Japanese for Busy People 1Lesson 14

Content of the lesson on Sep. 11th 2010

Please answer the question below;

Q1: きのう なにを たべましたか。

1. Conjugating Adjectives to Past Tense

kinou nani o tabemashitaka

A1: すしを たべました。sushi o tabemashita

The question asks “What did you eat yesterday?” with the question word “なに(nani)”. Say if you had sushi yesterday, your answer would be;

I had(ate) sushi.

Then you are asked another question as;Q2: すしは どうでしたか。

sushi wa dou deshitakaHow was the sushi?

The question asks “How was the sushi?” with a question word “どう(dou)”. Say if you liked the sushi and you’d like to answer it as “It was delicious.”;

what did you eat yesterday?

A2: （すしは）おいしいです。sushi wa oishii desu

It was delicious.

＝

＝

＝

＝Now you’ve noticed what is wrong with the answer in Japanese above. You definitely have to change “おいしいです (oishii desu)” to a past tense. But it will not become “おいしいでした (oishii deshita)”.Let’s take a look how we conjugate adjectives to the past tense.

i-adjectives in the past tense relatively follow the pattern to the present negative form ;

1-1: i-adjectives

A2: （すしは）おいしかったです。sushi wa o ish i kat ta desu

It was delicious.＝

You remove the final ”い(i)” in each i-adjective then replace it to either “かった(katta)” as the past affirmative or ”くなかった(kunakatta)” as the past negative.

おいしいです

おいしくないです

Present Affirmative

Present Negative

o i sh i i desu

o ish iku na idesu

おいしかったですPast Affirmative

o i sh i k a t t a desu

おいしくなかったですPast Negative

o ish iku nakat tadesu

おいしいですPresent Affirmative

o i sh i i desu

Thus the answer to the last question on the previous page should be;

However, there is one exception which is “いいです(iidesu)”, just as you’ve learned its affirmative negative form as “よくないです(yokunaidesu)”, the past tense for both affirmative and negative forms follow the same pattern;

1-1: i-adjectives

いいです

よくないです

Present Affirmative

Present Negative

i i d e s u

yoku naidesu

よかったですPast Affirmative

yokatta desu

よくなかったですPast Negative

yoku nakattadesu

Let’s take a look at the chart on the textbook page 133 for other i-adjective conjugations with audio files for you to review them.

Please note that “いいです(iidesu)” has an other form as “よいです(yoidesu)” as the same term, and “よ(yo)” out of this other form appears in above three conjugations.

PRESENT FORM PAST FORMaff. neg. aff. neg.

coldさむいです さむくないです さむかったです さむくなかったです

hotあついです あつくないです あつかったです あつくなかったです

funたのしいです たのしくないです たのしかったです たのしくなかったです

goodいいです よくないです よかったです よくなかったです

badわるいです わるくないです わるかったです わるくなかったです

interestingおもしろいです おもしろくないです おもしろかったです おもしろくなかったです

tastyおいしいです おいしくないです おいしかったです おいしくなかったです

boringつまらないです つまらなくないです つまらなかったです つまらなくなかったです

A. Practice conjugating : i-adjectives

samui desu samuku naidesu samukatta desu samuku nakattadesu

atsui desu atsuku naidesu atsukatta desu atsuku nakattadesu

tanoshi i desu tanoshiku naidesu tanoshikatta desu tanoshiku nakattadesu

i i desu yoku naidesu yokatta desu yoku nakattadesu

warui desu waruku naidesu warukatta desu waruku nakattadesu

omoshiroi desu omoshiroku naidesu omoshirokatta desu omoshiroku nakattadesu

oishi i desu oishiku naidesu oishikatta desu oishiku nakattadesu

tsumaranai desu tsumaranaku naidesu tsumaranakatta desu tsumaranaku nakattadesu

Please answer the question below;Q1: せんしゅう パーティーに いきましたか。

1. Conjugating Adjectives to Past Tense

sengetsu eiga o mimashitaka

A1: はい、いきました。hai ikimashita

Yes, I did.

Q2: （パーティーは） どうでしたか。paa t i i wa dou desh i t a ka

How was the party?

Did you go to the party last week?

