Grammar page 4

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The fourth page of the grammar lessons.


Making the て form

If you know how to make this form, you can do a lot! Later we will look at other grammar points that are based on the te form. By itself the te form makes a verb a request (or demand)

  1. のむ nomu (to drink) > のんで nonde (drink)
  2. たべる taberu (to eat)> たべて tabete (eat)
  3. する suru (to do) > して shite (do)

These are the ways to make the te form for each of the 3 types of verbs. If you are new to the "types of verbs" thing, don't worry. Now I know there are many grammarians out there that would argue against what I am about to say, but here's my advice. Don't worry about learning all the confusing rules about how to make this verb do that. Just say it as you feel it should be. Of course you will make many mistakes, but if you keep your ears open and learn from your mistakes you will get a feel for how the verbs work. Take the te form for an example. If you memorize the 3 examples at the top you should be able to guess what other verbs may change to. Or even if you guess wrong, the correct form should be at least familiar to you.

Become になります

To show the state of becoming... something, use ～に　なります ni narimasu The ni is placed after what is becoming something. The narimasu means to become. Nouns and -na adjectives use ni narimasu. -i adjectives are different, but for now there are enough useful nouns to look at:

yoru ni narimashita.
なる【なる】：to become
It has become night.
[~mashita shows past]

tomodachi ni narimashou.
なる【なる】: to become
Let's become friends.
[the ~mashou means "let's"]

genki ni narimashita.
なる【なる】：to become
(I) have become fine / healthy.

To do, play する・します

Suru is a very useful verb. It is used where no other verb dares to go! (Foreign words, nouns, and other scary things...) Think of it as "to do..."

ジョギングする jogingu suru - to (do) jogging
ショッピングする shoppingu suru - to (do) shopping
サインする sain suru - to sign (autograph)


勉強する benkyou suru - to study
mainichi, nihongo o benkyou shimasu.
Everyday, (I) am studying Japanese.

The を o is the direct object marker. You will notice it moves around sometimes. Don't worry about this now, just concentrate on suru.

Another usage of する -or- します is "to play" as in sports or games

野球をする yakyuu o suru. To play baseball.
相撲をする。 sumou o suru. To play (do) Sumo.
バスケットバールをする。 basuketto ba-ru o suru. To play basketball.
将棋をする。 shougi o suru. To play shogi (Japanese chess)

more, ~er もっと

One easy way to say "MORE" or "-er" is to add a もっと motto before the thing you want to emphasis. This is one of the rare times that the word order is the same with English - or at least with the more part! Relish the moment (while you can)

{ motto ~ = more ~ }

もっとピーマンを食べなさい。 motto pi-man o tabenasai. Eat more green peppers.[~nasai is like the te form in that it gives commands, but it is stronger. ]


{ motto ~ = ~er }

もっと早く言って下さい。 motto hayaku itte kudasai. (Next time) please say (it) a little earlier. [Useful when someone tells you NOT to cut the yellow wire of the bomb after you have done that...]


There are several different ways of adding the 'if' meaning to a sentence. Here えば, たら and なら are covered.

えば eba

えば Replace the final 'u' of the romaji version with 'eba'. For example the godan verb 'aruku' becomes 'arukeba'. The ichidan verb 'taberu' becomes 'tabereba'.

歩けば十分かかります。arukeba juppun kakarimasu.
If you walk it will take 10 minutes.

たら tara

たら is formed the same way as the past tense of the dictionary verb with ら added. So 'iu' goes to past tense 'itta' to 'ittara'.

手伝うと言ったらそうするでしょう。tetsudau to ittara sou suru deshou.
If he said he'd help then he will.

なら nara

なら goes after the dictionary form of a verb.

手伝う（の）ならさっそくはじめてください。tetsudau (no) nara sassoku hajimete kudasai.
If you're going to help, get started now please.

もし moshi

もし is a word that goes at the start of a sentence and lets you know that an 'if' phrase is coming up. もし can be added to all of the above example sentences.

Special 'if' phrases

Some useful phrases ...

moshi yokereba...
If it is ok with you... [let's do this...]

moshi hoshikattara,
If you want (it), - when offering something to someone

more on Conditionals

Can できます

There are a couple of ways to say "I can..." in Japanese. The easiest is できます dekimasu. Let's look at how to form some sentences.

CAN + NOUN [できます]

1. 日本語ができます。 nihongo ga dekimasu.
I can (speak) Japanese. [I can do Japanese.]

2. 漢字ができます。 kanji ga dekimasu.
I can (read/write) kanji. [I can do kanji.]

3. スカイダイビングができます。 sukaidaibingu ga dekimasu.
I can skydive.

CAN + VERB [ことができます]

Actually, the above are all shortened versions without the verb. Let's add the verb. koto means thing, but here it is used to make a verb a noun so it will work with dekimasu.

1 日本語を話すことができます。 nihongo o hanasu koto ga dekimasu.
I can speak Japanese.

2 漢字を読むことができます。 kanji o yomu koto ga dekimasu.
I can read kanji.

Be creative and come up with things you can do!

more on this

-ing ている

This is a very important grammar point. It corresponds to the English "-ing" form

EAT > EATING　(now) たべます >　食べています

CONSTRUCTION: て form + います　or　いる

Use this to describe things happening now.

1.今あなたに話しています。 ima anata ni hanashite imasu. (I am talking to you now.)
2.今ごはんを食べています。 ima gohan o tabete imasu. (I am eating rice (food) now.)
3.今スカイダイビングをしています。 ima sukaidaibingu o shite imasu. (I am skydiving now.)

To make a question just add か to the end.

あなたは勉強していますか。anata wa benkyou shite imasu ka. (Are you studying?)

more on this
ている as a habitual action

This これ・この

This and that. Actually Japanese also has one more. They also have "that over there" - but we will get at that later.

There are 2 words in Japanese that are translated as "this" in English:

これ kore - When "this" is not connected to a noun - hang on you will get it in a minute

kore wa nan desu ka?
What is this?


To say "This is" or "is this" the kore will probably be followed by a は wa

この kono - When you put "this" before a noun, it changes to kono

kono neko wa pochi desu ka?
Is this cat, Pochi?.

iie kono inu wa pochi desu.
No. This dog is Pochi.

It may seem strange at first, but after a while This and That become second nature!

That それ・その

This and that. Now we are on the THAT part. So this THAT refers to objects near the listener (not the speaker)

それ sore - when "that" is not connected to a noun

sore wa nan desu ka?
What is that?

sore wa neko desu.
That is a cat.

Begin to think of the words starting with K's as "this" and the S's as "that" words

その sono - When you put "that" before a noun, it changes to sono

sono neko wa pochi desu ka?
Is that cat, Pochi?.

iie sono tako wa pochi desu.
No. That octopus is Pochi.

This is used in the same way as kono

That over there あれ・あの

This and that. Now we are on the THAT OVER THERE part. So this THAT refers to objects not near the listener or the speaker.

あれ are - when "that" is not connected to a noun

are wa nan desu ka?
What is that over there?

are wa neko desu.
That over there is a cat.

And now recognize A's mean That over there

あの ano - When you put "that" before a noun, it changes to ano

ano neko wa pochi desu ka?
Is that cat over there, Pochi?.

iie ano kujira wa pochi desu.
No. That whale over there is Pochi.

Again they ALL are used in the same way.

Continue to lesson 5 Go back and review lesson 3

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