9.1. Dialogue 1


I explain Japanese grammar using dialogues from now.

In the first dialogue, a kid named (si)(small yo)(u) /syo' u/ "Shô" comes home and he has a tea break with his mother (hi)(ro)(ko) /hi' ro ko/ "Hiroko".

(si)(small yo)(u) :(ta)(da)(i)(ma)(period)
Phonemes:tadaima
Romanization:Tadaima.
Structure:interjection
(I'm back)

It's good manners to say this greeting when you are back. Its literal meaning is "just now", which came from "I came back just now", but its original meaning is not important.

(hi)(ro)(ko) :(o)(ka)(e)(ri)(period) (o)(ya)(tu)(ga)  (a)(ru)(yo)(period)
Phonemes:okaerioya'tugaa'ruyo
Romanization:Okaeri.Oyatsugaaruyo.
Structure:interjection
(welcome back)		noun
(tea time snack)		nomi-
native
marker		verb
(exist)		opinion
marker

It's good manners to say (o)(ka)(e)(ri) /o ka e ri/ "okaeri" as a reply to the greeting (ta)(da)(i)(ma) /ta da i ma/ "tadaima". To make it polite, you can say (o)(ka)(e)(ri)(na)(sa)(i) /o ka e ri na sa i/ "okaerinasai".

Hiroko's second sentence literally means "A tea time snack exists." The verb have is often used to mean something exists in English, such as "We have a tea time snack." in this case. In Japanese, the existential verbs are commonly used.

Also note that the topic marker is not used for the subject, because the whole sentence is new information. Using the topic marker here means the supposed preceding question is whether there is a tea time snack, which seems strange because the boy talks nothing about snack.

(si)(small yo)(u) :(na)(ni)(question)
Phonemes:na'ni
Romanization:Nani?
Structure:interrogative
noun
(what)

Shô asks what snack his mother has. In English, "What?" often means "What did you say?", but in Japanese it often means "What is it?" The original sentence of it is shown below:

Hiragana:(ki)(small yo)(u)(no)  (o)(ya)(tu)(ha)  (na)(ni)(question)
Phonemes:kyo'unooya'tuwana'ni
Romanization:Kyônooyatsuwanani?
Structure:noun
(today)		genitive
marker
(of)		noun
(tea time snack)		topic
marker		interrogative
noun
(what)
Meaning:What is today's tea time snack?

(hi)(ro)(ko) :(ni)(ku)(ma)(n)(period)(na)(ni)(ka)  (no)(mu)(question)
Phonemes:nikumaNna'nikano'mu
Romanization:Nikuman.Nanikanomu?
Structure:noun
(a Chinese bun
with pork)		noun
(something)		verb
(drink)

Answering only with a noun without any other word is no problem in colloquial Japanese. In her second sentence, the accusative marker (wo) /o/ "o" is omitted after the object (na)(ni)(ka) /na' ni ka/ "nanika". Even though Japanese requires case markers after all nouns in a sentence, the topic marker (ha) /wa/ "wa" and the accusative marker are sometimes omitted in colloquial Japanese.

The word (na)(ni)(ka) /na' ni ka/ "nanika" obviously came from the interrogative (na)(ni) /na' ni/ "nani".

The chart below shows the relationship between the interrogatives and the words for indefinite things:

InterrogativesIndefinite nouns
Thing
Hiragana:(na)(ni)
Phonemes:na'ni
Romanization:nani
Meaning:what
Hiragana:(na)(ni)(ka)
Phonemes:na'nika
Romanization:nanika
Meaning:something
Person
Hiragana:(da)(re)
Phonemes:da're
Romanization:dare
Meaning:who
Hiragana:(da)(re)(ka)
Phonemes:da'reka
Romanization:dareka
Meaning:somebody
Time
Hiragana:(i)(tu)
Phonemes:i'tu
Romanization:itsu
Meaning:when
Hiragana:(i)(tu)(ka)
Phonemes:i'tuka
Romanization:itsuka
Meaning:some day
Place
Hiragana:(do)(ko)
Phonemes:do'ko
Romanization:doko
Meaning:where
Hiragana:(do)(ko)(ka)
Phonemes:do'koka
Romanization:dokoka
Meaning:somewhere
Reason
Hiragana:(na)(ze)
Phonemes:na'ze
Romanization:naze
Meaning:why
Hiragana:(na)(ze)(ka)
Phonemes:na'zeka
Romanization:nazeka
Meaning:for some reason

The accusative marker after these indefinite nouns is almost always omitted in colloquial Japanese, and they are often omitted in written Japanese too.

(si)(small yo)(u) :(mu)(gi)(ti)(small ya)(ha)  (a)(ru)(question)
Phonemes:mugi'tyawaa'ru
Romanization:Mugichawaaru?
Structure:noun
(barley tea)		topic
marker		verb
(exist)

Be sure to use the topic marker for barley tea here. They have talked about something to drink, and the son chooses barley tea as topic.

(hi)(ro)(ko) :(mu)(gi)(ti)(small ya)(ha)  (re)(i)(zo)(u)(ko)(ni)
Phonemes:mugi'tyawareizo'ukoni
Romanization:Mugichawareizôkoni
Structure:noun
(barley tea)		topic
marker		noun
(refrigerator)		dative
marker
(to)

(continued)(a)(ru)(yo)(period)
Phonemes:a'ruyo
Romanization:aruyo.
Structure:verb
(exist)		opinion
marker

When you say the location of a thing, use the dative case marker (ni) /ni/ "ni". The function of the dative marker will be explained in detail later. Since you can change word order quite freely in Japanese, the following two sentences are semantically the same.

