Chapter 7 - 9 文法ノート

Front 1

v(plain)ようにする

日本語は毎日勉強するようにして下さい。

Back 1

v(plain)ようにする means 'to make an effort to do s.t' or 'to make a point of doing s.t'

Hint 1

please try and study japanese every day.

Front 2

v(stem)始める

私が日本語を勉強し始めたのは一年前です。

Back 2

'begin v-ing'

Hint 2

it was a year ago that i started studying japanese.

Front 3

s1 v(stem), s2

野球の上手な選手を集めてチームを作り、アメリカ・チームと試合をした。

Back 3

The stem of a v(masu) form can be used in place of v(て) form to connect two sentences. This use is generally restricted to written style

Hint 3

they formed a team by gathering good baseball players and played games with the american team

Front 4

question word + ～ても

富士山は、いつてもきれいです。

Back 4

Qusetion words (何、いつ、だれ、どこ、何度、etc.) followed by て-forms followed by も indicate 'no matter what/when/who/where/how often,' etc.

Hint 4

mt. fuji is beautiful no matter when we look at it.

Front 5

を始め

アメリカではフットボールを始め、バスケットボール、アイスホッケーなどのスポッツも盛んです。

Back 5

'starting with ~; including ~'

This phrase introduces the most obvious example, as in the following examples.

Hint 5

in america, sports such as basketball and ice hockey, not to mention football, are popular.

Front 6

～的

日本的なおみやげというと、着物とか扇子などだろう。

Back 6

～的 is a suffiz which attaches to nouns (mostly kanji cmp) and forms な adj. ～的に is an adverbial form. its meaning varies depending on the words, but in [x は y 的] it often indicates that x has a characteristic quality of y or x has s.t to do with y.

Hint 6

a typical japanese souvenir might be a kimono dress or a fan.

Front 7

何と言っても

日本の映画監督の中でもっとも有名なのは、何と言っても黒沢明だろう。

Back 7

'undeniably; no doubt; by any account'

Hint 7

The most famous movie director in japan by any account must be akira kurosawa.

Front 8

面白いことに

驚いたことに、アメリカの大学では、先生が学生をファスト・ネームで呼んでいるのだ。

Back 8

[面白い＋ことに] introduces the content of what is interesting in the remainder of the sentence. any adjective or verb which expresses a speaker's emotional response can be similarly used.

Hint 8

to my surprise, teachers call students by their first names at american universities.

Front 9

x は y くらいです

日本人がのんびりできるのは、大学生の時くらいかもしれない。

Back 9

'y is about the only x'

this expression is used when U is about the only case where X holds true. X and Y are both either nouns or non phrases

Hint 9

college years might be the only time when the japanese can relax.

Front 10

やっぱり

ジョン・ケネディは政治家だった。彼の弟たちや針政治化になった。

Back 10

'as expected; also; again'

やっぱり is a conversational form of やはり. It is an adverb which indicates that what is being said is what is expected from our general or specific knowledge.

Hint 10

john kennedy was a politician. his brothers also became politicians.

Front 11

～さえ～ば

運動さえすれば病気になりません。

Back 11

This expression states a sufficient condition for attaining a desired result. さえ can be attached to a noun, a verb stem and the て-form of a verb, as is in the following:

N さえ V (ば-form):
くすりさえ飲めば
V(stem)さえすれば:
くすりを飲みさえすれば
V(て-form)さえいれば:
くすりを飲んでさえいれば

Particles が, を, は and も are dropped when is attached. bit other particles are retained as in クラスにさえ出れば. ば is a condition form.

When さえ is attached to a noun, it emphasizes that noun. Hence (em. on N) implies one only has to take medicine and no other substance. (em. on V) places the emphasis on the action of taking medicine as opposed to other actions such as sleeping, listening to music, etc.

More information on p. 173

Hint 11

If you don't want to get sick, all you have to do is to exercise.

Front 12

～はず

今日は日曜日だから、銀行は休みのはずです。

Back 12

～はず, which means 'supposed to,' 'expected to,' expresses one's conjecture with some certainty. It follows noun + の, な-adj, and plain forms of verbs and い-adj.

Hint 12

It's Sunday today, and so banks are supposed to be closed.

Front 13

～みたい

まるで夢みたい。

丸で 【まるで】 (adv) (uk) quite; entirely; completely; at all; as if; as though; so to speak;

なかなか仕事がないみたいだね。

来年結婚するみたいよ。

Back 13

みたい is a colloquial form of ようだ. unlike ようだ, みたい follows bare nouns (e.g 日本人みたい) and な-adj and verbs (e.g., 安いみたい；行くみたい)

Hint 13

It's like a dream.

It seems difficult to find a job.

It looks like [he] is going to get married next year.

Front 14

～ため(に)

大雪のためフライトがキャンセルされた。

日本語を勉強したために、日本へ行った。

Back 14

'because (of); due to'

～ため(に) follows a noun + の, -adj な-form and plain forms of い-adj and verbs. It indicates the reason or cause for the following clause. ～ため is a formal expression, and hence is used in writing or in formal situations.

It also indicates a purpose for an action (cf Lesson 5). Whether ～ため(に) is interpreted as a "purpose" or "reason" partly depends on the context. However, if ～ため(に)follows adj or a verb which indicates a state such as 分かる, 出来る, ある, etc., it always indicates a "reason." Even past tenses.

Hint 14

The flight was cancelled because of heavy snow.

He went to Japan because he studied Japanese.

Front 15

xより仕方がない

お金がないときは、アリバイとをするより仕方がない。

Back 15

'to have no choice but to~'

This expression means that X is not what one normally wants to do but one has no choice but to do.

Hint 15

When one does not have any money, one does not have any choice but to work a part-time.

Front 16

Vれる/られる

先生、本を書かれたそうですが、いつご出版のご予定でしょうか。

Back 16

The Vれる/られる form, which is homophonous to the passive form, may be used as 尊敬語 (honorific form), as in the following examples.

Hint 16

Professor, I hear you have written a book. When is it scheduled to be published?

Front 17

せめて(～は)

漢字をたくさん習いたいが、時間がないので、せめて教育漢字は読み書きできるようになりたい。

Back 17

'at least'

The expression is used only when there is an implication that more of s.t is desirable. So, in the example, the implication is that one wants to learn as many kanji as possible. The use of くらい makes the statement less specific in the sense that the speaker gives an item or number just as an example.

Hint 17

I want to learn lots of kanji, but i don't have much time. i would like to be able to read and write at least Kyouiku Kanji, though.

Front 18

～ように

みんなが楽しめるようにチョコレートを上げた。

Back 18

[xようにy] means [y so that x]. In this construction, x often contains a potential verb, negative form or stative verb, which normally can't be controlled by one's will.

Hint 18

I gave chocolate so that they can all enjoy it.