Lecture 36

Konnichiwa minna-san and welcome to the class in the second lecture series on introduction to Japanese language and culture. So in our last class we learnt to use sumori and we also learnt about narimasu, how narimasu is used in the language. Last time I also told you about the gift culture of Japan, what is important when you give a gift and how you are supposed to receive a gift. Also last time we did koto and we learnt koto with zannen. This time we are going to continue with koto, learn something new regarding koto and what is the construction, what is the sentence, what is the meaning, how it is used in the language. So let us see what we have today and learn something new. So as I always do let us listen to the kaiwa and then I will do the explanation. So it is a small kaiwa, it is between Hana and Mira, so Hana to Mira san no kaiwa desu ne, mijikai kaiwa desu, nagai kaiwa dewa arimasen. Ja watashi wa ikkai yomimasu ne, minna-san yoko kiite kudasai, wakaranai koto wa ato de setsumei shimasu. Mira kabuki wo mita koto ga arimasu ka? Mita is miru in past tense, koto you have already done and ga arimasu ka? So mita koto, have you seen it, arimasu ka? Saikin wa mita koto ga nai kedo, mae ni nan kai mo mita koto ga arimasu, saikin is these days, wa mita koto ga nai, I have not seen, demo but mae ni earlier nan kai mo, many number of times, many times mita koto ga arimasu, I have had the opportunity of watching kabuki. Minna-san wa kabuki wo mimasu ka? Do you watch kabuki? Watashi wa kabuki wa suki ja nai kara, amari mimasen. So with amari, sentence is always in the negative, meaning that I do not like kabuki, thus I do not watch. Aa, watashi wa daisuki desu, I love kabuki. So very very simple kai wa only, this is new over here and we are going to do it in the lesson. Here you have kanji for koto, generally kanji for koto is not used, it is written in hiragana but as the kanji has come over here, I will quickly write it for you, you can see it, I will do it again later, koto ga arimasu. This is nan kai, nan and kai, simple kanji kai. So you can do these two kanjis here, rest I will do with you later when we do the kanjis, there are a number of kanjis today. So today we will use koto and learn a new sentence construction, we have studied koto earlier also, we did it in our last lesson with zannen as well. So you already know that koto refers to a thing which is intangible, which means that it could be an incident, an occurrence, a situation, an event, state of affairs and is mostly written in hiragana. Now let us very quickly see the sentences, you can see the kanji again koto, now look at the sentences, ii koto wo oshiete agemasu yo, ii koto wo oshiete agemashou ka, both sentences can be used, ii koto, ii koto is something good, oshiete agemashou ka, kore wa daiji na koto desu, daiji is very close, something which is very important, very dear, kore wa daiji na koto desu, daiji, so you can see the kanji over here, I make these kanjis again and again for you, so that at least if you are not able to write, you can at least recognize them, indo no shuukan no koto wo hanashite kudasai, shuukan is custom, shuukan no koto about, regarding hanashite kudasai, please talk about customs and rituals of India, nihongo wo oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu, nihongo wo oshieru koto, teaching Japanese wa muzukashii desu, it is an observation, a statement by someone. But if you say, nihongo wo oshieru koto wa kantan janai desu, or nihongo wo oshieru koto wa kantan janai desu, it is not easy, so in the negative, kantan is easy and janai is dewanai, so kantan dewanai, it is not easy, so what does it mean over here, it means that the person is actually experiencing it or experienced it and then he is saying nihongo wo oshieru koto wa kantan dewanai desu, dewanai and janai both are same, so slightly different from muzukashii desu, muzukashii is difficult in a general sense, both sentences mean the same, but here it is more strong, it is stronger than this one over here, you will see it now later also in this lesson, now nihongo wo narau koto wa muzukashii desu, exactly the same meaning, shigoto shinagara nihongo wo benkyou suru koto wa muzukashii desu, shinagara, you have done 2 actions done simultaneously at the same time, so suru, shigoto wo suru plus benkyou suru, if you do 2 things together, it is difficult to do something else, so shigoto wo shinagara while working, while working at a company or some other work that you are doing, nihongo wo benkyou suru koto wa muzukashii desu, it is difficult to learn Japanese, shigoto over here basically means kaisha no shigoto, not any normal other work that you do, so there are a lot of kanjis here, the first kanji that you have here is of oshieru, so do it like this, oshieru, then you have shukan over here, shu and kan, and then you make a me, shukan, then you have shigoto over here, over here and goto again, so you can see shigoto, there are a lot