Introduction to Japanese Language and Culture
This lesson focuses on a practical passage (kaiwa) to teach useful Japanese expressions, greetings, and grammar. It caters to both JLPT exam candidates who want to practice Japanese scripts (hiragana, katakana, kanji) and learners focused on conversational skills using romanized text.
Key Expressions and Greetings
- Use of polite expressions like sumimasen (excuse me) when asking questions.
- Common Japanese meal expressions: itadakimasu (said before eating) and gochisousama (said after eating) with cultural context.
- Honorific prefix o- in words like otaku (someone else's house) to show respect.
Understanding 'Koto' in Japanese Grammar
- Koto is a noun meaning "thing," "matter," or "incident," used to nominalize verbs and adjectives.
- Usage with verbs: Verb (plain form) + koto turns the verb phrase into a noun phrase.
- Usage with nouns: Noun + no koto means "about/regarding [noun]."
- Usage with adjectives: Adjective + koto to express abstract concepts.
- Examples:
- 忘れたことがありますか? (Have you forgotten about it?)
- 日本文化のことを知っていますか? (Do you know about Japanese culture?)
Joining Adjectives and Verbs
- Joining i-adjectives with -kute (e.g., 赤くて - akakute).
- Joining verbs with -kute to connect actions.
Using 'Amari' for Negation
- Amari means "not very" or "not much" and is used with negative verbs and adjectives.
- Example: あまり行きたくない (I don't really want to go).
- Phonological variant anmari is used in conversation for emphasis.
Particles and Time Expressions
- No mae ni (before [action]) to indicate an action before another.
- No ato de (after [action]) to indicate an action following another.
- Difference between -te kara and -ato de:
- -te kara implies the second action happens immediately after the first and is often under the subject's control.
- -ato de indicates the second action happens after the first but not necessarily immediately and may be out of the subject's control.
Practical Examples
- 食べる前に手を洗ってください (Please wash your hands before eating).
- 授業の後で映画を見ました (I watched a movie after class).
- 毎日シャワーを浴びてから寝ます (I sleep after taking a shower every day).
Cultural Insights
- Japanese often join hands and say itadakimasu before meals as a form of gratitude.
- Use of honorifics and polite forms reflects respect in communication.
Summary and Practice Tips
- Practice forming sentences using koto with verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
- Use amari in negative sentences to express limited degree.
- Differentiate between -te kara and -ato de for sequencing actions.
- Engage in conversations using the expressions and grammar points learned.
Prepare for the next lesson by reviewing these concepts and practicing with a partner to enhance fluency and comprehension.
For further reading on related topics, check out:
Kare wa Indo no shuukan no koto o yoku shitte
imasu 彼 は インド の 習慣 の こと を よく しって います
He knows a lot about Indian customs Konnichiwa minasan/こんにちは 皆さん
and welcome to the class in the second lecture
series on iIntroduction to Japanese lLanguage
and cCulture. Today we are going to do a passage and from the passage we are going to learn
some expressions and some greetings. Also, we will do some new grammar with some old
which we will revise over here. Now as I have
written both in roman and in the script, well
those of you who want to appear for the JLPT exam well you can concentrate on the script
and you can practice your hiragana and katakana .
Bbecause you know and I am sure a lot of you
have already seen the site that the exam is conducted in the script with kanji characters.
So, you have to be prepared with the script, desukara hiragana mo katakana mo oboeta hou
ga ii to omoimasu/ですから ひらがな も かたかな も おぼえた ほう が いい と 思います
and students who are not keen on doing the
script they just want to speak and just interact well you do not have to concentrate at all
on the script you can just concentrate on the roman part that will help you in speech.
