Speaking of scrambled sentences, you can use particles, and endings to give you clues as to how to lock the pieces together. For example, if you see “きれいな” you know that a noun will follow it. Here's a short cheat sheet to help you:
Noun follows: na-adj + な + noun きれいな 人 kireina hito i-adj + noun あかい シャツ akai shatsu Noun の noun あかの シャツ akano shatsu
Adjective (often) follows:
I-adj + くて + adjective 小さくて やすい
chiisakute yasui
Na-adj + で + adjective べんりで かるい
Example Sentences
このくつは あたらしくて きれいです。 konokutsuha atarashikute kireida.
These shoes are new and pretty.
わたしは いそがしくて たいへんです。 watashiha isogashikute taihendesu.
I am busy and dreadful.
あさごはんを おそく 食べます。 asagohanwo osoku tabemasu.
I ate breakfast early.
かのじょは きれいに あるきます。 kanojoha kireini arukimasu.
She walks beautifully.
あおいのは １０００えんです。 aoinoha senendesu.
The blue one is 1000 yen.
みどりいろなのは １５００えんです。 midoriironanoha sengohyakuendesu.
The green one is 1500 yen.
あかいのは べんりで やすいです。 akainoha benride yasuidesu.
The red one is convenient and cheap.
大きくて わかい 男の人 日本語を はや く 話します。
ookikute wakai otokonohito nihongowo hayaku hanashimasu.
Grammar Exercises
(Special note: These are a lot easier than the questions on the test. The idea is to just introduce some of the basic types of questions they might ask.)
Vocabulary:
でも [demo] (conj) – but もう [mou] (adv) – more 少し [sukoshi] (adv) – little
もう 少し [mou sukoshi] (exp) – do something a little more (carefully)
Sentential Questions I
1 – ほんだの くるま 車 は すばらしいですでも ______________。 1) たか 高 くて たいへんです ２）やすくて べんりです。 ３） ちい 小 さくて やすいだ。 ４） おお 大 きくて たか 高 いです。 2 – A: どちらが すきですか？ B: __________________。 １）べんりだ ２）べんりなもの ３）べんりのに ４）べんりなの 3 – もう すこ 少 し ＿＿＿＿ して ください。 １）はやく ２）はやいで ３）はやいに ４）はやくてSentential Questions II
4 – その ＿＿＿ ＿*＿ ＿＿＿ ＿＿＿ です。 1) で 2) きれいな 3) のはしずか 4) いい5 – ジョンの ＿＿＿ ＿＿＿ ＿*＿ ＿＿＿ です。
1) の 2) は 3) くろい 4) くるま 車
Answers
1) 1 – Although たかい is usually seen as a positive thing, you can pair it with たいへん to
mean something like 'terribly expensive.'
Number 2 is incorrect because やすい (cheap) is usually considered a bad thing and べんり (convenient) is a good thing, also there is でも (but) which means the last part of the sentence should contrast with the first. The first part of the sentence is positive, so the second part should be negative.
Number 3 uses だ, but the first part of the sentence uses です. You can't mix politeness levels. Look out for these small little details.
Number 4 has two positive answers, which because there is でも we need something contrasts against the first part of the sentence.
2) 4 – The question is asking どちら (which), so we need to choose an answer describing
which one. べんり is a na-adj, so we just need to add なの.
Number 1 just means '(It's) convenient'. Number 2, is the adverb form (conveniently). And number 3 literally means 'convenient things' or 'conveniences'.
3) 1 - We need to put the adverb here and the adverb form of はやい (fast) is はやく.
Number 2 is incorrect, we add で to na-adjectives to connect them to other adjectives. Number 3 is incorrect because we add に to na-adjectives to make them adverbs. Number 4 is incorrect because we use the くて form to link adjectives and して is not an adjective.
4) 3 – 2314 – This is a simple game of linking up parts of the sentence. First, number 2, き
れいな, needs to have a noun after it (because it has な). The only thing that makes sense to link it to is the の in のはしずか. で can be used with na-adjectives to link them to other
adjectives so you can put that next because しずか is a na-adjective. Then you just have い い which goes at the end. The full sentence would be the following:
そのきれいなのは しずかで いいです。
sonokireinanoha shizukade iidesu.
The pretty one is nice and quiet.
5) 3 – 4231 – From the start we have ジョンの, so we know we need a noun in the first
space because の is the possessive. We can't use the particle の, so we'll use くるま
車 instead. The の can be used after くろい to mean 'the black one'. Now, we just need to place the は
particle, which makes the most sense after くるま
車 to mark it as the topic of the sentence. The full sentence would be the following:
ジョンの くるま
車 は くろいのです。
jonno kurumaha kuroinodesu.
を、から、まで、へ Particles
(click to view the video)
These four particles, を、から、まで、へ can be used to talk about space and time.
を 1
stuse – the basic direct object marker
Form:
Noun + を
Example:
わたしは えいがを みました。 (I watched a movie.) watashiwa eigao mimashita.
The particle を is usually not used with other particles, but it can be replaced by other
particles like は and が in certain situations. For example, it can be replaced by が if you are talking something you want to do something with:
ビールが 飲みたい。 (I want to drink beer) biiruga nomitai.
It can also be replaced with は as well if you want to it to be the topic of the conversation:
そのえいがは すきではない。(I don't like that movie.) sonoeigawa sukidewanai.
replace the other を with another particle like に、は、が、or と.