of kanjis for you today, so go over these kanjis, these come in your exams in N4, now there is a sentence over here using koto and I am giving it specially over here, because there are a lot of forms that are used in the sentence, so rao san wa deri daigaku no koto wo yoku shiteru node, watashi yori rao san ni kiita hoga ii to omoimasu, so you can see so many forms are used, koto is used, daigaku no koto about delhi daigaku, delhi university, yoku shiteru knows a lot about delhi daigaku, node because he knows a lot, watashi yori more than me, rao san ni, you ask kiita hoga ii, it is better that you ask rao san I think, so I think should come over here, I think it is better you ask rao san more than me as he knows a lot about delhi university, so koto shiteru yori, yoku is also there, ta hoga to omoimasu and ni, what I want you to do over here is to use these in sentences, so make sentences at home and practice with your partner, this is your homework. Now you have this kanji of benkyo as I told you there are a lot of kanjis today, I have given this stroke order for you how to make this kanji, I am going to make it once and then you can make it on your own later on, so 1, 2 and this is very similar to oni san except for this stroke over here and like this, then 1, 2, 3 and then like this and similar to mushi, so benkyo the stroke order is given over here, please check it out. Then benkyo chu, chu is the word and then naka is another reading for this, benkyo chu, then benkyo jikan, you know the kanji for jikan, so benkyo is the same and jikan, benkyo time, study time, then you have benkyo heya, you can just concentrate on the word benkyo heya, heya is room, so study room, benkyo heya, I will do the kanji sometime of heya later, then benkyo kai, kai is also au, another reading is kai, kaishano kai, so benkyo kai, study group, this is benkyo kai, study, so these are some new words for you with just this kanji benkyo, go over it again and again and benkyo you will not forget. Then there is oshieru, I just did oshieru with you, once again like this and make a ko over here and oshieru to teach and shuukan also I made just now, so go over it. Then we have learnt to show possession, belonging and this pattern we have studied as watashi no okaasan no desu, it is my mother's or you have also done to show possession as watashi wa hon ga arimasu, I have a book or watashi wa kuruma ga arimasu, I have a car or otousan wa kuruma ga arimasu, a person has something, so otousan wa kuruma ga arimasu, this pattern we have done. So, now in this pattern what you can do is noun 1 you can replace over here and noun 2 this part you can replace and make n number of sentences and practice, we have done this a number of times, so just go over it. What I want to do today is something very different, now we will use the same form and we will show experience, now if we have to show experience we will require a verb, now this also means that you will have to use the verb in past tense to inquire from someone if the activity you want to know about has ever been experienced by the listener or not, so how do you think we are going to use koto over here, we will use verb in ta form that is past plain form plus koto and ga arimasu which we will use for experience and particle ga plus arimasu we have used earlier to show existence of something or possession of something. Now what does this verb ta plus koto ga aru mean? It shows past experience, something that a person has experienced, now you already know that when we join words with koto it becomes a noun phrase, so the same thing is going to happen over here as well when we are going to join a verb with koto it will become a noun phrase, for example otousan wa Amerika e itta koto ga arimasu, so what does this mean? It means that otousan has had the experience of going to US, look at the example now otousan wa takai kuruma ga arimasu, he has an expensive car, otousan wa kuruma wo norimasu or kuruma wo norimashita, otousan wa kuruma wo notta koto ga arimasu, so otousan has had the opportunity of using a car, notta is or noru, noru is to ride, so ride a car. Now look at more examples and it will become very clear, chichi wa kuruma ga arimasen, very clear that wa and ga construction, he does not have a car, kodomo no toki chichi wa ikkai mo kuruma wo norimasen deshita, so when he was a child he never had the opportunity of going in a car ever, not even once, I am talking about my father, why? Because chichi is mentioned over here and kodomo no toki when he was a child, so chichi wa kuruma wo notta koto ga arimasen, so this is of childhood, now what am I saying chichi wa kuruma wo notta koto ga arimasen, he has never been inside a car, he has never travelled by car, he has never used a car. Now look at this construction, otousan wa Amerika e itta koto ga arimasu ka? A is asking B, so has your father ever been to the US, ever been to America, has he had the opportunity of ever going to