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ОглавлениеAbiru 浴びる to take a bath, shower
Japanese people who have spent a number of years in English-speaking countries such as the United States often end up having their spoken Japanese affected by English. One example of this that I once heard was *Mō shawā o torimashita ka *もうシャワーを取りま したか, a direct translation of “Have you taken a shower yet?” In authentic Japanese, the sentence should be Shawā o abimashita ka シャワーを浴びましたか, using the verb abiru 浴びる rather than toru 取る.
“Take a bath” also can be furo o abiru 風呂をあびる, although another expression, furo ni hairu 風呂に入る, is probably more common.
EXAMPLE:
Nihonjin wa furo o abiru (or furo ni hairu) no ga hontō ni suki da.
日本人は風呂を浴びる（風呂に入る)のが本当に好きだ。
The Japanese really love taking baths.
Abunai 危ない dangerous
Abunai 危ない most often means “dangerous, risky, hazardous.”
EXAMPLES:
(1) Yopparai-unten wa abunai.
酔っ払い運転は危ない。
Drunk driving is dangerous.
(2) Kodomo no matchi-asobi wa abunai.
子供のマッチ遊びは危ない。
Children’s playing with matches is hazardous.
Abunai! 危ない! may be used as an exclamation in situations where “Look out!” or “Watch out!” would be called for in English. For example, if you see someone walking into the path of an oncoming car, you shout out, Abunai! Other examples of adjectives used to give warning are Urusai! うるさい! and Yakamashii! やかましい! (lit., “[You are] noisy!”), both meaning “Be quiet!” or “Shut up!” (see URUSAI).
Achikochi あちこち here and there
Achikochi あちこち, short for achirakochira あちらこちら, looks very much like English “here and there,” except that the order is reversed, i.e., achikochi literally would be “there and here.” Although achikochi and “here and there” are quite similar in meaning, there is a slight difference. Achikochi seems to cover a wider area than “here and there,” as in the following example.
EXAMPLE:
Achikochi sagashita keredo mitsukaranakatta.
あちこち捜したけれど見つからなかった。
I looked far and wide but couldn’t find it.
There is another variant, atchikotchi あっちこち, which is a little more colloquial than achikochi あちこち.
Agaru 上がる to go up
The basic meaning of agaru 上がる is “to go up.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Mata gasorin no nedan ga agatta.
またガソリンの値段が上がった。
The price of gasoline has gone up again.
Entering a Japanese-style house as a guest is also agaru 上がる because it is an act of “going up.” When you enter a Japanese home, you first step into the genkan 玄関, or vestibule. There you take off your shoes and take a step up to the floor level of the house. The act of stepping into the vestibule is hairu 入る “to go in,” but the act of stepping up to the floor level of the house is agaru 上がる “to take a step up.” That is why the Japanese host says to a visitor:
EXAMPLE:
(2) Dōzo oagari kudasai.
どうぞ お上がりください。
Please come in (lit., step up).
Sentence (3) below therefore sounds extremely strange.
EXAMPLE:
(3) *Nihonjin wa ie ni hairu mae ni kutsu o nugimasu.
*日本人は家に入る前に靴を脱ぎます。
The Japanese take off their shoes before going into the house.
Agaru 上がる has to be used in this context. Otherwise sentence (3) would describe someone taking off his shoes outside the front door!
Aisuru 愛する to love
The noun ai 愛 “love” and its verbal counterpart, aiuru 愛する “to love,” are both written expressions. Although some young lovers nowadays may use such words of endearment as Aishite-iru yo 愛しているよ (men’s speech) and Aishite-iru wa 愛しているわ (women’s speech) to mean “I love you,” such sentences still sound stilted because the verb 愛する aisuru is rarely used in speech. Kimi ga suki da 君が好きだ (men’s speech) and Anata ga suki yo あなたが好きよ (women’s speech) also mean “I love you.” The versions containing suki 好き (see SUKI) are more conversational and are perhaps more frequently used in speech than the versions with aisuru. As Donald Keene (p. 156) wisely points out, however, the most typically Japanese expression of love has been silence (although, in the rapidly changing society of contemporary Japan, this tradition too may be on its way out).
Aite 相手 partner, opponent
Aite 相手 means someone with whom one does something. Depending on the activity, therefore, aite could be either one’s partner or competitor.
EXAMPLES:
(1) kekkon no aite
結婚の相手
marriage partner
(2) ashita no shiai no aite
あしたの試合の相手
the opponent of tomorrow’s game/match
Akachan 赤ちゃん baby
Akachan 赤ちゃん is normally a word for someone else’s baby.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Otaku no akachan wa hontō ni ogenki sō desu nē.
お宅の赤ちゃんは本当にお元気そうですねえ。
Your baby really looks healthy, doesn’t he/she!
Although some Japanese, especially women, use the word to refer to their own babies, the practice, in my opinion, is in poor taste. The word to be used in that case is akanbō 赤ん坊.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Kyō wa uchi no akanbō no tanjōbi na n desu.
きょうはうちの赤ん坊の誕生日なんです。
Today is my baby’s birthday.
Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu 明けましておめでとうございます Happy New Year!
When a New Year draws near, English speakers still new in Japan often ask their Japanese friends how to say “Happy New Year!” in Japanese. The answer is almost always Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu 明けましておめでとうございます (or its equivalent Shin-nen omedetō gozaimasu 新年おめでとうございます). Having received this answer, these English speakers practice hard to memorize this long salutation and, after finally learning it, they try it on their Japanese associates—most likely toward the end of December. Unfortunately, this Japanese greeting may not be used until New Year’s Day since it literally means “[The New Year] having begun, this is indeed a happy occasion.” This contrasts with the English salutation “Happy New Year!,” which is an abbreviation of “I wish you a happy New Year” and may therefore be used before the arrival of the New Year. The expression to be used before the old year expires is Yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai よいお年 をお迎えください “May you see in a good year!” However, this is a rather formal salutation and is rarely used among close friends. There is regrettably no informal equivalent, except for the shorter form Yoi otoshi o 良いお年を, which is sometimes used.
In America, New Year’s wishes are exchanged with vigor at the stroke of midnight among those present at New Year’s Eve parties. After that, however, “Happy New Year!” is, as it were, put away in mothballs fairly quickly in my experience. In Japan, Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu is heard at least through the first week of January and sometimes as late as the middle of the month.
Amai 甘い sweet
Amai 甘い primarily means “sweet in taste.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) amai kēki (chokorēto, kyandē, etc.)
甘いケーキ (チョコレート, キャンデー)
sweet cake (chocolate, candy, etc.)
Used figuratively, amai 甘い can mean “indulgent, lenient” or “overly optimistic.”
EXAMPLES:
(2) amai oya
甘い親
indulgent parents
(3) amai ten
甘い点
lenient grades (or marks)
(4) amai kangae
甘い考え
an overly optimistic view
Unlike English “sweet,” amai 甘い cannot mean “amiable” or “kind.” In English, calling someone a sweet person would be complimentary. In Japanese, on the other hand, amai hito 甘い人, if it means anything at all, can only be interpreted as either “an indulgent person” or “an overly optimistic person.”
Amari あまり too, excessively
Amari あまり means “too” in the sense of “excessively.” The word mainly appears in negative sentences.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Kyō wa amari samuku nai.
きょうはあまり寒くない。
It is not too cold today.
(2) Koko wa amari shizuka ja nai.
ここはあまり静かじゃない。
It is not too quiet here.
(3) Watashi wa amari nomimasen.
私はあまり飲みません
I don’t drink too much.
Amari あまり may be used in the affirmative if it appears in a dependent clause.
EXAMPLES:
(4) Amari nomu to byōki ni narimasu yo.
あまり飲むと病気になりますよ。
If you drink too much, you’ll get sick.
(5) Kami[noke] ga amari nagai kara, katte-moratta hō ga ii yo.
髪（の毛）があまり長いから、刈ってもらった方がいいよ。
Your hair is too long; you should get a haircut.
(6) Koko wa amari shizuka de sabishii-gurai desu.
ここはあまり静かでさびしいぐらいですよ。
It’s so quiet here that it almost makes one feel lonely.
The following sentences, which are independent affirmative sentences, are ungrammatical.
EXAMPLES:
(7) *Anata wa amari nomimasu.
*あなたはあまり飲みます。
You drink too much.
(8) *Kaminoke ga amari nagai.
*髪の毛があまり長い。
Your hair is too long.
(9) *Koko wa amari shizuka desu.
*ここはあまり静かです。
It’s too quiet here.
To express the ideas of the English translations of sentences (7) through (9) above, use -sugiru すぎる.
EXAMPLES:
(10) Anata wa nomi-sugimasu.
あなたは飲みすぎます。
You drink too much.
(11) Kaminoke ga naga-sugiru.
髪の毛が長すぎる。
Your hair is too long.
(12) Koko wa shizuka-sugimasu.
ここは静かすぎる。
It’s too quiet here.
Amari あまり may be used in combination with -sugiru すぎる words also, without changing the meaning.
EXAMPLES:
(13) Anata wa amari nomi-sugimasu.
あなたはあまり飲みすぎます。
You drink too much. (same as 10 above)
(14) Kaminoke ga amari naga-sugiru.
髪の毛があまり長すぎる。
Your hair is too long. (same as 11)
(15) Koko wa amari shizuka-sugimasu.
ここはあまり静かすぎます。
It’s too quiet here. (same as 12)
Anmari あんまり is a more colloquial version of amari あまり. There is no difference in meaning between the two.
Anata あなた you
Anata あなた “you (singular)” has a very limited use. In fact, long conversations between two people may be carried on without anata being used even once. In contexts where it is clear that the speaker is talking about the hearer, no verbal reference to the latter is usually made.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Ogenki desu ka.
お元気ですか。
Are you well?
Even when reference to the hearer is verbalized, anata あなた is usually avoided. The speaker is much more likely to use the hearer’s name with -san attached.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Tanaka-san wa mō ano eiga o mimashita ka. (speaking to Tanaka)
田中さんはもうあの映画を見ましたか。
Have you (lit., Mr./Mrs./Miss Tanaka) seen that movie yet?
