tags

~たい

• Combining a verb stem with たいです can be used to describe a desire, hope or aspiration

• When followed by たい, a verb that usually takes the particle を can have either を or が. Particles other than を, such as に, remain the same.
• たい conjugates as an い-adjective.
• Negative
  • あの人に会いたくない
    • I don’t want to see that person.
• Past
  • お弁当を買いたかったから、コンビニに行きました
    • I went to the convenience store, because I wanted to buy a boxed lunch.
• If what you’re wanting has been entertained for some time, you can say something more like “have wanted to” using 対と思っています instead of たいでたがってす
  • 留学したいと思っています
    • I’ve wanted to study abroad.
• たいです is usually not used to describe the desires of others. Others’ wishes are usually reported as quotations, observations, or guesses.
• To express this, you can use と言っていました with たい
  • メアリさんはチベットに行きたいと言っていました
    • Mary said she wanted to go to Tibet
• To describe your observation that someone wants to do something, you must use たがっている instead of たい. - If a verb takes を then たがっている will always retain を instead of the optional が like we had with 〜たい
  • メアリーさんは着物を着たがっています
    • (It seems) Mary wants to wear a kimono
• たがる indicates “It seems that” based on present behaviors

~たり〜たりする

To connect two clauses, we can use the て-form predicates, such as:

大阪で買い物をして、晩ご飯を食べます。 In Osaka, I will do some shopping and eat dinner.

In a two-clause sentence with て form, it is implied that the activities that are explicitly listed are the only activities that one plans to perform and in the order in which they’re stated. So it can be literally perceived as:

In Osaka, I will only go shopping and then eat dinner.

To avoid the implications and to just list activities or events as examples without a specific order, one can use the predicate form 〜たり〜たりする。

• The form is as follows:
  • verb (short, past) + り、verb (short, past) + り
  • do such things as this and that

The する at the end of the sentence is used to indicate the tense. You can also incorporate this type of phrase into a large sentence by modifying the helper verb into するのが.

~ことがある

The past tense short form of a verb + ことがある describes that you did something, or something happened, in earlier times.

verb (short, past affirmative) + ことがある → Had the experience of…

If asked a question with ことがありますか, you can respond with あります・ありません or repeat the entire verbal complex (…ことがあります・ことがありません), but not just ことがあります.

Noun A や Noun B

• や connects two nouns, in a non-exhaustive manner.

AやB → A and B, for example

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Expressions

は in Negative Sentences

In negative sentences, it’s not uncommon to find the particle は where you would typically expect to see が or を.

[!example] Q： 山下先生はテレビを見ますか。 A：いいえ、テレビは見ません。

Q: Do you watch TV, Prof. Yamashita? A: No, I dont.

Q：コーヒーが好きですか A：いいえ、コーヒーは好きじゃないです Q: Do you like coffee? A: No, I don’t.

だけ

You can add だけ to numbers to talk about having just that many items. だけ implies that you have something.

は may also follow particles like で and に

に

The に particle indicates the occasion on which you do something.

に can also indicate and the role you want to assign something to

ドライブ

ドライブ is used when you go somewhere by car for pleasure. To say “to have a drive” or “to go for a drive,” use ドライブに行く or ドライブする.

When you simply want to say “to drive a car” (not necessarily for pleasure), use 運転する instead.

夢（ゆめ）

夢, like the English word “dream,” has two meanings. One is the dream you have while sleeping; the others the dream that you wish would come true. To say “I have a dream,” in Japanese, you use the verb 見る for sleeping dreams, and 持っている or ある for your visions.

には

The particle は often follows the particle に in sentences describing a place in terms of the things that are found there.

The first sentence is about the places.