America, itta koto ga arimasu ka? So, hai otousan wa Amerika e itta koto ga arimasu, he has had the opportunity of going to America, so the answer is hai, it can also be iie, iie otousan wa Amerika e itta koto ga arimasen, like we did norimasen deshita, this was of a specific time when he was a child, so arimasen deshita or norimasen deshita, now this is a statement, he is telling something that no, he has never been to the US, so thus ga, why ga, because it is a fact, he knows for sure. Now this is even simpler for you, you will understand very quickly, manga wo yomimasu ka? Do you read manga? Manga wo yonda koto ga arimasu ka? Have you read a manga ever? Have you had the opportunity of reading a manga ever? Manga wo yonda koto ga arimasu ka? So, now the important thing over here is that with koto ga arimasu or koto ga arimasu, verb is in plain form, this is what is important over here. Now there is a kanji, which we need to do, this is kai, number of times you do something, kuruma is there, koto again is there over here, koto then yomimasu is there, this is yu, then yomu, so remember these, yo and mu, yomu is to read. Now you can practice over here and I am sure it will be better. Nihon-jin ni atta koto ga arimasu ka? Have you ever met a Japanese? Did you ever get an opportunity to meet a Japanese? Ni atta, ni is for au, au will always take particle ni. Tanaka-sensei ni atta koto ga arimasu ka? Specific person, some sensei in school, have you had the opportunity of meeting him? Tanaka-sensei ni atta koto ga arimasu ka? So, the answer could be yes, hai, arimasu or iie, arimasen. Nihon-jin to hanashita koto ga arimasu ka? Have you ever had the opportunity of talking to a Japanese? Now why to over here? Because when you talk, there is interaction from both sides. So, Nihon-jin to hanashita koto ga, if you say Nihon-jin ni hanashita koto ga arimasu ka? Is from your side only, once I did. So, what is the answer? He says Nan-kai mo hanashita koto ga arimasu. I have talked to him a number of times. You did Nan-demo ii desu, number of times, hanashita koto ga arimasu. So, this verb over here changes into a noun phrase, makes the whole sentence into a noun and then koto can be used. Because koto can only be used after a noun or a noun phrase. And you will see that always verb is in plain form, in past plain form. Now what are they doing over here? He is teaching, sensei is teaching, they are in class. Mae ni nihongo wo benkyo shita koto ga arimasu ka? Mae is mae ni, expression, time expression ni, earlier nihongo wo benkyo shita koto ga arimasu ka? Have you had the opportunity of learning or studying Japanese earlier? Nihon ni kuru mae ni, so making it even more clear, nihon ni kuru mae ni, before coming to Japan. Nihongo wo benkyo shita koto ga arimasu ka? Have you studied Japanese? Now look at this one, there is lot of practice for this. So, this becomes very clear because there is lots more to do with koto and koto needs to be very very clear in your mind. It is something that you use in conversation a lot. So, please pay attention over here and try to understand koto. So, nihon e itta koto ga arimasu ka? Have you been to Japan? Hai, arimasu. Soshite and shinkansen ni notta koto mo arimasu. I have also been inside shinkansen which is the bullet train. Notta koto mo arimasu, also and soshite over here is used to join this thought that nihon e ikimashita, soshite soko de shinkansen ni mo norimashita, also norimashita. Another short dialogue, tempura wo tabeta koto ga arimasu ka? Have you had the opportunity of having or eating tempura? Hai, tabeta koto ga arimasu or iie, tabeta koto ga arimasen. So, you can use it whichever way you want, only iie and hai has to be kept in mind. Also the answer could be tempura wo tabeta koto ga arimasu ka? Iie, mada desu. Still not, had. Iie, arimasen. I have not had or eaten. Mira wa Yoroppa mo, America mo, sore ni, Eikoku ni mo ryokou shimashita. We did sore ni also, above this, these two places, this also she went to. So, Mira wa Yoroppa mo, America mo, sore ni, Eikoku ni mo itta koto ga arimasu. So, she has also been to Britain besides these two places. So, this is how you can use. Now, you will see that verb is being used over here. It is just ryokou. If you want to use ryokou and not itta, which is a verb, how are you going to use it? So, ryokou suru, ryokou shita koto ga arimasu instead of ryokou shimashita, ryokou shita koto ga arimasu. She has been to all these places. Nihongo wo oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu. I told you earlier also, there was this sentence. So, nihongo wo oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu. Just an observation, a statement. Somebody has said, I have heard and I am just repeating. I have nothing to do with Japanese. I do not feel anything about it. I just say nihongo wo oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu. Just a simple statement. Now, nihongo wo oshieru koto wa kantan ja nai desu yo. Kantan