Now this kaiwa/会話 that I am going to
do today, this passage that I have here is divided in three parts. So, the first part
we are going to do today and the other two we are going to do in our later lessons. So,
let us see what we have here in the kaiwa/会話
for you. . So, you just heard the kaiwa/かいわ and
the kaiwa/会話 is
between Rao and Hana, Hana is the Japanese
name and generally ko/こ is added after the names of girls. So, actually it is Hanako
but Hana is also used, Hana san/花さん or Hana chan/はなちゃん. So, sumimasen
desu ga/すみません です が,
you have done this expression before asking
something. So, well you would use sumimasen desu ga/すみません です が and
ga/が means but, even, though I am asking you but please could you tell me, Nihon no
shuukan no koto/日本 の 習慣 の こと,.
shuukan/習慣 is culture, culture no koto/の こと.
So, you did koto/こと last time this is a new usage of koto/こと which we are
going to do now. Amari shiranai node/あまり しらない ので,
I do not understand Japanese culture, thus
therefore oshiete kuremasen ka/教えて くれません か,
will not you please tell me; the verb is oshieru/教える and kureru/くれる these two join together
and become polite which you have done just now in your lesson 21. Ja ne,/じゃ ね,
ok that, in that case, well then mazu/まず,
mazu/まず is first and foremost. Taberu
mae ni/食べる 前に means before eating itadakimasu to iimasu/いただきます と 言います;
to iimasu/と 言います is they say and itadakimasu/いただけます is an
expression used generally before eating or
drinking by the Japanese. I have a picture
also later for you. What they do is? They join their hands thank god thank the person
who has cooked the meal, so, basically a prayer to the almighty.
Well he says I understand that kedo/けど,
but informal tabeta ato mo nanika iimasu ne/食べた 後 も なにか 言います ね. Tabeta ato/食べた あと, ato/後
is later and tabeta/食べた is past tense, tabeta ato/食べた あと after eating
mo/も, also nanika/なにか something
iimasu ne/言います ね, they also
say something after eating; what is that? You could have said sore wa nan desu ka/それ は 何 です か?
Well Hana chan says, sou desu ne/そう です ね. Doko de kikimashita ka/どこ で 聞きました か,.
where did you hear it? They do say something
but where did you hear it? Kono aida/この 間,
the other day Tanaka sensei no otaku ni itta toki ni/田中先生 の お宅 に 行った とき に;
otaku/お宅 is uchi/家. So, when you talk about someone else's uchi/家 just
to be polite and respectful you would say
otaku/お宅 and o/お is the honorific
over here which is now joined with the word taku/宅 and has become one word and for
uchi/家, otaku/お宅 is used when you are talking about somebody else's house.
So, sensei no otaku ni itta toki ni/先生 の お宅 に 行った とき に,
when I had gone there, itta/行った is past tense, toki/とき is time. So, when
I was there ni/にme because it is time expression. So, particle ni/に, shokuji
no ato/食事 の あと, shokuji/食事
is meals no ato/の あと,news after
meals, kodomo-tachi ga nanika iimashita/子供たち が なにか 言いました, they said something, iimashita/言いました
is said and nanika/なにか is something. Watashi wa hazukashikute kikimasen deshita/私 は はずかしくて 聞きません でした,
I was very shy and thus did not ask. Kikimasu/聞きます
means says to listen, kiku/聞く the verb
is kiku/聞く to listen and to ask both. So, kikimasen deshita/聞きませんでした
I did not ask and not I did not hear. Rao san hazukashii koto wa arimasen/ラオさん はずかしい こと は ありません,
again koto/こと is used in a different
way you have done it differently in your previous
lesson I am just going to take it up after the explanation. Rao san hazukashi koto wa arimasen/ラオさん はずかし こと は ありません,
you do not have to be shy wakaranai toki/分からない とき,
when you do not understand itsumo/いつも,
always kiite kudasai/聞いて ください. please ask. They say gochisousama/ごちそうさま.
So, this is a small kaiwa/会話 where there are two important things itadakimasu/いただけます
and gochisousama/ごちそうさま. So,
gochisousama/ごちそうさま is again
thank you very much for the meal. This is in the script. So, you have Nihon/日本
again mei ni/前に, gohan/ご飯 we are going to take this up, taberu/食べる
also, nihon-jin/日本人, then ato/後
also we are going to take in the kanji. Then
kikimasu/聞きます, sensei/先生 you can go over all the kanjis and the other kanjis
which are left we are going to do some time during our course.