If the speaker is lower in status than the hearer, he uses the latter’s title as a term of address.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Sensei wa kōhī to kōcha to dochira ga osuki desu ka. (speaking to one’s teacher)
先生はコーヒーとどちらがお好きですか。
Which do you (lit., teacher) like better, coffee or tea?
(4) Kachō wa ashita gorufu o nasaimasu ka. (speaking to one’s section chief)
課長はあしたゴルフをなさいますか。
Are you (lit., section chief) playing golf tomorrow?
Anata あんた is perhaps used more often by women than by men. Women say anata あ なた, for example, to their husbands or close friends.
EXAMPLE:
(5) Anata dō suru.
あなたどうする。
What are you going to do?
Anata あなた has a more informal and less polite variant, anta あんた. It is wise to avoid using this altogether since it is difficult, especially for nonnative speakers, to determine when it can be safely used. (See also KIMI. For a detailed discussion of Japanese terms of address, see Suzuki, ch. 5 “Words for Self and Others.”)
Ane 姉 older sister
Ane 姉 is a generic term for older sisters. It is used by adults, especially in writing, to refer to older sisters in general.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon de wa ane wa imōto yori meue da.
日本では姉は妹より目上だ。
In Japan, older sisters are of higher status than younger sisters.
This use of ane 姉, however, is generally restricted to written Japanese. In conversational Japanese, onē-san お姉さん is the norm.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Nihon de wa onē-san wa imōto yori meue da.
日本ではお姉さんは妹より目上だ。
(same meaning as 1 above)
When talking to an outsider, an adult refers to his own older sister as ane 姉.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Kinō ane ga kekkon-shimashita.
きのう姉が結婚しました。
My older sister got married yesterday.
An adult talking to an outsider about the latter’s older sister or someone else’s uses onē-san お姉さん.
EXAMPLES:
(4) Kinō onē-san ga kekkon-nasatta sō desu nē.
きのうお姉さんが結婚なさったそうですねえ。
I hear your older sister got married yesterday.
(5) Yoshida-san no onē-san wa eigo no sensei desu.
吉田さんのお姉さんは英語の先生です。
Mr. Yoshida’s older sister is an English teacher.
An adult also uses onē-san お姉さん in addressing his own older sister or in talking to his family about his older sister.
EXAMPLES:
(6) Onē-san, chotto matte.
お姉さん、ちょっと。
lit., Big sister, wait a minute.
(7) Onē-san doko. (speaking to one’s family) お姉さんどこ。
lit., Where’s big sister?
(In corresponding situations in English, one would of course use the sister’s given name.)
The use of ane 姉 is restricted to adult speakers. Children say onē-san お姉さん in referring not only to older sisters in general or someone else’s older sister, but to their own as well, whether they are talking to an outsider or a member of their own family.
Onē-san お姉さん has variants such as nē-san 姉さん, onē-chan お姉ちゃん, and nē-chan 姉ちゃん (the last two being used mainly by children). Ane 姉 also has a variant (though perhaps not a very common one), aneki 姉貴, which is used by young men in informal conversations, primarily with outsiders.
Since ane 姉 sounds very similar to ani 兄 “older brother,” the two words must be pronounced carefully and distinctly to avoid confusion. Ane is accentless while ani is accented on the first syllable (see ANI. For a detailed discussion of family terms, see Suzuki, ch. 5 “Words for Self and Others”).
Ani 兄 older brother
Ani 兄 “older brother” is the male counterpart of ane 姉 “older sister.” What can be said of ane (see ANE) on the female side, therefore, can be said of ani on the male side. One should remember the following parallels: ani corresponds to ane in usage; onii-san お兄さん corresponds to onē-san お姉さん; nii-san 兄さん, onii-chan お兄ちゃん, and nii-chan 兄ちゃん correspond to nē-san 姉さん, onē-chan お姉ちゃん, and nē-chan 姉ちゃん, respectively; and aniki 兄貴 corresponds to aneki 姉貴 (though aniki 兄貴 is much more commonly used than the latter).
Aoi 青い blue
The adjective aoi 青い and its nominal counterpart, ao 青, cover a wider range of color than does “blue,” since the Japanese word may also refer to the range of color that one would call “green” in English. Though aoi normally means “blue,” it can indicate “green” in reference to a limited number of items (though midori 緑 “green” is also acceptable), especially vegetation, as in aoi shiba 青い芝 “green grass,” aoi kusaki 青い草木 “green vegetation,” and ao-shingō 青信号 “green traffic light.” Centuries ago, according to Ikegami (p. 16), the use of ao for green was even more extensive than now; nowadays, however, in the sense of “green,” midori is becoming more popular.
Aoi 青い also means “pale” in reference to a person’s complexion.
EXAMPLE:
Suzuki-san dō shita n deshō ka. Aoi kao o shite-imasu yo.
鈴木さんどうしたんでしょうか。 青い顔をしていますよ。
I wonder what’s happened to Mr. Suzuki. He looks pale.
In this case, no other color word may replace aoi 青い.
Are あれ that
In Japanese, there are two words corresponding to the English demonstrative “that” as in “That is a park.” They are are あれ and sore それ. The difference between these two Japanese demonstratives when used with reference to visible things is that are is for something removed from both the speaker and the addressee while sore refers to something removed from the speaker but close to the addressee. Suppose you are talking to Mr. Suzuki and want to refer to a book that he is holding in his hand. Then use sore, as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Sore wa nan no hon desu ka.
それはなんの本ですか。
What book is that?
On the other hand, if you and Mr. Suzuki want to talk about a building seen in the distance, you use are and say, for example,
EXAMPLE:
(2) Are wa nan no tatemono deshō ne.
あれはなんの建物でしょうねえ。
I wonder what building that is.
When are あれ and sore それ are used as prenoun modifiers, they become ano あの and sono その, as in ano pen あのペン “that pen” and sono hon その本 “that book,” but the semantic difference between ano and sono remains parallel to that between are and sore.
Since, in Japanese, words normally do not differ in form whether they are singular or plural, are and sore can mean “those” instead of “that.” The same is true of ano and sono.
With reference to something that is not visible to either the speaker or the hearer at the time of speech, are and sore are used as follows. Are is used “when the speaker knows that the hearer, as well as the speaker himself, knows the referent” whereas sore is used “either when the speaker knows the referent but thinks that the hearer does not or when the speaker does not know the referent” (Kuno, p. 283). Compare the following examples:
EXAMPLES:
(3) A: Kinō Sutā Wōzu to iu eiga o mimashita yo.
きのうスターウォーズという映画を見ました。
Yesterday I saw a movie called Star Wars.
B: Are (not *Sore それ) wa omoshiroi eiga desu nē.
あれは面白い映画ですねえ。
That’s a fun movie, isn’t it?
(4) A: Kinō Roshia-eiga o mimashita yo.
きのうロシア映画を見ましたよ。
Yesterday I saw a Russian movie.
B: Sore (not *Are あれ) wa donna eiga deshita ka.
それはどんな映画でしたか。
What kind of movie was that?
In (3), speaker B has already seen the movie, so he refers to it as are あれ. In (4), on the other hand, speaker B does not know what movie speaker A is talking about, so he uses sore それ instead.
Arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます Thank you
The Japanese equivalent of “Thank you” has variants depending on the tense. If you want to thank someone for something that he is doing, is going to do, or repeatedly does for you, you say Arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます. To thank someone for what he has already done for you, however, you say Arigatō gozaimashita ありがとうございました. For example, if someone has just invited you to a party that is to take place next week, you say Arigatō gozaimasu. After the party, however, you say Arigatō gozaimashita, meaning “Thank you for what you did for me.” Likewise, as you accept a present from someone, you say Arigatō gozaimasu, but next time you see him, you thank him again by saying Arigatō gozaimashita. The difference in usage between these two forms remains even when dōmo どうも “very much” is added for emphasis. Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu どう もありがとうございます functions like Arigatō gozaimasu, and Dōmo arigatō gozaimashita like Arigatō gozaimashita, except that the versions with dōmo are more polite than the ones without.
The informal version Arigatō ありがとう (without gozaimasu ございます or gozaimashita ございました) may be used regardless of the time of the event for which you wish to show gratitude. This version, however, cannot be used when speaking to someone higher in status. Since it is difficult for nonnative speakers of Japanese to determine who is higher or lower than they are, the safest thing would be to use Arigatō only when talking to a child. Otherwise, use the full form Arigatō gozaimasu (or gozaimashita) ありがとうございます (ございました), or simply Dōmo どうも.
Unlike “Thank you,” Arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます and its variants may not be used in response to compliments. If someone compliments you for your “excellent Japanese,” for example, say Mada dame desu まだダメです “It’s still no good.” Thanking someone for a compliment, to the Japanese way of thinking, is like admitting you deserve the compliment; it is therefore an act of conceit.
Aru ある、在る to be; 有る to have
Aru ある means “to be” in the sense of “to exist.” As a rule, the verb is used with inanimate subjects (including plants).
EXAMPLES:
(1) Ishii-san no ie wa Nagoya ni aru.
石井さんの家は名古屋にある。
Mr. Ishii’s house is in Nagoya.
(2) Go-gatsu no dai-isshū ni wa kyūjitsu ga mik-ka aru.
五月の第一週には休日が三日ある。
There are three national holidays during the first week of May.
Aru ある may also be used with reference to animate beings, particularly family members, or other humans comparable to family members, e.g., friends and guests. X ga aru X があ る in this usage is very much like X o motte-iru X を持っている “to have X” in meaning, as in the following examples:
EXAMPLES:
(3) Watashi wa kyōdai ga go-nin aru.
私は兄弟が五人ある。
I have five siblings.
(4) Yamamoto-san wa kodomo ga san-nin aru sō da.
