More Japanese Grammars and How to Use Them

 

Sometimes when we talk to people, we talk about what we want to do, what can we do, what could possibly happens, etc. For today's blog, we will discuss some Japanese grammars that can be used to make request, expressing desire, expressing ability, expressing "must", and expressing "if".

Making Request

To make request using a verb, we can just simply use the ending "kudasai" at the ending of the verb after changing the verb into te-verb (simply remove "-iru" from "-teiru" suffix from this blog).

Example:

食べる🠆食べて🠆 食べてください

食べてください

Tabete kudasai

Please eat

We can also use it like a verb to request for something.

Example:

水をください

Mizu wo kudasai

Water please

Expressing Desire

To express desire, we can use the ending "-tai" at the end of a verb after changing the verb into i-verb (simply remove "-masu" from the "-masu" suffix rule from this blog).

Example:

食べる🠆食べたい

Taberu 🠆 Tabetai

食べたい

tabetai

I want to eat.

ラーメンを食べたい

Raamen wo tabetai

I want to eat ramen.

To make it negative, you can just simply change the "-i" into "-kunai"

Example:

食べたくない

tabetakunai

I don't want to eat.

Expressing Ability

To express ability, we can just simply use the phrase "koto ga dekiru (dekimasu for polite sentences)" after the basic verb form.

Example:

泳ぐことができる (泳ぐ= oyogu = swim)

Oyogu koto ga dekiru

I can swim

To make it negative, we can change the "dekiru/dekimasu" into "dekinai/dekimasen"

Example:

泳ぐことができない

Oyogu koto ga dekinai

I can not swim

Expressing "must"

To express "must" in Japanese, we can simply change the ending "-i" at the end of a negative verb form into"-kereba naranai/kereba narimasen (polite)".

Example:

食べる🠆食べない🠆食べなければならない

Taberu 🠆 Tabenai 🠆 Tabenakereba narai

ラーメンを食べなければならない

Ramen wo Tabenakereba naranai

I must eat ramen.

To express "must not" or "do not" you can use "koto wa dame" after the basic verb form.

Example:

泳ぐことはだめ

Oyogu koto wa dame

You must not swim / Don't swim

Expressing "if"

To express "if" in Japanese, we can simply add "-ra" at the ending of past verb.

Example:

歩いた (walked) 🠆歩いたら

Aruita🠆Aruitara

歩いたら遠い

Aruitara tooi

If (you/I) walk, (It is) far.

That is all for our discussion today. There are some more ways that can be used to express all the expressions above, but for beginners I believe all of the things we have discussed should be enough for now. Make sure to try all of them in your own sentences to make you remember all of them.

Source of the Pictures:

https://www.irasutoya.com/