So, well you just heard the kaiwa/会話
and so, let us start with the first part of the kaiwa/会話. Now the first thing was
hazukashikute/はずかしくて, you have done this joining of adjectives i/い adjectives
and na/な adjectives with kute/くて.
So, if the first adjective is i/い, then
if you join it with another adjective it is joint with kute/くて, for example akai/あかい,
akakute/あかくて, akakute kirei desu/あかくて きれい です; akakute oishii desu/あかくて おいしい です;
oishikute yasui desu/おいしくて 安い です;
nagakute benri desu/ながくて べんり です
and today we have something different which is with a verb. So, hazukashikute kikimasen/はずかしくて 聞きません
so, now you will see that you can use the
kute/くて form with verbs as well. Now what are those let us see; akai/赤い,
yasui/安い, remove the i/い from here put kute/くて with another adjective i/い
and i/い, akakute oishii desu/赤くて;
yasukute kirei desu/安くて きれい です,
na adjective this is what you have done so, far joining two i/い adjectives or joining
i/い adjectives and na/な adjectives with kute/くて. Now today what have you
done? You have done adjective kute/くて
with a verb. For example hazukashii/はずかしい
remove the i/い as we did over here kute kikimasen deshita/くて 聞きません でした
or hazukashikute hanashimasen desshita/はずかしくて 話しません でした. So, you will see that you can also join verbs
over here with kute/くて form.
Now in our last lesson we learned verb plus
koto ga dekiru/こと が できる which shows ability to perform an activity.
Today we saw new usage of koto/こと which is noun plus no koto/の こと. Now the
word koto/こと is a noun, koto/こと
means pertaining to a thing to an incident
to some matter but remember it is not something material, it refers to whatever is being mentioned
there in the sentence. Now noun no koto/の こと is used with verbs as well like shiru/しる,
wasureru/忘れる, hanasu/話す.
So, let us see what they are. Sensei no koto/先生 の こと,
gakusei no koto/学生 の こと, what does this mean? About sensei/先生, about
gakusei/学生, Indo no koto/インド の こと. So, you will see that no/の is used with
koto/こと, noun no koto/の こと,
koto/こと means related to pertaining
to about whatever the noun is. What is the difference between the two in this and this?
Well this is hanasu koto/話す こと, iu koto/言う こと. So, one there is
no no/の, two this is pertaining to the
noun about the noun but this is activity.
Whatever the verb is saying hanasu koto/話す こと, about talking related to talking and then
the verb is dekimasu/できます or masen/ません over here.
I cannot do this activity or I can do this
activity that is the basic difference. So, now let us see what it means. As you can see over here, about noun or regarding
the noun gakusei no koto/学生 の こと
I just told you. So, with nouns you can use
with no/の, with adjectives you will see before koto/こと it is either omoshiroi/おもしろい
or in the past tense omoshirokatta/おもしろかった remove the i/い and put the katta/かった
or with na adjectives benri na koto desu/便利 な こと です
or benri datta koto desu/便利 だった こと です,
of course this you may not be able to use that easily at the moment; these two will
be more easy to use. So, you can see. now, okaasan no koto o hanashite kudasai/お母さん の こと を 話して ください,
please talk about your mother; regarding your
mother. Ashita kaigi no koto o wasurenaide kudasai/明日 会議 の こと を わすれないで ください,
do not forget tomorrow's meeting; about tomorrow's meeting. Then nichiyoubi no pikunikku no koto
o wasuremashita ka/日曜日 の ピクニック の こと を 忘れました か?
, have you forgotten about the picnic we are
going to have on Sunday, have you forgotten about the picnic?. So, about again, so over
here you can have any noun. Noun can be anything daigaku no koto/大学 の こと, Nihon
no daigaku no koto o shitte imasu ka/日本 の 大学 の こと を 知って います か?
Toudai no koto o shitte imasu ka/東大 の こと を 知りません?