山本さんは子供が三人あるそうです。
I hear Mr. Yamamoto has three children.
(5) Ii tomodachi ga aru kara ii desu ne.
いい友達があるからいいですね。
Isn’t it good that you have nice friends!
Although to signify the existence of animate beings, iru いる (see IRU) is the verb that is usually used (e.g., Asoko ni inu ga iru あそこに犬がいる “There’s a dog over there”), aru ある is sometimes used, especially (a) if the subject is not a specific person or a specific animal, (b) if where the subject exists is irrelevant, and (c) if the noun signaling the subject is preceded by a relative clause, as in
EXAMPLE:
(6) Yoku benkyō-suru gakusei mo aru shi, asonde bakari iru gakusei mo aru.
よく勉強する学生もあるし、遊んでばかりいる学生もある。
There are students who study hard and there are students who fool around all the time.
There is another important use of aru ある: to refer to happenings or events.
EXAMPLE:
(7) Konban hanabi ga aru sō da.
こんばん花火があるそうだ。
I hear there will be fireworks tonight.
In this case, aru ある does not indicate existence but rather refers to an event. When a location is mentioned, therefore, the particle de で (not ni に) is required.
EXAMPLE:
(8) Konban Ryōgoku de hanabi ga aru sō da.
こんばん両国で花火があるそうだ。
I hear there will be fireworks at Ryogoku tonight.
Compare this with sentence (1), where ni に is used to indicate location.
Aruku 歩く to walk
Aruku 歩く means “to walk.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Ano hito wa aruku no ga hayai desu nē.
あの人は歩くのが速いですねえ。
He walks fast, doesn’t he!
When the destination is mentioned, the particle preceding aruku 歩く should be made まで “up to.” When e へ or ni に, both meaning “to,” is used, the verb is changed to aruite iku 歩いて行く (lit., “to go walking”) or aruite kuru 歩いて来る (lit., “to come walking”).
EXAMPLES:
(2) Itsumo gakkō made arukimasu.
いつも学校まで歩きます。
I always walk to school.
(3) Itsumo gakkō e (or ni) aruite-ikimasu.
いつも学校へ（に）歩いていきます。
I always go to school on foot.
When the place along or through which the act of walking takes place is mentioned, aruku 歩く is preceded by the particle o.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Asoko o aruite-iru no wa dare deshō.
あそこを歩いているのは誰でしょう。
I wonder who that person is who is walking over there (lit., along that place).
Other verbs of motion such as iku 行く “to go” and kuru 来る “to come” are also used with o in comparable situations.
When walking takes place up or down a steep incline (e.g., stairs), aruku 歩く has to be either replaced by another verb (such as noboru 登る “to climb up”) or changed to the -te て form and followed by another verb (e.g., aruite noboru 歩いて登る). In the following example (5), therefore, (a) is incorrect while (b) and (c) are correct.
EXAMPLES:
| (5) kaidan o 階段を | (a) *aruku *歩く | |
| (b) noboru 登る | to climb (or walk up) the stairs | |
| (c) aruite noboru 歩いて登る |
Unlike “walk,” aruku 歩く is normally not used in the sense of “to take a stroll.” Sentence (6) is therefore wrong for the meaning intended.
EXAMPLE:
(6) *Kyō wa tenki ga ii kara issho ni arukimashō.
*きょうは天気がいいから一緒に歩きましょう。
Since it’s such a beautiful day today, let’s take a walk together.
Arukimashō 歩きましょう in this case should be replaced by sanposhimashō 散歩ましょ う “let’s take a stroll” (see SANPO).
Asa 朝 morning
Asa 朝 begins at daybreak and ends at midmorning. This is in contrast with English “morning,” which begins earlier and lasts longer. Eleven A.M. is still morning in English, but in Japanese asa does not normally refer to such late hours. Eleven in the morning is gozen jūichi-ji 午前 11 時 “11 A.M.” rather than *asa no jūichi-ji *朝の 11 時 (lit., “11 in the morning”).
Asa-gohan 朝ご飯 breakfast
In English, breakfast is always breakfast, and there is no other word that can take its place. In Japanese, however, there are at least four words meaning the same thing: asa-gohan 朝 ご飯, asahan 朝飯, asameshi (also written 朝飯), and chōshoku 朝食. Asa-gohan probably is the most common term, asahan is slightly less common, asameshi is used only by men in informal situations, and chōshoku is the most formal of all. All these words come as part of sets representing the three main meals of the day, as follows:
These sets require different verbs meaning “to eat.” To mean “eat breakfast,” for example, one can say asa-gohan/asahan o taberu 朝ご飯/朝飯を食べる, asameshi o kū 朝 飯を食う, or chōshoku o toru 朝食を取る, switching from one verb to another, depending on which noun for “breakfast” is used.
Ashi 足 foot, leg
In English, “foot” and “leg” are two different words, but in Japanese, ashi 足 might mean either of them or both. Ashi ga itai 足が痛い may therefore mean “My leg hurts,” “My legs hurt,” “My foot hurts,” “My feet hurt,” or some combination thereof. It really doesn’t matter since the person who feels the pain is likely to point to the painful spot anyway to indicate where he is hurting. Moreover, if it becomes necessary to be more specific (e.g., when one has to explain one’s ailment to a doctor over the phone), there are words for parts of legs and feet, e.g., momo 腿 “thigh,” hiza 膝 “knee,” sune 脛 “shin,” fukurahagi ふくらはぎ “calf,” ashikubi 足首 “ankle,” kakato 踵 “heel,” and so on.
Ashita あした tomorrow
The word for “tomorrow” is most often ashita あした(明日）, as in Ashita wa ame ga furu ka mo shirenai あしたは雨が降るかもしれない “It may rain tomorrow.” In fact, that is the only word children use to mean “tomorrow.” Adults, however, also use two synonyms for ashita, asu あす(明日） and myōnichi みょうにち(明日）, though not as frequently as ashita. Asu is more formal than ashita, and myōnichi is even more so. Ashita may appear in either informal or formal speech, while asu is more likely to appear in formal speech, and myōnichi is used only in very formal speech, as in Mata myōnichi ojama-sasete-itadakimasu またみょうにちお邪魔させていただきます。 “I shall pay you a visit again tomorrow.”
Just as ashita あした has its formal counterparts, other temporal expressions have their formal counterparts. For example:
Asobu 遊ぶ to play
The verb asobu 遊ぶ means “to play.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kodomo-tachi wa niwa de asonde-imasu.
子供たちは庭で遊んでいます。
The children are playing in the yard.
Asobu 遊ぶ, however, cannot be used in reference to sports, whether sports in general or specific sports such as yakyū 野球 “baseball” or tenisu テニス “tennis.” Sports require suru する “to do” instead. In (2) below, therefore, shimashita しました must be used.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Kinō wa ichi-nichi-jū yakyū o shimashita (not *asobimashita 遊びました).
きのうは一日中野球をしました。
Yesterday I played baseball all day.
Playing games also requires suru する.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Toranpu o shimashō (not *asobimashō 遊びましょう).
トランプをしましょう。
Let’s play cards.
(4) Yūbe wa ichi-ji made mā-jan o shimashita (not *asobimashita 遊びました).
ゆうべは 1 時まで麻雀をしました。
Last night we played mahjong until 1 o’clock.
Playing musical instruments requires different verbs, depending on the kind.
EXAMPLES:
(5) Piano o hiite-kudasai (from hiku 弾く).
ピアノを弾いてください。
Please play the piano for me.
(6) Toranpetto o fuite-iru (from fuku 吹く) no wa dare desu ka.
トランペットを吹いているのは誰ですか。
Who is the person playing the trumpet?
Asobu sometimes means “to be idle, to be out of work, to be not in use.”
EXAMPLES:
(7) Ano hito wa daigaku o sotsugyō-shite kara, shūshoku-shinai de ichi-nen asondeshimatta sō da.
あの人は大学を卒業してから、就職しないで一年遊んでしまったそうだ。
I hear he has idled away one whole year without getting a job since graduating from college.
(8) Katta tochi o asobasete-oku no wa oshii desu yo.
買った土地を遊ばせておくのは惜しいですよ。
You shouldn’t leave the piece of land you bought unused.
A very common idiom involving asobu 遊ぶ is asobi ni iku (or kuru) 遊びに行く (or 来 る）, meaning “to pay a social call.”
EXAMPLE:
(9) Dōzo ichi-do oasobi ni oide-kudasai.
どうぞ一度お遊びにおいでください。
Please come and see us (not *come and play) sometime.
Atama 頭 head
One puzzling expression for English speakers might be atama o karu 頭を刈る, which literally means “to clip one’s head,” but actually is another version of kami[noke] o karu 髪［の毛］を刈る “to give someone a haircut, to get a haircut.” We often use atama o arau 頭を洗う (lit., “to wash one’s head”), too, to mean 髪 kami[noke] o arau ［の毛］を洗う “to wash one’s hair.”
Two very common expressions containing atama 頭 are atama ga ii 頭がいい (lit., “the head is good”) meaning “smart, bright, intelligent” and atama ga warui 頭が悪い (lit., “the head is bad”) meaning “stupid, dumb, dense.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Ano ko wa atama ga ii kara, nan de mo sugu oboeru.
あの子は頭がいいから、なんでもすぐ覚える。
That child is so bright he learns everything quickly.
A student of mine once wrote *Ii atama ga arimasu *いい頭があります to mean “someone has a good head.” In normal Japanese, however, one would say daredare (“so and so”) wa atama ga ii desu 誰々は頭がいいです instead. In fact, this pattern “A wa B ga + adj.” is commonly used to describe a person or a thing, the most famous sentence being Zō wa hana ga nagai 象は鼻が長い “An elephant has a long trunk (lit., As for an elephant, the trunk is long).” Other examples would be:
EXAMPLES:
(2) Ano ko wa me ga ōkii.
あの子は目が大きい。
That child has big eyes.
(3) Tōkyō wa hito ga ōi.
東京は人が多い。
Tokyo is heavily populated.
