Japanese - Grammar II - を、に、verbs (introduction)、 ます form

So in Grammar I we covered は、です、の、and か. Next we will cover two new particles, を and に, and then look at verbs.

Vocabulary

なに = what

なん = what

どこ = where

いつ = when

スーパー = grocery store (abbreviated form of English "supermarket" )

すし = sushi (yay you knew that word already!)

よく = often (always goes before the verb. We cover adverbs more later)

いく = to go

かう = to buy

たべる = to eat (ichidan verb - you'll learn what that means in this lesson!)

※ Note on names → In Japan you always say the last name first. So Yuki Yamada would be やまだ　ゆき. When you are speaking to someone you either 1) do not know well; 2) is a superior; or 3) is older than you, (basically, if you need to be respectful) then you add さん onto the end of the person's name. So Mr. Horiguchi would be ほりぐちさん.  (NOTE that さん is in no way related to gender or marital status like the Mr., Mrs., and Ms./Miss of English.)

In extremely formal situations you will use さま. However, you rarely hear this outside of the service industry, where employees use this title for customers/clients. You also see this title in some letter/emails and at doctor's offices.

For casual situations there are also titles you can add to names. ちゃん is a cute title usually added to girls' names (like あきこちゃん) and くん is usually added to boys' names (like ゆうすけくん.)

Grammar 1 - を

を is the object particle in Japanese. It marks the object of a sentence. Here is an example of its usage (remember that Japanese is Subject-Object-Verb!)

わたしは　すしを　たべました = I ate sushi (don't worry about past tense verbs just yet!)

(I + subject marker + sushi + object marker + ate.)

In the sentence above all you are really doing is putting English in SOV order (I sushi ate) but you have to remember to mark the subject and object with the correct particles. Then you have it!
So the SOV word order of Japanese becomes SはOをV!  \(^-^)/

Grammar 2 - に

に is kind of like a particle and a preposition all at once. It is used to express the following meanings.

Direction (toward) → とうきょう　に　いく = to go to Tokyo (Tokyo + に + to go)

Location → アメリカ　に　います = I'm in the U.S. (America [the US] + に + to be)

Indirect object → かのじょ　に　ペン　を　あげました = I gave her the pen (her + に + pen + object marker + gave)

In this lesson it will only be used in the 1st and 2nd ways.

Grammar 3 - VERBS!

Okay. Japanese verbs can be really confusing until it finally "clicks" and then they're wonderfully easy! So they may seem hard at first but once you finally figure out the logic you'll start wishing all languages had verbs like this. ;-)

First thing to know is that Japanese has THREE categories of verbs： ichidan verbs (also called ru verbs,) godan verbs (also called u verbs) and irregular verbs.

Thankfully Japanese has very, very, very few irregular verbs. Under 10, actually. (WOW!)

We will cover irregular verbs in a different lesson. For now we need to focus on ichidan and godan verbs.

Let's look at verb stems.

An ichidan verb (also called a ru verb) is a verb where the stem of the verb is created by dropping the final る from the end.

Examples
たべる (to eat) → drop the る → たべ is the stem
みる (to see/look) → drop the る → み is the stem
きる (to wear) → drop the る → き is the stem
こころみる (to try out) → drop the る → こころみ is the stem

ALL ichidan verbs have a final る BUT not all verbs that have a final る are ichidan verbs. So how do you tell the difference? There isn't any universal rule, but there is a little trick.
ALL ichidan verbs will end with either an eru or an iru ending. For example, つづける has an eru ending and is an ichidan verb (tuduk/eru.) BUT just because a verb has an eru or iru ending does not automatically mean it is ichidan. There are eru and iru verbs that are not ichidan.

A godan verb is any verb that isn't ichidan or irragular. Most Japanese verbs fall into the godan verb category. A godan verb can end in the following sounds：う、る、つ、す、く、ぐ、む、ぶ、ぬ. (never in ふ or ゆ in modern Japanese.) The stem of a godan verb is created by changing the final u sound to an i. This is best illustrated through examples.

いく (to go) → change the final u to an i → いき is the stem
かえる (to return) → change the final u to an i → かえり is the stem
およぐ (to swim) → change the final u to an i → およぎ is the stem
とぶ (to fly) → change the final u to an i → とび is the stem
はなす (to talk/chat) → change the final u to an i → はなし is the stem
ぬすむ (to steal) → change the final u to an i → ぬすみ is the stem
うつ (to beat/shoot) → change the final u to an i → うち is the stem
かう (to buy) → change the final u to an i → かい is the stem
しぬ (to die) → change the final u to an i → しに is the stem

In this blog, assume all verbs are godan unless they are specified as ichidan or irregular.

Now that you know verb stems, we can learn ます form! :-D

Grammar 4 - ます form

As I have said previously, Japanese has varying levels of formality. You could use the base form of the verb in present (or future) tense (スーパー に いく = I go to the store/I will go to the store.) But just using the base form of the verb is very casual, and not the kind of Japanese you use in formal settings, with strangers, to your boss, etc. For formal situations, you have to use ます form!

※Even if you are just learning Japanese for casual purposes, you still NEED to learn ます form. People use ます form even with their friends and family in some situations. This is a major part of Japanese.

ます form is very, very easy. Grab a verb, make it into its stem, then slap ます on the end!

ます form ⇒　verb stem + ます

So for ichidan verbs → drop the る and add ます
     たべる → たべ + ます = たべます

For godan verbs → change the final u to an i and add ます
     いく → いき + ます = いきます

※ Irregular verbs have their own conjugations! Look for the irregular verbs entry for details on this.

Here are some examples!!

スーパー　に　いきます　=　I'm going to the super market (future action)
(supermarket + directional particle + ます form of いく [go])

バナナを　よく　かいます　=　I often buy bananas
(banana + object marker + often + ます form of かう [buy])

すしを　よく　たべます　=　I often eat sushi
(sushi + object marker + often + ます form of たべる [eat])

To make questions, just add か like we learned last time! \(^-^)/

どこ　に　いきます　か。　=　Where are you going?
(Where + directional particle + ます form of いく [go] + question marker)

なにをたべますか。　=　What will you eat?
(What + object marker + ます form of たべる [eat] + question marker)

やまださんはどこにいきますか。　=　Where will Mr. (or Mrs./Ms.) Yamada go?
(Yamada + san + subject marker + where + directional particle + ます form of いく [go] + question marker)

さとうさんはなにをたべますか。　=　What will Mr. (or Mrs./Ms.) Sato eat?
(Sato + san + subject marker + what + object marker + ます form of たべる[eat] + question marker)

Just like in English, when you direct a statement/question towards someone, you can say their name, pause, and then say the statement/question.

さきちゃん、どこ　に　いきます　か。　=　Saki, where are you going?
(Saki + chan + where + directional particle + ます form of いく[go] + question marker)

たかくん、けいこちゃんは　どこ　に　いきます　か。　=　Taka, where is Keiko going?
(taka + kun + keiko + chan + subject marker + where + directional particle + ます form of いく[go] + question marker.)