de wa nai desu. So, when you use it in the negative like this, then it is more emphatic. Meaning that you are one trying to say that I have actual experience of it and also you feel a lot about it. That is all. So, you can make such sentences and see on your own and you will be able to understand the difference. So, we have done koto in different ways now. You can say the same thing in another way by using nova in place of koto wa. Both change the sentence into a noun phrase. So, let us see how it is done. Now, as I was telling you earlier, with koto wa, it is a general observation. Whereas, with nova, the speaker expresses his feelings more strongly and he tries to also convey that he has some involvement or has had some involvement or knows from experience about what he is talking. With koto, there is no such involvement. It is just an observation, something the speaker is just saying. You can see from here, oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu. It is difficult. Just a statement, oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu. So, over here, the speaker is trying to say that I have experienced this and thus I am telling you. This is just an observation. We have just done this in our previous slide. So, you can replace koto wa which is given over here with nova. Most of the time, you can replace koto wa with nova. There are certain sentences where you cannot. Well, you do not have to bother at the moment with those. We will only try to do sentences where you can replace koto wa with nova. So, nihongo o oshieru koto wa muzukashii desu. Kantan ja nai desu. Shigoto shinagara nihongo o benkyo suru koto wa muzukashii desu. We had these sentences earlier as well. Now, you can see that you can replace koto wa with shigoto shinagara while you are working. Nihongo o benkyo suru koto wa benkyo suru no wa muzukashii desu. Nihon de benkyo suru koto wa kantan dewa nai. It is very difficult to study in Japan. Nihon de benkyo suru no wa kantan dewa nai. So, it could be that tuition fees is very expensive or living in Japan is very expensive or you do not know Japanese. So, any of the reasons could be given for nihon de benkyo suru koto wa kantan dewa nai or you do not like the food. So, now kantan dewa nai is one. You can also say it is kantan desu. Nihon de benkyo suru no wa kantan desu or you can say nihon de benkyo suru no wa dekimasen. I cannot afford to study in Japan. So, now this is very clearly related to okane. That tuition fees is very high. So, I cannot afford it. Thus, dekimasen. Nihon no daigaku ni hairu no wa muzukashii desu. So, the entrance exam is very difficult. Hairu koto wa muzukashii desu. That entering a Japanese university is very very. Rao san wa nihon e iku no wo shitte imasu ka? So, A is asking about someone else. Rao san wa nihon e iku. He is going to Japan. Sono koto anata wa shitte imasu ka? Do you know of this? So, joining these two sentences with no wo. Rao san wa nihon e iku koto wo shitte imasu ka? Do you know that he is going to Japan? So, this is how you can use koto and no. You can interchange most of the time. Not all the time. So, there is a small kaiwa. Listen to this kaiwa carefully and there is something new that is there in the kaiwa. Let me see if you can catch it. Mira san wa doushite kono shigoto wo shitai desu ka? Omoshiroi kara desu. Sore ni nihonjin ni aeru shi, nihongo no renshuu mo dekiru shi. Ii kangae desu ne. Shigoto wo shinagara nihongo mo naraeru. Sou shitai desu. Ganbatte ne. So, could you follow something over here? There was something new. Well, I will read it again. Mira san wa doushite kono shigoto wo shitai desu ka? Why do you want to do this shigoto? Omoshiroi kara desu. Because it is omoshiroi. It is interesting. Sore ni and above this. Nihonjin ni aeru shi. I can meet them and meet. Au is the verb. Au. This shi over here means and. Ii kangae desu ne. This is a very good thought. Shigoto wo shinagara while doing shigoto. Nihongo mo naraemasu. You can learn. So, I put it in plain form over here. Sou shitai desu. I want to do exactly that. Sou shitai means this is what I want to do. Whatever you were saying that I can work and also learn Japanese. Ganbatte ne. So, intonation is rising. Simple kaiwa. Go over it on your own and look at shi. Now, there is practice for you. So, look at this picture. Denwa wo shinagara shigoto wo shite imasu. He is working. Shigoto wo shinagara hanashimasu. While working he is also talking. This situation all of you have been through I am sure. You want to watch TV and your mother is not happy about it. So well, yuuta gohan wo tabenagara terebi wo minaide ne. So, do not watch TV while eating. Performing two actions at the same time. Doing two actions simultaneously. So, denwa wo shimasu shigoto wo shimasu. Denwa wo shinagara. So, shimasu, ikimasu, nomimasu. Simple just remove the masu form and put nagara. So, shinagara, ikinagara, nominagara. Of course, the form is there but this is not used. So, we