Atama 頭 and “head” do not necessarily refer to the same part of the human body. While “head” refers to that part of the body joined to the trunk by the neck, atama refers to the portion of the head roughly from the eyebrows up, plus the whole of the back of the head.
Atatakai 暖かい (pleasantly) warm
Atatakai 暖かい (or, more colloquially, attakai あったかい) is almost always translated in English as “warm,” but, unlike “warm,” atatakai always carries a connotation of pleasantness. When we have a nice warm day in the midst of winter, or when winter gradually gives way to pleasant spring weather, we use atatakai. We do not use atatakai, but atsui 暑 い “hot” instead, if, in the midst of summer, the mercury reaches, for example, the mid-80s Fahrenheit, although in English one often says “It’s very warm today,” on such a day.
Atatakai 暖かい may be used with reference not only to weather but to liquids and solids as well. Study the following examples:
EXAMPLES:
(1) atatakai tenki (haru, hi, etc.)
暖かい天気 (春、日, etc.)
warm weather (spring, day, etc.)
(2) atatakai nomimono (gyūnyū, misoshiru, etc.)
温かい飲み物 (牛乳、みそ汁, etc.)
warm beverage (milk, miso soup, etc.)
(3) atatakai tabemono (te, gohan, etc.)
温かい食べ物 (手、ご飯, etc.) warm food (hand, rice, etc.)
(See also ATSUI “hot” and NURUI “lukewarm.” )
Ato あと after
The following sentence represents an oft-committed error.
EXAMPLE:
(1) *Benkyō-suru ato de terebi o mimasu.
*勉強するあとでテレビを見ます。
After studying I watch TV.
If one wants to use a verb before ato あと, one must use the -ta form, whether the event reported is a past event or non-past event, as in (2) below:
EXAMPLE:
(2) Benkyō-shita ato de terebi o mimasu.
勉強したあとでテレビを見ます。
Also, the verb must directly precede ato あと. Since ato functions as a pseudo-noun, there is no need to use no の, as in (3).
EXAMPLE:
(3) *Benkyō-suru no ato de terebi o mimasu.
*勉強するのあとでテレビを見ます。
Atsui 厚い thick
Atsui 厚い meaning “thick” requires a kanji different from the ones for atsui 暑い meaning “hot” (see ATSUI “hot”). This atsui is used in reference to flat objects.
EXAMPLE:
(1) atsui kami (hon, ita, etc.)
厚い紙 (本、板, etc.)
thick paper (book, board, etc.)
We also say atsui ōbā 厚いオーバー (lit., “a thick overcoat”), focusing on the thickness of the material, whereas the English speaker would speak of “a heavy overcoat” with the weight of the overcoat in mind.
Although, in English, “thick” may be used in reference to cylindrical objects as well as flat objects, as in “thick thread,” “thick fingers,” etc., that is not the case with atsui 厚い. Futoi 太い is the correct adjective then.
EXAMPLE:
(2) futoi (not *atsui 厚い) ito (yubi, eda, etc.)
太い糸 (指、枝, etc.)
thick thread (fingers, branch, etc.)
Atsui 厚い “thick” has a different accent from atsui 熱い “hot.” Whereas the latter is accented on the second syllable, the former is accentless. Thus examples (3) and (4), when spoken, may be differentiated only by accent.
EXAMPLES:
(3) atsui hottokēki 厚いホットケーキ thick pancakes
(4) atsui hottokēki 熱いホットケーキ hot pancakes
Atsui 熱い、暑い hot
In Japanese there are two words for “hot,” both pronounced atsui. For the sake of convenience, I shall distinguish them here by calling one atsui1 and the other atsui2. They are represented by different kanji and are used with reference to different types of objects.
Atsui1, written 熱い, is used in reference to gases, fluids, and solids.
EXAMPLES:
(1) atsui1 kaze 熱い風 a hot wind
(2) atsui1 ofuro 熱いお風呂 a hot bath
(3) atsui1 tabemono 熱い食べ物 hot food
Atsui2, written 暑い, on the other hand, is used mainly in reference to weather, as in
EXAMPLES:
(4) Kyō wa atsui 2.
今日は暑い。
It’s hot today.
(5) Ichiban atsui2 tsuki wa shichi-gatsu ka hachi-gatsu da. 一番暑い月は七月か八月だ。 The hottest month is either July or August.
The difference between atsui1 熱い when it is used in reference to gases, as in example (1) above, and atsui2 暑い parallels the difference between tsumetai 冷たい and samui 寒 い, both of which mean “cold.” Atsui1 refers to a sensation of heat affecting a limited part or parts of the body, such as the face and the hands, whereas atsui2 is used for a sensation of heat affecting the whole body. According to Kunihiro (p. 22), atsui1 belongs to one series of temperature words: tsumetai “cold,” nurui ぬるい “lukewarm,” atatakai 暖かい “warm,” and atsui1, while atsui2 is part of the other series: samui “cold,” suzushii 涼しい “cool,” atatakai “warm,” and atsui2. (All these adjectives of temperature are explained in their respective entries.)
Au 会う to see, to meet [someone]; to come across
In English, one says “see someone” or “meet someone,” with “someone” as the direct object of “see” or “meet.” In Japanese, on the other hand, au 会う is an intransitive verb and takes the particle ni に rather than o を.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Tanaka-san wa mainichi gārufurendo ni atte-iru rashii.
田中さんは毎日ガールフレンドに会っているらしい。
Mr. Tanaka seems to be seeing his girlfriend every day.
(2) Yamashita-san ni hajimete atta no wa go-nen-gurai mae datta.
山田さんに初めて会ったのは五年ぐらい前だった。
It was about five years ago that I met Mr. Yamashita for the first time.
Au 会う can refer to seeing or meeting someone either by accident or on purpose. For example, in (3) below, au together with battari ばったり “unexpectedly” refers to an accidental encounter (in this case, au is synonymous with deau 出会う “to meet by chance”), whereas in (4) au obviously signals meeting someone for some purpose.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Kinō densha no naka de Yoshida-san ni battari atta.
きのう電車の中で吉田さんにばったり会った。
Yesterday I met Mr. Yoshida on the train by chance.
(4) Kyō no gogo Satō-san ni au yotei da.
きょうの午後佐藤さんに会う予定だ。
I plan to meet Mr. Sato this afternoon (e.g., to discuss some matter).
Seeing a doctor for medical reasons is not au 会う but mitemorau みてもらう “to have oneself seen.”
EXAMPLE:
(5) Kubi ga itai kara, ashita isha ni mite-morau (not *au 会う) tsumori desu.
首が痛いから、あした医者にみてもらうつもりです。
Because I have a neck ache, I’m going to see my doctor tomorrow.
Meeting someone who is arriving at an airport, a station, etc., is not au 会う but mukae ni iku 迎えに行く “to go to welcome” or mukae ni kuru 迎えに来る “to come to welcome.”
EXAMPLE:
(6) Ato de chichi ga Narita ni tsuku no o mukae ni iku koto ni natte-iru.
あとで父が成田に着くのを迎えに行くことになっている。
I am supposed to meet my father later when he arrives at Narita.
“Meet” sometimes means “to be introduced to.” Au 会う normally doesn’t mean that. One must say something more specific to express that idea, as in
EXAMPLE:
(7) Kobayashi-san o goshōkai-shimasu.
小林さんをご紹介します。
I’d like you to meet Mr. Kobayashi. (lit., I’m going to introduce Mr. Kobayashi.)
Au 会う corresponds to English “see [someone]” in the sense of “to meet up with and talk to” but usually not in the sense of “to catch sight of” or “to look at” (Jorden, 1, p. 171). For the latter, use miru 見る “to look at” (see MIRU) or mikakeru 見かける “to catch sight of” instead.
Au 会う is never used to refer to a class period, as in (8).
EXAMPLE:
(8) *Nihongo no kurasu wa shū ni go-kai aimasu.
*日本語のクラスは週に五回あいます。
The Japanese class meets five times a week.
To convey that meaning, one has to say the following:
EXAMPLE:
(9) Nihongo no kurasu wa shū ni go-kai arimasu/desu.
日本語のクラスは週に五回あります/です。
Sentence (10) below, which is often directed to me by my American students, sounds strange (apart from the non-use of keigo 敬語) and should be restated as sentence (11):
EXAMPLES:
(10) *Kyō sensei ni ai ni kenkyūshitsu e itte mo ii desu ka.
*今日先生に会いに研究室へ行ってもいいですか。
May I come to your office to see you today?
(11) Kyō wa sensei ni gosōdan-shitai koto ga aru node, kenkyūshitsu e ukagatte mo yoroshii deshō ka.
きょうは先生にご相談したい事があるので、研究室へ伺ってもよろしいでしょうか。
Lit., Today I have something I’d like to consult you about. May I come to your office?
In other words, when one goes to see one’s teacher to ask him a favor or a question, or when one goes to see one’s doctor, ai ni iku 会いに行く should be avoided.
Ban 晩 evening, night
Unlike yoru 夜 “night,” ban 晩 is an anthropocentric term, i.e., a word closely tied to man’s daily life. It roughly refers to the time span from dinner time until bedtime, and thus covers a slightly narrower range of time than does yoru (although there are some exceptions to this rule, most notably hito-ban-jū 一晩中 “all night long,” which is synonymous with yoru-jū 夜中). Nine P.M., for example, could be called either ban or yoru, but 2 A.M. is more likely called yoru than ban. When one talks solely about the natural phenomenon of night with no reference to human life, yoru is the only choice (Tokugawa and Miyajima, pp. 409–10), as in
EXAMPLE:
Tsuki wa yoru ga samui.
月は夜が寒い。
Night on the moon is frigid.
