Learn Japanese fast! You’re almost ready to go sightseeing in Japan! There are just a few additional important concepts you need to master and then you are good to go! You may need to ask questions like “Can I get there on foot?” and “When will the bus come?” Because it’s so important, you’ll also want to review ways of talking about tense and formal and informal Japanese verbs. That’s exactly what you’ll find in this amazing Japanese for Beginners article. Start by learning some useful vocabulary words, including takusan (“a lot and aruku (“walk”). Below, you’ll find a review of must-have Japanese concepts, including time periods and negative forms of verbs, both formal and informal. This Japanese article contains some of the most important information so far. Do not miss it!
Vocabulary: In this article, you will learn the following words and phrases:
daibutsu – “a big Buddha statue”
jiyuu-jikan – “leisure”
zannen – “pity, unfortunate, deplorable”
takusan – “a lot a lot a lot”
aruki – “a walk, walking”
Kurai / gurai – “approximately, about”
Hasedera – “Hasedera Temple”
desukara – “therefore”
hoteru – “hotel”
roku-jikan – “six o’clock”
Daitai – “about, approximately”
Grammar: In this article, you will learn the following words and phrases:
Vocabulary and useful phrases
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takusan – “a lot a lot a lot“
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Note that quantity words like takusan (“a lot and kid (“a little, a few”) may precede or follow the direct object.
For example:
- Jiyuu-jikan ga takusan arimasu.
- Jiyuu-jikan ga kid arimasu.
- takusan jiyuu-jikan ga arimasu.
- kid jiyuu-jikan ga arimasu.
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aruki – “walking, we walk”
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aruki is a noun form of the verb aruku (“walk”). Toho it also means “to walk” or “on foot”.
Means of transportation can be described in the following format:
[Transportation] [de] / “in transport”
[kuruma de] / “by car”
[basu de] / “by bus”
[takushii de] / “in taxi”
[densha de] / “by train”
[chikatestu de] / “by subway”
[jitensha de] / “cycling”
[aruki de] / “we soccer”
[toho de] / “we soccer”
*aruite also means “on foot”.
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Example
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-
(Watashi wa) mainichi gakkoo made aruki of ikimasu.
“I walk to school every day.”
Literal translation: I go to soccer school. -
Aruki from juppun gurai desu.
“It’s about ten minutes of football.”
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gurai
goro
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Although both words mean “approximation,” we can’t always use them interchangeably.
The basic rules are…
- [quantity / period (duration) of time / specific point of time ] + gurai gold Kurai
- [specific point of time ] + goro
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Example
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- [quantity] + gurai
Takushii by happyaku-en gurai from his
“It’s about 800 yen to go by taxi.” -
[time period] + gurai
Uchi kara kaisha made juppun gurai from his
“It’s about ten minutes from home to work.” -
[specific time] + gurai gold goro
Maiasa, juuji gurai neither kaisha nor ikimasu.
Maiasa, juuji goro neither kaisha nor ikimasu.
“I go to work around ten every morning.” -
Rainen, gogatsu gurai ni kekkon shimasu.
Rainen, gogatsu goro nor kekkon shimasu.
“I’m getting 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
Hour meter: -jikan
Minute counter: –funny can gold -fun
Hours / Japanese / Minutes
1 / ichi jikan / ipun (can)
2 / ni jikan / not funny (can)
3 / saint jikan / saint pun (can)
4 / I jikan / very funny (can)
5 / go jikan / Have fun (can)
6 / roku-jikan / roppun (can)
7 / shichi jikan, nana-jikan / fun-girl (can)
8 / hachi jikan / going (can)
9 / kujikan / kuu-fun (can)
10 / juu-jikan / juppun (can)
How many? / nan jikan / no pun (can)
*For half an hour, it is sanjuppun (can), but not hankan.
*For an hour and a half, it is ichijikan Han, goal NO ichi-jinan hankan.
Compared:
-
ni-ji gojuu san-pun – “2:53”
ni-jikan gojuu san-pun – “2 hours and 53 minutes” -
see hee han – “half past five”
go jikan han – “five hours and a half”
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practice
Answer the following questions in Japanese..
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From where you live now…
- Kuukoo made dono kurai desu ka.
- Tookyoo did dono kurai desu ka.
- Ginkoo made dono kurai desu ka.
* donokurai means, “how long”.
* kuukoo means “airport”.
* ginkgo means “bank”.
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“We are not going 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 on:
- Formal negative: see Nihongo Doojoo: “Welcome to Style You”, article 24
- Negative Informal see Nihongo Doojoo: “Starter Series Season 4: Meet the Parents”, Items 23 & 24
verb conjugation
Formal negative form of a verb:
- Exchange -masu to -more in.
Informal negative form of a verb:
- Class 1 verbs – Change the final –to to-born
- Class 2 verbs – Change the final –you to-born
- Class 3 Verbs – Irregular: sure becomes Shinai, kuru becomes konai
Exception
- Verbs that end in hiragana-u – tea -you becomes wanai
- Verb aru (“exist”) – The negative form of aru is bornNO aranai.
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class 1 verbs
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“English” / casual plain / Negative Informal / Simple Formal / formal negative
*”buy” / kau / kawanai / kaimasu / kaimasen
“go” / iku / ikanai / ikimasu / ikimasen
“talk” / hanasoo / hanasanai / hanashimasu / hanahimasen
“stand” / tattoo / tatanai / tachimasu / tachimasen
“die” / shinu / shinanai / shinimasu / shinimasen
“to drink” / name / nomanai / nomimasu / nomism
“to ride” / noru / noranai / norimasu / norimasen
“exist” (inanimate) / aru / born / arimasu / arimasen
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class 2 verbs
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“English” / casual plain / Negative Informal / Simple Formal / formal negative
“eat” / taberoo / tabenai / tabemasu / tabemasen
“exist” (animated) / iru / inai / imasu / imagine
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class 3 verbs
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“English” / casual plain / Negative Informal / Simple Formal / formal negative
“do” / sure / Shinai / shimasu / shimasen
“come” / kuru / konai / kimasu / kimasen
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practice
Fill in the blanks to complete the chart.
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“English” / casual plain / Negative Informal / Simple Formal / formal negative
“meet up” / In / ___ / ___ / ___
“go back” /___/___/ kaerimasu / ___
“for study” / benkyoo suru / ___ / ___ / ___
“think” /___/ kangaenai /___/ kangaemasen
“spin” /___/ magaranai / ___ / ___
“to stop” / tomeru / ___ / ___ / ___
“bring” (something) / motte kuru /___/ motte kimasu / ___
“bring” (someone) /___/ 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 or benkyoo shimasu ka.
Informal question: konya nihono-go, benkyoo(o)suru? - “No I’m not.”
Formal answer: i.e. shimasen.
Informal response: Whoa, shinai.] - “Do you smoke?”
Formal: Tabako or suimasu ka.
informal: Tabako(o)su? - “No.”
Formal: That is, they added.
informal: Oooh, suwanai.