grammar - Nakama 1
A. Potential Form of Verbs
Putting verbs in the potential form allows the speaker to indicate capabilities or possibilities. For this form of verbs, the direct object particle を is replaced with が.
Verbs are conjugated as follows:
Present Positive Present Negative Past Positive Past Negative
U Verbs (drop う and add える)
Ex: やすむ
Plain Form やすめる やすめない やすめた やすめなかった
Ru Verbs (drop る and add られる)
Ex: たべる
Plain Form たべられる たべられない たべられた たべられなかった
Irregular Verbs
する できる できない できた できなかった
くる こられる こられない こられた こられなかった
Putting verbs in the potential form allows the speaker to indicate capabilities or possibilities. For this form of verbs, the direct object particle を is replaced with が.
Verbs are conjugated as follows:
Present Positive Present Negative Past Positive Past Negative
U Verbs (drop う and add える)
Ex: やすむ
Plain Form やすめる やすめない やすめた やすめなかった
Ru Verbs (drop る and add られる)
Ex: たべる
Plain Form たべられる たべられない たべられた たべられなかった
Irregular Verbs
する できる できない できた できなかった
くる こられる こられない こられた こられなかった
B. Expressing Excessiveness: ~すぎる
Adding ~すぎる to verb stems, A Adjectives and Na Adjectives implies that something is excessive.
For example:
Additionally, ~すぎる is a る verb, and so can be conjugated in the following ways:
Adding ~すぎる to verb stems, A Adjectives and Na Adjectives implies that something is excessive.
For example:
- 食べすぎました。 Ate too much.
- うるさすぎる。 Too loud.
- しずかすぎる。 Too quiet.
Additionally, ~すぎる is a る verb, and so can be conjugated in the following ways:
- 食べすぎる does eat too much
- 食べすぎない doesn't eat too much
- 食べすぎて does eat too much and ...
C. Giving Suggestions: ~たらどうですか、~た方がいいです
In the past, you learned how to make the たら form in Lesson 11; later, you learned briefly about giving advice in Lesson 12. In this lesson, we will revisit these grammar points for the purpose of giving suggests. There are two ways this can be done:
~たらどうですか
As described in the link to Lesson 11 above, the たら format is created by adding ら to the た form of a verb. Adding でしょうか in place of ですか makes the expression seem more polite.
Some examples:
~た方がいいです/~ない方がいいです
Putting verbs in these forms indicates what you should/should not do. Putting verbs in the た form indicates what you should do; putting verbs in the ない form indicates what you should not do.
Some examples:
In the past, you learned how to make the たら form in Lesson 11; later, you learned briefly about giving advice in Lesson 12. In this lesson, we will revisit these grammar points for the purpose of giving suggests. There are two ways this can be done:
- ~たらどうですか, which is translated as "it's better to" or "you should"; this format is stronger than #2
- ~た方がいいです, which is translated as "how about doing" or "why don't you"
~たらどうですか
As described in the link to Lesson 11 above, the たら format is created by adding ら to the た form of a verb. Adding でしょうか in place of ですか makes the expression seem more polite.
Some examples:
- さんぽうしたらどうでしょうか。 How about if you go for a walk?
- スープを食べたらどうですか。 How about if you eat some soup?
- たくさんねたらどうでしょうか。 How about if you sleep a lot?
~た方がいいです/~ない方がいいです
Putting verbs in these forms indicates what you should/should not do. Putting verbs in the た form indicates what you should do; putting verbs in the ない form indicates what you should not do.
Some examples:
- まどをしまった方がいいです。 You should close the window.
- ヒーターをつけた方がいいです。 You should turn the heater on.
- たくさんおかしを食べない方がいいです。 You shouldn't eat too many sweets.
D. Efforts towards a goal: ~ように
Using a plain present form of a verb before ように indicates a goal the speaker hopes to attain. Following ように, the main clause describes what the speaker is doing to reach that goal.
Some examples:
Using a plain present form of a verb before ように indicates a goal the speaker hopes to attain. Following ように, the main clause describes what the speaker is doing to reach that goal.
Some examples:
- 日本へ行きたいように、アルバイトをする。 Because I want to travel to Japan, I work a part time job.
- かぜをひかないように、まどをしまてある。 Because I don't want to catch a cold, I keep the windows closed.
- 元気になるように、よくうんどうしています。 Because I want to stay healthy, I exercise often.
E. Giving and Rescinding Permissions
There are three different grammar points in this section to help expressing giving and/or rescinding permissions:
Making a negative request: ~ないで下さい
To politely request someone not do something, add the ない form of the verb to 下さい.
This is explored in Lesson 8.
~てはいけない
This indicates that something is not allowed, and is most commonly used to talk about rules. It is formed by converting verbs into their て form.
There are three different grammar points in this section to help expressing giving and/or rescinding permissions:
- Making a negative request: ~ないで下さい
- ~てはいけない
- It is okay to, can, may: ~てもいい
Making a negative request: ~ないで下さい
To politely request someone not do something, add the ない form of the verb to 下さい.
This is explored in Lesson 8.
~てはいけない
This indicates that something is not allowed, and is most commonly used to talk about rules. It is formed by converting verbs into their て form.
Some examples:
- このたつものに入ってはいけません。 You cannot enter this building.
- タバコをすっていけません。 You cannot smoke tobacco.
- びじゅつかんの中に食べてはいけません。 You cannot eat inside the art museum.
It is okay to, can, may: ~てもいい
In Lesson 8, the notion of てもいい was first explored. In this lesson, there are a few more notes to add about using this grammar device.
- in addition to using てもいい, forms such as ていいでしょうか and てもかもいませんか can be used
- てもいいでしょうか is considered more tentative and more polite; it can also be used within your peer group
- てもかもいませんか is equally polite as てもいいでしょうか; though it is in the negative, answer it as you would answer