Ban-gohan 晩ご飯、晩御飯 evening meal
Although there are other variants meaning the same thing, ban-gohan 晩ご飯 is probably the most common word in speech for “evening meal.” In America, the evening meal is the biggest meal and is called dinner, but dinner is not always served in the evening; on Sundays, for instance, some families serve dinner at lunchtime. In Japan, too, the evening meal is the main meal, but if, on some special occasion, the biggest meal of the day happens to be served at lunchtime, it has to be called ohiru-gohan お昼ご飯 “lunch” (lit., “noon meal”) and not ban-gohan, since ban-gohan literally means “evening meal.” In other words, whereas dinner may be served at noon, in the afternoon, or in the evening, ban-gohan is always served in the evening, usually at 6 P.M. or thereabouts.
Other variants are ban-meshi 晩飯 (used by men only, informal speech), yūhan 夕飯 (used by both men and women; probably not as common as ban-gohan), and yūshoku 夕 食 (used in writing or in formal speech).
Benjo 便所 toilet
English has many expressions for “toilet,” such as “bathroom,” “washroom,” “rest room,” “men’s room,” “ladies’ room,” and “john.” Likewise, Japanese has a variety of expressions for “toilet,” of which benjo 便所 is one. The word should be avoided, however, in polite conversation. Use tearai 手洗い (lit., “hand-washing [place]”), or otearai お手洗い to be even more polite. Toire トイレ, derived from English “toilet,” is also quite acceptable.
Using the word benjo is all right if it occurs as part of compounds such as suisen-benjo 水洗便所 “flush toilet” and kōshū-benjo 公衆便所 “public toilet.”
Benkyō 勉強 study
Benkyō 勉強 most often means “study.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Uchi no musuko wa ima juken-benkyō-chuu desu.
うちの息子はいま受験勉強中です。
Our son is in the midst of studying for entrance examinations.
The noun benkyō 勉強, with the addition of the verb suru する “to do,” becomes the compound verb benkyō-suru 勉強する “to study” (see BENKYŌ-SURU).
EXAMPLE:
(2) Itsu Nihongo o benkyō-shita n desu ka.
いつ日本語を勉強したんですか。
When did you study Japanese?
Having a learning experience is also benkyō 勉強, especially in the expression benkyō ni naru 勉強になる.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Sensei no ohanashi o ukagatte, taihen ii benkyō ni narimashita.
先生のお話を伺って、たいへん良い勉強になりました。
I learned a lot listening to your (lit., teacher’s) talk.
After hearing a talk, Americans commonly say to the speakers, “I really enjoyed your talk.” Japanese, on the other hand, would normally focus on what they learned from the talk, as in (3) above.
Benkyō-suru 勉強する to study
With the compound verb benkyō-suru 勉強する, do not use the object marker o twice, as in sentence (1), to mean “I am studying Japanese.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) *Nihongo o benkyō o shite-imasu.
*日本語を勉強をしています。
Instead, use either (2a) or (2b).
EXAMPLES:
(2a) Nihongo o benkyō-shite-imasu.
日本語を勉強しています。
(2b) Nihongo no benkyō o shite-imasu.
日本語の勉強をしています。
This rule of not repeating o を is also applicable to other compound verbs such as renshū-suru 練習する “to practice,” ryokō-suru 旅行する “to travel,” and shūri-suru 修理 する “to repair” (see RYOKŌ-SURU).
Bikkuri-suru びっくりする to be surprised
Bikkuri-suru びっくりする, like odoroku おどろく, means “to be surprised,” the only difference being that bikkuri-suru is probably more subjective and colloquial than odoroku.
In English, a number of verbs relating to one’s emotions are used in the passive, as in “I was surprised/amazed/astonished/touched/moved/pleased/overjoyed.” The Japanese counterparts, however, all occur in the active, as in
EXAMPLES:
(1a) Bikkuri-shita/Odoroita.
びっくりした/驚いた。
I was surprised/amazed/astonished.
(1a) Kandō-shita.
感動した。
I was touched/moved.
Although these Japanese verbs may be used in the causative-passive, as in “Bikkurisaserareta/Odorokasareta/Kan-dō-saserareta びっくりさせられた/おどろかされた/感動させ られた, etc.,” they are wordier that way, sound more translation-like, and occur much less frequently.
Bi nbō 貧乏 poor, needy
Whereas English poor has several meanings, binbō 貧乏 has only one. It is the opposite of kanemochi 金持ち “wealthy” and is a na-adjective
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kuni no keizai ga akka-suru to, binbō na hito ga fueru.
国の経済が悪化すると、貧乏な人が増える。
When the national economy deteriorates, the number of poor (people) increases.
Unlike “poor,” binbō 貧乏 cannot be used figuratively to describe things such as talent, ability, and knowledge. For that, one must use another word, e.g., mazushii 貧しい “poor” or toboshii 乏しい “lacking.”
EXAMPLE:
(2) mazushii (or toboshii) sainō
貧しい（乏しい）才能
poor talent
Whereas “poor” is often used to express compassion, binbō 貧乏 must be replaced by another word such as kawaisō かわいそう.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Tanaka-san jidōshajiko de kega-shita n datte, kawaisō ni.
田中さん自動車事故で怪我したんだって、かわいそうに。
Mr. Tanaka got hurt in a car accident, poor man.
Unlike kanemochi 金持ち, which can mean both “wealthy” and “wealthy person,” binbō 貧乏 can mean only “poor” and not “poor person.” For the latter, one must say binbōnin 貧乏人.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Binbōnin (not *binbō 貧乏) wa kanemochi yori kokoro ga kiyoi ka mo shirenai.
貧乏人は金持ちより心が清いかもしれない。
The poor might be more pure-hearted than the rich.
Boku 僕 I, me
Boku 僕 meaning “I” is used only by males, and most often by boys and young men. Although young boys use boku on all occasions, adult men use it, or are supposed to use it, only on informal occasions. (On formal occasions, they normally switch to watashi 私 or watakushi 私.)
The strangest use of boku 僕 occurs when, in some families, family members of a little boy who calls himself boku start calling him boku as well. This occurs, however, only when the little boy is the only, or the youngest, son in the family. Boku in this case is used, as it were, like the boy’s given name. (In fact, the diminutive suffix -chan ちゃん, which is normally attached to a child’s name, as in Yoshiko-chan よし子ちゃん, is sometimes added to boku 僕, forming boku-chan 僕ちゃん.)
EXAMPLE:
Boku[-chan], hayaku irasshai.
僕［ちゃん］、早くいらっしゃい。
lit., Me, come here quickly.
This “fictive” use of boku 僕 is explained by Suzuki (p. 124) thus: “When she [i.e., a mother calling her son boku ] speaks in this way, she is thinking of the boy as he would be called viewed from the position of the youngest member of the family, in this case the boy himself. The boy would naturally call himself boku. Therefore, by identifying with him, adults in the family can call him boku as well.”
Bukka 物価 prices
Bukka 物価 means “general commodity prices.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Konogoro wa bukka ga takakute komarinasu nē.
このごろは物価が高くて困りますねえ。
Isn’t it terrible that prices are so high these days!
Bukka 物価 does not refer to the price of a specific object. For that, one has to use nedan 値段 “price” instead. In example (2), therefore, nedan must be used.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Gasorin no nedan (not *bukka 物価) ga mata agatta.
ガソリンの値段がまた上がった。
The price of gasoline has gone up again.
Byōki 病気 sick, sickness
Byōki 病気 can be translated into English as either “sick” or “sickness,” or “ill,” “illness,” or “disease,” depending on the context.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Tanaka-san wa byōki desu.
田中さんは病気です。
Mr. Tanaka is sick.
(2) Gan wa iya na byōki da.
がんはいやな病気だ。
Cancer is a nasty disease.
Unlike “sick,” however, byōki 病気 cannot refer to a temporary state of being nauseous. To express that state, other expressions must be used.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Kuruma ni yotte-shimatta.
車に酔ってしまった。
I became carsick.
(4) Chi o mite kimochi (or mune) ga waruku-natta.
血を見て気持ち（胸）が悪くなった。
I became sick at the sight of blood.
Unlike “sick,” byōki 病気 does not refer to boredom or disgust. To express the idea of “I’m sick of parties,” for example, one would have to say something like (5) or (6).
EXAMPLES:
(5) Pātī ga iya ni natta.
パーティーがいやになった。
Lit., Parties have started boring me.
(6) Pātī wa mō takusan da.
パーティーはもうたくさんだ。
Lit., I can’t take any more parties.
Whereas genki 元気 “healthy, well, vigorous,” the opposite of byōki 病気, is a na-noun, byōki is a genuine noun and therefore requires no の instead of na な when used in prenoun position. Note the difference between (7) and (8).
EXAMPLES:
(7) genki na (not *genki no 元気の) kodomo
元気な子供
a healthy (or vigorous, lively) child
(8) byōki no (not *byōki na 病気な) kodomo
病気の子供
a sick child
In English, it is perfectly all right to say “I am very sick,” using “very” as an intensifier. Since “very” is totemo とても, taihen たいへん, hi-jōni 非常に, etc., in Japanese, American students of Japanese have a tendency to say:
EXAMPLE:
(9) *Kinō wa totemo (taihen, hijōni) byōki deshita.
*きのうはとても（たいへん、非常に）病気でした。
I was very sick yesterday.
This is wrong, however, because, unlike English “sick,” byōki 病気 is not an adjective, but a noun. It therefore cannot be modified by an adverb such as totemo とても, taihen た いへん, and hi-jōni 非常に. Compare this with genki 元気, a na-adjective, which may be modified by adverbs.
EXAMPLE:
(10) Merī wa konogoro totemo (taihen, hijōni) genki da.
メリーはこのごろとても（たいへん、非常に）元気だ。
Mary has been very well recently.
To intensify byōki 病気, adjectives must be used instead.
EXAMPLE:
(11) Kinō wa hidoi byōki de ichinichijū nete ita.
きのうはひどい病気で一日中寝ていた。
Yesterday I was in bed all day because of a terrible illness.
In other words, byōki 病気 functions like nouns for specific illnesses such as kaze 風 邪 “a cold” and zutsū 頭痛 “a headache.”
