会話Dialogue 1

 

単語 Vocabulary

Romanized Japanese	Japanese scripts	Other Japanese Scripts	English
nee	ねえ		hey (to get attention, casual)
shuumatsu	しゅうまつ	週末	weekend
＋getsumatsu	げつまつ	月末	end of the month
＋nenmatsu	ねんまつ	年末	end of the year
isogashii	いそがしい	忙しい	busy
＋hima (na)	ひま（な）	暇	free time
uun	ううん		no (informal)
＋un	うん		yes (informal)
betsu ni nan de	べつに なんで	別に	not particularly (always negative meaning) why? what for? (casual)
sumou	すもう	相撲	sumo (wrestling)
＋omatsuri	おまつり	お祭り	festival
mitai	みたい	見たい	want to see/watch
mitaku nai	みたくない	見たくない	do not want to see/watch
ato de	あとで	後で	later
meeru-suru	メールする		email (informal) See 8-1-1
okkee	おっけい	オッケー	okay
baibai	ばいばい	バイバイ	bye bye

文法 Grammar Notes

8-1-1 Verb Plain Form, Non-Past, Affirmative

Verbs have many forms. We have so far covered the formal form (~masu forms), ~te form, ~tai form and the honorific form. In this lesson, we introduce the plain (informal) form. The plain forms are typically used in the three ways below. Due to these uses the plain form is sometimes called by different names as shown in the parenthesis.

• Dictionaries list verbs in this form (thus called Dictionary forms)
• Other elements can be attached to this form to create more complex grammatical patterns (thus called Basic Forms)
• It is used in the informal style conversations (thus called Informal Forms)

As explained in Lesson 7, in the informal style conversations you can simply drop desu from adjective and noun sentences. However, for verb sentences, you need to know the plain form of each verb.

Japanese verbs are divided into the following four major groups on the basis of their conjugation patterns.

Group 1: U-verbs (~u ending verbs)

This is the largest verb group. If you drop ~masu from the ~masu form, you get the verb stem. The stem of all the verbs in this group ends in ~i. To make the plain form, replace the final ~i of the stem with ~u.

Group 2: RU-verbs (~iru, ~eru ending verbs)

To make the plain form of the verbs in this group, simply drop ~masu and add ~ru. In other words, you add ~ru to the stem. The stem of the verbs in this group ends in ~e or

~i .

Warnings! Consider the two following questions.

• Is it possible to determine which group a verb belongs to by just looking at the ~masu form? Yes and No.

Yes, because the ~emasu ending indicates that the verb is in Group 2.

No, because verbs with the ~imasu ending can be either in Group 1 or Group 2. This is because the stem of Group 1 verbs and some Group 2 verb both end in ~i, and therefore have the ~imasu ending in their formal forms.

• Is it possible to determine which group a verb belongs to by just looking at the plain form? Yes and No.

Yes, because verbs that have endings other than ~eru and ~iru are in Group 1 (except for the few irregular verbs below).

No, because verbs with the ~eru or ~iru ending can be either Group 1 or 2. Iru, for example, can be either in Group 1 or Group 2 depending on where the cut is. If it is /i-ru/, then it’s group 2, meaning ‘be’, and if it is /ir-u/, then it’s in Group 1, meaning ‘need’.

Similarly, kaeru can be either in Group 1 or Group2 depending on where the cut is. If it is /kae-ru/, then it’s in Group 2, meaning ‘change’ and if it is /kaer-u/ then it’s in Group 1 meaning ‘go home’.

Therefore, it’s important to check other forms to determine whether a verb belongs to Group 1 or Group 2 if the verb has these endings.

Group 3: Irregular Verbs

There are only four irregular verbs in Japanese.

The reason why arimasu and ikimasu are in this group and not in Group 1 will be explained when we discuss the plain negative forms and plain past forms.

Group 4: Special Polite Verbs

This group has only five verbs, all of which have polite meanings. We have seen the first four so far.

The reasons why these are separated from Group 1 is because the /r/ marked in red above in the plain form drops in the formal form–before masu.

Here is a list of all the verbs we have had so far.

Group 1: U Verbs

Formal form	Plain form	-te form	English
1.kaimasu	kau	katte	buy
2.aimasu	au	atte	meet
3.tsukaimasu	tsukau	tsukatte	use
4.tetsudaimasu	tetsudau	tetsudatte	help
5.wakarimasu	wakaru	wakatte	understand
6.norimasu	noru	notte	get on
7.tsukurimasu	tsukuru	tsukutte	make
8.mawarimasu	mawaru	mawatte	go around, turn
9.kaerimasu	kaeru	kaette	go back
10.hashirimasu	hashiru	hashitte	run
11.irimasu	iru	itte	need
12.ganbarimasu	ganbaru	ganbatte	do your best
13.kakimasu	kaku	kaite	write
14.okurimasu	okuru	okutte	send
15.kikimasu	kiku	kiite	listen
16.arukimasu	aruku	aruite	walk
17.tsukimasu	tsuku	tsuite	arrive
18.nomimasu	Nomu	nonde	drink
19.yomimasu	yomu	yonde	read
20.yasumimasu	yasumu	yasunde	rest
21.isogimasu	isogu	isoide	hurry
22.hanashimasu	hanasu	hanashite	talk

Group 2: Ru Verbs

Formal form	Plain form	-te form	English
23.tabemasu	taberu	tabete	eat
24.mimasu	miru	mite	look
25.imasu	iru	ite	exist (animate)
26.dekimasu	dekiru	dekite	can do
27.demasu	deru	dete	leave, go out
28.orimasu	oriru	orite	get off
29.dekakemasu	dekakeru	dekakete	go out
30.norikaemasu	norikaeru	norikaete	transfer
31.machiawasemasu	machiawaseru	machiawasete	meet up
32.itadakemasu	itadakeru	itadakete	can receive

Group 3: Irregular Verbs

Formal form	Plain form	-te form	English
33.shimasu	suru	shite	do
34.kimasu	kuru	kite	come
35.iIkimasu	iku	itte	go
36.arimasu	aru	atte	exist

Group 4: Special Polite Verbs

Formal form	Plain form	-te form	English
37.irasshaimasu	irassharu	irasshatte	exist (animate, polite)
38.gozaimasu	gozaru	gozatte	exist (inanimate, polite)
39.kudasaimasu	kudasaru	kudasatte	give to me (polite)
40.nasaimasu	nasaru	nasatte	do
41.osshaimasu	ossharu	osshatte	say