A2: （パーティーは）にぎやかです。 It was lively.

＝

＝

＝

＝

1-2: na-adjectives

paati i wa nigiyakadesu

Say if you went to the party last week, your answer would be;

Then you are asked another question as;

The question asks “How was the party?” with the question word “どう(dou)”. Say if you think the party was lively and you’d like to answer as “It was lively.”;

Again, you’ve noticed what is wrong with the answer in Japanese above. You definitely have to change “にぎやかです (nigiyaka desu)” to the past tense. Now it will become “にぎやかでした (nigiyaka deshita)”. As you see the na-adjectives have mush simpler conjugations than i-adjectives.Let’s take a look how we conjugate na-adjectives to the past tense.

na-adjectives in the past tense relatively follow the pattern to the present negative form as well ;

1-2: na-adjectives

You just replace ”です(desu)” to either “でした(deshita)” as the past affirmative or ”ではありませんでした(dewa arimasen deshita)” as the past negative.

にぎやかです

にぎやかではありません

Present Affirmative

Present Negative

nigiyaka desu

nigiyaka dewa arimasen

にぎやかでしたPast Affirmative

nigiyaka desita

にぎやかではありませんでしたPast Negative

nigiyaka dewa arimasen deshita

にぎやかですPresent Affirmative

nigiyaka desu

Thus the answer to the last question on the previous page should be;A2: （パーティーは）にぎやかでした。 It was lively.＝

pa a t i i w a n i g i y a k ad e s h i t a

In many cases, learners attach “な(na)” when they conjugate na-adjectives as the previous page. Please note that it is incorrect and “な(na)” is only added when na-adjectives modify nouns ;

Let’s take a look at the chart on the textbook page 133 for other na-adjective conjugations with audio files for you to review them.

1-2: na-adjectives

にぎやかな パーティーですModifying Noun

n i g i y a k a n a p a a t i i d e s uにぎやかですPresent Affirmative

nigiyaka desu

にぎやかなではありませんPresent Negative

nigiyaka na dewa arimasen

にぎやかなでしたPast Affirmative

nigiyaka na desita

にぎやかなではありませんでしたPast Negative

nigiyaka na dewa arimasen deshita

It’s l ively. It ’s a l ively party.

These are all incorrect !

PRESENT FORM PAST FORM

aff. neg. aff. neg.

prettyきれいです きれいではありません きれいでした きれいではありませんでした

quietしずかです しずかではありません しずかでした しずかではありませんでした

livelyにぎやかです にぎやかではありません にぎやかでした にぎやかではありませんでした

A. Practice conjugating : na-adjectives

kirei desu kiei dewa arimasenn kirei deshita kirei dewa arimasen deshita

shizuka desu shizuka dewa arimasenn shizuka deshita shizuka dewa arimasen deshita

nigiyaka desu nigiyaka dewa arimasenn nigiyaka deshita nigiyaka dewa arimasen deshita

Let’s practice conjugations with Drills on the following pages.

Extent in Japanese100 %

0 %

とても

まあまあ

あまり

ぜんぜん

Very, Extremely

kind of, so so

not very, not much

not at all

ex. この えいがは とても おもしろいです。 “This movie is very interesting.”

この えいがは まあまあ おもしろいです。 “This movie is kind of interesting.”

この えいがは あまり おもしろくないです。 “This movie is not very interesting.”

この えいがは ぜんぜん おもしろくないです。 “This movie is not interesting at all.”

“あまり(amari)” and “ぜんぜん(zenzen)” anticipate the negative at the end of the sentence.

totemo

maamaa

amari

zenzen

kono eiga wa totemo omoshiroi desu

kono e iga wa maamaa omosh i ro i desu

kono eiga wa amari omoshiroku naidesu

kono eiga wa zenzen omoshiroku naidesu

C-6

L5 !"#$%#& & '()"#& *+#

! C-7

L5 !"#$"% % &'"% ()"

!

C-12

L5 !"#$%&"#' ' ()*"#

L5 !"#$L10 +,-' ' ()*"#' *./.-

!

C-3

L3 !!"L12 #!$ $ %&!

!