Toudai no koto o shirimasen/東大 の こと を 知りません or shitte imasu/しって います. So, you will see over here that we have shiru/しる
verb, we have hanasu/話すu and we have
wasureru/忘れる these three verbs are
mainly used; there are other verbs as well you will see. So, you know a lot about India
is not it. Tarou wa Indo no shuukan/太郎 は インド の 習慣,Then the about Indian culture amari shiranai/あまり しらない;
we are going to do amari/あまり just
now. Amari/あまり will make a negative
sentence and the verb over here will always be in negative. The meaning will be towards negative, he does
not know much about Indian culture. Omoshiroi
koto o kikimashita/面白い こと を 聞きました.
So, I have heard something very, very interesting, something omoshiroi koto/おもしろい こと,
which is very, very interesting I have heard. I will tell you something very, very important.
So, over here koto/こと is something about
something. Ii koto o oshiete agemasu/いい こと を 教えて 上げます;
ii koto/いい こと something very good, again something very good oshiete agemasu/教えて 上げます,
I will tell you. I am sure these examples are making it very
clear, how to use koto/こと. Over here
koto/こと is with very adjective, this
is noun over here and then again adjective and daiji na/大事 な, adjective. So,
I am sure this is very clear how to use koto/こと. There is more for you, minasan wakarimashita
ka?/皆さん 分かりました か?.
So, I can ask you now, I have told you so
much. . So, sensei/先生 not at all there are lot of things I do not understand; lot
of things. So, over here takusan/たくさん is there which is similar to yoku/よく,
yoku/よく you cannot measure where is
takusan/たくさん you can count you can
see you can measure. If you say iie, sensei yoku wakarimasen kedo/いいえ、先生 よく 分かりません けど,
I do not know how many but then how many I am not very sure. Dou iu koto desu ka/どう 言う こと です か?
, what is the matter; dou iu koto desu ka/どう 言う こと です か?
,is what is the matter; what it means. So, different ways you can use koto/こと
that is what I am trying to show to you. You did earlier with nouns, you did with adjectives
and these are certain special ways you can
use koto/こと. Ashita kara suru koto ga
arimasen/明日 から する こと が ありません. Ashita/明日 is tomorrow as you know time
expression, kara/から from, suru/する do, koto ga arimasen/こと が ありません
I do not have. So, from tomorrow I have nothing
to do; I am free, ashita kara hima desu suru
koto ga arimasen/明日 から ひま です する こと が ありません, I have nothing to do from tomorrow I have
lot of free time. So, now somebody older is saying because he says Tarou.
So, this is a direct statement over here to
Tarou. The person who is saying is definitely older to Tarou/たろう could be his father,
his uncle and because he says okaasan/お母さん that means he knows that Tarou might forget
what okaasan/お母さん or his mother
has told him. So, Tarou, okaasan itta koto/太郎、お母さん いった こと,
whatever she has; whatever she has said itta koto o oboeta imasu ka/言った こと を 覚えて います か,
do you remember what she has told you said or told in this case told you. So, different
ways of using koto/こと with verb over
here; again over here with verb over here. So, you will notice that verb is in plain
form before koto/こと. Now what happens over here is that koto/こと is a noun
this is a verb when the two join together
this becomes a noun phrase or it changes it
into a noun the verb changes into a noun when koto/こと is added. So, then it can be
used like a noun. Shiken de/試験 で, noun de/で during
the shiken de yokue dekinakatta koto/しけん で よく できなかった こと,
yoku/よく is you do not know how much.
So, some kind of degree but cannot be measured; shiken de yoku dekinakatta koto/しけん で よく できなかった こと
something that you could not do during, koto/こと thing o wasurete kudasai/を 忘れてください,
you also add a mou/もう over here mou
wasurete kudasai/もう 忘れてください
it is all right time has come for you to now forget it not to bother so, much. iInstead
of shiken/しけん chicken you can add any of this over here, mensetsu/めんせつ
is interview; touron/とうろん is debate;
kaigi/会議 is meeting you know and happyou/発表
is presentation. That you could not perform well please forget.