EXAMPLE:
(12) Kinō wa hidoi kaze/zutsū de ichinichijū nete ita.
きのうはひどい風邪/頭痛で一日中寝ていた。
Yesterday I was in bed all day because of a terrible cold/headache.
Chichi 父 father
When an adult talks to an outsider (i.e., a non-family member) about his own father, chichi 父 is the correct term to be used.
EXAMPLE:
Chichi wa mō hachijū ni narimashita.
父はもう八十になりました。
My father has turned 80 already.
When an adult talks to a member of his family (e.g., his mother and siblings) about his father, he usually uses otōsan お父さん. (Inside-the-family terms for father vary from family to family, e.g., otō-sama お父様 and papa, but otō-san お父さん is probably the most common.)
When an adult male is engaged in an informal conversation with close associates or friends, he is likely to refer to his father as oyaji 親父 “my old man.” The use of oyaji is far more common in Japanese than that of “my old man” in English, but it is restricted to men only.
When an adult talks to an outsider about the latter’s or someone else’s father, otō-san お父さん is probably the most common term.
The above rules apply to adults only. Children, whether boys or girls, most often use the term otō-san in almost all situations.
When referring to both parents, one must put chichi 父 before haha 母 unlike in English, where “mother and father” or “Mom and Dad” is quite acceptable. In Japanese, however, whether one says otōsan to okāsan お父さんとお母さん or chichi to haha 父と母 to mean “Dad and Mom” or “father and mother,” the word order is set and should not be changed, just as one would never say in English “pepper and salt” instead of “salt and pepper.”
Chigau 違う to be different, to be incorrect
Chigau 違う has roughly two meanings: “to be different” and “to be incorrect.”
EXAMPLES:
(1) Nihonjin wa Chungoknjin to zuibun chigau.
日本人は中国人とずいぶん違う。
The Japanese are quite different from the Chinese.
(2) Kono kotae wa chigaimasu yo.
この答えは違いますよ。
This answer is incorrect, you know.
These two meanings may seem unrelated at first, but they are actually not as far apart as one may think. After all, an incorrect answer is an answer that is different from the correct one.
Iie, chigaimasu いいえ、違います is often used in lieu of Iie, sō ja arimasen いいえ、そ うじゃありません to mean “No, that’s not so.” Iie いいえ is frequently left out. The direct English translation of Iie, chigaimasu would be “No, it’s incorrect”; English speakers might therefore feel that this Japanese expression is probably a strong denial. It is, however, not as strong as the English translation might suggest and is at least as commonly used as Iie, sō ja arimasen.
As is the case with Sō ja arimasen そうじゃありません, Chigaimasu 違います is most often used to contradict a question ending with a noun + desu ka ですか.
EXAMPLE:
(3) A: Are wa Tanaka-san desu ka.
あれは田中さんですか。
Is that Mr. Tanaka?
B: Chigaimasu. Suzuki-san desu.
ちがいます。鈴木さんです。
No, that’s Mr. Suzuki.
The use of Chigaimasu 違います is not appropriate as a response to a question ending with an adjective + desu ka ですか, or a verb + ka か (see SŌ DESU).
In American English, “different” is used with “from,” as in “Japanese is quite different from Chinese.” In Japanese, however, the particle used is to と, not kara から.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Nihongo wa Chūgokugo to zuibun chigau.
日本語は中国語とずいぶん違う。
Japanese is quite different from Chinese.
In American English, one usually says “A is quite/a lot/very different from B.” However, the Japanese counterparts of “very,” such as totemo/taihen とても/たいへん, don’t go well with chigau 違う. Other adverbs, such as zuibun ずいぶん and kanari かなり, are preferred instead, as in
EXAMPLE:
(5) Ōsaka wa Tōkyō to zuibun/kanari chigau.
大阪は東京とずいぶん/かなり違う。
Osaka is a lot/quite different from Tokyo.
Chokin 貯金 savings
Chokin 貯金 can mean either “saving money” or “saved money.”
EXAMPLES:
(1a) Tarō wa otoshidama o zenbu chokin-shita.
太郎はお年玉を全部貯金した。
Taro put all his New Year’s cash gifts into his savings.
(1b) Tarō wa amari chokin o hikidasanai.
太郎はあまり貯金を引き出さない。
Taro does not withdraw money from his savings very often.
In Japan, savings one can keep at the post office are called chokin 貯金, whereas bank savings are referred to as yokin 預金. For some reason, therefore, nobody says *yūbinyokin 郵便預金 or *ginkō-chokin 銀行貯金. Actually, chokin is a much more common word, while yokin sounds more professional. If you put a coin in a piggy bank, therefore, call it chokin, not yokin!
Chōsen 朝鮮 Korea
Most Japanese unfortunately have been rather prejudiced against the Koreans for no apparent reason. Especially during the time when Korea was under Japanese rule (1910–45), the word Chōsenjin 朝鮮人 “Korean[s]” was almost always uttered with contempt. It was for this reason that the name Chōsen 朝鮮 was almost completely discarded when Japan lost World War II. Since then, the Japanese have adopted the names Hokusen 北鮮 for “North Korea” and Kankoku 韓国 for “South Korea.” What is really inconvenient, however, is the lack of an appropriate prejudice-free name for Korea as a whole. Linguists, for example, still have to refer to the Korean language as Chōsengo 朝鮮語, since the language is one and the same in North Korea and in South Korea. The word Kankokugo 韓国語 (lit., “South Korean language”), which some people use, is not really an accurate label for the language.
Chosha 著者 the author
Chosha 著者 means “person who has written a specific (usually nonfiction) book.”
EXAMPLE:
Kono hon no chosha wa Tanaka Ichirō to iu hito desu.
この本の著者は田中一郎という人です。
The author of this book is called Ichiro Tanaka.
English “author” is broader in meaning. It can mean “person who has written a specific book” (as in “He is the author of this book”) or “person who writes books” (as in “He is an author”). Chosha 著者 can never be used in the latter sense. (See also SAKKA and SHŌSETSUKA.)
Cho tto ちょっと a little
Chotto ちょっと is very much like sukoshi 少し.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Kyō wa chotto (or sukoshi) samui.
今日はちょっと（少し）寒い。
It’s a bit cold today.
(2) Onaka ga suite-inai kara, chotto (or sukoshi) shika taberarenakatta.
おなかが空いていないから、ちょっと（少し）しか食べられなかった。
Since I wasn’t hungry, I could eat only a little.
The only difference between chotto ちょっと and sukoshi 少し in the above examples is that chotto is perhaps slightly more conversational than sukoshi.
Chotto ちょっと, however, is used on many other occasions where sukoshi 少し would be inappropriate. This occurs especially when one wishes to soften a request, as in (3) below, or express reluctance in a polite way, as in (4).
EXAMPLE:
(3) Chotto misete-kudasai.
ちょっと見せて下さい。
Would you please show it to me?
Chotto ちょっと in this sentence does not mean “a little.” Rather it expresses the idea that the request being made is not a significant one. It is almost like saying “May I ask a small favor?” The use of chotto in requests is very common; in fact, in stores and restaurants some customers use Chotto! by itself when they wish to catch the attention of a salesclerk or waitress.
EXAMPLE:
(4) A: Ashita kite-itadakemasu ka.
あした来ていただけますか。
Could you come tomorrow?
B: Ashita wa chotto.
あしたはちょっと。
I’m afraid I can’t.
The answer in (4) literally means “Tomorrow is a little [inconvenient].” Japanese speakers don’t normally reject requests, suggestions, and invitations flatly with Iie いいえ “No” since that would make them sound too direct and discourteous; they prefer to use chotto ちょっと, which sounds less direct and more tactful.
-Chū 中 during
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kyō wa gozen-chū totemo isogashikatta.
今日は午前中とても忙しかった。
Today I was very busy in the morning.
If you use ni に after chū 中, the combination means “by the end of,” as in:
EXAMPLE:
(2) Konshū-chū ni kore o yatte kudasai.
今週中にこれをやって下さい。
Please do this by the end of this week.
There is another suffix, -jū 中, which is often written 中 also, but is used a little differently. (See -JŪ.)
Chūi 注意 attention, caution, advice
Chūi-suru 注意する often means “to pay attention” or “to be careful,” as in (1) and (2).
EXAMPLES:
(1) Yuki no hi wa korobanai yō ni chūi-shite kudasai.
雪の日は転ばないように注意して下さい。
On a snowy day, please be careful not to slip and fall.
(2) Natsu wa kenkō ni chūi-su beki da.
夏は健康に注意すべきだ。
In the summer one should pay attention to one’s health.
Sentence (3) below, however, is wrong, and has to be rephrased as in sentence (4).
EXAMPLES:
(3) *Nemui to sensei no kōgi ni chūi dekinai.
*眠いと先生の講義に注意できない。
When sleepy, one cannot pay attention to the professor’s lecture.
(4) Nemui to sensei no kōgi ni chūi ga shūchū dekinai.
眠いと先生の講義に注意が集中できない。
When sleepy, one cannot concentrate on the professor’s lecture.
Chūi-suru 注意する also means “to caution,” “to warn,” or “to advise,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(5) Shiken de amari warui ten o totta no de, sensei ni chūi-sareta.
試験であまり悪い点を取ったので、先生に注意された。
Since I received a bad grade on the exam, I was cautioned by the teacher.
Because of this, chūi-jinbutsu 注意人物 (lit., caution person) means “someone we must treat with suspicion,” i.e., a black-listed person.
Daigaku 大学 college, university
“College” and “university” are both daigaku 大学 in Japanese. Although one can use tanka-daigaku 単科大学 (lit., “single-subject daigaku”) for “college” and sōgō-daigaku 総合大学 (lit., “comprehensive daigaku”) for “university,” these terms are more or less for dictionaries only and are never attached to college or university names, nor are they much used in speech.