Drill 1Change the following adjectives into the negatives.

new→あたらしくないですatarashiidesu→atarasiku naidesu

C-9

L5 !"#$%&'( ( #)*"#

!

difficult→muzukashidesu→

hot→atsuidesu→

big→ookiidesu→

good→iidesu→

busy→isogashiidesu→

C-10

L5 !"#$%&#' ' (("#' )#&#

!

C-11

L5 !"#$%&'()*%

!

C-15

L5 !"#$%&'"#( ( )*"#

!

C-14

L5 !"#$%L16 &#' ' !($#

!

interesting→omoshiroidesu→

quiet→shizukadesu→

clean→kireidesu→

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

C-6

L5 !"#$%#& & '()"#& *+#

! C-7

L5 !"#$"% % &'"% ()"

!

C-12

L5 !"#$%&"#' ' ()*"#

L5 !"#$L10 +,-' ' ()*"#' *./.-

!

C-3

L3 !!"L12 #!$ $ %&!

!

Drill 4Change the following adjectives into the past affirmative forms.

furuidesu→furukattadesuold→ふるかったです

C-9

L5 !"#$%&'( ( #)*"#

!

yasashiidesu→easy→

samuidesu→cold→

chiisaidesu→small→

waruidesu→bad→

himadesu→free, not busy→

C-10

L5 !"#$%&#' ' (("#' )#&#

!

C-11

L5 !"#$%&'()*%

!

C-15

L5 !"#$%&'"#( ( )*"#

!

C-14

L5 !"#$%L16 &#' ' !($#

!

tsumaranaidesu→boring→

nigiyakadesu→livery→

きれいです→dirty→

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

C-6

L5 !"#$%#& & '()"#& *+#

! C-7

L5 !"#$"% % &'"% ()"

!

C-12

L5 !"#$%&"#' ' ()*"#

L5 !"#$L10 +,-' ' ()*"#' *./.-

!

C-3

L3 !!"L12 #!$ $ %&!

!

Drill 5Change the following adjectives into the past negative froms.

C-9

L5 !"#$%&'( ( #)*"#

!

difficult→yasashiidesu→

big→chiisaidesu→

C-10

L5 !"#$%&#' ' (("#' )#&#

!

C-11

L5 !"#$%&'()*%

!

C-15

L5 !"#$%&'"#( ( )*"#

!

C-14

L5 !"#$%L16 &#' ' !($#

!

interesting→tsumaranaidesu→

quiet→nigiyakadesu→

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

new→atarashiidesu→atarasiku nakattadesu

hot→atsuidesu→

good→iidesu→

busy→isogashiidesu→

clean→kireidesu→

This drill is your homework.

Drill 6This is what Robert wrote down about the trip to Okinawa.Look at the memo and make sentences.

Example :

　おきなわは あつかったです。　

Ex. Okinawa - hot

1. food - not expensive2. food - delicious3. hotel - not big4. hotel - new5. restaurant - not quiet6. sea - beautiful7. surfing - interesting

Note : Make sure that “food” in #1 and #2, you use the “Noun 1 の Noun 2” form as “おきなわ の たべもの(Okinawa no tabemono)”. Take the same pattern to the following questions except #7 (surfing).

okinawa wa atsukatta desu

This drill is your homework.

Drill 7 : Pair WorkUse the chart below and practice a dialogue with your partner, substitute the underlined parts.

A : なつやすみに　おきなわに　いきました。　 　B：そうですか。どうでしたか。　 A：とても　あつかったです。

Ex summer vacation went to Okinawa very hot

1 Friday night saw a movie not much crowded

2 Last Sunday stayed home (uchi ni imasu) very boring

3 yesterday concert very good

4 Last Saturday clearance sale not cheap at all

5 make up your own story.

Note : Time expressions in #1, #2 and #4, you use the “Noun 1 の(no) Noun 2” form as well. Clues : “night” = “ばん(ban)” as in “ばんごはん(bangohan)” as dinner (meal at night). “last xxxday” = “せんしゅうの xxようび(senshuu no xx youbi).

natsuyasumi ni okinawa ni ikimashita

sou desuka dou deshitaka

totemo atsukatta desu

なつやすみ (natsuyasumi = summer vacation)Example.

#5(make up your own story) is your homework.