thank you for this ^^ I´m wondering, can you teach some "bad words" (slang??? is it that word in english?) but like informal speech between friends. It´s hard to find material for that since the books are too old with "foreign japanese." and there are no rules with slang when you learn it through drama or anime, movies.
These videos would be 10x better if you put some text onto them. I'm sure you have access to some video editing software. Windows has movie maker, Mac has iMovie and Linux has numerous alternatives.
But I suppose you could put some annotations in. Please :P
Formal Japanese requires an "o" prior to all action verbs, designating the action. However, I was saying as if someone asked "What are you doing?" In English we would say "Watching TV." The formal way to respond would be "Watashi wa telebe o mimasu." That would be like saying "I am watching TV." In casual conversation you would probably not speak like this. You would just identify the indirect object which designates what you are doing. In this case "Telebe ga mimasu. or just "Telebe ga."
So, in other words, you are right, but so am I. I don't like teaching formal Japanese for two reasons. You don't use it unless you *work* in Japan, and it's been far too long since I have had a formal class to remember all the technicalities. Japanese people will understand you fine if you use formal Japanese and it is very polite. However, it feels to me like being a robot since it ignores social norms of Japanese.
About the を being required to all action verbs like you said, that's not true. What's the difference between 始める and 始まる, how about 残す and 残る? The usage of を or が with that verb. One is transitive the other intransitive. を has nothing to do with politeness and so does が , the -ます does.
what do particles have to do with formality? In a sentence like that it is the verb that indicates how formal the sentence is. Also terebi ga miru is incorrect.
@jj8585, actually the entire sentence can change depending on the formality. College courses teach you formal Japanese. Occasionally, they will also teach ultra-formal Japanese. However, just like in English, most people do not speak either. Most people speak casually. Like in English, normal conversations rarely comprise of proper grammar. I prefer teaching casual Japanese since that is how people actually speak unless in an office environment.
My question was how exactly changing a particle would change the formality of a sentence? Altering the verb and using honorific prefixes are ways of changing politeness, not really using different particles.
@jj8585, in informal conversations rules are often broken. Traditionally speaking, the dictionary form is reserved for multiple verbs in a sentence, but as you example shows it is often used in informal conversations. In some cases, particles which are not normally used due to grammar are acceptable (though, still grammatically incorrect). This most often occurs with shorter sentences or derived information.
multiple verbs in a sentence? To me this makes me think of -te form. I'm not sure what you are referring to? I still don't accept that particles change, they may be dropped in conversation, but you can't just start swtiching them up willy nilly
I wouldn't really call it "willy nilly" because there seems to be some consistency on which is being said based on the intent of the speaker. Also, this is something I have only heard spoken, and never seen anything written about to (which would have probably added some insight.
I already tried to post once, but it didn't work (as usual with YouTube), so here it is again. "Terebi ga miru" has the grammatical accuracy to "watching tv" where the more accurate "terebi o miru" is about as grammatically accurate as "watching the tv". Neither one is a sentence by itself and both are quite common responses. (more to come on the next post, if YouTube actually allows my posts to stick).
Similarly, if asking "where is he/she going" a proper reply (in Japanese) could either be "To the elevator" or "In the elevator". They both hold a slightly different emphasis but are both valid responses to the question. I think that the change of particle is more about emphasis than anything else. In most cases, more than just the particle has to change to keep the sentence from just sounding weird, but the examples I have used are simple sentences with little grammatical change.
Actually, t.v. is "terebi" in Japanese.
A quick way to remember is to remind yourself there are no "l's" in Japanese. Hope that helps! ^_^
bluecloud0 2 years ago
Eh, same diff.. but, actually you're right. I should have written terebi since that's the correct Romaji.
xreev0x 2 years ago
thank you for this ^^ I´m wondering, can you teach some "bad words" (slang??? is it that word in english?) but like informal speech between friends. It´s hard to find material for that since the books are too old with "foreign japanese." and there are no rules with slang when you learn it through drama or anime, movies.
anyways. thank you for doing this.
Thegoldenlock 2 years ago
Thanks this helps a lot.
larok21 3 years ago
These videos would be 10x better if you put some text onto them. I'm sure you have access to some video editing software. Windows has movie maker, Mac has iMovie and Linux has numerous alternatives.
But I suppose you could put some annotations in. Please :P
Thanks, useful vid.
