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grandmother (polite)
grandmother (polite) obob≈≈sansan uncle (plain)
uncle (plain) oji oji uncle (polite)
uncle (polite) ojisanojisan aunt (plain)
aunt (plain) obaoba
aunt (polite)
aunt (polite) obasanobasan
When addressing your older family members When addressing your older family members (other than your spouse), use the polite form.
(other than your spouse), use the polite form.
When addressing your younger family members or When addressing your younger family members or your spouse, use their first name or nickname.
your spouse, use their first name or nickname.
Wives often address their husbands with
Wives often address their husbands with anata,anata, which literally means “you,” but actually means which literally means “you,” but actually means something like “honey” or
something like “honey” or “dear” in English. “dear” in English. YYouou really have to understand the difference between really have to understand the difference between
“addressing” and “referring;” otherwise,
“addressing” and “referring;” otherwise, what’swhat’s discussed here becomes contradictory to what discussed here becomes contradictory to what was stated earlier in this section. “Addressing” is was stated earlier in this section. “Addressing” is when you’re talking to the person and calling him when you’re talking to the person and calling him or her
or her, mostly to get attention. “Referrin, mostly to get attention. “Referring” is wheng” is when you aren’t talking to the person, but talking about you aren’t talking to the person, but talking about him or her to someone else.
him or her to someone else.
Lesson 2:4 Lesson 2:4
Counters Counters
T
T
he quantity of an ihe quantity of an item is expressed by a numeral andtem is expressed by a numeral and aa short sushort suffix, ffix, called called aa counter.counter. A counter in JapaneseA counter in Japanese is
is equequivaivalent tlent to a word lio a word like “shke “sheeteet,”,” asas in “a shein “a sheet of paet of paperper” ” in English. Interestingly
in English. Interestingly, you need a , you need a counter even for count-counter even for count-ing books, pens, people, and animals. For example, “there ing books, pens, people, and animals. For example, “there are two books and two pens” means
are two books and two pens” means Hon ga ni-satsu to Hon ga ni-satsu to pen
pen ga ni-hon arimasu.ga ni-hon arimasu. Ni-satsuNi-satsu meameans “twns “two”o” for bofor boundund items
items like like books, books, andand ni-honni-hon means means “two”“two” for lonfor long cyg cylin- lin-drical
drical items likitems like pens. Of course pens. Of course,e, nini meameans “ns “twotwo.”.” TheThe following are some common counters with the numerals following are some common counters with the numerals one, two, and three. Watch out for some irregular sound one, two, and three. Watch out for some irregular sound changes.
changes.
one, two, three . . .
one, two, three . . . ichi-mai, ni-mai, san-mai . . .ichi-mai, ni-mai, san-mai . . . for flat items like
for flat items like paper items like cars items like cars one, two, three . . .
one, two, three . . . is-satsu, ni-satsu, san-satsu . . .is-satsu, ni-satsu, san-satsu . . . for bound items
for bound items like books
like books
one, two, three . . .
one, two, three . . . ip-pon, ni-hon, san-bon . . .ip-pon, ni-hon, san-bon . . . for long cylindrical
for long cylindrical items like pens items like pens
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one, two, three . . .
one, two, three . . . ip-piki, ni-hiki, san-biki . . .ip-piki, ni-hiki, san-biki . . . for animals like
for animals like dogs
dogs
one, two, three . . .
one, two, three . . . hito-ri, futa-ri, san-nin . . .hito-ri, futa-ri, san-nin . . . for people
for people
one, two, three . . .
one, two, three . . . hito-tsu, futa-tsu, mit-tsu . . .hito-tsu, futa-tsu, mit-tsu . . . for a variety of items
for a variety of items like apples and
like apples and erasers
erasers
Most counters follow numerals with Chinese origin Most counters follow numerals with Chinese origin as in
as in ichi-maiichi-mai andand ichi-dai,ichi-dai, but some follow nativebut some follow native Japanese numerals as in
Japanese numerals as in hito-tsuhito-tsu andand hito-ri.hito-ri.
Lesson 2:5
Demonstratives
F
or referring to visible items, you can use the demon-strative adjectives kono, sono, and ano along with the common noun. Kono is for an item near the speaker, sono is for an item near the listener, and ano is for an item far from both the speaker and the listener.this book kono hon
that book (near you) sono hon that book (over there) ano hon
this dog kono inu
that person (over there) ano hito that wallet (near you) sono saifu
this building kono tatemono
For referring to things and animals without using a specific common noun, use the following demonstrative pronouns.
this one kore
that one near you sore
that one over there are
When referring to people, don’t use the demonstra-tive pronounskore, sore, and are, but use the
demonstrative adjective along with a common noun, as in ano gakusei (that student) and kono hito (this person).
Lesson 2:6
Adjectives
J
apanese has two types of adjectives: i-type and na-type.When they’re placed right before a noun, i-type adjec-tives end in i, and na-type adjecadjec-tives end in na. For example, yasashii hito means “a kind person” and kireina hito means
“a pretty person.” In both cases, an adjective is followed by a noun hito (person), and you can easily tell that yasashii is an i-type adjective and kireina is a na-type adjective. When they aren’t followed by a noun, but by desu to form a sen-tence predicate, i remains, but na must be removed. For example, Ano hito wa yasashii desu means “That person is kind,” and Ano hito wa kirei desu means “That person is pretty.” In this example, it’s not as easy to see whether the adjective is i-type or na-type. The following are adjectives listed in the latter form, which is more frequently used in simple conversations. For your convenience, na-type adjec-tives are marked in the parentheses.
big ∂kii desu
small ch∫ sai desu
expensive takai desu
inexpensive/cheap yasui desu
easy kantan desu (na-type)
difficult muzukashii desu
fast hayai desu
slow osoi desu
good ii desu
bad warui desu
happy ureshii desu
Lesson 2:6 39
sad kanashii desu
hot atsui desu
cold (weather) samui desu
delicious oishii desu
awful (taste) mazui desu interesting omoshiroi desu
boring tsumaranai desu
long nagai desu
short mijikai desu
pretty kirei desu (na-type)
ugly minikui desu
quiet shizuka desu (na-type)
loud urusai desu
short (for a person) se ga hikui desu tall (for a person) se ga takai desu
young wakai desu
Japanese has an adjective that means “old,” which is furui, but it only applies to objects as in furui ie (old house) and furui kutsu (old shoes), but doesn’t apply to people or animals. If you want to say
someone is old, use the verb phrase, toshi ga itte imasu (old/aged).