Page 3
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- Sentences using adjectives
To make a sentence describing something with an adjective,
just take the adjective and add
[desu] for an affirmative (yes) statement. It's a little different
for a negative (no) statement, though. Most adjectives end with
[i]: To say the opposite of an adjective, you turn that into a
[ku] and add the negative [arimasen],
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[arimasen deshita] to put the sentence into the past tense. Here
are some examples:
Affirmative
(yes): [it is] delicious. |
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Oishii desu. |
Negative
(no): [it is] not delicious. |
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Oishiku arimasen. |
Past affirmative:
[it was] fun. |
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Tanoshikatta desu. |
Past negative:
[it was] not fun. |
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Tanoshiku arimasen deshita. |
In Lesson 2 you learned how to use
[ka] at the end of a sentence to make the question form:
Is [this]
big? |
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Ookii desu ka? |
Is [this]
not big? |
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Ookiku arimasen ka? |
Was [this]
small? |
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Chiisakatta desu ka? |
Was [this]
not small? |
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Chiisaku arimasen deshita ka? |
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- Using
[totemo], "very"
Place the word
[totemo] in front of any adjective you want to emphasize:
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Oishii desu. |
[It's]
delicious. |
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Totemo oishii desu. |
[It's]
very delicious. |
[takai] and
[yasui]
[takai] can mean a number of things, including expensive, tall (as
in a person's height), and high (like a building or mountain).
[yasui], on the other hand, means only cheap--not short or low.
- This and that
The words
[kono],
[sono],
[ano],
[dono] are used to say "this," "that," "that [over there]," and
"which" respectively. Be sure not to confuse them with
[kore],
[sore],
[are], and
[dore], which you learned in Lesson 6. These words don't refer directly
to things, but are used to indicate certain objects: "this apple,"
"that pencil," and so on.
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Kore wa aisukurimu desu. |
This is
ice cream. |
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Kono aisukurimu wa oishii desu. |
This ice
cream is delicious. |
[kore] is a noun, and can be used as the subject of a sentence;
but
[kono] has to be used with a noun following it. It's the same with
the other words in the series:
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Dono aisukurimu ga suki desu ka? |
Which ice cream do [you] like? |
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Kono banana aisukurimu ga suki desu. |
[I] like this banana ice cream. |
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