Hiragana:(ki)(ga)  (ni)(wa)(ni)  (a)(ru)(period)
Phonemes:ki'ganiwania'ru
Romanization:Kiganiwaniaru.
Structure:noun
(tree)		nomi-
native
marker		noun
(yard)		dative
marker
(to)		verb
(exist)

Hiragana:(ni)(wa)(ni)  (ki)(ga)  (a)(ru)(period)
Phonemes:niwaniki'gaa'ru
Romanization:Niwanikigaaru.
Structure:noun
(yard)		dative
marker
(to)		noun
(tree)		nomi-
native
marker		verb
(exist)

Both of them means that there is a tree in a yard. If you use the topic marker for them, the difference becomes clear.

Hiragana:(ki)(ha)  (ni)(wa)(ni)  (a)(ru)(period)
Phonemes:ki'waniwania'ru
Romanization:Kiwaniwaniaru.
Structure:noun
(tree)		topic
marker		noun
(yard)		dative
marker
(to)		verb
(exist)
Meaning:The tree is in a yard.

Hiragana:(ni)(wa)(ni)(ha)  (ki)(ga)  (a)(ru)(period)
Phonemes:niwani'waki'gaa'ru
Romanization:Niwaniwakigaaru.
Structure:noun
(yard)		dative
marker
(to)		topic
marker		noun
(tree)		nomi-
native
marker		verb
(exist)
Meaning:The yard has a tree.

Remember the topic marker overrides the nominative marker.

As I have explained, the existential verb (a)(ru) /a' ru/ "aru" ((i)(ru) /i ru/ "iru" for animates) is commonly used for existence in Japanese, while both be and have are used in English. The following sentence is helpful to understand more clearly:

Hiragana:(ka)(re)(ni)(ha)  (a)(ne)(ga)  (i)(ru)(period)
Phonemes:ka'reniwaanegairu
Romanization:Kareniwaanegairu.
Structure:noun
(he)		dative
marker
(to)		topic
marker		noun
(elder sister)		nomi-
native
marker		verb
(exist)
Meaning:He has an elder sister.

Now, let's get back to the conversation.

(si)(small yo)(u) :(wa)(ka)(small tu)(ta)(period)(ka)(a)(sa)(n)(mo)  (no)(mu)(question)
Phonemes:waka'Qtaka'asaNmono'mu
Romanization:Wakatta.Kâsammonomu?
Structure:verb
(understood)		noun
(mom)		addition
marker
(also)		verb
(drink)

The first sentence is the same as "I see." and "I understand." in English.

The addition marker (mo) /mo/ "mo" is the second information marker we learn. (The first one is the topic marker (ha) /wa/ "wa".) It is equivalent to too and also in English. A sentence with the addition marker is parallel to something that has been already talked about. The Japanese addition marker is more precise than the English one, and you have to distinguish the following sentences.

Hiragana:(wa)(ta)(si)(mo)  (o)(ti)(small ya)(wo)  (no)(mu)(period)
Phonemes:watasimootyaono'mu
Romanization:Watashimoochaonomu.
Structure:noun
(I)		addition
marker
(also)		noun
(green tea)		accu-
sative
marker		verb
(drink)

Hiragana:(wa)(ta)(si)(ha)  (o)(ti)(small ya)(mo)  (no)(mu)(period)
Phonemes:watasiwaotyamono'mu
Romanization:Watashiwaochamonomu.
Structure:noun
(I)		topic
marker		noun
(green tea)		addition
marker
(also)		verb
(drink)

The addition marker overrides the nominative marker and the accusative marker, like the topic marker does. The topic marker is not used when the addition marker is used. Both of the sentences mean "I drink green tea too", but what is added is different. The upper sentence means "(You drink grean tea and) I drink it too", in short "Me too", while the lower means "(I drink coffee and) I drink green tea too", in short "Green tea too".

In the dialogue, Shô is about to drink barley tea, and he asks whether his mother also drinks the tea. So you need the addition marker after the word for mom.

Also remember that pronouns for the addressee are not commonly used in Japanese, and using names or calling words such as mom are often used.

(hi)(ro)(ko) :(u)(n)(period)
Phonemes:u'N
Romanization:Un.
Structure:interjection
(yeah)

Then he comes back with two cups of barley tea and says the following greeting:

(si)(small yo)(u) :(i)(ta)(da)(ki)(ma)(su)(period)
Phonemes:itadakima'su
Romanization:Itadakimasu.
Structure:interjection
(I begin to eat)

The greetings chapter explains this phrase.

Now we have finished the first dialogue. The all sentences are shown below again.

(si)(small yo)(u) : (ta)(da)(i)(ma)(period) (hi)(ro)(ko) : (o)(ka)(e)(ri)(period)(o)(ya)(tu)(ga)   (a)(ru)(yo)(period)
(si)(small yo)(u) : (na)(ni)(question)
(hi)(ro)(ko) : (ni)(ku)(ma)(n)(period)(na)(ni)(ka)   (no)(mu)(question)
(si)(small yo)(u) : (mu)(gi)(ti)(small ya)(ha)   (a)(ru)(question)
(hi)(ro)(ko) : (mu)(gi)(ti)(small ya)(ha)   (re)(i)(zo)(u)(ko)(ni)   (a)(ru)(yo)(period)
(si)(small yo)(u) : (wa)(ka)(small tu)(ta)(period)(ka)(a)(sa)(n)(mo)   (no)(mu)(question)
(hi)(ro)(ko) : (u)(n)(period)
(si)(small yo)(u) : (i)(ta)(da)(ki)(ma)(su)(period)


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Copyright(C) TAKASUGI Shinji (ts@sf.airnet.ne.jp)