can make another. Au, aimasu, kaimasu. So, remove the masu. Ai, nagara and kai, nagara. So, just you need to add the nagara. Remove the masu. Two actions at the same time. Lot of times you study and you are listening to music. Or you are talking to your mother and also may be watching TV. So, terebi wo minagara okasan to hanashite imasu. Or, okasan to denwa de hanashinagara aruite imasu. So, you can practice this loudly using two verbs. There is more practice. Rao san wa rajio wo kikinagara benkyou wo shimasu ne. Daijoubu desu. That is alright. I have no issues. Or, Rao san wa rajio wo kikinagara benkyou ga dekimasu ne. He can do his benkyou while listening to radio. So, instead of rajio, you can have any of this. Terebi, denwa, ripoto, ronbun and shimasu. Instead of this verb, you can have any of these verbs. Miru, taberu, hanasu, kaku and over here instead of benkyou, gohan, ripoto, anything you can put over here and make sentences in practice. You can ask also and answer. Do it with your partner and it will help you in conversation. Now, in our kaiva, we just had a new word which is she. So, we have learnt to join different parts of speech by using to and kute to make sentences. To is for nouns and kute is for i-adjectives. So, how will we join verbs now? One thing that you have done is with te. Gakkou e itte benkyou shite uchi e kaerimasu. Isn't it? So, this te form you have done verb plus verb in te form plus again verb in te form plus te form plus iku or kaeru. Now, today we have she where we are going to join verbs with this conjunction. So, you have it here verb in plain form, adjectives also yasui and yasukatta in past tense over here. Then noun is with datta and da which is again plain form and na is exactly like noun, benri da and benri datta. Let us see how the construction is now and what it means. Kyou wa yasumi da shi. Tenki mo ii shi. Doko ka e ikimashou ka? Yasumi da shi and today is yasumi desu. Tenki is good. Doko ka e ikimashou. So, plus plus plus three sentences into one. Kyou wa yasumi da shi. Tenki mo ii shi. Doko ka e ikimashou ka? Question. Doko ka e tabe ni ikimashou ka? Shall we go and eat somewhere? Generally, we say that it is such good weather, let us go out. Doko ka e pikuniku ni ikimashou ka? So, any of this you can use over here. Shi, joining sentences, always plain form is used. You can see it over here. Shigoto wo mitsuketa shi. Kekkon mo shita shi. Totemo ureshi desu. So, three sentences. Shigoto wo mitsukemashita. Kekkon wo shimashita. Totemo ureshi desu. Shigoto wo mitsuketa shi. I have found. Then, Kekkon mo shita shi. I am married. Thus, I am very very happy. So, I am very content at the moment. Joining like this. So, here you can see it is a noun. Here it is a verb. Over here also it is a verb and this is an adjective. So, all of this is given over here. How to join them? How to use shi in your sentences? You can practice over here. Nihongo no shinbun ga yomemasu ka? Can you read the Japanese paper? Kanji ga wakarimasen. Bunpo mo muzukashii desu. Two sentences. Kanji ga yomenai shi. I cannot read kanji, verb. Bunpo mo yoku wakaranai shi. I do not understand the grammar. Amari yomenai desu. I do not read that much. With amari always sentence will be in negative. The verb is going to be in negative. So, this is how you will use shi. This is with verbs. Rao san ga suki desu ka? Iie, suki de wa nai desu. Doushite desu ka? So, you do not like Rao san. What is the reason? Uso wo tsukimasu. He tells a lot of lies. Yakusoku mo mamorimasen. He does not keep his promise. So, uso wo tsukushi. Tsukushi. Yakusoku mo mamorimasen. He does not even keep his promise. Amari suki de wa nai desu. I do not like him. So, another exercise for you. Atarashi apart wa dou desu ka? So, the hint is, eki kara chikai desu. Atari wa shizuka desu. Atari is surrounding area wa shizuka desu. Eki kara chikai desu is close from the eki. So, how are you going to use shi over here? I have written it in the script for you. I want you to read it. So, try. Yes. Eki kara chikai shi. Shizuka dashi na adjective. Totemo ii desu. It is very good. Now, you can also say it in another manner. Eki kara chikakute. It is close to eki and benri de. Totemo ii desu. So, this pattern you have done adjective. Na adjective and ai adjective. Benri de, kirei de, oishikute. So, using and. Shi is also and used with verbs most of the time, but well you can use it with nouns adjectives as well. So, with this I would like to finish today's class. There are a lot of things that we covered today. Koto ga aru, one. Then we also did shi, conjunction, joining adjectives, nouns and verbs, meaning and. And then we also did nagara, which is two actions done simultaneously. How you are going to use it in your sentences? Well, practice with your partner and I am sure everything will be very clear. So, with this I would like to finish the class today. Come prepared for your next class. Till then, arigatou gozaimashita. Mata aimashou.