Japanese (くん) reading of kanji
名乗り [な・の・り] name reading of kanji (used for names of people or places)
意味 [い・み] meaning
To want ～たい
～たい or ～い form is what is commonly used when saying or asking what you or someone wants. It is pretty simple to set up, so let’s get some examples! (I’m not sure If I taught this already…)
Please note that in polite speech, です should be used after the conjugation!
for ～る verbs, simply remove the る and add たい or たくない (negative).
食(た)べたい I want to eat
食(た)べたくない I do not want to eat
見(み)たい I want to watch
見(み)たくない I do not want to watch
for ～う verbs,simply change to last う sound to an い and add たい or たくない… In the cast of 行く, く has an う sound and that sound must become an い… making it 行き
行(い)きたい I want to go
行(い)きたくない I do not want to go
In formals: just memorize them and they will start to sound natural!
したい I want to do
したくない I don’t want to do
きたい I want to come
きたくない I don’t want to come
Past tense is the same except, ～たかった or ～たくなかった, ～う verbs still change to い like the present!
食べたかった I wanted to eat
食べたくなかった I did not want to eat
行きたかった I wanted to go
行きたくなかった I did not want to go
Remember to add か to the end of the sentence if you are asking a question!
Examples
明日はテストがあるから、単語を勉強したいです。 Because I have a test tomorrow, I want to study vocabulary.
彼の誕生日に、男の子はプレゼントを開けたくなかったです。 On his Birthday, the boy did not want to open any presents
ケーキかアイスクリームを食べたいですか。 Would you like cake or ice cream?
Sorry for short hiatus!
Have any requests for the next guide?