Then we have watashi wa fude de/私 は ふで で, by fude kanji o kaku koto ga dekimasu/ふで 漢字 を 書く こと が できます,
this is what we did in our last lesson this
activity of writing with fude/ふで I can
do; fude/ふで is brush. So, before koto/こと verb will be in plain form verb in plain form,
noun no koto/の こと adjective as is and na/な adjective na koto/な こと;
this is the most important part over here.
This means noun no koto/の こと means
about noun and verb no koto/の こと is activity. Now we also have amari/あまり you just
saw it is an adverb and means not that much
or not very much it is used in negative sentences
and meaning is always in the negative; so, amari/あまり, not that much. Now anmari/あんまり
is also used the spelling is anmari is also used in conversation for more emphasis anmari/あんまり.
So, this n sound is nasal and more stresses
over here like anmari/あんまり, though
n is written but m is pronounced. But when we write amari/あまり is preferred and
it means the same as anmari/あんまり is just a phonological variant and meaning
is exactly the same it does not change.
For example you can say watashi wa amari ikitaku
nai/私 は あまり 行きたくない, with verbs. Amari ikitakunai/あまり 行きたくない
I do not want go; amari yaritakunai/あまり やりたくない I do not want do; amari shitakunai/あまり したくない.
Tanaka san to amari hanashitakunai/田中さん と あまり 話した くない.
So, all the time you will see that verb is
in the negative and the meaning is also in the amari/あまり I am not very keen on
doing this. So, you have with verb then, you have with noun with adjective and with na
adjective. See how it is made? Amari nai/あまり ない
as is given over here, saifu/さいふ is
your purse your wallet, ni okane ga/に おかね が you can see it over there ga arimasen/が ありません. If you say saifu ni okane ga arimasen/さいふ に お金 が ありません,
then there is no okane/お金. Saifu ni
okane ga amari arimasen/さいふ に お金 が あまり ありません,
you do not have that much. Now amari omoshiroi/あまり おもしろい and because amari/あまり is there you
cannot use omoshiroi/おもしろい. So, you have to change it in the negative and
how do you change adjectives in the negative?
Takai/高い remove the i and put ku/く,
takaku arimasen/高く ありません it is not that expensive. Now this is in the
past, this is past negative because you have already seen the eiga/映画. So, eiga wa
amari omoshirokunakatta/映画 は あまり 面白くなかった
and desu/ですthis. So, if you remember
we had done that desu/ですthis does not change whether it is negative; whether it
is positive; whether it is in past or past negative.
What changes over here is this part yasukunai/安くない,
yasuku arimasen/安く ありません, yasuku nai desu/安く ない です
and takakunakatta desu/高くなかった this is given over here, this part does not
change this part changes. So, just go back
to your lessons and see I have also revised
it in the first week. So, you can see it over there as well. So now adjective na, Nihongo
ga amari/日本語 が あまり, not that much; jouzu/上手 is good you have
done this kanji. So, jouzu dewa arimasen/上手 では ありません
adjectives and nouns follow a similar pattern
dewa arimasen/では ありません; hon dewa arimasen/本 では ありません;
kono jisho wa amari benri dewa arimasen/この 辞書 は あまり 便利 では ありません; kono jisho/この 辞書 or kono eiwa-jiten
wa amari benri dewa nai/この えいわじてん は あまり 便利 では ない.
Kono jisho/この 辞書 this dictionary
or eiwa-jiten/えいわじてん English Japanese dictionary wa amari benri dewa nai/は あまり 便利 では ない
it is not that useful it is not that convenient. I am sure you have got it now how to use amari/あまり
with verbs and nouns na adjectives and adjectives.
So, practice this with your partner. Now there was also a word mae ni/前 に;
you have done mae ni/まえに with arimasu/あります. Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu/机 の 上 に 本 が あります.
So, it shows presence of an object in front
of something or related to something. So,
over here it is ue/上 in a similar manner you can use mae/前; tsukue no mae ni isu
ga arimasu/机 の 前に いす が あります; tsukue no mae ni isu ga aru/机 の 前に いす が ある,
this is what you have done earlier showing
presence of another thing with relation to
another object, basically used as prepositions though they are not called prepositions in
Japanese but in English ‘in’, ‘an’, ‘on’, ‘at’, ‘under’, ‘below’
is what we can relate to.