Most Japanese are unaware of the usage difference between “college” and “university” in the United States and simplistically believe that “university” is a more prestigious term than “college.” The official English translations of the names of Japanese colleges and universities are, consequently, always something like “The University of So-andso.” It is for this reason that the names of some Japanese institutions of higher learning sound very strange in English, e.g., “The X University of Science” or “The Y University of Economics.”
Daijōbu 大丈夫 all right
Daijōbu 大丈夫 is, to a certain extent, like “all right.” For example, if you see someone fall, you run up to him and ask Daijōbu desu ka 大丈夫ですか, meaning “Are you all right?” But there are some situations where daijōbu cannot be used to mean “all right.” For example, in English, if someone asks, “How are you?” you might answer, “All right,” meaning “Fine.” Daijōbu could not be used in a comparable situation in Japanese unless you happened to have been ill. In English, you can also say, “All right!” when something turns out the way you were hoping it would, e.g., your favorite baseball team scores a run in a crucial inning. In Japanese, Ii zo! いいぞ (lit., “Great!”) would be used in that case instead of daijōbu. Likewise, daijōbu may not be used in accepting a suggestion. In English, if someone suggests “Let’s go to a movie,” you can indicate your willingness by answering “All right,” but in Japanese you would have to say Ee, ikimashō ええ、行きまし ょう “Yes, let’s go.”
To summarize, daijōbu 大丈夫 is most appropriate when there is a good reason for concern. The function of daijōbu is to dispel that concern. In other words, it is an expression of reassurance. Study the following examples:
EXAMPLES:
(1) A: Abunai! あぶない。
Look out!
B: Daijōbu desu yo.
大丈夫ですよ。
I’m all right.
(2) A: Tanaka-san ni anna shigoto ga dekiru deshō ka.
田中さんにあんな仕事ができるでしょうか。
Do you think Mr. Tanaka can handle that kind of job?
B: Daijōbu desu yo.
大丈夫ですよ。
He’ll be all right.
In both examples above, Daijōbu desu yo 大丈夫ですよ can be paraphrased as “Although you may have a good reason to worry, you don’t really have to.”
Dake だけ only
Although dake だけ often corresponds to English “only,” as in sentences (1) and (2) below, it does not carry a negative overtone, as “only” does.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Tanaka-san dake kite, hoka no hito wa konakatta.
田中さんだけ来て、他の人は来なかった。
Only Mr. Tanaka came; nobody else did.
(2) Housewife (to maid): Kaimono ni iku nara, gyūnyū dake katte-kite-moraeba ii wa.
買い物に行くなら、牛乳だけ買って来てもらえばいいわ。
If you’re going shopping, the only thing I’d like you to buy is milk.
The positive overtone in dake だけ becomes clear when dake is contrasted with shika . . . nai しか. . . ない, which always carries a negative connotation.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Tanaka-san dake kita.
田中さんだけ来た。
Only Mr. Tanaka came. (i.e., Mr. Tanaka alone came.)
(4) Tanaka-san shika konakatta.
田中さんしか来なかった。
Only Mr. Tanaka came. (i.e., No one but Mr. Tanaka came.)
In (3), the speaker’s focus is on the fact that Mr. Tanaka came (though he was the only one who came). On the other hand, in (4), the speaker’s focus is on the fact that nobody else came. It is because of this difference between dake and shika . . . nai しか. . . ない that we can use only dake in (5), and only shika . . . nai in (6).
EXAMPLES:
| (5) Hoka no hito wa konakatta keredo, Tanaka-san 他の人は来なかったけれど、田中さん | (a) dake wa kita. だけは来た。 (b) *shika konakatta. しか来なかった。 |
Nobody else came, but Mr. Tanaka, though he was the only one, did come.
| (6) Okane ga ni-doru お金が２ドル | (a) *dake atta だけあった。 (b) shika nakatta しかなかった。 | kara, eiga e ikarenakatta. から、映画へ行かれなかった。 |
Since I had only (i.e., no more than) two dollars, I couldn’t go to the movies.
Dare 誰 who?
In English, “who” may refer to other things than just persons, e.g.:
EXAMPLES:
(1) In World War II, whom did Japan fight against?
(2) Who beat the Yankees yesterday?
In Japanese, dare 誰 may not be used in the above circumstances. One would use doko どこ (lit., “what place”) instead, as in
EXAMPLES:
(3) Dainijitaisen no toki, Nihon wa doko to tatakatta n desu ka.
第二次大戦の時、日本はどこと戦ったんですか。
lit., At the time of World War II, what places (i.e., what countries) did Japan fight against?
(4) Kinō wa doko ga Yankīzu ni katta n desu ka.
きのうはどこがヤンキーズ勝ったんですか。
lit., Yesterday, what place (i.e., what team) beat the Yankees?
Dekakeru 出かける to go out
Dekakeru 出かける is usually translated into English as “to go out” and is therefore often confused by American students of Japanese with deru 出る, which is also matched up with “to go out.” Dekakeru, however, is quite different from deru in that it is used only in reference to human beings. For example, in sentence (1), either dekakeru 出かける or deru may be used, but in sentence (2), only deru would be correct.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Chichi wa kyō dekakete-imasu (or dete-imasu).
父は今日出かけています（出ています）。
My father is out today.
(2) Konban wa ku-ji-goro tsuki ga deru (not *dekakeru 出かける) hazu da.
今晩は九時頃月が出るはずだ。
The moon is expected to be out about nine tonight.
Dekakeru 出かける also differs from deru 出る in that it specifically refers to leaving one’s abode, whereas deru may refer to going out of any place. “To go out of a room” would therefore be heya o deru 部屋を出る (not *dekakeru 出かける).
Furthermore, dekakeru is different from deru in that it implies some sort of outing covering a distance, be it a walk, a visit, or a trip. Deru, on the other hand, is noncommital as to distance or reason. In sentence (3), therefore, only (a) is correct.
EXAMPLE:
| (3) Tonari no denwa o kari ni 隣の電話を借りに | (a) uchi o deta. 家を出た。 (b) *dekaketa. *出かけた。 |
I left the house to ask the next-door neighbor to let me use the phone.
Dekakeru 出かける meaning “to go out” is accentless. This word should not be confused with de-kakeru “to be about to go out,” which is accented. This latter is a compound verb formed by the -te form of deru 出る followed by kakeru かける “to be about to do such-and-such,” and is used as follows:
EXAMPLE:
(4) Tsuki ga de-kakete (not *dekakete 出かけて) mata kumo ni kakureta.
月が出かけてまた雲に隠れた。
The moon was about to come out but hid again behind the clouds.
Dekiru できる、出来る to come about, to be able to
Roughly speaking, dekiru できる has two meanings: (a) “to come about, to be born, to be produced, to be built, to be completed,” as in sentences (1) and (2) below, and (b) “to be possible, to be able to, can do,” as in (3) and (4).
EXAMPLES:
(1) Sūpu ga dekita.
スープができた。
The soup is ready. (lit., The soup has come about.)
(2) Asoko ni atarashii depāto ga dekita.
あそこに新しいデパートができた。
A new department store has been built over there. (lit., A new department store has come about over there.)
(3) Watanabe-san wa eigo ga yoku dekiru.
渡辺さんは英語が良く出来る。
Mr. Watanabe is very good in English. (lit., Mr. Watanabe can do English well.)
(4) Ano hito wa gorufu ga dekiru.
あの人はゴルフが出来る。
He knows how to play golf. (lit., He can do golf.)
At first glance, these two meanings do not seem to have much in common; but, on second thought, they are related, for if you know how to do something, it does “come about” for you.
Since the original meaning of dekiru 出来る is “to come about” (Morita, p. 309), the subject marker ga が rather than the object marker o を is used with it even when it means “can do.”
EXAMPLE:
(5) Watanabe-san wa eigo ga (not *o を) dekiru.
渡辺さんは英語が出来る。
Mr. Watanabe is good in English.
Dekiru 出来る in the sense of “can do” is used much less often in Japanese than “can” is in English. The reason is that in Japanese many verbs have their own potential forms. For example, taberu 食べる “to eat” has the potential form, taberareru 食べられる “can eat,” and yomu 読む “to read” has yomeru 読める “can read.” Although it is also grammatically correct to say taberu koto ga dekiru 食べる事が出来る “one can eat” or yomu koto ga dekiru 読む事が出来る “one can read,” these forms are lengthier and are therefore not used as often. In fact, dekiru 出来る is basically used only as the potential form of suru する “to do.” It cannot even be used in place of the potential forms of other verbs. In English, it is perfectly correct to say, “Yes, I can” in response to “Can you read this?” for example. In Japanese, on the other hand, the answer in (6) below would be incorrect.
EXAMPLE:
(6) A: Kore ga yomemasu ka.
これが読めますか。
Can you read this?
B: Hai, *dekimasu.
*はい、出来ます。
Yes, I can.
Dekimasu 出来ます in this case must be replaced by yomemasu 読めます, the same potential verb meaning “can read” that appears in the question.
Demo でも but
Demo でも meaning “but” is used at the beginning of a sentence, as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Shiken wa muzukashikatta desu. Demo ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
試験は難しかったです。でもがんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
The exam was difficult, but I tried hard and got a good grade.
Do not, however, connect the two sentences above, as in (2) below. That would create an ungrammatical sentence.
EXAMPLE:
(2) *Shiken wa muzukashikatta demo, ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
*試験は難しかったでも、がんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
To make this grammatical, one would have to use either ga が or keredo けれど as in (3).
EXAMPLES:
(3a) Shiken wa muzukashikatta desu ga, ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
試験は難しかったですが、がんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
(3b) Shiken wa muzukashikatta (desu) keredo, ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
試験は難しかった（です）けれど、がんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
Please note that in (3a) desu です is obligatory, whereas in (3b) desu is optional.
Demo でも meaning “even, even though” may not follow a verb or an adjective, but may follow a noun, as in (4).
EXAMPLE:
(4) Muzukashii shiken demo, ganbareba pasu dekimasu yo.
難しい試験でも、がんばればパスできますよ。
Even though the exam might be difficult, you can pass if you try hard.