IndigoLynx 3 years ago 5
isn't it "o" not "ga"
o mimasu?
just wondering
calciumchris 3 years ago
Formal Japanese requires an "o" prior to all action verbs, designating the action. However, I was saying as if someone asked "What are you doing?" In English we would say "Watching TV." The formal way to respond would be "Watashi wa telebe o mimasu." That would be like saying "I am watching TV." In casual conversation you would probably not speak like this. You would just identify the indirect object which designates what you are doing. In this case "Telebe ga mimasu. or just "Telebe ga."
xreev0x 3 years ago
So, in other words, you are right, but so am I. I don't like teaching formal Japanese for two reasons. You don't use it unless you *work* in Japan, and it's been far too long since I have had a formal class to remember all the technicalities. Japanese people will understand you fine if you use formal Japanese and it is very polite. However, it feels to me like being a robot since it ignores social norms of Japanese.
xreev0x 3 years ago
I get it.
thanks
calciumchris 3 years ago
About the を being required to all action verbs like you said, that's not true. What's the difference between 始める and 始まる, how about 残す and 残る? The usage of を or が with that verb. One is transitive the other intransitive. を has nothing to do with politeness and so does が , the -ます does.
Firegrubs 3 years ago
what do particles have to do with formality? In a sentence like that it is the verb that indicates how formal the sentence is. Also terebi ga miru is incorrect.
jj8585 2 years ago
@jj8585, actually the entire sentence can change depending on the formality. College courses teach you formal Japanese. Occasionally, they will also teach ultra-formal Japanese. However, just like in English, most people do not speak either. Most people speak casually. Like in English, normal conversations rarely comprise of proper grammar. I prefer teaching casual Japanese since that is how people actually speak unless in an office environment.
xreev0x 2 years ago
My question was how exactly changing a particle would change the formality of a sentence? Altering the verb and using honorific prefixes are ways of changing politeness, not really using different particles.
jj8585 2 years ago
Here is an example of differing politeness. Let's use, 'watching tv':
テレビを見ている (informal)
テレビを見ています(formal)
テレビを見ております(very formal, lowers speaker)
テレビを見ていらっしゃいます／テレビをご覧になっています(very formal, raises subject of sentence)
I don't see how テレビが見る is gramatically correct or how wo/ga would ever have any bearing on formality.
jj8585 2 years ago
@jj8585, in informal conversations rules are often broken. Traditionally speaking, the dictionary form is reserved for multiple verbs in a sentence, but as you example shows it is often used in informal conversations. In some cases, particles which are not normally used due to grammar are acceptable (though, still grammatically incorrect). This most often occurs with shorter sentences or derived information.
xreev0x 2 years ago
multiple verbs in a sentence? To me this makes me think of -te form. I'm not sure what you are referring to? I still don't accept that particles change, they may be dropped in conversation, but you can't just start swtiching them up willy nilly
jj8585 2 years ago
I wouldn't really call it "willy nilly" because there seems to be some consistency on which is being said based on the intent of the speaker. Also, this is something I have only heard spoken, and never seen anything written about to (which would have probably added some insight.
xreev0x 2 years ago
Can you provide any examples?
jj8585 2 years ago
I already tried to post once, but it didn't work (as usual with YouTube), so here it is again. "Terebi ga miru" has the grammatical accuracy to "watching tv" where the more accurate "terebi o miru" is about as grammatically accurate as "watching the tv". Neither one is a sentence by itself and both are quite common responses. (more to come on the next post, if YouTube actually allows my posts to stick).
xreev0x 2 years ago
Similarly, if asking "where is he/she going" a proper reply (in Japanese) could either be "To the elevator" or "In the elevator". They both hold a slightly different emphasis but are both valid responses to the question. I think that the change of particle is more about emphasis than anything else. In most cases, more than just the particle has to change to keep the sentence from just sounding weird, but the examples I have used are simple sentences with little grammatical change.
xreev0x 2 years ago
Yes, you are correct.
jj8585 2 years ago
Thats pretty interesting, i'm going to try to see if I can put some sentences together
beltino500 4 years ago
Totally awesome man! =D
I bet that'll help a lot of people! =)
It's really cool that you're doing a series like this. ^_^
Looking forward to the next lesson! =D
DeMaulwurfn 4 years ago