So now what does this mean noun no mae ni/の 前 に
and verb in plain form. So, it does not refer to front, it tells you about situation basically
before an action something is happening. So, we will see that just now shiken no mae ni
benkyou shite kudasai/しけん の まえに 勉強 してください.
So, shiken/しけん is noun no mae ni/の まえに,
before the shiken/しけん which is test, before the shiken benkyou shite kudasai/しけん 勉強 してください,
who would say that? Your mother would say that or your teachers would say that or somebody
who cares for you would say that.
Before shiken/しけん can please study
shiken no mae ni benkyou shite kudasai/しけん の まえに 勉強 してください, or happyou no mae ni iroiro shinakereba narimasen/発表 の まえに 色々 しなければなりません,
before the happyou/発表, presentation I have to do a lot of things I must do a lot
of things. Tarou to Rao san wa shiken no mae
ni eiga o mimashita/太郎 と ラオさん は しけん
の 前に 映画 を 見ました; before the shiken/しけん, what did they
do? They saw a film. So, this talks about situation and not about existence of a certain
thing with relation to another. It is a simple
construction. Noun no mae ni/の 前に,
before a head front of are the basic meanings for mae ni/まえに, here we are using
these two. Now verb plus mae ni/まえに, how do we
use that? This is something that your mother
would have always told you taberu mae ni te
o araimasu/食べる まえに に 手 を あらいます, you wash your hands before eating; taberu
mae ni/食べる まえに, before eating te o arimasu/手 を 洗います , or
taberu mae ni te o aratte kudasai/食べる まえに 手 を 洗って 下さい,us
please wash your hands before eating; te/手
of course is here very easy to remember now, 1, 2, 3 and 4, 4 stroke character you also
have mae/まえ, over here which means ahead or before. So, you can see the character 1
2 3 you make a tsuki/月.
And then like this I will write it again like
this mae/前, how many strokes to it? 1, 2, 3 ichi/一, ni/二, san/三, shi/四,
go/五 roku/六, nana/七, hachi/八 and kyuu/九. So, 9 strokes to this character.
Then we also have neru mae ni ha o migaite
kudasai/寝る 前に 歯 を みがいて ください,
please brush your teeth before you sleep or neru mae ni hamigaki o shite kudasai/寝る 前に はみがき を してください;
hamigaki/はみがき brushing teeth; hamigaki o shite kudasai/はみがき を してください
please brush your teeth before sleeping. Then
you have heya ni hairu mae ni/部屋 に 入る まえ に,
before you enter; hairu/入る, that is the kanji. So, this is the first and this
is the second stroke hairu mae ni/入る 前に, before nokku shite ne/ノック して ね.
So, your elder brother is telling you, you
just entered the room without telling him
and he is getting very angry and he says heya ni hairu mae ni nokku shite ne/部屋 に 入る 前に ノック して ね,
please knock before entering. Or heya ni hairu mae ni koe o kakete ne/部屋 に 入る 前に 声 を かけて ね,
please call before entering kakeru/かける,
is also call out aloud, kakeru/かける,
has a lot of meanings one of them is koe o kakete/声 を かけて, please call
out before entering call my name before entering ask permission.
Then in our kaiwa/会話 we also had ato
de/後 で if you are going to do mae/前, then you also have to do ato/後; what does
it mean? iIt is a conjunction which shows that after one action is completed the next
action is going to take place. So, now how
are you going to understand it you can only
understand it with sentences I have lots of them. Now noun no ato/の あと, like
you did noun no mae/の まえ. So, in a similar manner noun no ato de/の 後 で,
they after this one action is over, then you
do the second action and verb is going to
be in ta/た form which is past. Now how is it done when you see the sentences
you will understand. Shokuji no ato de eiga o mimashita/食事 の 後 で 映画 を 見ました.
