こんにちは、ゆうこせんせいです。きょうのレッスンはきょうかしょ「げんき」のレッスン９からです。
Today's lesson is from Lesson 9 in the textbook GENKI vol. 1.
I'll leave the Amazon links in the show more section below in case you want to purchase the book.
では、レッスンをはじめましょう。
Back in Lesson 6, you learned how to use the two-letter particle から to mark a reason like this.
"Let's get on the bus." バスにのりましょう。"
(Because) the taxi is expensive." タクシーは高いですから。
In this lesson, we are going to learn how to say this in one sentence, as in "Let's get on the bus because the taxi is expensive."
You can do so by incorporating the reason part, タクシーは高いですから in this case,
into the main sentence by putting it in the beginning.
So you are going to say this part first at the beginning of the sentence,
and then state the conclusion, バスにのりましょう。
So, the entire sentence is going to be like this.
タクシーは高いですから、comma,
バスにのりましょう。
タクシーは高いですから、バスにのりましょう。"Let's get on the bus because the taxi is expensive."
This is one way to do it. But now that you know the plain form or short form of the adjective 高いです,
you can make this sentence even more conversational like this.
タクシーは高いから、バスにのりましょう。
The only difference between the two is that you used the long-form of the predicate in the first sentence
but the short-form or plain form in the second sentence.
Both sentences mean the same, and they are both Formal speech styles.
The speech style in Japanese is always determined by the end of the sentence.
Using a plain form in the middle of a sentence like this
doesn't change the speech style of the entire sentence.
Since you are ending these two sentences in the same way with ましょう, which is
a formal way to say "let's" they are both Formal speech.
However, I would say using the long-form before から like the first sentence makes you sound
slightly more formal and respectful toward the listener.
That's the only difference between the two.
Since you already know all the plain forms, in this lesson, let's practice using the plain
forms with から to state a reason.
Ok, the first example. I didn't eat lunch, because I didn't have money.
"I didn't eat lunch" is ひるごはんを食べませんでした。
And "I didn't have money" is お金がありませんでした。
Here you have to make the verb "exist" あります into the past negative, ありませんでした
and then add から because this is the reason why you didn't eat lunch.
Let's put this reason at the beginning of the sentence by changing ありませんでした into Plain Form.
Please refer to the handout you have downloaded last week.
Here you see the plain form of ありませんでした, which is なかった, right?
So, this sentence, "I didn't eat lunch because I didn't have money" in Japanese is,
お金がなかったからひるごはんを食べませんでした。
これはどうですか？What about this one?
I study Japanese because I like Japanese anime.
"I study Japanese" is 日本語をべんきょうしています。
Here you have to use TE imasu expression to indicate the repeated action
because studying or learning something is not a one-time thing.
You have to commit yourself to repeated actions and constant efforts, right?
That's why it has to be in the TE imasu expression when you currently study or learning something.
And "I like Japanese anime" is 日本のアニメが好きです。
Since this is the reason in this context, you need から here.
Now, let's put them into one sentence by converting this な adjective,
好きです into plain form.
As you can see in the summary chart, the present affirmative of な adjective takes だ in the Plain form, right?
So, this sentence, "I study Japanese because I like Japanese anime" is going to be like this.
日本のアニメが好きだから、日本語をべんきょうしています。
Ok, let's try one question from the workbook.
The question asks you せんしゅうはいそがしかったですか。
Were you busy last week?
If your answer is Yes, you say はい、いそがしかったです。
And if your answer is No, you say いいえ、いそがしくなかったです。
These are just basic responses to the question, but for this exercise,
you have to add a reason, like this.
Ok, let's say you were busy last week because you had lots of homework.
Then, you want to say, "Yes, I was busy because I had lots of homework." Right?
Can you phrase it in Japanese?
Ok, this is how you phrase it.
はい、しゅくだいがたくさんあったから、いそがしかったです。
I have been teaching Japanese in the US for many years.
Now I also teach Japanese to learners all over the world in my online courses.
If you are interested, please check the course website at smilenihongo.com/class.
みなさんといっしょに日本語をべんきょうするのをたのしみにしています。
では、また次のレッスンで会いましょう。