Denwa 電話 telephone
Denwa 電話 is a noun meaning “telephone.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kono hen ni denwa wa arimasen ka.
この辺に電話はありませんか。
Is there a telephone around here?
One difference between denwa and “telephone” is that denwa 電話 is often used to mean “telephone call” whereas “telephone” is not.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Kinō Tanaka-san kara denwa ga arimashita.
きのう田中さんから電話がありました。
There was a telephone call (lit., There was a telephone) from Mr. Tanaka yesterday.
In English, “telephone” is also used as a verb; in Japanese, on the other hand, suru する has to be added to change denwa 電話 into a verb, that is, denwa-suru 電話する “to telephone [someone].”
EXAMPLE:
(3) Yoshida-san ni denwa-shite kudasai.
吉田さんに電話してください。
Please call Mr. Yoshida.
Denwa o kakeru 電話をかける to phone, make a phone call
Denwa o kakeru 電話をかける “to make a phone call” and denwa o ireru 電話を入れる, a fairly new coinage meaning “to give [someone] a call,” may be used in place of denwasuru 電話する, as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Yoshida-san ni denwa o kakete (or irete) kudasai.
吉田さんに電話をかけて（入れて）ください。
Please give Mr. Yoshida a call.
When the person to whom the phone call is made is not mentioned or even implied, only denwa o kakeru 電話をかける is acceptable. In (2), therefore, only (a) would be correct.
EXAMPLES:
| (2) Uchi no ko wa うちの子は | (a) denwa o kakeru 電話をかける (b) *denwa o ireru *電話を入れる (c) *denwa-suru *電話する | no ga suki de komarimasu. のが好きで困ります。 |
Our child likes making phone calls too much.
Morita (1985) calls the following sentence not quite correct.
EXAMPLE:
(3) *Denwa o kake yō to shita ga, kakaranakatta.
*電話をかけようとしたが、かからなかった。
I tried to reach him by phone, but could not get through.
To convey the meaning above, Morita suggests using (4) below.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Denwa o kaketa ga, ohanashi-chū datta.
電話をかけたが、お話し中だった。
I tried to call him, but the line was busy.
In other words, denwa o kakeru 電話をかける may be used whether or not the call goes through, whereas in English “to phone” may not.
According to Morita, denwa o kake yō to suru 電話をかけようとする describes the stage before one picks up the receiver, puts in a coin, or inserts a telephone card. The following sentence would, therefore, be acceptable, unlike (3) above.
EXAMPLE:
(5) Denwa o kake yō to shita ga, denwachō ga miatara-nakatta.
電話をかけようとしたが、電話帳が見当たらなかった。
I tried to make a phone call but could not find a phone book.
Deru 出る to go out, to leave, to graduate, to attend
Deru 出る most often means “to go out, to come out, to get out.”
EXAMPLES:
(1) Amari atsui kara, niwa ni demashō.
あまり暑いから、庭に出ましょう。
It’s so hot; let’s go out into the yard.
(2) Nihon o deta no wa nijū-nen mae datta.
日本を出たのは二十年前だった。
It was 20 years ago that I left Japan.
With reference to school, deru 出る is used as a synonym for sotsugyō-suru 卒業する “to graduate.”
EXAMPLE:
(3) Daigaku o dete (or sotsugyō-shite) kara nani o suru tsumori desu ka.
大学を出て（卒業して）から何をするつもりですか。
What do you plan to do after graduating from college?
Don’t equate deru 出る meaning “to graduate” with English “leave,” since “to leave school” might mean “to leave school without graduating.”
This latter meaning would be expressed in Japanese by another verb: chūtai-suru 中退 する “to drop out of school.”
EXAMPLE:
(4) Ano hito wa daigaku o chūtai-shite haiyū ni natta sō desu.
あの人は大学を中退して俳優になったそうです。
I hear he dropped out of college and became an actor.
One should beware of the difference between ni deru に出る and o deru を出る. The former means “to attend,” while the latter means “to go out of” or “to leave.” For example,
EXAMPLES:
(5) kurasu ni deru
クラスに出る
to attend class
(6) kurasu o deru
クラスを出る
to leave class
(See also DEKAKERU.)
Dō [Doo] itashimashite どう致しまして Not at all, You are welcome
Dō itashimashite どう致しまして, with or without a preceding Iie いいえ, serves as a response to someone’s expression of gratitude. In (1) below, therefore, all of speaker B’s answers are correct.
EXAMPLE:
(1) A: Dōmo arigatō gozaimashita.
どうもありがとうございます。
Thank you very much for what you did for me.
B: (a) Iie.
いいえ。
(b) Dō itashimashite.
どう致しまして。
(c) Iie, dō itashimashite.
いいえ、どう致しまして。
Not at all.
It is safer not to equate Dō itashimashite どう致しまして with English “You are welcome,” because Dō itashimashite may also be used as a response to apologies.
EXAMPLE:
(2) A: Dōmo gomeiwaku o okake-shimashita.
どうもご迷惑をおかけしました。
I’m very sorry for causing so much trouble.
B: Dō itashimashite.
どう致しまして。
Not at all.
In some cases, Dō itashimashite どう致しまして may also be used in response to compliments (Jorden, 1, p. 3), but that particular use is very limited. It is much safer, therefore, to say just Iie, which is always a correct response to compliments. (See also ARIGATŌ GOZAIMASU and IIE.)
Dōmo [Doomo] どうも Thanks, Sorry
Dōmo どうも is most often an abbreviation of Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu (or gozaimashita) どうもありがとうございます（ございました） “Thank you very much” or Dōmo shitsurei-shimashita どうも失礼しました “I am very sorry for what I have done.” Lately, Dōmo seems to have started developing a wider and wider range of meaning, however. Thus it is beginning to function as a salutation in a tremendous number of situations. Some people use it in lieu of other more established greetings such as Konnichi wa こんにちは “Good day!” and Sayonara さようなら “Good-by!” and, according to Maruya (p. 153), even Moshimoshi もしもし (a greeting on the phone, meaning “Hello!”). Its usage has become so broad that Maruya suggests (p. 154), though tongue in cheek, that it may someday even acquire the meaning of “I love you”!
Donna どんな what kind [of]
Whereas, in English, “what kind” can be used alone without “of” + noun, Japanese donna どんな has to be followed by a noun.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kore wa donna shōsetsu desu ka.
これはどんな小説ですか。
What kind of novel is this?
In questions like this, dōiu どういう can also be used to mean “what kind.”
EXAMPLE:
(2) Kore wa dōiu shōsetsu desu ka.
これはどういう小説ですか。
(same meaning as (1) above)
When donna どんな and dōiu どういう are used in te mo ても (or de mo でも) clauses meaning “no matter . . . , ” however, there is a difference between the two (Tokugawa and Miyajima, p. 294). Dōiu in such clauses can signal only “[no matter] what kind,” whereas donna can be used to mean either “[no matter] what kind” or “[no matter] to what degree.” Compare the following:
EXAMPLES:
(3) Donna (or Dōiu) koto ni natte mo kamaimasen.
どんな（どういう）事になってもかまいません。
I don’t care what happens. (lit., No matter what kind of result ensues, I don’t care.)
(4) Donna (not *Dōiu どういう) samui toki de mo jogingu o shimasu.
どんな寒い時でもジョギングをします。
I jog no matter how cold it is.
In (3), either donna どんな or dōiu どういう may be used because “what kind” is the issue; in (4), however, only donna is correct because dōiu どういう cannot mean “how” in the sense of “to what degree.”
Donna hito どんな人 What kind of person?
Although donna hito どんな人 and dōiu hito どういう人 are both translated into English as “what kind of person,” they are not really synonymous. For example, although (1a) and (1b) both mean “What kind of man did Ms. Tanaka marry?,” the answers will probably be different.
EXAMPLES:
(1a) Tanaka-san donna hito to kekkon-shita no.
田中さんどんな人と結婚したの。
(1b) Tanaka-san dōiu hito to kekkon-shita no.
田中さんどういう人と結婚したの。
Question (1a) is asking about the man’s looks, personality, etc.; the answer will be something like (2a) and (2b).
EXAMPLES:
(2a) Sugoku hansamu na hito yo.
すごくハンサムな人よ。
A really handsome man.
(2b) Hansamu ja nai kedo, yūmoa ga atte omoshiroi hito yo.
ハンサムじゃないけど、ユーモアがあっておもしろい人よ。
He’s not handsome, but he’s a fun guy with a sense of humor.
Question (1b) is asking about the man’s background; the answer will most likely be like (3a) or (3b).
EXAMPLES:
(3a) Tōdai dete, Gaimushō ni tsutomete-iru n desutte.
東大出て、外務省に勤めているんですって。
I hear he’s a University of Tokyo graduate and works for the Foreign Office.
(3b) Kanojo no kōkō-jidai kara no tomodachi na no yo.
彼女の高校時代からの友達なのよ。
He’s a friend of hers from her high school days.
Dōzo [Doozo] どうぞ please
Dōzo どうぞ by itself is most often used when one invites someone to do something, e.g., when a host or a hostess invites a guest to come in, or when one offers someone something such as food, a beverage, or a cigarette. (Offering something to someone is really like inviting that person to have and enjoy the item offered.)
Dōzo どうぞ by itself rarely functions as a request. It may, however, be attached to a request.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Dōzo onegai-shimasu.
どうぞお願いします。
Please do me this favor.
(2) Dōzo okamai naku.
どうぞおかまいなく。
Please don’t bother.
English-speaking students of Japanese often make the error of assuming that dōzo どうぞ makes requests more polite, as does “please” in English. Adding dōzo to a request, does not make it any more polite—it just intensifies it. For example, in (1) above, the politeness lies not in the word Dōzo, but in the verb onegai-shimasu お願いします (lit., “I humbly request”), which is the polite-humble form of negau 願う “to request.” In fact, Japanese polite requests are uttered more often without dōzo than English polite requests are made without “please.”
