Japanese language lesson(grammar part 4)

[namphong2036]

Good job!There is part 5 yet?Can you tell a bout the verb form:D

[Unicornzilla]

why isnt eigo capitallized?? : O

[CatwomanJolie]

@Unicornzilla

Wow, you know what ..I never really thought about it, I just remembered the rule..Unfortunately I don't know why, sorry.. I would think it doesn't really matter since capitalization doesn't exist in written Japanese anyway. If you write in romaji to a native Japanese person they will never tell you to capitalize your romaji so it's okay if you don't, and it's okay if you prefer to capitalize certain words as well. It's up to you ;)

[CatwomanJolie]

@Unicornzilla

Thank you for following my lessons. ganbatte ne! :)

[OCoptimusconvoy]

why do you say "hon O motte imasu"? like with the o. do u always add the o to subjects?

[CatwomanJolie]

ex 1: sushi wo tabete imasu.(I am eating sushi.)

Here the person speaking is doing and action(tabete imasu =eating) , but what is the object receiving that action? In this case the "sushi" is receiving the action of being eaten , therefore we place the particle "wo" after it. hon wo yonda. ( I read a book.)

*This person read something..but what is that something?

The answer would be the "hon(book)" therefore you must place the particle "o" after it.

Thank you for tuning in! :)

[OCoptimusconvoy]

@CatwomanJolie oh okay thanks!

so like in one video i saw earlier the guys like "eigo-wo wakarimas?" is that right?

[CatwomanJolie]

@OCoptimusconvoy

The particle を= o (pronounced 'wo') marks the direct object of a sentence.

So since motte is derived from the verb "motsu" which means "to have" or "to hold" then we need to indicate what is the object receiving that action.

In the sentence "hon o motte imasu" I have a book / I have some books

the word "hon(book)" is the object which is being "held" by the speaker. Therefor you must place the direct object marker "o" after that object recieving the action.

[Eltuner]

Here in Spain, we don't capitalize months or days either.

[zaldude]

Hon o motte imasu = I have some books or I have a book. If you don't have any books with you, how can they understand your context!? D:

[devadvocate]

So would the phrase 'Hon o kaimashita ikutsu ka.' mean how many books did you buy?

[CatwomanJolie]

anata ha nan satsu no hon o kaimashita ka ?

The word "nan" means ( what ) but in this context it means (how many.)

The word "satsu" is just the counter for books in Japanese.

The particle "no" is used to show possession,and at times just shows relation between two things. In this case "no" is used to show relation between "how many, and books"

[CatwomanJolie]

The particle "o" is used to indicate the direct object of the verb . The direct object of the verb kaimashita is hon. That is why "o" is placed in between "books and bought"

[CatwomanJolie]

* also always remember that the Japanese sentence word order is (subject +object+ verb) so verbs almost always come at the end of a sentence.That is why kaimashita is placed at the end. Remember that "ka" is just a question marker like --> ?

[zaldude]

You don't have to include anata in that sentence ("anata ha nan satsu no hon o kaimashita ka") do you? And shouldn't it have a "wa" after anata...? Anata means "you" right?

[CatwomanJolie]

@zaldude

You don't have to include "anata wa" but if you want to be very polite it's a good idea to keep it, now let's say you are speaking to a friend..in that case you can definitely drop "anata wa" and just ask your friend  "nan satsu no hon wo kaimashita ka? and he or she will understand perfectly.

anata = you

[CatwomanJolie]

@CatwomanJolie

Normally you see the particle written as "wa" in romaji which is correct, but when you type in hiragana the particle "wa" is actually written as "ha".* The particle "wa" is pronounced as "wa" that's why it's written that way in romaji.

*now be careful , when "wa" is part of a word like "watashi" where it's not being used as a particle the "wa" in hiragana is "wa" not "ha"

[CatwomanJolie]

@zaldude

は = ha (the topic marking particle which is known as "wa" in romaji)

わ = wa ( "wa" as in (watashi, warui...etc)

* both are pronounced the same way athough they are written differently

Hope I didn't confuse you! Good luck ! and thank you for tuning into my channel! :)

[ray1244]

3:47 Hon o motte imasu Hon o motte imasu

my question is .. how u know what the person means .. whe he/she says that .. how i know she means 1 or many books?

[JapaneseLearningVid]

I know what you mean, it sounds a little strange. The information is not in the sentence. The word for 1 book and the word for many books is "hon".

Many words don't translate directly. I normally learn the rough meaning of words in isolation and then practice them in context to learn how to use them. I tend to carry about 40 words and 5 phrases around with me and practice them on the way to work, at lunch etc. 10 new words and 30 revision words. The phrases contain a grammar rule.

[zaldude]

omg, exactly what I asked! how?

[Ltron9]

Awesome Lessons!