So, what can you see from here, that the action
has completed as I told you just now and also
this is talking about the past. All of this action is over because mimashita/見ました,
is used I saw; shokuji no ato de/食事 の 後 で after I had my shokuji/食事, eiga o mimashita/映画 を 見ました
I saw the film. Then you have more over here
shucchou no ato de/出張 の あと で,
after I came back from my tour; shucchou/出張 is tour going on office duty outside from
town. So, shucchou no ato de/出張 の 後 で,
after I came back to shucchou/出張, futsuka
kan yasumimashita/二日間 休みました.
Yasumu/休む, is the verb and yasunda/休んだ is the plain form the only difference between
yasumimashita/休みました and yasunda/休んだ is that this is more informal and this is
more polite to be used with people who are
senior and in formal situations meaning is
exactly the same. Now you have a word over here which is kan/間 and this shows time
span example ikkagetsu kan/一ヶ月間, ni-shuukan/二週間, mikka kan/三日間,
time
span the kanji for kan/間 is simple because
you have done this and nichi/日 again. So, this is just an extension of nichi/日
like this. So, now how many strokes to this character? Well 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11 and 12. So, 12 strokes to kan/間,
aida/間 this is also aida/間. Yyou also
had this word in the lesson. So, it is kan/間 as well as aida/間 means time span time
period. Now shokuji owatta ato de sugu benkyou shimashita/食事 終った 後で すぐ 勉強 しました.
Shokuji ga/食事 が, also can be used
over here when talking during conversation
informal ga/が can be removed. Shokuji ga owatta ato de/食事 が 終った 後で,
after I finished/ after I finished my shokuji/食事, my meals and you will see it is in past plain
form sugu/すぐ is immediately benkyou
shimashita/勉強 しました or benkyou
hajimeta/勉強 始めた. I started to study, I started doing my benkyou/勉強.
Shokuji owatta ato de sugu benkyou shimashita/食事 終った 後 で すぐ 勉強 しました, again you will notice that this is all in
the past, this activity is over. Now, sensei
tno hanashita ato de/先生 との 話した あと で,
after I talk to my sensei/先生 in your last lesson we did to/と also which means
with sensei/先生、 and ni/に also talking to sensei/先生. So, to/と and
ni/に the differences of feeling sensei
to hanashita toki/先生 と 話した とき
both are interacting whereas sensei ni hanashita/先生 に 話した only I am interacting so, please remember
that. Sensei to hanashita ato de/先生 と 話した 後 で, after I had talked with sensei sugu jikken
o hajimeta/先生 すぐ 実験 を 始めた,
I started doing my experiments or sugu jikken
o yarimashita/すぐ じっけん を やりました. I did my experiment and over here it is started
to do my experiments. So, all of this is in the past this action is over. You are talking
of something which you did in the past.
Now ashita jugyou no ato de/明日 授業 の 後 で,
eiga o mimashou/映画 を 見ましょう, let us watch a film after our class. So, over
here the activity is not over. Kinou kurasu no ato de/昨日 クラス の 後 で
so, the moment you have kinou kurasu no ato/昨日 クラス の 後,
it is in the past; kinou kurasu no ato, Mira
to watashi wa toshokan ni ikimashita/昨日 クラス の 後、ミラ と 私 は 図書館 に いきました, we went yesterday after class to the library.
Kusuri o nonda ato de/薬 を 飲んだ 後 で, after I had kusuri/薬, ichi-nichi-juu/一日中
all day long, nemashita/寝ました I slept
or nerarenakatta/寝られなかった I
could not sleep; kusuri o nonda ato de/薬 を 飲んだ 後 で, after nonda/飲んだ is drinking actually
but in English we would translate it to have. Now we just did verb te kara/て から
and verb ta ato de/た 後 で. Well
te kara/て から indicates that action
has to happen immediately after the first activity this is very clear with te kara/て から,
that the moment you do your first activity immediately you have to do the second activity.
Whereas with ta ato/た 後, generally
what happens is you finish one activity and
you may or may not do the activity immediately it could happen anytime later. And also you will realize that with te kara/て から,
the second activity is actually important
and so, it is in your control that is you
know that you have to do it and the time frame is also there. Whereas ta ato de/た 後 で
with the subject may not do the activity himself or you could also say in one way that the
action may not be in his control could be
out of his control completely. So, you can
see watashi wa mainichi shawa- o abite kara nemasu/私 は 毎日 シャワー を あびて から 寝ます
shower. So, this activity important this activity also important but nete kara shawa- o abimasu/寝て から シャワー を あびます,
no; water watashi wa mainichi shawa- o abite
kara nemasu/私 は 毎日 シャワー を あべて から 寝ます
after I have taken my shower I sleep. Or you also have watashi wa mainichi shawa-
o abite denwa o shite kara nemasu/私 は 毎日 シャワー を 浴びて 電話 を して から 寝ます or watashi wa mainichi denwa shite kara nemasu/私 は 毎日 電話 して から 寝ます
or you could also say watashi wa mainichi
okaasan ni denwa shite kara nemasu/私 は 毎日 お母さん に 電話 して から 寝ます
after I have given her a call talk to her I sleep. So, immediately after this activity
you perform this second activity. Now sanpo o shite kara shawa- o abimashita/散歩 を して から シャワー を あびました,
so, after I took a walk I went for a shower
I took a shower as well. So, this activity
first and then this activity, not the other way around. Mainichi sanpo shita ato de shawa-
o abimasu/毎日 散歩 した 後 で シャワー を 浴びます; sanpo o shita ato de/散歩 を した 後 で
means I took a sanpo/散歩 sometime maybe
I go after two hours take a shower maybe I
take it immediately maybe I take it even later. So, ato de/後 で they has this thing
that this activity may not happen immediately after this first activity, this is the only
important part over here. The more you use
it the easier it becomes this is a statement
not something that the person has already done. So, well I think this part is clear
to all of you. So, with this I think I will end the class
here all of you should practice what we have
done remember verb te kara/て から
and verb ta kara/て から where it is to be used. Koto/こと is also very easy make sentences
and practice with your partner you will be
able to use it with nouns and with verbs and
adjectives easily. Come prepared for your next class we will do something new and try
to continue what we have left here in the kaiwa/会話. There is lots more in the
kaiwa/会話 with this thank you very much
all of you and mata aimashou/また 会いましょう,
arigatou gozaimasu/ありがとう ございます.
The term koto is used to nominalize verbs and adjectives, turning them into noun phrases. For example, you can say Verb (plain form) + koto to express actions as concepts, such as 忘れたことがありますか? (Have you forgotten about it?). It can also be used with nouns as in Noun + no koto to mean 'about [noun]'.
In Japanese conversations, it's important to use polite expressions such as sumimasen (excuse me) when asking questions. Additionally, common meal expressions like itadakimasu (said before eating) and gochisousama (said after eating) reflect cultural practices and gratitude.
-te kara indicates that the second action occurs immediately after the first and is often under the subject's control, while -ato de suggests that the second action happens after the first but not necessarily immediately and may be out of the subject's control. For example, 食べた後で映画を見ました (I watched a movie after eating) uses -ato de.
Amari means 'not very' or 'not much' and is used with negative verbs and adjectives. For instance, you can say あまり行きたくない (I don't really want to go). In conversation, the phonological variant anmari can be used for emphasis.
You can use time expressions like no mae ni (before [action]) and no ato de (after [action]) to indicate the sequence of actions. For example, 食べる前に手を洗ってください (Please wash your hands before eating) and 授業の後で映画を見ました (I watched a movie after class) illustrate these concepts.
Understanding cultural context is crucial in learning Japanese as it influences language use, such as the importance of politeness and honorifics. For example, saying itadakimasu before meals reflects gratitude and respect, which are key aspects of Japanese culture.
To practice Japanese grammar and expressions, try forming sentences using koto with verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Engage in conversations using the expressions learned, and practice with a partner to enhance fluency and comprehension. Reviewing these concepts regularly will also help solidify your understanding.
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